Bought this off ebay

[zardoz]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180224384220

Bought one like this but blue for £89 including carriage. Seems ok, not used it in anger yet. All i have to do know is navigate the strange and confusing world of connectors!

Also do you guys recommend getting an oiler/filter, and if so, is it better to attach to a wall, away from the unit, or can it be connected to it ?

 

[shenion]

An oiler/filter/regulator combo is good. The most important is the water trap part of the filter. Really helps save tools.

I have my output Tee'd one with the filter/trap/regulator/oiler and another with a filter/trap/regulator (no oiler). That way I can use air tools on the one and the other is for painting and filling tires.

The farther the filter is from the compressor, the more water it will trap as the air has time to cool.

 

[rtbcomp]

Check your local Aldi - they had oiler/regulator/filter units on offer a week or so ago.

 

[lovelectricity]

hi zardoz, good buy there, the most important is the air dryer i use 2, 1 about 3 ft from the comp(set to about 90 psi) and another on the end of the flexable(20 ft) before my coiled pipe(set to the needed psi) when spraying, or the can crusher. if you use air tools a small squirt of oil into the tools connector will do unless u use it non stop hours at time. if you have an oiler inline you cant spray as the air will be oily, even if you wind it till off, the airline will still have oil on the inside of the pipe for ages. if you intend to use seperate dryer and oiler the oiler must go after the dryer, or the dryer will try to take the oil out aswell. hope this helps, oh and drain the comp regulary the tank will fill up with water.

 

[hareng]

May be a good buy for rare use, i have a direct drive one very similar which i took to work out the way some years ago. Only bought it in an emergency to do a job on car with a right angle drill, thereafter used as a blow gun for rare usage 1 or 2 times per week for 2 mins each time, packed up within 10 months.
Bought a semi pro rated one £360 at time before above shot, still going strong 8 years on.
Tip dont let the motor run for very long, ie filling tank up from empty. Will struggle with tools that require air consumption such as sand blaster, die grinder and belt sanders, etc. Take it easy.

To a certain extent thats why there are dearer things, they last longer.

 

[zardoz]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm at a bit of a loss to know where to go to learn all i have to find out about this compressor lark. Things such as oilers, and whether to have one or just squirt a bit in the tool before use (i think) and filters, dryers (are these the same thing ?) Whether or not to have two separate lines for oil and non oil, whether to have a line, then a snap on coiled pipe. Unlike welding where there are myriad places to go and books to read, compressors and their kit have naught.
I don't just want to buy some air line and bang away at my air tools without having any real knowledge of what im doing.

Help!

 

[Wozzaaah]

Rtbcomp is the air guru, it seems that if he doesn't know it it doesn't need to be known.
Regarding oiling tools, I just give a quick couple of drops in the air inlet before use, saves having to have two hoses. You can also get inline mini-oilers but I've got a feeling I read that they aren't up to much.

 

[rtbcomp]

Rtbcomp is the air guru, it seems that if he doesn't know it it doesn't need to be known.
...

[Blush] Aw shucks [/blush]

Any probs just ask specific questions. I'll do my best failing that a dozen others are bound to have an answer for you - it may even be the correct one!

 

[shenion]

I had one of those inline mini-oilers. Great if you want to dump 1 oz of oil into a tool in about 20 seconds. I had it with two quick connects I could put just before a tool. However, it was a pain with a tiny fill hole. Just easier to put some oil in the tool every once in a while.

A dedicated oiler is best, but they have no way of bypassing them. Evin if you could turn it off, there would still be oil in the lines/fittings. Best to have a separate output Tee'd off before the oiler.

As others mentioned, you need to separate "oil" and "non oil" hoses. Once you use an hose with an oiler, it can not be used for non-oil things (spraying).

Filters, dryers and water traps can generally refer to the same thing. Usually a hard foam filter and a large clear bowl to catch water. Also has some sort of drain valve. They are commonly combined with a pressure regulator. There are "dryers" that are more elaborate (desiccant dryers, dehumidifiers) that cost more than you paid for the compressor .

You might look out for a deal on a filter/oiler. I got one relatively cheap off ebay.

 

[Rusty]

A couple of drops of air tool oil into the tool air inlet and thats it ! not your spay gun tho !A combination oil/water trap on the outlet of the compressor works ok and drain your tank every now and again.

 

[lovelectricity]

yep its the way forward oil the tool then use it. this leaves the airline 'clean' for spraying etc. its what ive always done. mini inline oilers look cheap and shi**y so i never bought one. on the usage front i got another 50 litre tank(made from a propane bottle) for mine. DONT JUST CONNECT IT UP, MIXING GAS WITH COMPRESSED AIR CAN PRODUCE FOR WANT OF BETTER WORDS A FU*KING BOMB, DONT CUT IT OPEN EITHER, ask and ill tell you how it was done. its only a sip hurricane but copes fine, even filling from empty( been going four years now). but does not like my air sander, the comp gets hot and shuts down, stopped using that straight away( it was crap anyway).

 

[marknotgeorge]

When I worked at Toyota, tools were oiled by the 'dribble some down the air inlet when they got too slow' method. Although we weren't supposed to do this with the auto-shut off tools connected to the pokey (pokayoke - from the Japanese for 'error-proof' - basically a box which knew how many bolts you were supposed to fire for a particular job, and stop the production line with an alarm and flashing lights if it hadn't counted enough).