Air compressor recomenations
Turbo Mini Forums

Any advice on size/reliable brands/cost efficient for an air compressor for the garage at home.. Mostly going to be using grinding and sanding tools and spraying primer, wont need the capacity to spray a whole car tho. Ive been looking at silent ones because im in a built up area, but theyre not cheap tho, too expensive maybe for the use ill get out of it, apart from a brand called mzb ive seeb on ebay. Tool advice too would be appreciated.. They do silent tools too i see..

Sanders and grinders are about the most air-hungry things you can use. It depends really if you want to be able to sand away all day long or if you can put up with 5 min sanding 5 min waiting for the air to re charge.
To use it continuously then aim for 12-14 CFM and 100L tank.
Personally I have always bought my compressors from Machine Mart on the VAT free promotions, then if you have an issue at least you have a local shop to deal with as opposed to a faceless ebay seller with no premises.
Tool wise unless you are using stuff all day every day then the cheapo gear will probably do you.

agree with Tom. While I've used 2HP pumps for years (our big compressor in the shed is) we've recently acquired a 3HP unit and it keeps up with the tools far better.

Only problem with bigger units....you need adequate electrical supply.

Dont just assume because someone tells you it's 3kw and happy off a 13A plug top...that it actually will be.

A bigger motor/pump off an inadequate power supply could often be less able or efficient than a smaller motor off an adequate power supply.

I have a 150L ( although tank size is irrelevant once it has emptied to point where motor starts running ) with 3HP and it does struggle with likes of a die grinder.
The motor will run continuously once the tank charge has dropped so the motor itself cannot keep up.

large tanks only buy you more time until the motor kicks in, and mine isnt overly quiet. But you could easily build a small box around it with some sound deadening if noise is a concern.

9.85 @ 145mph
202mph standing mile
speed didn't kill me, but taxation probably will

At one point (until one died) i had two compressors linked together that I had off Oli Jeynes, I think they are both 3hp and one tank is 70l and other was about 40l, never ever struggled until one gave up the ghost. I think the one left needs servicing tbh but 3hp is definitely the way to go. I dont find spraying uses all that much air with a hvlp gun

Something like this, if you've got the room:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Newman-Ingersoll...=item35ecce43a6

Mine came out the local council bus garage, so it's not had a easy life. It's date stamped on it is july 1939 and it's still going strong. Takes 9 minutes to fill the tank (250 litre) from empty, it runs grinders, sanders, easily. But had to wire it direct to it's own 30amp M.C.B.

Edited by DILLIGAF on 2nd Jul, 2015.

Cheers for the help guys.. Massively helpful... Looks like to buy new prices start at around 300 for something 3hp with 100 litre.. Whats the deal with belt drive and direct drive.. Thers an sip one on sale at tools today that looks good, direct drive which i might go for, and their shops local

Belt drive are quieter in my experience, not sure if they're capable of as high pressures, most seem to be rated at 8 bar whilst direct 10 bar

Direct drive is three times as noisy, as belt. Plus belt drive usually means you can change the motor easily/cheaply.

I don't agree with that, I have had both. Direct drive is maybe 30% noisier than belt.

I used two compressors linked together for a while but the problem is that, although you have twice the capacity before the air is all gone, no matter how carefully you adjust the cut-in pressures one will cut in before the other to replace the air used. This means that all you are doing is speeding up the initial fill and having a bigger receiver.

I've had one of these for years, probably 15 or more....

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/...-air-compressor

It was the popular choice amongst the people I used to work with, we had group buys on Machine Mart stuff on their VAT free mail order weeks and there would allways be a couple of these in the list (group buys got us an improved discount and free delivery).

The only problem I ever had with it is the head gasket went once for no apparent reason.
But being Clarke/MachineMart I had the new gasket the next day, they have an online sister company that does the spares at very reasonable prices.

As already said, things like DA sanders use lots of air so you need a high rated compressor - the size of the receiver just buys you a bit of time before the motor re-starts.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

Not sure on the actual percentage tom lol. But I could hear my direct drive compressor in the house over the TV. Where as the belt drive I can't even hear it 4 yards down the path from the garage.

Anyone have experience with hydrovane compressors? How much quieter are they? There seems to come up regularly on ebay, although a cost a bit more than conventional ones, I wonder if it's worth it for a quiet one.

they are much quieter and generally kick out a fair bit more CFM too but most are 3ph