This thread is directed to those who owns/uses an air compressor at home. What brand do you own? How much HP is the motor? How much gallons? Single or dual? Next. Based on how many gallons your compressor has, what duties do you do with an impact wrench until the air compressor recharges the tank back up? (ie, one round of 20 lug nuts) Last, is it stupid to buy a 11 gallon air tank (w/o a compressor) and attach an impact wrench to it and use it for loosening and torqueing? Is a regulator needed to set ft/lbs? With a maximum of 125 psi in the 11 gallon tank, would it last a round of un-install and install of struts/springs before I need to make a stop at the gas station's tire pump? Is it worth it?
i use my fathers 4 hp 11 gallon craftsman, for impact gun, and painting, works fine, but its loud as hell!
I have two air compressors that I use for airbrushing artwork. Loud, loud, loud but it get's the job done. I've used it once in awhile to pump air into my tires in those needed moment. I have not use it with any impact wrench so that question will have to be use for those who has.
Remember, the gallons doesn't mean anything, what you want to look at is the CFM ot 90psi. That is the most important thing. The higher the number the better. Do you have 220v?? If not, you will only be about to get 3-5cfm at 90psi, if you are going to run 220v, make sure you get about 10-13cfm. As for what I have, I am running a mini 4 gallon piggy backed onto a 15 gallon tank that pushes about 4.5cfm at 90psi. I can't get through 20 lug nuts before it kicks on. My brother-in-law has a 4cfm at 90psi with a 30 gallon tank, and his is worse than mine. If you are going to be running die grinders/impacts/stuff that uses alot of air, you will want alot of cfm. If you are running little air brushes or just a blowoff, the gallons will help out. Another thing to watch for is the max psi, my little compressor is 145psi max (helps bust tight lug nuts loose), where as my brother-in-law's is only 125, and you can definitly tell a difference. Russ
Menard's is having a sale right now. Just saw it in thier commercial after the game. I think its $179.99 after rebates.
I appreciate your input, Russ. I didn't care to think of the CFM @ 90psi. I didn't notice that listed the sales floor. For the rest of you monkeys, thanks too! Vic airbrushes, too? First you sing, then you breakdance. What don't you do? I've went to Harbor Freight today, and the compressors there are a lot cheaper than Sear's or Cambel-Hausfield brand compressors. Quality, huh? The higher the HP, the quicker the tank gets filled? The higher the CFM @ 90psi, the stronger the tools are? The higher the gallon capacity, the longer the use?
I'll show you mine when you come over tonight. Nothing special but it gets the job done for what I need.
I have a 30 gal compressor that I use in the back garage. It is capable of 6scfm @ 90psi. It is the commercial Coleman brand, can't remeber the name. It has served me well over the last 6mo. I don't really track how often it comes on because it doesn't really matter. Looks like Russ will explain what is important, and why, so I will let him explain, as my knowledge is fairly limited... Christian
IIRC, Menards is advertising a 22 gal 5 hp air compressor for under $200!!! I'll pay a visit on my night off from class.
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by kickin_81 IIRC, Menards is advertising a 22 gal 5 hp air compressor for under $200!!! I'll pay a visit on my night off from class. <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote"> That's pretty much the same specs as mine. You can do a lot of work with 5HP and 20+ gallons of storage. MAX PSI is also a good spec to look at. I've had suspension and exhuast bolts that would not budge with 90 PSI to my impact wrench. Had to crank it upto 125 PSI on some bolts. Others simply would not budge with even 125 PSI.... there's no replacement for an 18" breaker bar and 4' cheeter bar :mrgreen:
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by morganm <blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by kickin_81 IIRC, Menards is advertising a 22 gal 5 hp air compressor for under $200!!! I'll pay a visit on my night off from class. <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote"> That's pretty much the same specs as mine. You can do a lot of work with 5HP and 20+ gallons of storage. MAX PSI is also a good spec to look at. I've had suspension and exhuast bolts that would not budge with 90 PSI to my impact wrench. Had to crank it upto 125 PSI on some bolts. Others simply would not budge with even 125 PSI.... there's no replacement for an 18" breaker bar and 4' cheeter bar :mrgreen: <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote"> I got the 6hp 33 gal for my stepdad when it had the full set of tools for free. it was 200 something and I keeped the impact, wrachet, and die grinder. Costco has a 5 gun paint kit for 90$ too. I got them and they are nice.
i've been using then like crazy....just havent had a chacne to look at it to see wat brand. use it for everything.....its worth it.....
the cfm is the heart of the system. If the compressor old has a rating of 4cfm @90psi, and you use a tool that uses 4cfm@90psi, the pump will turn on right away, regardless of the size of the tank. If your pump puts out say 10cfm, the system knows that it can wait a bit before turning on the pump because the pump is faster than the tool. Basically, you need to figure out what tool uses the most air (probably a die grinder or impact) and make sure you cfm is higher than that. That is the probablem my b-i-l has, his pump is to small (tank size doesn't matter much), so even with his 30gal tank, you pull the trigger on a impact, and it turns on. Don't forget to look at the little pancake compressors, some of those have a very high cfm rating. Most of the pancake compressors are made to run multiple nail guns, so all you do is add a external tank to the little compressor and you are good to go. Russ
Thanks again for the help guys. I have decided on a Campbell-Hausfeld air compressor: 5 hp, 5.5 CFM @ 90 psi, and 26 gallons. I'm getting it slightly used, but the cost is super low. The impact wrench, on the other hand, is also a C-H and consumes 5.1 CFM @ 90 psi. Its operating pressure is at 90psi and has 4 different torque settings: 150, 195, 215, 230. What does that mean? When I regulate the air compressor to 90 psi, the four torque settings comes to those numbers? I can't use the impact wrench over 90 psi? If I don't want to strip lug nuts and bolts when I'm installing bolts, what must I do to lower the torque settings?
I use all my tools at full pressure (145psi). Its probably not the best for everything, but I oil all my air tools. Sometimes you just need the extra pressure to break some stuff loose when you have a smalkler impact gun. Russ
I've finally decided to make my purchase. I bought this http://www.powercomplete.com/Portab...sors-Horizontal/Campbell-Hausfeld-VS5006.html for only $180. Belt driven and 5.7 CFM @ 90psi, baby!!! I believe it was a shelf item and was never used. No oil in the motor either. Included (free!) was a 3/8" ratchet (for doing brakes, oil changes, strut top bolts, etc.), a die grinder, a 25' air hose, a quart of compressor oil, and the fittings needed to begin working on my car. If anyone is interested in buying decent tools for a very good discount, visit http://stores.ebay.com/Grandpa-Loon and/or give him a call. They have tons of stuff in their warehouse that they will cut corners for you. I spoke with Chuck, but I made the deal with Nate. Great guys to deal with.
