buying my first compressor - any advice ?

[slammage]

time has come after all these years of basically being without one and making do without (I know worked out expensive in the long run ) I am in the market now to buy a nice new compressor. but which one should I get guys? it needs to be sub <£200 and I need it for mainly general tools, and it needs to have the guts to spray a few things like an engine bay possibly , patches of bodywork and stuff, I don't want it to go all wheezy on me but then I don't want to buy something that's too overpowered.

so, anyone got any recommendations? I'm hunting ebay and other sites as we speak

[composimmonite]

If you want to use airtools then you need something like a 3hp / 100ltr tank. If you can get bigger then all the better but smaller will run out of "puff" quite fast with some air thirsty tools.
If possible by a reputable make. Personally I've got a little 2hp / 10 ltr tanks for quickly blowing up tyres and a 3 hp / 150 ltr tank for more demanding jobs. Be warned that anything larger than 3hp will probably blow fuses - for my old compressor I had a dedicated 16 amp circuit but this time I'm using a 1l0v motor via transformer. It's the initial surge when starting up rather than continuous running that blows fuses.
I go for ex industrial 3 phase and convert to single phase. My current larger is an Ingersol Rand that cost me £70 off eBay. A few quid was got back from weighing in the old 3 phase motor but a decent (ie not Chinese) single phase 3 hp motor can be several hundred pounds - the reason why I'm using 110v as got a deal on one

Paul H

[taurus]

For under £200 you're looking at a second hand one if you want a bigger tank, or if you want new take a look at the Wolf range. They are exactly the same as the Clarke ones at Machine Mart except they come with Euro fittings instead of the UK type of snap fitting. Easy to swap them if you want to, but bear in mind that the cheap (but good) kit from Lidl comes with Euro fitting.

I bought a Wolf 2.5hp with a 50 litre tank from this site - www.ukhs.tv/Workshop/Air-Compressors

Print yourself a manual off the Machine Mart website and you'll see it's exactly the same model as the Clarke one.

The tank size obviously imposes limitations on tools which use a lot of air, but it's done me for spraying no problems.

You can buy a stock of connectors off their website for pennies which then you can fit onto any tool you buy.

[Deleted]

these any good 2.5hp 13 amp 100ltr
www.frost.co.uk/sip-06245-airmate-hurricane-v300-100-litre-compressor.html

[pork]

Take a look at my website, follow links to my eBay shop, then look in industrial piston compressors

See anything you like, give us a shout, may do some forum discount

Www.air-technique.co.uk

[retrowrongun]

Go for as big compressor as you can afford and look for one with a big tank 150ltr upwards and also one with a high cfm as that's what counts mate

What you gonna be using it for anyway as said air tools really do need a big cfm and tank to run

[pork]

The compressor I'd recommend to anyone would be the
ABAC a29b on a 150l tank £525 inc vat and free delivery

Or

Abac a39b on a 150l tank £599 inc vat and free delivery
This compressor requires a 16 amp supply, this is the largest capacity single phase compressor about.

[taurus]

I think the OP wanted to spend £200 max?

[retrowrongun]

You'll be lucky getting anything for 200 with a cfm to run air tools and such like anyway IMHO
If pork sells them then am sure a quick pm to him for advice is best ,I see he has suggested a couple above anyway ... I payed 650 for mine a few years back and tbh it does power air tools but still not well enough

For eg I can use the nibbler for a while then when it runs out of air in tank it takes a while to fill back up again ,not good when in middle of doing a panel

Same with spraying ,get a compressor with a small tank or poor cfm then you will be standing there in middle of painting a car waiting for the tank to recharge .....
This causes uneven base coats and poor paint job etc etc

You get the idea mate and not trying to be horrible but it best you get one that will actually do the job you require

And for record bought mine about 4yrs back so its a worthwhile investment so one ya need to make sure is right for you

High cfm and largest receiver tank you can get IMHO along with a good motor
Worth saving a bit more money and getting one if ya ask me

[pork]

What he said /\ lol

If your using the air faster than the pump can supply, than just having a large tank is pointless, you need that larger volume pump to match

There cheaper versions off what I'm selling, I only sell ABAC, the best, and I'm the cheapest on the internet.

The cheap stuff is ....well.....cheap!
And finding spares such as gaskets and valve plates can be a nightmare.

Where as I have a full range off spares on the shelf,

I also sell absoloutley anything compressed air related, tools, fittings etc

Just check out the website

[93fxdl]

I will go out on a limb here, for a budget of 200 I would get 2 aldi/lidl 2.5 hp 25 litre tank compressors, plumb them into an old calor bottle or two, to give capacity. Then use the remaining 40 to get quality, industrial connectors and hoses. The aldi/ lidl ones come with a decent warranty, also being compact, are easily portable, (try moving a 150 litre tank about) also the calor bottles can be filled then used separately for blowing up the odd tyre etc.
Ttfn Glenn
Ps I rubbed down and sprayed a mk 2 transit camper with a single compressor with a single extra calor bottle. Finish was poor due to it being my first spray job, not the tools

[g40jon]

As others have said, go for a compressor that offers as high CFM as possible, this is very important when using air hungry tools. Tanks can be picked up pretty cheap second hand, espcially if they are attached to a broken compressor unit. You can add tanks to your compressor to gain the extra capacity, but to do this you still need good CFM
Other things to look out for:
1. Belt drive. This is good because it will run quieter than a direct drive compressor.
2. Silenced casing. You will be unlikely to get a compressor new, with this, but second hand you might get lucky! I got really lucky and was given a £2k silenced abac compressor and compared to my old direct drive compressor it is silent!

www.diy-compressors.com/catalog/silent-compressors.htm

[slammage]

wow a lot of helpful advice, I don't mind a good used one as long as it will last a few good years at least, I guess I need to look for the biggest CFM and to be belt driven at least I guess as you guys say, i've definitely not got £600 to spend to buy one I would love to but food , petrol and money to pay all my bills are more of a priority atm, and that extra £400 or so could come in handy ha!

really appreciate the advice guys I'm now on the hunt on ebay

[pork]

Apr 29, 2014 7:25:30 GMT g40jon said:

As others have said, go for a compressor that offers as high CFM as possible, this is very important when using air hungry tools. Tanks can be picked up pretty cheap second hand, espcially if they are attached to a broken compressor unit. You can add tanks to your compressor to gain the extra capacity, but to do this you still need good CFM
Other things to look out for:
1. Belt drive. This is good because it will run quieter than a direct drive compressor.
2. Silenced casing. You will be unlikely to get a compressor new, with this, but second hand you might get lucky! I got really lucky and was given a £2k silenced abac compressor and compared to my old direct drive compressor it is silent!

www.diy-compressors.com/catalog/silent-compressors.htm

I wouldn't go for the 'fridge' type pump silent compressors
The duty cycle for these are very low, although they are silent, use them to much and they break, and being a pump submerged in oil, it will soon start to have oil carryover as there's very poor oil seperation.
These are so bad, I refuse to list these it sell/recommend them

Belt drive is the best.

Is yours an LN series g40jon?

They suffer from getting hot quite a lot, as a precaution, I'd suggest changing the n/r/v pastel on a regular basis

You'll know when it's failing as you will hear a constant hissing from the pressure switch

[g40jon]

Apr 29, 2014 16:22:30 GMT pork said:

Apr 29, 2014 7:25:30 GMT g40jon said:

As others have said, go for a compressor that offers as high CFM as possible, this is very important when using air hungry tools. Tanks can be picked up pretty cheap second hand, espcially if they are attached to a broken compressor unit. You can add tanks to your compressor to gain the extra capacity, but to do this you still need good CFM
Other things to look out for:
1. Belt drive. This is good because it will run quieter than a direct drive compressor.
2. Silenced casing. You will be unlikely to get a compressor new, with this, but second hand you might get lucky! I got really lucky and was given a £2k silenced abac compressor and compared to my old direct drive compressor it is silent!

www.diy-compressors.com/catalog/silent-compressors.htm

I wouldn't go for the 'fridge' type pump silent compressors
The duty cycle for these are very low, although they are silent, use them to much and they break, and being a pump submerged in oil, it will soon start to have oil carryover as there's very poor oil seperation.
These are so bad, I refuse to list these it sell/recommend them

Belt drive is the best.

Is yours an LN series g40jon?

They suffer from getting hot quite a lot, as a precaution, I'd suggest changing the n/r/v pastel on a regular basis

You'll know when it's failing as you will hear a constant hissing from the pressure switch

Yeah it is. We went through a few pressure switches at work (main reason they wanted rid of it!). It was being with a huge tank to lift 5 tonnes of 737 flight simulator around. It's fine for light diy use though!
Agree with your comment about the fridge type compressors. Had one, didn't get on with it, wasn't very reliable. Being silent was its only plus side!

[pork]

My new online shop, just went live today........check it out

Www.abaccompressors-online.co.uk