Air Compressor Recommendations?

edgewise

Grumbler
Joined
Jul 20, 2004
Posts
16
Loc
San Francisco
Hello Everyone--

I'm looking for a quiet air compressor for my shop. I've got a foot powered v-nailer, so the compressor will only be used to power a point driver and for blowing dust off artwork during fitting. My work area is open to the storefront, so something on the quiet side would be nice. Any suggestions on a good quiet compressor that won't break the bank or splatter oil/water marks on artwork?

thanks for a wonderful, supportive site!

-- Dan
 
I got a 5 gal red one at Home Depot. They advertize it as "quite". I left it in the box and wrapped insulation around it. Its as quite as I have heard.

Welcome to the grumble.
 
Try Grainger, we just got one for $299 and it is very near the display floor, we use it just for the Fletcher flex point gun and blowing lint.
 
Originally posted by Jay H:
quite
Kwite what? Kwite Kwiet or Kwite flamable?

Look for a Junair for a kwiet compressor, I suggest looking at second hand models from dental suppliers to keep the price down if you're only running a nailer. Will you ever expand the needs of the machine though??? Take this into account when purchasing also as it is very common to whack a few more airtools into the arsenal.
 
If you have basement space, another option is to drill a hole in the floor and locate the unit down there. This is what we did, and it allowed us to split the feed so it could be run up in two places (Vnailer and Wizard). We don't use (trust) air to come anywhere near the artwork.

Originally we had a $99 Home Depot chatterbox/jackhammer, which surprisingly lasted almost 2 years. That was the LOUDEST compressor ever, and not really designed for continuous use. I would suggest avoiding a DIRECT DRIVE/OIL FREE compressor at all costs. They run faster, hotter, and louder - and aren't designed to last.

Now we're running an old Sears unit with a 10gallon tank, and love it. (I found it in the folk's garage and replaced the sensor switch, and it runs very well). It only comes on a couple times per day because of the storage tank.
It looks like this:
compresso.gif

Junair is the Lexus of compressors, although very expensive. I believe they use these in medical offices and other places where a reliable silent unit is required. They create about 65dba in noise and have a small footprint.
of302-25b%20junair.jpg


Mike
 
Q-U-I-E-T. How bout that?

No fire. The reason its QUIET is because it has a very small motor on it. It also runs for QUITE a while. However there is a fan that blows on it. I have a digital thermometer laying on top of it. It rarely heats up inside the more than a degree or two when it runs alot. However that small motor probably won’t keep up if you just blow air out.

Disclaimer: I only use it for my wizard and it rarely kicks on more than 3 times an hour. Results may vary.
 
I hooked up a small, cheap compressor to my Mat Maestro. It would only kick in 4-5 times/day but, when it did, it scared the **** out of everyone and made it impossible to answer the phone or talk to customers.

So I cut the hole in the floor and hooked the CMC up to another compressor down there - a Bambi, which I bought years ago with my underpinner.

The Bambi is extremely quiet and could easily sit upstairs, but it's larger and I like it out-of-the-way.
 
The Juhn-Air is a great choice. It is very quiet. There is a company called Sil-Air that makes "silent" air compressors. They make anything from little ones like you would want up to very large units used in manufacturing operations. Search for them on the web. Their dealers often have reconditioned units at a reasonable price. Like others have said you should consider future needs including air volume (CFM) and pressure (PSI) requirements of tools and machines that you may purchase over the next couple of years.
 
The Jun-Air that I bought 9 years ago was one of the best choices that I made when starting my business. My shop is set up in a way that does not permit a remote location for a noise maker. The Jun-Air is as easy to live with as a refrigerator or air-conditioning compressor. And, it has been running flawlessly for all 9 years.

Pat
kaffeetrinker_2.gif
 
I bought a Cambell Haus from Home Depot in one of those "I'll just see if this works for me.." moments in 2001. Never replaced it like I was supposed to, and it is still running. The problem is that it is loud as **** and I can't hear myself think!

My neighbor, a carpenter was given an ancient compressor. (S S White No. 5) We traded machines and I love the old thing. Old refridgerator compressor, sounds like the one on "Lassie", feels like a real antique. My fear is who do I call to fix it if it ever needs it? Its got to be older than I am as I am assuming that SSWite became White Westinghouse.
 
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