what can i get out of this little compressor?

[bluenose]

Hi,

I've very kindly been given a little compressor, its not a great one but it's unused and more importantly, free!

its an airmaster and the plate on the side says 1.5 hp 7.06cfm and I think its a 30 liter tank.

What can i reasonably expect from it? the tools i most wanted to run were just a die grinder, tyre inflator and maybe impact wrench.

Also I had the plan of painting my van in rustoleum during the winter as a temporary measure until i can afford a professional 2pk jobby, i've seen people use 50 quid electric guns to spray the stuff with good results, will i be able to get away with using the compressor to spray it with a HVLP gun?

Do I just need to go for tools that demand <7cfm?

 

[pedrobedro]

The tyre inflater will definitely work, the impact gun should work in short bursts but the die grinder will struggle. You will need a gun suited to your compressor preferably not HVLP and will be doing a bit and waiting for it to catch up quite a bit.

 

[shenion]

My HVLP gun is 7 CFM (just a cheap gun.) I used it on my old compressor rathed at 7CFM FAD and I had to stop and let the compressor keep up. It will work for small things but any large areas, you will be waiting for it to fill.

I would expect a large HVLP gun to be useless on a small compressor.

 

[tigler]

Also, placing a continuous demand on a small hobby compressor with a limited duty cycle will drastically shorten it's life.

 

[Chipper]

1.5hp is probs around 4ish cfm FAD. The 7cfm there will be displacement.
My missus has one like that. It barely turns a 4cfm die grinder (though the stated 4cfm req'd for it is way optimistic). It can run my mini conventional gun OK, that wants 2-4cfm. You could paint a van with that, but it'd take rather a while... do it in sections or you'd lose the will to live
A fullsize HVLP gun will be 12,15cfm or suchlike so no real chance. Even my mini HVLP takes 9cfm so again no real hope.
It powered a rivet gun and her air staplers and stuff no bother.
I use it for airbrushing now, or as a extra tank for her other comp.

Could save the money on the pro respray and spend it on a bigger comp + kit instead?

 

[NTwoO]

Also, placing a continuous demand on a small hobby compressor with a limited duty cycle will drastically shorten it's life.

Compressors also become less efficient as the temps rise. So continual working will mean that the compressor starts to lose the fight and it gets worse and worse.

 

[bluenose]

Cheers for the advice, sounds like i may be struggling on such a small compressor then.

I don't really mind being stop start, or if i shorten it's life as it was free. I am planning to roller paint but could really do with something to spray with too. I just thought if people are getting such good results with these 50 quid electric earlex sprayers i'd deffo be able to do it with this little compressor.... or do I just buy the earlex then instead of using the compressor??? I will just end up having to flat it a lot but elbow grease is free.

I looked at these guns
Clarke PSC Spray Gun
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/p...ath/spray-guns-spraying-equipment-air-brushes

Clarke Pro Spray Gun - PRO12C
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/p...ath/spray-guns-spraying-equipment-air-brushes

The first one says it only needs 3cfm and the other says it needs 6cfm and is ideally suited to compressors 1.5hp and above.

Are they really rubbish guns or is it all dirty lies that they will work on my compressor?

 

[Chipper]

They are cheap but might be OK, I find it's hit and miss with cheapies. Got ones that are OK and others fit only for throwing at the garage rat...
Also with cheap tools the stated air req's can be pretty optimistic. Who knows, might be spot on with those, but your comp won't put out 6cfm.

You might do well to get an Aldi comp (puts out 6.5 or 7, around £70 I think), and hook the two together (see various threads on here). Or just use the little 'un as extra air tank coupled with the Aldi to give ~50 litres.

Personally I'd avoid the electric things, with air comps you have the potentional to do more than just colouring in.

 

[pedrobedro]

You could get a Sealey pro gold gravity gun on ebay for under £30 from hugspaint and it will work if you are not in too much of a hurry. Tooled up sell it for £35.71.

 

[Rick]

1.5hp is probs around 4ish cfm FAD. The 7cfm there will be displacement.
My missus has one like that. It barely turns a 4cfm die grinder (though the stated 4cfm req'd for it is way optimistic). It can run my mini conventional gun OK, that wants 2-4cfm. You could paint a van with that, but it'd take rather a while... do it in sections or you'd lose the will to live
A fullsize HVLP gun will be 12,15cfm or suchlike so no real chance. Even my mini HVLP takes 9cfm so again no real hope.
It powered a rivet gun and her air staplers and stuff no bother.
I use it for airbrushing now, or as a extra tank for her other comp.

Could save the money on the pro respray and spend it on a bigger comp + kit instead?

When they say 4cfm thats usually at a certain duty cylce, 75% IIRC. So its probably at least 6cfm.

 

[Joseph Peace]

If you get an extra resevoir it helps. I've got a big propane bottle as an extra resevoir which means you can get your little bursts of use to be slightly longer bursts of use. But in the end you'll find that a more powerful compressor is what you need.

NB Not sure about the safety of getting rid of residual propane if you do this - mine was done years ago by my dad!

 

[rkde]

Please don't hurt me for my troll like answer to the question

what can i get out of this little compressor? compressed air

 

[Dune]

I had one like that 25 litre tank and it worked its heart out for me. It gets hot under constant use but I was only spraying bike panels one at a time so worked out well. The problem I found was using my 3" polisher I could use it untill the air ran out, wait two mintues and start again.

The real problem is the noise. They get very loud when used and they are hot. They dont break down just plod on. Just watch the oil level.