# Air Compressor recommendations



## downtownjr

What do you guys recommend for a new 2 stage air compressor for a new shop? It will use only one tool at a time...paint...general machinery repair...like to only have to buy this one. HP--size --brand.
Thanks


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## BCFENCE

Downtown im going to try to post some pics of the shop and compressor for you dont know how this will go, first time trying. THOMAS
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View attachment 78


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## downtownjr

BC, thanks for the pics. That is a nice compressor you have. From what I have read and heard they are top of the line.


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## prairie

I also need to buy an air compressor. Have not done much research yet. Will definately need a at least a 60 gallon size or larger.
Currently have a 27 gallon Ingersol-Rand that runs very quiet compared to a similiar model Campbell Hausfeld at the farm. Noise is a major concern at the wharehouse, but it appreciated at the farm shop also.
What is the difference between a single stage and a two stage compressor?
Which would be the quietest?

Brad


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## BCFENCE

Whatever you do dont get an oil free, Chalk that one up from experience


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## Rodney R

From the very little that I know, you need to get an IR, probably like the one BC has..... I bought one similar to that off ebay - was new, but slightly damaged in shipping - it was fixed and sold about half of what a new one would - I'd check there for possibly good deals. It does make a bit of noise, but really runs the 1/2 and 1" impact quite well - we have it plumbed to a 1" black pipe line, and it goes maybe 30 ft in each direction. I have drop valves at each outlet (for draining moisture), and a filter right off the compressor. Use a hose to make the connection to the pipe around your shop.

I think a 2 stage compresses the air once, then compresses it the second time - I can see that it has 2 cylinders, and the outlet of one goes to the intake of the other. Single stage would just be 1 cylinder. cfm is the cubic feet per minute, and is the measure of how much air it will pump - air tools are rated in how much cfm they use, so naturally you want a compressor that has more cfm than the tool you are using.

Ours is 80 gallon, 2 stage, and the model..... is 2340 something?

Rodney


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## mmaddox

For shop usage, 80 gallon tanks, cast iron compressor, and the largest motor you wiring can support. 10 hp is pretty much as large as possible on single phase. 5 horse is as small as I could recommend. Make sure it has an automatic and dryer. Try checking with Greg Smith Equipment in Indy, and the Truck Equipment place in Franklin. Try to stick with the name brands, and check into parts source.


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## diablosnuevos

If anyone is looking for some cheap air compressors take a look at this website.


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## mlappin

I built ours for less than 500 bucks. Bought a factory reman Saylor-Beall compressor for $375, already had the 3 phase five horse motor sitting around. Went to the local salvage/scrapyard and picked up a 60 gallon tank for the price of scrap. Brought it home, drilled a few pin holes out in the bottom and welded 10 gauge patches over em. Set it up in the milk house, ran a piece of 3/4 line straight up then started to angle up to the shop from there. Took the old 30 gallon tank and mounted it in the shop on the wall. Angled up a 1/2' line from there to a filter/dryer, from the filter dryer to another dryer/regulator, from there to another regulator/dryer/oiler.

Have two hose reels from a fuel truck mounted over head with 110 volt electric motors. 300' feet of red hose carry's 120 PSI for pumping up tires and blowing off equipment and the second reel has 150' of black hose which is hooked to the oiler and is set for 95 for the air tools. I used a definite purpose contactor wired to the lights in the shop to control the compressor. Shop lights off, so is the compressor. One before this cooked itself when a airhose blew and it ran all night. Also have an hour meter wired in so I can keep track of when to change the oil.

Don't buy a package strictly by horsepower, most lighter duty compressors are rated by peak horsepower, which is simply volume of air the tank holds x pressure x something else. Look at the CFM and what pressure it's delivered at. Mine is rated for 23 CFM at 175 PSI or 33.2 CFM at 100 PSI. Also look at duty cycle, a compressor isn't a lot of good if it can only run for three minutes then needs to cool for seven. I think mine is 80% duty cycle but I won't swear to it.

Easy access to the internals. Use's needle bearing on the wrist pins and automotive type babbet bearings on the crank.










Compared to the size of the 5hp motor. Cast motor mount that was on the tank was busted so I built my own motor mount. I really need to get the rest of that unused electrical crap off the walls one of these days in my 'spare' time.










Controller and hour meter. Almost 800 hours on it and have done nothing but change oil.


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## saltwater

mlappin,

In a former life I was an engineer for pressure vessels, I like your set up and also do many things myself. I cannot tell for sure from your photos but I did not see a pressure relief on your unit. This is extremely important not only for your equipment but for your safety also. They are inexpensive and spring loaded. It can be mounted inline and if for some reason your pressure switch fails and the compressor does not shut off, the pop off will open to release excess pressure and then close when the pressure falls to an acceptable level.
I have seen small buildings destroyed by pressures no higher than an air compressor.


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## mlappin

saltwater said:


> I cannot tell for sure from your photos but I did not see a pressure relief on your unit.


It's there my friend, the automatic pressure relief is actually behind the motor/compressor mounting plate so it can't be seen from those pictures. Also have a tee for the pressure control and have a one time use pressure relief in case the automatic one doesn't blow.

Thank you as well, I've been very pleased with it overall, since all the lines angle up to the tank in the shop, then up again from their, all the water seems to drain back into the tanks. Even when very humid in the summer, or in the spring and fall with wide temperature variations and condensation seems to be the worst, I may drain a teaspoon a week out of the main filter/dryer and hardly ever have any water in the regulator/dryers to drain.


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## saltwater

That is great. It is cool that it seems to self drain the water, it will make your tools last alot longer. I realized yesterday that my tank has a small leak and I am going to have to pull it out and flip it over and do some welding. My pressure switch stuck yesterday also and left the compressor running until the pop off blew. Isn't that a wild coincidence? Maybe I should not talk about pieces of equipment that I want to keep working. By the way the steering brick in my 4440 apparrantly is going out and causing aleak down the steering column and I got 3 inches of rain on the hay that I was starting to bale last night. It was already spoken for. I told my wife that God must be checking to see what kind of metal we are made of, now I wonder if he is checking to see if we are made of carbon fiber.


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## Chessiedog

I have a IR 5hp with 80 gallon tank just under 3 years old just use it in farm shop motor burned up already wish I had bought an Eaton compressor check them out just do search for Eaton compressors .


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## mlappin

Most electric motors seem not to be near the quality they used to be. I blame all the cheap imported crap. Either the major manufacturers have to take a cut in sales or make their stuff cheaper to compete.


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## dixietank

I wont buy anything other than an IR now. We run lots of air tools at the same time and the only time my 5 HP 2 stage can't keep up is when using multiple D/A sanders or a 1" impact for very long. I've had cheaper compressors that cost me more in the long run to repair than the IR. The only issues I've had with it have been moisture messing up the pressure switch but hell we have 60 - 80% humidity daily and if I don't drain the tank nobody else ever seems to think about it until water is shooting out of an impact. We've tried auto water bleeders but they tend to hang open after just a few months. Like I saw in a previous post, I also have drip legs at each outlet that I can drain, a secondary relief inside the shop, filters and water traps for crucial equipment that is moisture sensative like plasma cutters.


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