Omega Owners Forum

Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: Markie on 20 November 2006, 14:11:33

Title: Cheapo Air Compressors  - Any Good
Post by: Markie on 20 November 2006, 14:11:33
Anyone got one ?

Any good - and whats recommended ? :-/

Quite fancy getting one in conjunction with air saw / ratchet.

But just unsure if the sub £100 ones are actually any good at all  ::)
Title: Re: Cheapo Air Compressors  - Any Good
Post by: Markie on 20 November 2006, 14:12:25
oh and theres a few currently that come with spray tools - again are these any good for spraying small parts without it looking like youve just plastered it straight out an aerosol?
Title: Re: Cheapo Air Compressors  - Any Good
Post by: Big Rod on 20 November 2006, 14:17:33
I've painted quite a few cars in the past using a 25 litre jobby!! The result was quite good, but I think the only thing stopping it from being very good was my lack of talent.

Air tools are quite an over head, so 25 litre I think would struggle a bit if you were using them a lot so 50 litre would be better.
Title: Re: Cheapo Air Compressors  - Any Good
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 20 November 2006, 17:15:16
The small cheaper compressors struggle to deliver a good level of CFM, you need to be getting close to 7-8 to operate most air tools for any length of time and should ideally be aiming for 10+.

As for spraying, a small tank should allow mot panels to be sprayed but, you wouldn't be able to just do a large area in a single go without the pressure dropping and affecting the finish

Note, I have a 3Hp 100 litre 13.8CFM belt drive monster.....

So in answer to your question, a small one would be ideal for general things like the odd small spray job, inflating tyres etc.

Note also that the cheaper ones often have a rubber type diaphram setup so are a lot more noisey than the piston based belt drive units
Title: Re: Cheapo Air Compressors  - Any Good
Post by: Markie on 20 November 2006, 22:05:10
thanks mark  :y guess i need to save more pennies then - ideally i want one that will run air tools - i will use them more than i will spray tools.....wonder if Santa would.... :-/