Which compressor?

[Mostin]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum, so first of all hi.

I'm after a little advice as to what air compressor I need for the job id like to do. I'm looking at refurbishing my alloy wheels on my car and spraying a few other bits at the same time. I have a little bit of experience of spraying as I've played around with my friends equipment before and achieved feasible results. The advice id like is what is the smallest air compressor I can get away with for little jobs such as single panel spraying, wheels and other small bits and bobs. Could some one also please explain what the cfm rating on a compressor is please.

Thanks very much in advance

Mostin

 

[steveo3002]

ive got a 2hp 25ltr budget jobby ...i can just about struggle and do a pair of wheels or a door bottom with it, which is what i wanted

get the best you can afford and have room to store

 

[Country Joe]

Hi there, and welcome to the Forum.
The CFM means Cubic Feet per Minute.
As far as "the smallest air compressor I can get away with" goes, I'd suggest too much is better than "just enough", and by as wide a margin as you can run to.
All the Best,
CJ

 

[cumbriasteve]

My Aldi model with a gravity feed gun is quite good for what it is and made a nice job of a damaged Mondeo door, it is however a direct drive thingy and as a result is noisy... so noisy that if I was using it all the time it would drive me mad.

As mentioned above... get the best you can afford, a belt drive if possible, they come up for sale on this forum now and again.

 

[xboxjoner]

hi Mostin, i am also from Hereford (Hinton) and selling a compressor that hasn't had much use. it a SIP 1.5 hp direct drive on a 50 ltr tank so doesn't take up much room. I have used it for spraying without any problems, you are more than welcome to come and have a look and to see it working

 

[kempster]

I am also looking at a compressor to assist in my car resto,

anyone had one of these

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wolf-Dakota-3HP-Compressor/dp/B002TPSUMY

no thread hijack intended

 

[Cally91]

I am also looking at a compressor to assist in my car resto,

anyone had one of these

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wolf-Dakota-3HP-Compressor/dp/B002TPSUMY

no thread hijack intended

I bought one and to be fair it's great for the price very quite compared to my DD one and keeps up with most tools but does run out of air if using the 6" DA for long periods but I've joined it to another 200L tank now so works fine for my needs haven't tryed spraying or shot blasting yet but I'm sure it will spray quite nicely only niggle I have is it's set to 8 bar max not 10 as stated

 

[kempster]

spraying will be my main use for the compressor the other uses will be a bonus, i was thinking a clarke or sealy 100ltr tank 3hp 14cfm around the 350 mark but they are direct drive and this one is belt so thought the neighbours might appreciate it more

 

[marc.w]

I am also looking at a compressor to assist in my car resto,

anyone had one of these

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wolf-Dakota-3HP-Compressor/dp/B002TPSUMY

no thread hijack intended

I bought one of these to run my air fed mask, and it performs that task well. I did have a problem with it within a couple of months, the delivery pipe developed a leak but the company sent out a new pipe very quickly. For the price it is a good compressor. If you do buy one I would suggest going all over it with a spanner, I did find a couple of loose nuts and I think this may have contributed to the leaking delivery pipe.

 

[Chipper]

Belt also gives more max pressure, most DD seem to go 8 bar (116psi) belts to 150psi.

CFM - what you want to know really is the "FAD" (Free Air Delivery) which is a measure of output. Being a smaller number than displacement it's less glamorous and sometimes not mentioned on fleabay etc, so check. Use the FAD number to gauge against sprayguns & other tools.

For wheels and small bits a mini-gun is good, and they need less air too of course.

 

[kempster]

WOLF DAKOTA 100 - 3HP 14CFM COMPRESSOR ... I contacted the seller asking for free air delivery and it's 9.4cfm, at 100psi

found the above on another website. Also it is not oil free but i assume that can be sorted by systems mentioned on here for air filtration

 

[Chipper]

You want proper filtration for sure, for oil & fumes etc. Also typical demand is 6-7cfm and all the time, so either means one monster expensive comp or a separate comp for a mask.