Air compressors Either crappy motors or crappy compressors on reviews of manufactured units

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Snattlerake

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Please school me on air compressors.

I am needing more air than what my measly air compressors air giving me. I have always had a problem with them and I just dealt with it but now I'm planning ahead on some projects and I'm needing more air.

My current inventory is a 30 gallon horizontal 1965 Craftsman 3/4 horse 2 lunger that is quiet as a church mouse but is very slow in the compressor recovery. A 30 gallon upright Kobalt oilless compressor that sounds horrid and probably has a 1 inch bore and it cannot keep up.


The specs I'm looking at are around
15cfm @40 PSIG
230 single phase
Max pressure 135 PSIG
60 gallon


I have looked at Ingersoll Rand SS5L5 $1K to 2.5K
https://www.google.com/search?q=gra...wLjYuMpgBAKABAcABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#ip=1
The reviews say the motor is junk and won't last the first day.

A Quincy at $1.3K, or building my own using a good rated Harbor Freight compressor but it requires a 5 HP motor. Good motors are $800 and two phase or three phase, not single phase. The cheap ones are down to $199. and are single phase. They are of course Chineeseum, but looking at the nomenclature plate it shows only 3000 watts which is 3 HP at best, nowhere near 5 HP. I did find a Century 5HP on Amazon for $309. This one is specifically made for air compressor replacement.

If I built one I would use my horizontal tank because it has the mounting platform already and should be a simple retrofit. I would disassemble the micro compressor on the Koblat upright tank and plumb it in parallel giving me around 60 gallons of capacity. I am also looking at a copper tubing radiator to cool the air going into the tanks.

These are my choices if I build a system.
The HF compressor

CENTRAL PNEUMATIC

$179.99

5 HP 145 PSI Twin Cylinder Air Compressor Pump​

1679715487280.png

17.3 CFM @ 40 PSI, 15.2 CFM @ 90 PSI ------------------------------------ CFM being a relative term because there is no point of reference to Actual CFM or Standard CFM at 60 degrees. BUT, it surely beats the hell out of what I have.



The motor I found for it
https://www.amazon.com/3450rpm-Frame-Volts-Replacement-Compressor/dp/B0009WET9M
1679716062969.png


Here is the video link I'm using to manufacture my own if I go that route.


The Quincy, at $1310.00, is the cheapest, has the best reviews, is manufactured by others and has a hell of a warranty but the shipping is around $300 !!!
1679717810804.png


As I am writing this it seems I will have more time to think about it because MY WATER HEATER JUST CRAPPED OUT!
 

2busy

Sharpshooter
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You're going to need a 2 stage compressor for the cfm output to keep up in my opinion. I bought one of the Ingersoll Rand 2 stage compressor for tractor supply back around 2014. It's not heavily used but it hasn't given me any trouble to date. The motor is supposed to be 7hp. It was all I could do to move it into the shop. It's very top heavy and I probably wouldn't have been able to lift it if it had fell over.
 

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