I have one of these in one of my shops. http://www.mr-hobby.com/en/itemDetail.php?iId=2
It is very low volume, but designed for small spray guns. It comes with filters and everything, and is very clean and quiet. good company, but they name things like my kids name our pets. they sell a Mr. Storage Box and Mr. Paint Tray.
If I wanted a small compressor for replacing canned air, and I had the means, this would be my compressor of choice. Most little compressors make a bunch of noise. Don’t buy one unless you listen to it first.
We are fortunate to have the big compressors in a separate building, plumbed into the various shops, with regulators and filters about every 10 feet along the walls of the shops. Also, the most used spots have hose reels installed overhead. It has been well worth the effort to install.
[quote=“roomwithaview, post:8, topic:91869, full:true”]
Air compressors? Really? [/quote]
It is a repurposed “cool tools” article.
My compressor recharges after only a couple nails with my nailgun. Is that normal?
If you are only using it on electronics, look at some Metro Datavacs. They have vac/blow models and just blowers and some have ESD protection if you need that.
It’s quite easy to DIY build a quiet compressor with a fridge or freezer compressor. You can get the compressors on ebay quite cheaply, so you don’t have to deal with degassing fridges. I got a compressor from an Ice cream display cabinet- they tend to be more powerful. You need to put a check valve between the compressor and the tank, the generic compressor switches control the pressure the compressor cuts in/out and will ensure there’s no back pressure on the compressor so it will start easily.
You don’t get a lot of air quickly, but it’s ideal for staplers or a blow gun application.
Honestly - not everything at Harbor Freight is cheap junk - go haunt /r/askamechanic for instance and you’ll find most mechanics regard their jacks as the best buyable anywhere. Their air compressors are not ‘best quality’ but they aren’t junk. Same with their toolboxes which are the only kind buyable in the price segment (others being small and cheap or big and ultra expensive) making them the only thing in that segment - even if they aren’t great.
In other words they aren’t 100% cheap crap - just mostly so.
Thanks - that’s actually exactly what I was looking for.
I think at 150 PSI that would just be annoying rather than deadly.
I totally agree that it’s not all junk and I admit that I frequent Harbor Freight myself. I find that a lot of the hand tools at Harbor Freight are fine and have a good warranty. Their cutting torch kit is exactly like a Victor torch, and in fact I suspect that both Victor and Harbor Freight torches are being produced in the same facility.
I’ve not had much luck with their power tools though, and their cheap electric disc grinder is a death trap as the plastic cover slides off the body of the thing, exposing the wiring underneath. It makes me wonder how in the world they managed to get the thing UL listed.
While anecdotal on my part, I do personally know a few people who’ve bought a Harbor Freight pancake compressor and had it break on them, and when they tried to service it themselves couldn’t get any replacement parts from Harbor Freight.
I’m not a Harbor Freight hater at all, and I find it kind of fun to shop at the place, but I am wary about some of their products.
I would say no that’s not normal. My 6 gallon pancake compressor can do more than that without having to start up again. Either your nail gun is using a huge amount of air per nail or you have a leak somewhere in your system.
Impact wrenches for tire work? Since I no longer live in snow-tire country, the only time I’ve wanted one of them is when I’ve been trying to change a tire that was overtightened by some mechanic with an impact wrench, and that’s been by the side of the road where I wouldn’t have a compressor anyway (crossbar tire irons FTW.)
It certainly makes sense for professional mechanics, because they’re trying to change lots of tires in a hurry and have lots of other uses for compressed air and impact wrenches, but that’s not a home use scenario.
My little harbor freight pancake compressor has lasted many years but it’s only been subjected to light household use.
I’ve also known people who’ve had their HF compressors fail, but it seems to be only people who didn’t RTFM and didn’t bother with the break-in procedure.
Not just tires but general home mechanic work - brakes, struts, suspension, tie rods, control arms, etc. I pretty much do all my own car repair - everything but transmissions (and oil changes just because of the mess and fuss). I’ve got an electric impact drill but it just doesn’t have the same torque to get those pesky rusted bolts loose that you get from compressed air.
My 7 gal compressor was barely adequate. I was thinking it might have something to do with the gauge of hose and air volume rather than pressure. I use the skinny plastic coiled hose which is a smaller diameter than the thicker, rubber coated one. I know I won’t get a lot of uses from a smaller compressor before re-charging but I’m really looking for that oomph of the initial blast of air.
Like fixing computers, once your friends and family know you can fix cars you suddenly become very popular.
The first time I worked with compressed air on the job, there were dire warnings about possibly inducing an air embolism if you accidentally held the nozzle too close to your skin. I never found out if there was much truth behind that.
The size that matters most for air “flow” (CFM) is the inner diameter (ID) of the hose and the ID of fittings. Most of the fat rubber-coated hose sold in big box stores is 3/8" ID; the outer rubber coating is fat to give up material to scuffs/survive being crushed. The uncoated PVC hose is usually sold as 1/4" and 3/8" ID. If you’ve been using 3/8" PVC hose, there will be no “flow” benefit to using the coated variety.
Small compressors (just about all the ones with with < 20 gallon tanks) come equipped with 1/4" NTP M-style fittings on their output. Increasing hose ID to 3/8" will reduce pressure loss due to hose length, but will add hardly any more CFM flow (tho you’ll have your sweet “oomph” for the first second or two).
Increasing the tank output fitting to 3/8" pbly won’t help – either the hardwired upstream tube feeding the output will still be too small, or the increased flow will exceed the compressor design (“violate the duty cycle”) and burn out the motor.
For not a ton of cash (<$20) you could try swapping out all M-style 1/4" NPT fittings with V-style 1/4" fittings from Milton (and keep hose length as short as practicable); this will deliver as much air as possible and perhaps/maybe/with luck not violate the compressor’s duty cycle.
Not really. If you have tiny compressor, and are shooting at 150psi(crazy high, but I’ll get to that next), maybe? Have you checked your gun for leaks? A bad main seal will cost you a lot of air plus force you to crank up the pressure.
I am very keen on air tools. Even if you are not using a big impact wrench, there are small air wrenches that take the place of a 3/8 or half inch ratchet. Not worth the trouble for one bolt, but if you are doing a bunch of work, it can make it easy. Also die grinders and air drills get a bunch of use around here. If you ever do aircraft restoration, it is all about air tools.
Only for removing; never for installing! If your mechanic isn’t using a torque wrench to mount your wheels, find a new mechanic. Crossthreaded studs, cracked lug nuts, de-seated studs, or impossible-to-remove-along-the-roadside wheels can almost always be traced back to impact wrenches – bah!
Just ask this guy –
http://thegarage.jalopnik.com/all-four-wheels-fall-off-immediately-after-jiffy-lube-b-1777154744
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