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Hello Gentleman,
I will apologize ahead of time if this post is in the wrong location. I am shopping for my first air compressor and have been learning a lot. To begin with, my main purpose is for filling the tires with a secondary purpose of blowing things off and who knows, maybe get an air ratchet next time a repair is needed. For the heavy stuff I take the Ex to a good sh$p. My budget is ~$200. I know it's not much but I want to get the most from my hard earned dollar. I'd love to get some opinions on which compressor would be the best bang for the buck. Below is a used Dewalt 15 gal and a HF 20 gal that I'm considering. I may also do some painting with an HVLP spray gun but that would be a rare occasion.
Dewalt D55168- $200 used on CL 15 gallons 1.6 hp continuous 225 psi 5 CFM 78 dba
McGraw- $249.99 new 20 gallons 1.6 hp 14 amps 135 psi 4 CFM 85 dba
.... I am shopping for my first air compressor and have been learning a lot. To begin with, my main purpose is for filling the tires ....
Checkout the Jaco FlowPro tire inflator, it costs a bit more than the HF inflators I used to have. I really like how easy it is to connect to a valve stem and seems well built.
After my 40 year old USA built 25 gal Craftsman compressor crapped out on me last year I went down the rabbit hole researching what to replace it with. The main duty for me was to run my impact wrenches and other air tools. As usual, any compressor you buy now a days will be built in China with various levels of precision which drives the costs in either direction. For an at home DIY'er, I couldn't swallow the prices I found for a USA or other high quality built one. I took a gamble and bought the Harbor Freight McGraw compressor you list above. Aside from the noise when running, it has been great so far. Feels of good quality and would recommend.
The option of buying a high quality used compressor is there as well, but I didn't want to buy one with some hidden rust spot inside the tank or something from lack of draining or run in a humid environment without a water separator.
I picked up a Husky 27 gal with a 1.7 hp motor. It hold 200 psi and delivers 5.1 cfm @ 90 psi.
I found it from a family who buys Home Depot returns. It’s essentially brand new. I was sure to check it’s operation by evacuating it all the way down and opened the drain valve. There was probably < 1/2 cup of water, then pumped it up to 200 psi. It had no leaks and pumped up quickly, maybe 5 mins. The specs say it’s noise level is 79 dba. I believe it.
For tires, i have the Bauer 20V portable inflator, its actually pretty powerful, can get up to 80 PSI, and runs on the same batteries as all the other tools, so far i have the Bauer 20V 1/2 inch Impact, 20V Inflator, 20V Heat Gun, 20V Jigsaw with Laser, 20V USB Charger which converts the battery into a mobile power bank, and a 5 AH extended battery. The 5 AH Battery with the USB adapter can charge the average cell phone like 10-15 times to full power before it starts to get low, its incredible, and blows those little power bars, and mini power banks out of the water, but figure its 20V being stepped down to 5V for USB, so your multiplying the Output capacity by 4 at that voltage step down, so 5AH at 20V becomes 20 AH at 5V, and that is ridiculous capacity for charging phones, tablets, etc.
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