Which air compressor? Help!

[V8_chitty]

Thinking of getting an air compressor to do everything from spraying my kitcar to pumping up tyres etc.

There is a bewildering range of choice out there and I know if I spend loads I'll get something that will outlive me....

I obviously want to spend as little as possible so from a DIY point of view what's important?...
Can I get away with spending £150?
CFM - what's needed?
Tank size - how does this help?
Hp?
Oil free?
Will a 25L tank be ok for spraying panels?

Any guidance much appreciated..

[GnuBee]

V8_chitty said:

Thinking of getting an air compressor to do everything from spraying my kitcar to pumping up tyres etc.

There is a bewildering range of choice out there and I know if I spend loads I'll get something that will outlive me....

I obviously want to spend as little as possible so from a DIY point of view what's important?...
Can I get away with spending £150?
CFM - what's needed?
Tank size - how does this help?
Hp?
Oil free?
Will a 25L tank be ok for spraying panels?

Any guidance much appreciated..

£150? maybe but you'll be looking at 2nd hand - new you're be in the land of small tanks and low HP motors

CFM rating you can determine by looking at the tools you would like to use - the requirements for a simple air ratchet will be much easier to meet than those for a shotblasting gun for example. So in other words decide what you want to do, look at the requirements then select compressor accordingly.

Tank size controls how much "work" can be done before the motor cuts in to refill the tank. The tank acts as a nice reservoir allowing pulse free air to your ratchet, spray gun etc. You want a nice big tank if possible because it'll cut down the amount of time the motor spends actually turned on.

HP - you'll be limited to, IIRC, a maximum of 3hp unless you happen to have 3 phase/415v supply. Bigger motor = fast tank fill time. There are also 2 different types of coupling; direct or belt drive. I don't know why one chooses one over the other to be honest; I'm sure someone more experienced will be able to elaborate.

I don't know if 25L will be a large enough reservoir - I only use mine for powering air tools and I went for a 100litre one.

Also for spraying panels you'll need to be thinking about decent moisture trapping - you don't want water ending up at the spray gun.

I paid just over £200 for mine, 2nd hand from eBay 3hp 100L reservoir. There's always a huge number listed; some look like potential death traps but there are reasonable ones to be found.

[paintman]

You need to come at this from the other direction.
Decide what tools you want & find out what their air requirements are. Then you know what size compressor you need.
Belt drive are usually quieter & longer lived & are the professional choice, but there are very few small ones that can be run off a 13amp socket.

Edited by paintman on Wednesday 25th November 19:16