Upgrading my shop compressor, who likes what brand?

SilverGhost · 06-07-2009, 11:14 PM

I recently upgraded my blast cabinet in my powder coating shop to something much bigger.

My current 60 gallon craftsman that flows 10.5 cfm at 90 PSI is now running constantly..I'm gonna kill the thing..but worse yet right now its causing alot more water in my traps with it running so much and the tank getting so hot. I kept a similar size air jet and nozzle in the new cabinet so its drawing similar CFM as the old cabinet, but the fact that I don't have to stop blasting to reposition bigger items in the cabinet like I did before is causing the compressor to never turn off while blasting now.

I'd like to get into a 2 stage in the 20 CFM range. 80 gallon is about all I have room for in the compressor area of the shop, so gotta stay there.

I see plenty of stuff offered by various manufacturers while looking around online.

Who likes what in here? Keep in mind I'm a full time powder coater and the compressor will be running for hours every day, 6 days a week so I need quality and durability, not looking for the cheapest thing that may or may not blow up in 12 months. The ability to purchase a warranty, and the company being strong and being around to service the warranty matters as well.

Thanks guys

Oh, in case anyone asks..yes obviously I have 220v power going to the compressor area, my current 60 gallon runs on 220v. I have 10 guage wire, so 30 amp draw in my max. Looks like most of the stuff I saw so far draws in the low 20 amp range so I should be ok there.

SilverGhost · 06-07-2009, 11:46 PM

oh, forgot to add in that noise is also a concern, I want something as quiet as possible.

Gordon0652 · 06-07-2009, 11:55 PM

If you want to spend the money try a screw style compressor. Extremely quiet and efficient.
I had the ingersol upright 80gal single phase and that was loud and now i have the 3-phase and thats worse!

Quincy compressors are quiet and great rep like ingersol! Northern Tool sells them for a great price!

BOONEY7750 · 06-08-2009, 02:50 AM

I would stay away from craftsman at that level. I would also get away from alum. blocks or sleeves. the expansion and contraction occurs much faster than it does with iron blocks. I would consider a brand that has a certified mobile service tech. within a reasonable distance so they can work on it asap to eliminate your downtime if you use it for making your living.

Joshiedoom · 06-08-2009, 04:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gordon0652

If you want to spend the money try a screw style compressor. Extremely quiet and efficient.
I had the ingersol upright 80gal single phase and that was loud and now i have the 3-phase and thats worse!

Quincy compressors are quiet and great rep like ingersol! Northern Tool sells them for a great price!

Dead on.

SilverGhost · 06-08-2009, 09:28 AM

Quincy eh? I saw them online also but had never heard of them?

booney--I'm likely going to store the current 60 gallon rather than sell it or anything. Be good to have a backup in case the new one went down. My current one is 1 year old only with a 5 year onsite service warranty, would make a good backup to keep around.

How about Eaton?? I was goign to call them today. They seem to have good prices, and claim to be super quiet with good features listed.

chino_man279 · 06-08-2009, 02:14 PM

I've always heard good things about Quincy compressors in any commercial application. Another thing you can consider, since you are storing your current compressor, is plumbing in the tank with your new compressor setup. It would be cheap and the compressor would run a lot less with 140 gallons of air total.

SilverGhost · 06-08-2009, 04:38 PM

True Chino man, I had thought of that as well.

I did speak with an Eaton sales rep today who was very helpful. He said single stage is what I want, 2 stage would be a waste of money for me since I don't need mondo pressure.

I'm looking at the Eaton 7.5 hp 80 gallon single stage now. At the PSI I blast at(70-80 psi), it would support like 28 CFM..tha's awesome. Has an electronic waterdump you can set the timing on which is sweet. Runs at 72 DB sound wise, which is pretty damn quiet. I measured the dimensions and it'll fit where my current compressor is ok. Best of all they have a huge ass sale on the thing right now..$1399 instead of $2299.

The Eaton rep said Quincy is about the only company that's as good as them in his opinion. The quincy stuff is expensive for not as much compressor. $2300 or so for one that flows less CFM than this Eaton one.

I have a few more things to look into but overall I am liking what I heard on the Eaton today.

chino_man279 · 06-08-2009, 07:37 PM

You'll probably be happy with the Eaton compressor. I personally have not seen many of them or heard much about them. Does not mean they are not a good compressor though. Cannot beat the price. I know I have seen Quincy compressors run day in and day out for years on end(decades) without a glitch. I was not thinking about your needs of high volume at a low pressure(relatively)...A single stage is plenty. Hell at that price if you ever have to upgrade you can just swap out the pump and motor. You will have two tanks and the option to put any pump you want on that Eaton.

scrapecc · 06-11-2009, 02:44 PM

I had a quincy q-15, 120 gallon tank, ran 5 guys off it, the guy i bought it from owned a granite shop and ran 8 air grinders off it all day long without any lacking of air. quincy compressors will put out a lot more air than they are rated for. AND LAST FOREVER!!!!!!

BusDriver · 06-15-2009, 01:45 PM

If it is rated to flow good CFM at your pressure, don't worry about 1 or 2 stage as much. 2-stage is nice and all, but a high quality single stage like the one you listed is still a great machine, and should serve well for many years.

If the pressure rating on the old tank is ok for the new compressors output, then I'd agree on plumbing it in as well for more air storage. Just be sure, some older units were only rated for 135psi where new ones often go to 175... i wouldn't risk it unless they match.

SilverGhost · 06-16-2009, 11:12 PM

I am more than likely buying Eaton at this point for a few reasons, the big sale they have going on right now being one of them lol. Either a 5hp 80 gallon or a 7.5 hp 80 gallon, couple more pieces of info to put together in terms of my cabinet that will determine which one.

I won't be linking the tanks, 80 gallons is fine for me. Besides, more air storage means more time between the compressor cycling, but also means it has to run longer to fill them back up. Plus, I want to keep my current one in storage as a backup compressor. My compressor goes down, so does my whole shop..be nice to have an emergency backup that is ready to run if need be.

Chino man you are exacxtly correct..high volume, low pressure for what i do for a living. I don't blast at more than 80 PSI at most, don't run alot of air tools unless I'm porting a throttle body, and my powder gun runs at like 10-15 PSI lol. For sure don't need a 2 stage.

John McGraw · 06-18-2009, 03:30 PM

I have a 7.5 hp Curtiss Toledo. They have been making compressors for over 100 years, and build a nice compressor at a very good price. I have owned some of the bargain brands in the past, but they wear out fast and are very noisy. The Curtiss spins at half the speed of the cheap bargain brands. If I could afford a screw, I would but I just can't justify spending $5k for a compressor.
I differ with others on the 2 stage vs, 1 stage. I don't ever think that a 1 stage compressor is a good choice unless you are going to be working at very low pressures (less than 40 PSI). If you look at the curve of SCFM on a 2 stage versus a 1 stage, you will see that the volume drops like a rock as the pressure goes up on a single stage while is stays almost flat on a 2 stage.

Compressor ads always paint the unit they are selling in the most flattering light, but if you compare compressors at the same conditions, you will quickly see that most of the claims are just smoke and mirrors on some brands. Many compressors will claim 7 "peak horsepower", but be a 110 volt compressor! Any one with any sense knows that you can not supply more than 1 -1.5 hp with a 110 volt circuit.

Many single stage compressors will also claim a very high SCFM, but if you read the fine print, they are claiming it at 40PSIG. At 90 PSIG or 125 PSIG, the SCFM might be a fraction of what it was at 40. This is where a 2 stage really shines, the SCFM at 40 and at 90 PSIG are almost the same!

Regards, John McGraw

White01Formula · 07-04-2009, 05:20 PM

I've owned a couple different compressors, my first one was a Porter Cable 60 gallon 7hp (actually about 3 hp). It was quiet, but pathetic. I am now using an Eagle 60 gallon 6hp. It just barely keeps up with my sandblasting cabinets, and like you mentioned, you can cook burgers on the tank after only a few minutes of use and there is a ton of water in the lines which cakes up my media. As soon as I've got the money saved up I'm buying either an Eaton or a Quincy.