i got the craftsman 33 gal upright it powers most tools but on air grinders and air cut off tools and DA the air depletes much too fast and u need to wait tilll it builds up again its kind of a pain,,,,,,,so if you are using those tools a lot i suggest going for the $500-$800 to get a 60-80 gal upright belt driven

 

ok heres a GREAT set up home depot has a setup 30 gal compressor 1/2 in impact 3/8 air raatchet impact hamer paint gun blow gun sockets and hose for only 300 bones but it is oilless the biggest differance between oiled and oilless is the noise factor and a 2 stage is a must this setup will be more than enough for a home random user and if anything breaks spend the money to replace it with higherquality goods (comes with husky) IR and CP (ingersol rand and chicago pnumatic) are the best i work in a tire shop so we are always abusing and using the crap out of our tools and they always hold up and you can over torque lug nuts and warp your rotors and thats my 2 cents

 

Buy the bigest and best one you can get. If you over size it it will last much longer.

The higher the voltage the lower the amps the less it will cost to run.

I have a 50 hp air screw 220cfm @ 118 psi. I could go down to a 25 hp but it would run a lot more and the maintence cost would go up. I also have a red sears 6.5 hp oil free. It logs about 500 hrs a year and has to be rebuilt every two years ($60) or so and it is loud very loud!! At home I have a Dewalt 110volts 135 psi and a 4.5 gal tank with auto unload on the head. It is used to run in impact gun and fill up dirt bike and tractor tires. It is a nice portable unit not loud and it starts with no problem.

I would not buy another oil free unit.

I you are going to use high volume tools you could look for a used air screw 10hp 50cfm 120 psi. I have seen then go for $500-1500.

Check your phone book for dealers they get a lot of tradins when shops upgrade.

You will find alot of uses for it.

Bill

 

stump man,
(The higher the voltage the lower the amps the less it will cost to run)

Most power companies charge for watts (volts x amps) not just amps. for the most part, volts and amps are directly inverse (depends on single phase or 3 phase power) but in general it is as you stated.... however the watts are equal (eg. 240v @ 5 amps = 1200 watts / 120v @ 10 amps = 1200 watts.) So it may not necessarily cost less to run. Sorry about going on and on just wanted to point out it may not be cheaper.

 

To keep all your hoses clean and your air tools PROPERLY lubricated make an inline lubricator. Connect the lubricator right before the tool. You can find directions to make an inline lubricator in my user gallery.

The FRL's (Filter/Regulator/Lubricator) that are sold in stores are "point of use" devices intended to provide clean lubricated air to a machine or at a workstation. The lubrication will not travel down the lines very far in an atomized form that an air tool or device needs. The lubricant ends up on the walls of the pipe and hose.

Don't use teflon tape on your air hose and pipe joints. The teflon "fibers" get into bearings and air motors and destroy them. Use regular paste type pipe thread dope. The pipe dope seals much more effectively also and you will have a greater chance of having no leaks.

 

Thanks coachhomer. Maybe we can learn together!

Great stuff there vegetablering - I've gone back to bleeding the air out of mine at the end of the day, too. (I re-read the instructions and they do say to do that.) I figure it can't hurt, can it?

The in-line lubricator sound like a good idea, too. I like the setup you have there Torque1st (Yeah, I looked at your pic of the lubricator with the short hose with the swivel - as it happens, I bought both those items - just didn't hook them up that way - great idea! The oil has less distance to go to get to the tool and thus won't be sitting and gumming up the hose.)

Also, I didn't know that about the teflon tape. Everyone seems to use it! Pipethread dope - are you talking about "Plumbers Putty" or the "Pipe Joint Compound"?

I'll add my general "thanks all" to coachhomer's. And thanks to coachhomer for starting the question/answer thread on air compressors. Maybe we can end up with a comprehensive "compressor" and "Pneumatic Tools" thread?

 

569104 you are corect. We have every thing possible on 3 phase. Are local power co. gives us a discount rate the more we use. If you up grade your service at home you pay a set rate for the first kwats and then a discount if you use more. most people around here get extra poles and an out side light at no extra charge ( it is in the base rate) and most people never use ther base rate.

Are power co is the one they blame for last years big east coast black out. The problem started at the north end of are road and we never lost power at home.

Bill

 

Just because "everyone" does it does not make it right. Most people just don't know any better. I use teflon pipe joint compund. It is available in tubes, jars and tubs at my local home box store. I don't use enuf to buy it in anything but tubes and jars. Most people probably do it because it is neat and clean.

A lot of people use teflon tape on hydraulic fittings too which is not right, -very bad! But then I have seen people use teflon tape on brake system fittings to seal them better... The teflon tape sometimes helps to get them a little tighter but when you get to that point you are close to destroying the fitting.

 

Got the pipe joint compound - replacing all my teflon tape on my "quick connects" with it now. I've also made me a "lubricator swivel end-hose" aka a "Torque1st special connection"

 

Eric,

On an air compressor what is the highest pressure you'll see, maybe 250 psi? I have yet to see any connection made with Teflon tape leak at these low pressures. We used tape on hydraulic fittings in the Navy too, up to 40K PSI. Maybe things have changes since I was in the Navy, after all, we still used oars at that time......

 

DUH, I went back and re-read the thread. I guess you have a point regarding the teflon fibers. As for the sealing power, we used it in applications up to 40K PSI with no problems in the Navy.

 

If you are going to use the impact to put the lugs bak on then I would use a torque stick(i'm not sure of the correct term, but it is a socket extension that will limit how tight the lugs will get no matter what your gun wants to do), over use of impacts are one source of stripped, crossthreaded and stretched studs. A very useful part of a die-grinder is a scotch pad, removes paint, rust, gaskets. One last thing worth mentioning is safety. Air tools turn at a very hi speed even a blow gun can turn a paint chip into sight ending shrapnel. So eye/face and hearing protection are a must(well, highly recommended anyway).
Ps. i've always been told that teflon tape is not bad its just that if any breaks off and gets into your system it will gum up whatever it comes in contact with because it doesn't melt or dissolve.

 

I was told by a person using an impact wrench to put the lugs back on my tires after rotating them (at a "Merchant's Tires" if you know what that is) that he was using one of those when I told him that the Explorer was not to have it's lugs torqued over 100 ft/lbs. I have sence looked for them to no avail. But, I think I will NOT look further, after the last week-end when I went to remove the lugs from that Explorer and they were MUCH tighter than 100 ft/lbs!


I bought a pair of plastic "safety glasses" this last week-end at Harbor Freight. I had a couple of pairs of Safety Goggles and didn't like them (they make my eyes sweat, which fogs the goggles!) so I thought I'd try the safety glasses - but found the range of prices confusing as I couldn't see much difference in them. Any Suggestions?

Also - ear plugs - thought those were just to protect my ears from the noise - which doesn't seem that loud.

Um, not to come across offensive, newfordy, but isn't "getting into your system and gumming up whatever it comes in contact with" (sic) what might be termed "bad"?

On to my next "noobee" question: On re-reading impact wrench and rachet instructions, I find that both warn of continuing once the tool has "stalled" when tightening. What does the term "stalled" mean here? Also, my impact wrench has four "power" settings on a **** on next to the air connection. Under what circumsances would one use those?

Thanks again all!

 

When a ratchet stalls, it means it does not have enough power to turn the nut or bolt... and throws your hand into the sharpest piece of metal around, lol and for an impact, the impact is a hammering when it hammering and won't turn, it is stalled. Think of an impact wrench as a hammer and a chisel turning a bolt, when it's easy to turn(like when starting a lug nut, you can twist it with your fingers)you don't need the hammer, but when it starts to tighten the hammer kicks in and drives it home.

 

[ Also, my impact wrench has four "power" settings on a **** on next to the air connection. Under what circumsances would one use those?

Thanks again all![/QUOTE]

for example you would use these to prevent over (spelling?)tightining of a lug nut. (so you may use a torque wrench for final tighting) This is much like the clutch setting on your cordless drill.