Shop Air Compressor Recommendations
 

In a bit of a quandary here…

I’ve been using a hand me down 5hp two stage DeVilbiss from my dad that HE bought as a surplus item from a service station in the late 50’s. This thing is probably close to 80 years old. Still works, but it is very slow to fill the tank. Probably doesn’t have any rings left in it. The 80 gallon vertical tank also scares the hell out of me since I can’t see the inside for rust.

I also have a much newer twin cylinder 10 HP Speedaire with no motor and a broken crank. Aside from the broken crank (shipping accident), it’s practically new. Seems like crankshafts are reasonable (if available).

I have always relied on air compressors for my work in the shop. Needs to be able to run a sand blast cabinet, plasma cutter, paint gun or air tools all day long at times. Trying to weigh the benefits of rebuilding the DeVilbiss, repairing the Speedaire, or go with something new.

If I go new I want quiet, powerful and durable. Any of you hard core shop guys have any thoughts?

Eastwood just came out with a quiet one. It ain't cheap but very quiet.

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-el...echnology.html

I really dislike listening to an compressor run, my answer was to build a shed outside for the compressor, gets rid of the noise, and likely a tank rupture will harm no one. it also frees up floor space in the garage. I made the drain for the tank to reach inside the garage for ease of draining.

Over the years I ended up 2, fairly new units with 5 HP single stage compressors. I'm going the plumb them together to give me 100 gallons capacity, and 2 compressors in their own shed.

The tanks on the old compressors were much stouter than newer stuff. My father had a 1940s Par compressor that sat half full of water for years and to my knowledge is still around. It weighed a ton if you had to move it.

HF sells a compressor head for likely less than you can buy a crankshaft:

https://www.harborfreight.com/5-hp-1...ump-59672.html

Good luck in whatever avenue you choose....;)

Unlike Sirrotica, I love listening to my compressor pumping air...7.5HP single phase with V4 pumping. It's like the 455 of air compressors :).

After having a 5HP 2 cylinder and then the current one, I would not go any smaller...I can sandblast with a pressure pot or use my sandblasting cabinet as long as I want and never wait for air.

If the tank on the bigger unit is OK, I would price out a replacement crank and motor vs. buying a new unit. Unfortunately, you may find that the parts are more than a complete unit.

Personally, I’m a cheap azz, and think 98% of new stuff is garbage.
I’d look into rebuilding that DeVilbiss in a heartbeat. It’s not hard to rebuild a compressor.

It sounds like you are used to using quality equipment. This means spending several thousand dollars minimum to end up happy. I used a 5 HP single stage Campbell Hausfeld 60 gallon vertical compressor for about 20 years. Then I thought I lucked into a Dayton, 2-stage 6 HP 80 gallon vertical compressor. It has full pressure lube and a spin on oil filter. Well, the motor was shot. So I had it repaired. Then It wouldn't create any pressure. Ended up having to buy a new cylinder head package because they don't service the reed valves anymore. Long story slightly shorter, I spent $750.00 on parts to fix it up like new. At first I was pretty pissed at all the hassle and expense. 6 years later, it was a good investment. It is quiet, makes 175 PSI if needed, will likely outlive me. I would fix the one with the crankshaft issue if parts are available. Everything new unless you get into an industrial grade unit is low grade junk that may last 5 years in daily use if your lucky.

I’m sensitive to economics but I’m not afraid of paying money in return for a good value.

The crankshaft for my Speedaire 3W493 is turning into a bit of a struggle to find.

My first move would be to do the legwork to really find out what it would cost to put either of the high quality compressors into reliable, safe condition.

Then compare that cost to what you can get for that same amount of money in a new compressor.

If it ended up being .. say $2000 to get either one of the quality compressors into a condition that would work reliably for 20 years, then that would be the route that I personally would go in a heartbeat.

I used a 1930s vintage compressor for a while, still had the original motor ... wife made me get rid of it when I left the power on and it tried to cycle on at night with a failed unloader valve, smoked the motor and filled the house with smoke.

Lowest noise and best performance, probably Eaton Compressor. You can stand next to it while its running and carry on a conversation at your normal speaking voice.

I have an odd hobby of making workable air compressors out of peoples cast off old ones. There are obviously three main components as you know: The tank, the motor, and the pump. Tanks aren't hard to find, and neither are serviceable motors. Most times, I have been *given* the tanks and motors for free, and the only investment is pump and possibly some fittings or copper tube.

Here's the crazy thing. I have had really good success with the HF compressor pumps. One of them is going on 7-8 years now. I do THREE no-load break ins, with oil changes afterward.

I've attached the most recent one.

For 12 years I've been using an Eaton every day. This is the current version of it. I have zero complaints about it.

https://eatoncompressor.com/product/...llon-vertical/

Those air compressors are produced about 10-12 miles from where I live. They are absolutely the exception to the rule of new equipment being disposable junk. If I was a young man again and wanted a "lifetime" air compressor, that's the one I would buy.

Anyone have a good source of parts for obsolete compressor parts? It seems like I waited too long to grab a crank for my Speedaire 3Z493. What was once a standard catalog item now feels like trying to locate NOS RAIV heads.

Also interesting comments about the big HF compressors. I’m a “quality first” guy for tools like this, but I can’t believe the prices of some of this Chinese stuff.

Nothing intelligent to add as I use a big cobalt job I got for half price from lowes. It was around $200 and has been doing a great job for 7 or 8 years now. But, my question about a rusty tank failure that some say they are afraid of. I doubt there will be any 'explosion' or catastrophe in the event of a failure. I had an old sears job 40 years ago. The tank must have been made of very thin gauge steel. It didnt last too long but when it rusted through it was just a matter of a hole in the tank and no pressure. IF its not holding air how will it be pressurized enough to blow? Just a thought.

I had a tank rust through, and it just started leaking finally. I don’t really understand how one could catastrophically “blow”, but I’m no scientist.

I have personally seen firsthand the aftermath of a compressor tank explosion. Granted, it was a 20-ish? gallon horizontal job, with wheels for mobility. Very commonly available. The tank seam was on the bottom, closest to the floor, where the condensation accumulates. .It belonged to some friends of ours. The destruction was immensely worse that I would have expected. It opened up from the bottom along the seam. This massive pressure causes a handful of things. This propelled it with some sort of triagonal trajectory, leaving marks in both the wall and the ceiling. The 16' garage door was destroyed from the blast, and it also broke the door to the house as well as the parts of the doorjamb. Shrapnel from the tank messed up the sides of two vehicles, necessitating both having their entire sides repaired and repainted. I don't know what the total was for all of the damage, but it had to have been quite substantial. Why it didnt just leak out is a very good question, and I do not have the answer. Maybe just some anomaly in manufacturing? No idea. Until I saw this, I didn't even consider it a possibility that it could do this much damage.

It has made me consider some sort of anchoring mechanism for the two different 60 gallon compressors I have.

Good to know, I had just have it turn out differently in my case.

~125psi caused all that damage? Wow! Glad no one was hurt.

That does sound like a mess. I suppose if a welded seam failed at once it could happen. May have been a one in a million chance as well? I do have both of my large stand up compressors bolted to the floor and both are housed inside a 'closet'.

My Ingersoll Rand from Tractor Supply just hit its 20 years. Had to replace the switch once and oil changes. That's it.

I have a Craftsman from ‘88. The original 35 gallon tank rusted out. I bought a 60 gallon off of a local radio buy/sell/trade show. Then pulled the motor off and took it to a local electrical shop to have them go through. I then tore the pump down and flipped the reed valves over and made gaskets out of gasket material, as none were available anymore. Total cost I remember to be around $110 for the whole project.
Nice to live rural BTW, we still have guys locally who rebuild starters, alternators, generators, and motors, as farmers rebuild stuff instead of replacing! :)