Hi guys i have a question about air compressors. My brother is moving and takinging his nice 80 gallon compressor with him. My 60 gallon finally gave out. What i am tring to decide is do i buy an 80 gallon compressor or do i get another 60 gallon and run with both tanks.

The 80 gallon i am looking at is a Colmon Max Force i think. It is a 2 stage, 14.6 cfm @ 100 psi and 14.1 cfm @175 psi with a 175 max psi

There are two 60 gallons i am looking at One is a Colman brand same as above. It is a single stage unite125 to 155 psi 16.1 cfm @ 40 psi and 14 cfm @ 90 psi.

The other is a Ingersol that if i remember right is about the same as the 60 gallon colman. I think this even though is a smaller unite is a better copressor than the coleman not saying colman is bad but Ingersol is better i belive. The 80 gallon colman is about 150 bucks more than the 60 gallon ingersol.

I am using it for air sanding tools DA buffer sandblaster body shop kind of stuff. If i am remember right cfm is more inportant than psi ?? If thats so wouldnt the 60 gallon with 16.1 cfm @ 40 psi better than the 80 gallon with 14 @ 100 psi??

I guess to make this easyer. Will i get better performance by getting a 60 gallon and plumb it in with the tank from my old one?
Or do i get the 80 gallon and forget about a 2 tanks operation?

Thanks

 

IIRC, the Coleman unit is made by Devilbiss, and the IR unit is slightly better quality. If the price isn't too much more, though, why not run the 80gallon with the 60gallon secondary tank? More air storage is never a bad thing, and it will help dry the air as long as you set it up right, the air will have to come from the 80gallon, go through the 60gallon tank, and then on to the system. If the 60gallon tank is just teed in, it'll only be an air reserve.
Why not just get a new compressor head or motor for yours (whichever is bad)? That's way cheaper than a whole new unit.

 

The higher the pressure the lower the cfm will be. ( efficiency goes down as pressure goes up ). Your 16 CFM @ 40 psi will likely be 10 CFM @ 100 psi.

You are right CFM is what you want. The more the better. BUT you still need at least 125 psi for general shop use. If someone tightens the lugnuts @ 150 psi I don't care how many cfm you use, it's not going to budge @ 80 psi.

And lastly, do not operate a single stage higher than 130 PSIG.
Just be sure to compare specs at the same pressure.

Storage is not an issue in the small horsepower units. It may take longer to use the stored air on any particular job but conversly it will also take longer to replace that used air.

I would go with the I/R

 

If it were me, personally I would go with the IR or one of their made for another company compressors first. (Not sure who else they make) Now the other thing I would do is use the 60 gal tank from the compressor that gave out in conjunction with the new one (doesnt matter if its 60 or 80 gallon) But you definatly want to make sure to get a 2 stage pump and get one that can handle higher CFM.