Should I buy an air compressor, if so, which one?

[Drew106]

Greg_D said:

get a soapy water solution and spray onto the bead and all over the tyres to see if anything bubbles up.

Thanks.
I did try this, but couldn't see anything. I would like to have another go over more thoroughly though.

[E-bmw]

Can't see anything on Aldi's site about the compressor but this is a better spec & cheaper & delivered.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AIR-TOOLS-24L-LITRE-AIR-...

[E-bmw]

OK, great if you live near an Aldi.

The one I linked is still cheaper with better spec & delivered.

[Drew106]

E-bmw said:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AIR-TOOLS-24L-LITRE-AIR-...

This looks like a good one. Cheap price!

I bought the 6l one from SGS in the end, about £100 inc. VAT for a package with various attachments. Seems a decent piece of kit so far for what I need. Did have to order a longer air hose though as the 4m coil one was a bit too short.

Thought a 24l would take up too much space and be a little overkill for what I need. Also as they're pretty loud a 24l would take longer to fill, therefore probably ps off the neighbors more.

So far I've used it to top up the tyres a couple of times and blow up a Yoga ball lol. Made short work of that.

[rizzyk]

My 2p input:
Got one of these - quite happy with it
https://hyundaipowerequipment.co.uk/hyundai-hy2550...

Only use it for blowing up tyres on motorbikes, cars, and cleaning stuff out.

50L receiver is probably the min size if you want to attempt to use air tools.
Just got one of these for £20 from Lidl
http://offers.kd2.org/en/gb/lidl/pUUc/

[rizzyk]

Follow on purchase, thinking of getting one of those wall mounter air line reels. Any recommendations?
I like this but a bit more than I wanted to pay
https://www.sipuk.co.uk/sip-super-major-hose-reel-...

[s91]

Thought I'd add to this rather than starting a new post - same question here, should I buy an air compressor?

It'll be for DIY jobs in the garage, inflating tyres and the odd power tool, I know you can get cheap compressors for £100 but it wouldn't bother me spending a few hundred quid on a decent one, I plan to eventually be fully kitted out with garage tools however I can't decide between air, 240v, or 18v.

What are people's opinions on power tools for use in the garage, mainly for car projects/maintenance, is an air compressor worth it or stick with 240v?

[wildoliver]

s91 said:

Thought I'd add to this rather than starting a new post - same question here, should I buy an air compressor?

It'll be for DIY jobs in the garage, inflating tyres and the odd power tool, I know you can get cheap compressors for £100 but it wouldn't bother me spending a few hundred quid on a decent one, I plan to eventually be fully kitted out with garage tools however I can't decide between air, 240v, or 18v.

What are people's opinions on power tools for use in the garage, mainly for car projects/maintenance, is an air compressor worth it or stick with 240v?

I use all 3.

Firstly re. The air line question above, the key with airlines is to avoid the thin hobby ones (the ones that come with tool kits) like the plague. Get a proper hose either loose or on a reel and bang pcl or euro connectors on it to suit.

Re. Air Vs electric.

I use air for spraying, sanding, obviously tyres etc. But I don't use my air rattle gun as much these days and I never really got on with air drills or cut off tools. I will be getting a decent die grinder soon though for head work and other smoothing in awkward places type jobs.

I use 240v and 18v drills, 240v angle grinder (I do have an 18v grinder but it's a last resort in a field job) but I am loving my Ryobi rattle gun, reciprocating saw both in 18v.

I do use cordless drills but only for smaller jobs, if I'm in the workshop and drilling hundreds of holes it's 240v all the way.

Basically they all have advantages, but for most people a good 18v package will do all you need other than spray or pump tyres up.

[foggy]

One thing I’d love air at home for is blowing stuff off - grime off of car parts, grass and muck off shoes and the mower, drying stuff off etc. as well as inflating tyres. What small quiet(ish) compressor might do the job?

Otherwise I’m tooled up with battery or electric powered stuff for home hobby car maintenance.

[wildoliver]

Any little aldi type compressor will do that. You will be able to leave it charged and have air on demand.

[Drew106]

foggy said:

One thing I’d love air at home for is blowing stuff off - grime off of car parts, grass and muck off shoes and the mower, drying stuff off etc. as well as inflating tyres. What small quiet(ish) compressor might do the job?

Part of the reason I got mine as well. It comes in very handy for blowing dust & dirt of car parts etc. I would imagine any size would be sufficient for this. My 6l tank is certainly enough.

[GreenV8S]

wildoliver said:

You will be able to leave it charged and have air on demand.

I imagine there will be some leakage. How often would the compressor need to run to keep it topped up?

[wildoliver]

Depends on the compressor. My old aid one would leak down over a night as it had leaks at every joint. My new cheap one lasts weeks without dropping any pressure. I last used it about 2 weeks ago and I'd put money on it still being full.

[Jazoli]

Its bad practice to leave them charged as there is moisture in the air which could eventually rot the tank from the inside out, also don't leave them switched on as you could burn your garage/house down if it develops a leak and runs constantly and overheats.

[kambites]

It depends on your setup. My compressor alone will a hold pressure for about three days, but since I plumbed it into a network of pipes running to filters and access points throughout the garage, it discharges in an hour - presumably the 50 odd joints in the system each leak a little bit.

[Witterings]

s91 said:

Thought I'd add to this rather than starting a new post - same question here, should I buy an air compressor?

It'll be for DIY jobs in the garage, inflating tyres and the odd power tool, I know you can get cheap compressors for £100 but it wouldn't bother me spending a few hundred quid on a decent one, I plan to eventually be fully kitted out with garage tools however I can't decide between air, 240v, or 18v.

What are people's opinions on power tools for use in the garage, mainly for car projects/maintenance, is an air compressor worth it or stick with 240v?

I've just very recently bought one, originally I bought the same as the OP the SGS 6 ltr one with the cheap tool set, it arrived and parts of the tool set didn't work so I sent the whole thing back but I did get to use / try it before doing so.

Whilst I wouldn't buy the tool set again, the tyre inflator was nigh on impossible to get a seal on the tyre so was constantly leaking air and that was the main purpose for having it (4 cars and 5 bikes in the family).
Apart from that the compressor itself seemed quite good and as it was a small tank filled and was ready for use very quickly ..... I've also noticed subsequently having bought a bigger one that whilst noisy it was noticeably quieter i.e. I'd be happy standing next to it in the garage filling a bike tyre whilst it was running without ear protection.

I bought one of these afterwards although I got mine for £89.99 delivered
https://www.ukhs.tv/Wol-Air-24-Litres-Air-Compress...

This has 10 bar pressure which is better for some tools but also means the tank of air lasts longer but takes longer to fill ... but again this isn't man enough for painting anything other than small patches nor for grinders / sanders / polishers.

You really want to work out what you want to use it for, if I was only blowing up tyres and the very odd bit of blowing and even a nail gun the SGS 6 ltr one is brilliant and more than enough, it's quick (quicker to empty air out of as well as it's not recommended to leave them full) and is quite a bit quieter.

I bought the larger one as I do a lot of cycling in the winter and the bike gets absolutely covered in carp ... I use the blow gun to get rid of a lot of the muck to save me having to wash it so often and the larger tank and 2.5 hp motor is useful for that as you get a lot more blow time and and can be pretty constant without having to wait for it to fill ... if it wasn't for that I'd definitely prefer the smaller although even that is effective for short bursts of air as well.

If you're new to them some other things I didn't know but have since found out, it's not recommended to use an extension lead with them so get a long hose instead, emptying them can take ages on the larger ones and I bought it to make jobs quick and easy ... I replaced the valve on mine with a 3/8" ball valve and can now do it in seconds.

Most of the clip on tyre inflator chucks are useless and leak air, I bought one of the cheap Bergen inflators and a chuck for £3 which is brilliant and almost always creates a perfect seal, I'll put links for both below ... and the PCL Air Blow Gun from screwfix is a great piece of kit.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1PC-6-8mm-Car-Auto-Tire...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BERGEN-Professional-Tyr...

[jonesyx]

Yet another what compressor question....

Thought I would add to this rather than create a new thread.

Basically I want a compressor for DIY/Home Mechanic uses including air orbital sander and spraying, cutting grinding etc.

Budget is about 300 max. I have seen 2 within price range...

Option1:

---

100L Receiver
9.5cfm Free Air Delivery
9 Barg
Continuous use
(SIP Airmate TN 3.0HP/100 Litre Compressor - Model 05299)


Option2:

---

50L Receiver
14.5cfm Free Air Delivery
10 Barg
Intermittent Duty
(SCHEPPACH HC53DC)

Which would you go for? Higher flow but smaller receiver or lower flow larger receiver?

Or option 3 get a small cheap 50L (6ish cfm FAD) and add a couple of receivers?

[Mikey G]

jonesyx said:

Yet another what compressor question....

Thought I would add to this rather than create a new thread.

Basically I want a compressor for DIY/Home Mechanic uses including air orbital sander and spraying, cutting grinding etc.

Budget is about 300 max. I have seen 2 within price range...

Option1:

---

100L Receiver
9.5cfm Free Air Delivery
9 Barg
Continuous use
(SIP Airmate TN 3.0HP/100 Litre Compressor - Model 05299)


Option2:

---

50L Receiver
14.5cfm Free Air Delivery
10 Barg
Intermittent Duty
(SCHEPPACH HC53DC)

Which would you go for? Higher flow but smaller receiver or lower flow larger receiver?

Or option 3 get a small cheap 50L (6ish cfm FAD) and add a couple of receivers?

I was in the same position and ended up buying the latter higher output smaller receiver, namely this one https://gtair.co.uk/air-compressors/30-burisch-bt-...
Only issue I found was the output from the in built regulator, there is an unregulated output and I have put this to a seperate regulator and added an old 11 litre fire extinguisher after it to act as a secondary receiver, this allows full flow to the 2 outputs I have fitted in my garage.

[peterperkins]

Once you get to 3hp and 100L+ receiver territory you can start thinking about shot/sand blasting and peening parts..
That's very satisfying and useful for real car/bike/diy macklers.. Component a bit corroded, no problem, crank up the blaster..

Not cheap to set up if you buy a commercial blasting cabinet. However

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Guyson-Sand-Blast/23293...

I built by own attached to the wall out of old kitchen cabinets with a removable front and sheet of laminated glass as the window.
All sealed with silicone and draught extruder strips so the front clips into place. I basically copied the above.

I used cut off old jeans as the arm hole things, with some of those thick workman's gloves.
I had a grill over a V shaped media collection/recirculation area and old hoover dust extraction system venting to outside the garage with 12v lighting.
You need lots of light in the cabinet as it get dusty and difficult to see in there..
I also had a little dust blower gun in mine so you can occasionally blow dust of the inside of the window or parts you are blasting.

The only bit I bought was the guyson blasting gun and some glass bead media.. But you can buy kiln dried sand from the garden center/B&Q

https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/resources.guyso...

The Guyson gun was an excellent bit of kit and has done hundred of hours of work for me..

This is interesting and looks homemade in some sort of large flight case type thingy..

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SAND-BLASTING-CABINET-V...

Easy enough to copy/cobble something up..

Edited by peterperkins on Sunday 23 September 10:05