Compressor advice

[Neale]

Done a bit of workshop clearing recently and now might have space for a small compressor. This would be mainly for dust clearing on router, maybe for mist coolant as well, both for router and vertical mill. I've never had a compressor, and have no idea what might be a suitable size/rating, or what I might do with it if I had one beyond purposes mentioned. Are compressors generally too noisy to have in the workshop itself?

Any comments or recommendations, guys?

[Lee Roberts]

They are noisy when running, obviously this then becomes how often will it run, so then it comes down to size.

I would say you want nothing less then 20L, again how much you use will depend on how often it kicks in, I have a 5L one I use for blowing out dust on computers small things and so on and a 20L one for when I've got a "big job on", generally though it's the 20L one I reach for purely because of how long a full tank lasts and so to avoid the noise of either kicking in.

.Me

[lucan07]

They can be noisy, there are some quiet units but you end up paying the extra for them, the ones I have looked at the cheaper they are the louder they are, so far £300 range for a 24ltr 50db or £75-£100 for 24ltr 80-90db so 3-400% markup for quiet operation, biding my time at the moment as hoping to get a unit thats being removed from a dental practice thats almost silent, not that I am tight or anything I like recycling especially if I don't have to open my wallet.

[cropwell]

I want to have a play with a fridge compressor, (If I can get one for free out of a de-gassed fridge) I have no idea what the output is like, but at least they are quiet.

At the moment I have a compressor from LIDL in the garage and a, fairly quiet, airbrush compressor (also from LIDL) for chip clearing on my toy MD A4 trapezoidal. This only supplements a large low pressure pond air pump, which runs when the spindle is going and is 'reasonable' at clearing around the cutter.

Anyway, I just thought I'd throw in my 1.5 pennuth.

Cheers,

Rob

[lucan07]

I use a small pond air pump at the moment on the mill for clearing Alu chips and its very effective if placed correctly for low pressure it works well I believe the piston pressure pulses help a lot. To much pressure can be a bad thing in a small shop, saw the 18v leaf blower I'd repaired the other day still cleaning chips from places they could never have reached but did.

[Neale]

I want to have a play with a fridge compressor, (If I can get one for free out of a de-gassed fridge) I have no idea what the output is like, but at least they are quiet.



Interesting idea - might have one to play with myself next week once guy has been to change compressor in our fridge/freezer. Mind you, the fact that it needs changing probably means that it might not be in great nick... However, I did discover that the current refrigerant gases in use can be released into the atmosphere so degassing might not be a big deal if you can salvage a more recent fridge.

[nirmal]

If you can wait a bit, I would suggest keeping an eye open for the ALDI compressors. They are probably the best value for money and they come with a warranty that will be honoured if it fails.

[Doddy]

I bought a 2nd hand silent compressor, something around 25-30l and would caution that they take a while to reach pressure and can't easily sustain any decent flow for any length of time. As someone that gets irritated by noise easily, the silent compressor is great, but limited. I'm almost tempted to add a large receiver external to the shed and let it charge over time, but that's a job for another day.

[Robin Hewitt]

I bought a Bambi silent compressor 6 years ago for £300. Permanently switched in the front room I top up the oil once a year, probably time I bled the tank or something but it is so easy to forget it is there.

[Lee Roberts]

I'm in Aldi as I type, look what I found:

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160430/ff110a2167453676fb1c5ed9bb96c817.jpg

£170

.Me

[Boyan Silyavski]

if you are a DIY person- Junkyard. 1hp or bigger compressor from air conditioner , 5-7euro where i live. make sure to obtain the capacitor and power cable, as later will spend more time in internet searching how to wire it. Silent and powerful. Small. But heavy. No need for additional air tank.Check oil and pour inside if necessary. Whatever oil you have/machine, car, not frying oil/. Plug a car fuel filter one side so no dust enters it, and hose at the other side. Thats it. It could be used for mist cooling, painting with small gun, etc. Even for vacuum holding, i would say-especially for vacuum holding.

Or cheap 2HP, ~70EUR or GBP will do. Any mega store.


From there to a professional compressor its worth buying one 2hp more , than buying compressors in the 70-800EUR range. I am talking Spain, but in UK should be similar.

[Boyan Silyavski]

I'm in Aldi as I type, look what I found:

£170

.Me


Exactly a compressor not worth buying. :toot:.

[Lee Roberts]

Exactly a compressor not worth buying. :toot:.
Why not that is contradicting what you've said above "2hp mega store" or did I miss something ?

From what I can tell all these Aldi/Lidl power tools come from the same main brand and just get re branded, for instance my drill press is a PowerCraft, little 80a stick welder - pankhurst. Both are listed on the main website - Erbauer.

.Me

[lucan07]

Parkerbrand.co.uk next day free delivery for £99 or with tools for £120 for a 50l compressor

[Boyan Silyavski]

Why not that is contradicting what you've said above "2hp mega store" or did I miss something ?

From what I can tell all these Aldi/Lidl power tools come from the same main brand and just get re branded, for instance my drill press is a PowerCraft, little 80a stick welder - pankhurst. Both are listed on the main website - Erbauer.

.Me


Its just in my opinion, but 2hp for £70 is what i meant. You could all with that one and even paint/and wait every 2 min a bit if big HVLP gun/. The problem with the £150 one you show is that it will not reach professional lever for using air tools and not reach the CFM for paint gun, but at the same time is double more expensive.

What i mean it is double or triple more expensive and will do the same job.

i would classify the compressors worth buying like that:

0. Silent compressor, good for blowing dust of lens, cleaning pc, small airbrush jobs

1. 2hp -70-80 euro Ok for inflating tyres and all around, non pro but usefull. The one that is a must to have at home

2. then next one is 2-3kw 1hp, belt driven 50l or more, 500 and more euro, 500=chinese

3. The best for a small workshop 2-3kw, belt driven 1 phase 100-200l or if you have 3 phase 3-4kw, 200l.


I have all 3. silent for when wife sleeps, aerograph or lens cleaning, small one is portable, when i need to bring it somewhere or with the car, or on job site. Big one recently obtained, for painting, plasma, air tools, etc...

[routercnc]

I'm glad this thread has popped up as I was asking myself the same questions . As far as I can tell you can either have:
Quiet 50dB but expensive £300 and low flow 40 litres/minute
Noisy 95dB but cheap £100 and high flow rate 180 litres / minute

[Lee Roberts]

Its just in my opinion, but 2hp for £70 is what i meant.

Ahh ok I'm with you now :), I didn't really consider the price.

.Me

[Lee Roberts]

I'm glad this thread has popped up as I was asking myself the same questions . As far as I can tell you can either have:
Quiet 50dB but expensive £300 and low flow 40 litres/minute
Noisy 95dB but cheap £100 and high flow rate 180 litres / minute
I've got a load of the insulation left over from building my workshop, I was thinking about build a box for the compressor's to live in and insulate the "shizel" out of it to cut the noise out.

Tempted to do that but on the outside of my shop as I have two areas that would allow for it...dunno if that's just ott though given the usage they see.

.Me

[Robin Hewitt]

Quiet 50dB but expensive £300 and low flow 40 litres/minute
Noisy 95dB but cheap £100 and high flow rate 180 litres / minute

The noisy one will also require either ear plugs or psycho-active drugs. The cat will look for a new home and your wife will double the dose of Warfarin she puts in your tea.

[lucan07]

The noisy one will also require either ear plugs or psycho-active drugs. The cat will look for a new home and your wife will double the dose of Warfarin she puts in your tea.

Bit posh round your way ain't they, my old lady always used bleeding Rat poison!

[Neale]

Bit posh round your way ain't they, my old lady always used bleeding Rat poison!

I thought Warfarin was bleeding rat poison! Sorry - technical joke there...

So, cheap compressor, noisy, don't want it indoors, or expensive-but-silent compressor that costs more and performs less but saves on ear plugs. Not sure that old air-conditioning compressors from scrapyards are quite as common in UK as in Spain! And in any case, with the laws on refrigerant release we have these days, they're probably all treated as toxic waste. Some great advice here, guys, that leaves me as confused as I was when I started. But at least I now know what to be confused about...

[lucan07]

I thought Warfarin was bleeding rat poison! Sorry - technical joke there...


Glad you got it!

[nirmal]

Those Aldi compressors have gone up in price:hororr:. I bought a smaller one (25 litres 2.5 Hp) a few years back for about £30 or £40. It's still in the box waiting to be commissioned. I hope it works as the warranty would have expired.

[Robin Hewitt]

But at least I now know what to be confused about...

If you should decide to remarry after your first compressor mistake then discover you still feel the need for shop air, look for a rotary screw compressor. The prices are high but they are fast, quiet and will happily run 24/7 so long as you can remember to add oil.

[cropwell]

If you should decide to remarry after your first compressor mistake then discover you still feel the need for shop air, look for a rotary screw compressor. The prices are high but they are fast, quiet and will happily run 24/7 so long as you can remember to add oil.
Yes, a friend has one in his studio, it cost £3,000 (which he got with a government grant) but the damn thing haemorrhages oil despite having been replaced by the manufacturer once after having the service engineer out many times.
Rob

[Iwant1]

My Lidl 2.5hp 25ltr finally died after many years of good service, but it was too loud to chat with someone while it was pumping. I've replaced it with a Workshop Sealey 3hp 1ph, 100ltr beltdriven job. Retail is 600 but got a good deal on ebay for 270 and its looks new. Although 100ltr is a largish tank, this Sealey one still comes on wheels so can be moved around very easily.

I find that belt driven reduces the noise level while charging, as now I can communicate with others to pass the size 17 spanner. Another point I liked is that the lidl compressor charge upto 8bar, the new compressor charges upto 10bar. I adjusted the kick in to 7bar, so the compressor doesn't switch on that often. Another good addon is to plumb in a 'T' connector after the regulator and have both types of compressor connections, euro and pcl.

Adil

[Boyan Silyavski]

Belt driven is the way, if more money is decided to be invested. Its much more quiet.

El cheapo in the £70 range could be silenced in a box without any problem. Have seen that. A friend has that setup.

I am greatly against the direct driven V head compressors in the 150-500 range cause they are scam. First of all they will not deliver the promised ~300l/m , that means not all air tools will work properly. Secondly they are noisy, third they will die fast in an industrial environment. So whats the point wasting money on them.

[magicniner]

For chip clearance and mist lube on the benchtop CNC I'm using a refrigeration compressor, it's silent and works very well.

- Nick

[lucan07]

Proof that doing a good turn now and again can be beneficial, a couple of years ago got an urgent call on sunday morning from a friend who had employed a company to refurbish a dental pratice due to open next morning, the Polish or Romanian sparky I never met them had managed to fit every socket and switch upside down, all taps had also been fitted on wrong hand. Spent a good few hours fixing problems and got a sparky to safety check whole system. Was paid well for my efforts but a bonus arrived today, another practice being refitted so a gift of a nice quiet 24l Bambi 6 months old turned up, a vertical dome shape so takes little room and will fit nicely inder the mill bench. I did drop a little hint when I specced out his LAN the other week but a welcome gift.

As compressors go its quieter than my chest freezer so ideal when trying to run a quiet shop (in a first floor flat with children sleeping in flat directly below). First impressions well engineered and perfect for my needs, if low noise level is your requirement, I could certainly recommend a visit to the dentists after they close! Or maybe opt for the Bambi and pay the extra.

[Neale]

As it happens, I have just had to have the compressor replaced in my fridge/freezer (this afternoon) and I shall be trying that out. Of course, the thing might be faulty anyway, but nothing lost if so. Just goes to the dump on my next run. Thanks to magicniner for the suggestion - I would not have expected it to have the air flow needed but it sounds as if it's worth trying.

[lucan07]

May be possible to use an old calor bottle for a tank to solve flow issues.

[magicniner]

I would not have expected it to have the air flow needed

Nozzle size is critical, with low flow but a small nozzle you can generate a high pressure & speed at the nozzle and surrounding air will be drawn in and add to the mass of air shifting chips.
I experimented with a variety of ideas, you can grease a length of piano wire and use a 3-jaw lathe chuck to crimp copper pipe down to a nozzle of known size, eBay is a good source of canula needles which are also good,

- Nick

[magicniner]

May be possible to use an old calor bottle for a tank to solve flow issues.

You need a pump specified to deliver at least the required flow unless you can live with a Duty Cycle and the associated rest periods, this is Compressor Specification 101 in workshops using air ;-)

- Nick

[Billythefish]

Mine is 100ltr, dual compressor motors, 10bar, noisy as fuck, purchased on ebay, works perfect :-)

cheers,
billy

[AndyGuid]

Done a bit of workshop clearing recently and now might have space for a small compressor. This would be mainly for dust clearing on router, maybe for mist coolant as well, both for router and vertical mill. I've never had a compressor, and have no idea what might be a suitable size/rating, or what I might do with it if I had one beyond purposes mentioned. Are compressors generally too noisy to have in the workshop itself?

I've always liked the idea of having at hand a brad-nailer to at least assist in holding things together during woodwork assembly, and it seems that the only affordable brad-nailers are by nature air-driven.

Now ALDI down under are selling an Air Compressor for AU$149 which looks to me to be identical to this one going for AU$229:
https://www.bunnings.com.au/full-boar-1800w-2-5hp-air-compressor_p6290392 which includes specs:


Free Air Delivery: 120 l/min (4.2 cfm)
Max. Air Delivery: 180 l/min (6.4 cfm)
Max. Working Pressure: 10 bar (145 psi)
Tank Volume: 50L
Sound Power Level: 94dB

Thanks to this thread I'm now feeling almost able to justify some purchases to myself :-) in importance:

1. Brad-nailer AU$118 - https://www.bunnings.com.au/ryobi-airwave-3-in-1-air-brad-nailer-and-stapler_p6210571

• 32-64 mm C-Series Brads 16-Gauge
• 15-50 mm C1-Series Brads 18-Gauge
• 16-40 mm 6000-Series Staples

2. Blow gun(s) for dusting and clearing chips

3. Inflating things

And possibly at a later stage:

4. Portable SANDBLASTER at AU$59 - https://www.bunnings.com.au/ozito-23kg-portable-sandblaster_p6290557

5. Air DIE-GRINDER at AU$34 - https://www.bunnings.com.au/ryobi-airwave-air-die-grinder_p6210617

Some research has indoctrinated me to now think that one big advantage to air-driven die-grinders is that the air motor has no momentum, so when you release the trigger it stops. And on delicate or critical things that air-driven may be better than electric as the tool vibrates less and chatters less in the hole than electric does. And whereas electric motors generate heat, air motors run cool and tend to be small and easy to handle so could suit blending welds on ornamental projects or light de-burring?

Here's hoping I'm not on the wrong track and somebody has had decent service out of an ALDI Air Compressor!?

[Boyan Silyavski]

The pneumatic tools are better when quality. If cheap, they are worse that the electric ones. You should look for tools that do Not need to be oiled daily. They are the good ones. You will need to fashion also air drier after the compressor.

Nailers do not have a demand for a quality compressor. Not so with rotating tools. I would say 150L is a minimum for such tools.

The game changer tool, that could be used with a compressor is an orbital sander. But a proper one, not the cheap crap. I have the most expensive model of Chicago Pneumatic/very expensive/ and Oh boy... It changed the way i am finishing wood. Its an incredible tool.

[cropwell]

The integral unit compressors are noisy ! If you need quietness you should be looking at the Ultra quiet one like they use in dental surgeries like this one https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/quiet-run-compressor-5/ (but I wouldn't buy a Clarke), but they are generally fairly low output unless you get the more expensive multiple units. If you want to go quiet and high volume you need a screw compressor http://thecompressorstore.co.uk/product/gx2ep-p-2kw-air-compressor/?gclid=CIGZzP3N9NMCFVhXDQodk7QASA (loadsa money!!)

[cropwell]

May be possible to use an old calor bottle for a tank to solve flow issues.

I did for years, it means you can have a fairly small i.d. pipe to connect them and you get a good blast of air from the reserve in the bottle. It is best if you dry the air before distributing it, or at least have the gas bottle upside down so no water collects in it.