Linda T Ferzoco on sat 20 may 06
I have a power extruder, a spray gun and want to do
air release of tiles I make. So, I need a compressor.
I've watched posts about compressors and will buy one
with a large tank, oil lubricated and powerful enough.
I've been looking for bargains on eBay. What brands
are more reliable in your collective experiences?
Anything else I should keep in mind?
Cheers, Linda Ferzoco
pdp1@EARTHLINK.NET on sat 20 may 06
Hi Linda,
Reliable will be a function of several things -
How good the design was to begin with, how much
use or abuse, care or neglect it has had...
What condition it is actually in now...regarless
of whether it was made in 1897 or 2004...
Some old ones can look entirely decrepid, filthy,
beat up, rusty, Oil and Grease soaked, and be
almost as-new internally...ready to run honestly
with never a trouble, for many decades of daily
use to come.
Some, can look brand new, clean, shiney and have
so many hundreds or thousands of hours use and
neglect, as to be on their last 'leg'...where they
will need to be rebuilt-overhauled or as may
be...sometime 'soon' if not tomorrow.
Tank size should match the Air Pump's probable
output in relation to, or with respect to, the
kind of use the unit as a whole, will have.
A large tank, and a little Air Pump, means it will
take a long time to come up, and or will work
itself very hard to come up and keep up, and will
not be very good for anything needing much Air to
do...while it would have an impressive looking
reserve Air supply in the Tank of course, which
may or may not be enough to really matter,
depending on how much air you need for what you
are doing.
Once the Tank pressure falls to some certain
extent, the Pump and Motor of course kick in to
make more Air, so, this can be little different
really than a small Tank, or even no Tank at all,
if one's Air draw is such that the Motor and Pump
will run constantly, trying to keep up with the
draw, regardless of Tank size.
Large air Pump, small Tank can be fine...if one's
air draw is significant or frequent or to be done
in sustained periods of some proceedure or other.
Large Tank and small Pump is fine if one's Air
draw is slight, low or modest...and occasional.
Usually, the Tank size should be well matched to
Pump output, with respect to the kinds of use one
has for how much Air one will expect to be
drawing...but this is seldom so anymore, on most
medium size looking models...and so the little
Motor and Air Pump components work very hard to
try and keep up appearances suggest by the Tank's
capacity....which is the compromise manufacturers
elect for appearance' sake, and for general duty
of the unit most useres would have.
I recently a-l-m-o-s-t bought a mid '30s "LeRoy"
Tow-about model, which I took to be a probable 85
CFM output.
I should have bought it, and gone to get it, I am
certain...but it was in another State and the
seller was an idiot, so, I talked myself out of
it...Lol...
This, at an Engine speed less than most cars idle
at now-a-days, would put out 85 cubic feet of Air
at 100 pounds per square inch pressure.
I have some old larger Air Tools, Air Saws,
demolition Hammers and other things, which to use
on Jobs, need quite a bit of Air.
And when I thought I was going to have to move
'pronto', I dols my 1940 Ingersoll Rand 85 CFM
Tow-about and now am vexed on whether to live
without one, or find another or wait or wind my
watch...
Anyway...
Older models, whose air Pumps were made of Cast
Iron, and having Wet sump Crank Cases useing Oil
like a Car engine does, tended to run at speeds of
400 to 600 Rpm, or a little more depending on
type, which both allowed them to be quiet, or at
least fairly quiet, if not really quiet...and, to
be durable...or so durable even, that a human
lifetime would not necessarily out endure them,
even if used all the time.
Almost all modern Air Compressors' Air Pumps,
especially smaller ones, are made of aluminum
alloys, do not use Oil, have Teflon or other wear
surfaces, and tend to run at quite high RPM. Some
alloy Air Pumps of course do have a regular Crank
Case useing Oil...but tend to run fast also...or
are made TO run fast to act like they can get
things done.
A dinky Motor can run a dinky Air Pump "fast" and
make a lot of Air in their way...and be cheaper to
produce than a larger Motor, and a slow, robust
Air Pump running at 420 RPM making the same amount
of Air. In the long run, the latter will outlast
the former of course....
These cheapies sometimes can run for many years of
honest use, and will be a great bargain even when
bought new for the many years of constant use they
can provide...but, they are not pleasant to be
next to when they are running, because they are
noisy in their way...and are a gamble, too,
because while one may be real reliable, durable
for ten or fifteen years or more even, the next
one may wear out or go bad with not much use at
all. I think too, the quality controll of many
things now is dubious, and intended at most to
merely meet a waranty period and after that, the
manufacturer is fine it if takes-the-dump.
"Curtis" comes to mind, as a brand still in
business, who continues to make high quality Cast
Iron Air Pump models of various sizes and
capacities....which one would expect to be very
durable, and for parts to be available if ever
needed.
Many great bargains are to be found Air Compressor
wise on the e-bay, and for ones the size you are
after, patiently waiting for a dresireable one to
occur near you, would be a nice recourse. And,
likely, would not take too many weeks.
Few sellers know the CFM output of the models they
may be selling....but, if you can get the model
number from them, you can usually contact the
manufacturer and have them look it up for you.
Probably, a 9 CFM would be fine for what you
describe, but that is just a guess. And it might
be larger, really, than you actually need. But
better a little larger than needed, than a little
smaller, I think...
Ingersoll Rand of course makes endless models of
endless sizes...and many of these are/were of the
Cast Iron way of faith Air Pump wise...and well
made overall.
But 'Curtis' I believe is considered the premier
brand for our time now. And traditionally had what
I take to be better designs than I.R. for the most
part.
LeRoy, Sullivan, and many other brands seldom
heard of anymore, made many sizes and models of
course, and each would need to be looked at as an
individual to determine merit or appropriateness.
Import ones might be fine in their way, but unless
you need something you can carry in one hand, I
would steer clear of them myself.
If you are Bucks-up, and wish to have a new one, I
would definitely recommend 'Curtis', and they may
be found on the web, and you can call them and
talk with them and so on, as well as look at
things on their web-site.
Phil
Las Vegas
----- Original Message -----
From: "Linda T Ferzoco"
> I have a power extruder, a spray gun and want to
do
> air release of tiles I make. So, I need a
compressor.
> I've watched posts about compressors and will
buy one
> with a large tank, oil lubricated and powerful
enough.
>
> I've been looking for bargains on eBay. What
brands
> are more reliable in your collective
experiences?
>
> Anything else I should keep in mind?
>
> Cheers, Linda Ferzoco
Stephani Stephenson on sun 21 may 06
Hi Linda!
you can go to the website for Grizzly Industrial and check out the
Campbell- Hausfeld compressor
URL is
http://www.grizzly.com/products/item.aspx?itemnumber=G6260
this is the one you saw at my shop..cast iron tank, made in USA
When I was searching for one , (after a smaller 'no maintenance ' one
burned out on me and after I moved from a shop where there was a
Hu-u-u--ge piped in air compressor ), I found some great info in the
CLAYART archives, posted by Vince, see if you can find it.
He referred to Grizzly as a source for compressors.
After researching it and checking prices online, I was about to go
through Grizzly, but then checked around locally and actually found
the very same Campbell-Hausfeld compressor for about the same price at
a nearby outlet called "Tool Depot". The sales person at Tool Depot was
quite knowledgeable and helpful and they delivered it to my shop.
The maintenance manual told me everything else I needed to know. The
compressor is not as loud as others I have heard.
I bought a 100 foot long bright orange air hose so I could move the
hose around the studio rather than the move the compressor.
I adapted one of those garden hose "reels on wheels" to roll up the the
air hose, so I unroll only as much as I need and the hose isn't
flopping and kinking and underfoot all the time.
Works pretty nice.
Stephani Stephenson
steph@revivaltileworks.com
http://www.revivaltileworks.com
Vince Pitelka on tue 23 may 06
I have posted before on the importance of buying a compressor with a cast
iron cylinder or at least a cast iron sleeve. Those are both readily
available online or from some hardware stores. The Campbell-Hausfeld
compressors in their "cast iron line" are excellent. I have one that has
worked perfectly for over thirty years, and I expect it will keep working
just fine long after I am gone.
Beware of the so-called "maintenance-free" oil-less compressors or those
with direct drive from motor to compressor. Those features allow the
manufacturer to cut costs and make more money off each unit, but they try
to market these features as advantageous. They are not. If you want a
long-life compressor, always get one with a belt-drive from motor to
compressor, oil lubrication, and a cast iron cylinder or sleeve.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
F. Parker on tue 23 may 06
Hi Stephani--
I think you mean "cast iron compressor pump," not "cast iron tank." It's
a small point, but some readers might be confused. As far as I know,
there is no such thing as a cast iron tank for compressed air -- much to
brittle, and it would weigh a ton...
Regards,
Fred Parker
>this is the one you saw at my shop..cast iron tank, made in USA
>When I was searching for one , (after a smaller 'no maintenance ' one
>burned out on me and after I moved from a shop where there was a
>Hu-u-u--ge piped in air compressor ),
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