felixx Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Lets put all our compressor/ air tool questions here: To begin with; water traps. 1) Do I put it at the compressor or tool end of the line? 2) I did try hooking it up at the compressor, even at low pressure it was letting air thru the drain plug on the bottom, what am I doing wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 It will do that, let compressor run a bit longer and itll shut. Run either at compressor or in line on wall. Gaz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dell'orto Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Depends what style water trap, some of the cheapies are designed to go at the tool end. A decent one will be a combined reg/water trap and be mounted on the compressor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felixx Posted September 23, 2012 Author Share Posted September 23, 2012 OK, cheers gents. What tools do you kids run off a compressor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 spray gun, rattle gun, die grinder, air gun.. the normal shit. Gaz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dell'orto Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 ^That. Plus a sand blasting cabinet and air ratchets when i'm feeling lazy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bling Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Pretty sure you're supposed to have the water trap after some hose so the air has a chance to cool down before the trap. I've only used mine with my sandblast cabinet, and I connected it just before the cabinet. If you are wanting to get best results perhaps a 10m line leading down to water trap then run tools off another hose. I doubt a water trap really does anything if attached to the compressor itself. Just going by what i've read. As for what other tools, air gun, impact gun, die grinder, ratchet, cutoff saw, drill, punch/flange tool, tyre inflater and spray gun which I haven't used yet. I've only used the water trap with the sand blaster so far as most other usage is only short bursts. I just make sure I drain the tank of any water every so often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 What's the lowest you can comfortably spray a car with? About 20-25cfm? Or can you get away/spray constantly with a smaller one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bling Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Probably half that, though not sure how comfortably. I think mine is about 12cfm FAD and i've been told it will handle spraying easily. I can run sandblaster off it without having to stop, and that probably requires as much if not more air. People seem to have painted with much less air available, so it must be possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaMpylobacter Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 if you're using too higher pressure/too much air then you'll just turn your paint into overspray anyways. seen joekrs do sweet paintjobs with 8cfm compressors. hah. ken for a h00j compressor. my little $130 direct drive jobby doesn't keep up and my 12cfm with petrol engine is too noisy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Can paint with almost any compressor with good results will just need to adjust method slightly. Ive painted cars with the good old 2.5hp 40l direct drive $150 bunnings type compressor many times using a HVLP gun. They run about 30-40psi in and then 10psi at the tip so not huge pressures at all, they do use a bit of volume though, 10cfm would be fine and as Cam said before even 8 will work but prob not ideal for larger panels. Gaz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 The one and only time i actually used one to paint a car, i borrowed a huge one which was choice as it could keep up with any painting i did. I'm keen to get a compressor at some stage, but feel i should buy one that will keep up with the tough task of continuous spraying if it's affordable enough. Don't wanna spend $800 on a compressor, but if the $250 won't keep up with spraying, and the $350 one will, then it's an easy choice. So just wanna get my facts straight before looking around at compressors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 Cant member exaclty but its approx 300 litres per minute free air delivery to keep up and say 400 to keep up + fill the resivour so that the poor thing doesn't overheat. Thats with ya general HVLP gun. Gaz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dell'orto Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 . Don't wanna spend $800 on a compressor Look to second hand, you wont buy a GOOD new one for that money. I would suggest a grand minimum for a decent compressor, thats capable of spraying without slogging its guts out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 Sweet as, well that just means i'll probably buy a cheapie and beg/borrow/steal a good one if/when needed... unless i can find something decent on trademe one day. No room for a big one anyway ATM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bling Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 I think I paid ~$1500 for mine, then my plans to use it for painting went down tubes due to health reasons. So now I just have a super spendy / overkill air broom for 90% of it's usage Way too much to spend for occasional use, but I wanted a decent one and it's more of a industrial unit really. Have seen people hook two cheap compressors up together which gave good air flow. When I was looking, the price brackets were pretty spread out. Cheap - ok - extreme. This was my second choice, still probably too spendy for ya though http://www.georgehenry.co.nz/product_pcid_1949.html I think it was around the 8-9cfm FAD mark. Should do the trick for what you want though. As Brad says though, for a good unit sub $800, 2nd hand will be the go. For an OK unit, i'm sure sub 500 will be doable. I never really looked into the lower spec ones to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 are there any brands/models that are more reputable than others when it comes to air compressors? it seems to be something that there isnt alot of info around on?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingbrick Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 do not be suckered into thinking extra air tanks are a solution to the pump being putts. noise has been an issue for me. larger compressors run less and are quieter so much nicer to be around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bling Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 are there any brands/models that are more reputable than others when it comes to air compressors?it seems to be something that there isnt alot of info around on?? Depends on price bracket I guess. At the low price end it's probably all the same gear / quality with different labels. Hinden/Marquip are good in the higher end bracket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spencer Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 If you plan on painting abit, or more importantly using air sanders or die grinding, you will want the biggest compressor you can get on single phase 15A. This is about 3hp and will be roughly 390l/min this is still to small for using sanders more than 15min or so, ours is a 3 head, 3hp and its too small for what we do. If I had 3 phase I would go out and spend 2k+ on a big one (or there seems to be allot of second hand 3 pase comps for cheap, ex workshops), like buying a good welder, if you buy a shit one you will regret it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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