opinions on buying a compressor

J

johnstontruckin

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Aug 15, 2009
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Well im ready to buy a air compressor for my garage. Just wondering what you guys suggest? I have a tsc by my house that's having a big sale and there are three choices I have. One is a campbell huasfield 60 gallon 3.2 horse motor and its 469$ then the others are ingersaws and one is pretty close to the same specs as the campbell and the other is a 60 gallon tank but with a five horse motor and there 650$ and 850$ . Main things will be impact gun. . . Blast cabinet! And maybe painting and body work down the road? Any body have any experience with these? Thanks derek
 
We have been working our 60 gallon CH compressor from tsc pretty hard since 1994. It's still going strong. Keep up on the oil changes and keep it drained and it should be fine for a long time. Do not cheap out on filtration for your lines though, especially if you plan on doing paint and body work. Expect to spend another ~$300 on filters/dryers.
 
Depends on what cfm your cabinet requires. If you have the money it's always better to go bigger.
 
18 cfm, I have a 12.5 and it's not enough when sanding or trying to run a blast cabinet.

Jim
 
cummin try me said:
Depends on what cfm your cabinet requires. If you have the money it's always better to go bigger.
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I can't recall exactly but the specs on the compressor are like 11.5 @ 40 psi and 10.6 at 90psi which I thought was a little low. My purchase will go on my tsc card and its zero percent interest for 12 months. So money wont be a problem in that aspect!
 
Those single phase 220 you see at Tractor Supply are nice, but if you want to run a blast cabinet, I think they may still be underpowered if you plan to sand blast for extended periods of time without letting it catch back up. You need to step up to Dual Stage compressor to really run a blast cabinet.

From the internet research I've done when I was in the same boat, the 400-700 dollar "hobby compressor" CH and IR compressors are pretty much alike, notice how they look almost exactly the same? You can also find the same compressors selling through Amazon, Northern Tool, etc. The main components, motor, pump are made out of the country, compared to if you buy a super expensive IR Screw Compressor. I don't think it really matters, but to me the "hobby" compressors are just that, a sourced compressor that the manufacturer just slaps together and puts their name on it.

You can find a lot more indepth discussions on shop/garage forums if you are still looking (old thread) and google the compressor model #s, specs, whatever.

I ended up with an IR Garage Mate for my current needs. http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200375221_200375221
 
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