OK guys, tell me which type of air compressor makes sense for, amongst other things of course, tubeless tyre inflation. I’d rather pay £20 more and get a better working model, not necessarily the cheapest, but still want a bargain. I’m thinking £80-£120 as a rough budget.

So what capacity? (I’ve seen similar priced 8 and 24 litre models.) Oil or oiless and do they all have to be drained? Plus loads of tuff I’m sure I haven’t even thought of…

Thanks in advance

You’re budget really leaves your options quite limited.

Basically a small capacity is crap for anything other than tyre inflation so if you’re not planning on running tools of it or spraying paint then just go for what looks like the best bargain.

I went for the 90 litre wolf dakota as I had an amazon voucher and couldnt find much bad about them… the returns all looks super easy as it’s via a company called uktv or something that must be the wolf reseller.

If your budget can stretch I’d say this if a fairly decent price and capacity size which may allow you to do more than just inflate tyres and clean things with compressed air:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wolf-Sioux-2-5HP-9-5CFM-230V/dp/B004CRK6VK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413717259&sr=8-1&keywords=wolf+compressor

or if you want to spend £120 then they do the same with a 25litre tank:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wolf-Induction-9-5CFM-Compressor-complete/dp/B004CRF9I0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1413717259&sr=8-2&keywords=wolf+compressor

You won’t go far wrong with either..

also since it doesnt sound like your using it much I wouldnt worry too much about if its oil or oilless just make sure if its oil then you check the level before turning it on

Bigger tank will be better as I would doubt any model you can buy will have a sufficient CFM to keep up with air tools so the greater buffer will be give you more working time.

I would go for conventional piston with oil if it was me. All compressor tanks will need draining for water, please be careful when you do this.

Why do you need to be careful mrovershoot? Aren’t the little valves on the bottom pressure rated for the tank anyway so you just creep it open at any psi and it drains / empties its self?

Lidl still have their 24 litre oil model in stock.

Combined with a Prestaflator it’s brill.

The valves are fine with the pressure but they are made to a price point.

I’ve had call outs to units where people have just kept opening the bleed valve till it shot out of the stem like a bullet.
Bigger units my have a 1/4 turn ball valve where I would recommend running a permanent drain line from the valve.
Compressed air can be dangerous please don’t dick around with it.

Why do you need to be careful mrovershoot? Aren’t the little valves on the bottom pressure rated for the tank anyway so you just creep it open at any psi and it drains / empties its self?

No, water draining should always be done once the air has been exhausted from the output side of the receiver (tank). Cheap compressors in particular have bleed valves that just open the receiver to atmosphere, with no flow limitation other than their inner diameter. This can lead to the water and air escaping from the valve very quickly, which is very dangerous, most of all to the operator’s hearing.

Good knowledge thanks

Thanks Guys, All good advice to the novice 😮

In terms of capacity guys, what capacity enables you to do what?

Chapaking, you recommended a 24l Lidl, is that just useful for inflation and air blowing duties? (This is useful for cleaning dust off my work equipment, so that’s a big bonus, no more cans of canned air!) I take it a Prestaflator is what it sounds like?

What extra would the 50 litre or even a 90 litre give me?

I also totally hear you, (no pun intended) about emptying the compressor tank before opening it to bleed it.

I’ve seen pellets of ice being fired at high velocity out of receiver bleed valves before. If the receiver is drained of air and water at the same time the decompressing air can cool the water leaving the receiver so much it freezes.

I prefer to use compressors with pre-receiver driers now, which eliminates the water in the receiver and provides dry air around the system. The systems I spec/buy/install are relatively expensive lab systems though!

A 50 litre receiver should be fine for most single user home/garage/shed needs. It’s not just the capacity but the flow rate and rated duty cycle of the compressor that matters.

Thanks willej, and so what sort of flow rate and rated duty cycle would be appropriate/ adequate / considered good?

I want to make sure that in my ignorance and search for a suitable purchase, read ‘bargain’, I don’t end up with a lemon!

Cheers,

Hey Chapaking thanks for the info, do you own use one of the lidl machines?

if so what do you use it for and how do you rate it?

Cheers,

if you have a bigger tank youve got more air to play with before the motor needs to run again… simple.

All air tools spec a CFM for what their tools need to operate.. basically a short version of the research I did was that the dakota seemed like the most sensible buy for me leaving me open to pretty much any tool I wanted ie air grinders, hammers, impact guns ect…

If you just want to spray air and fill tyres I’d go for that 50l link I sent you as the noise of the compressor is what most people complain about so it’s better only hearing it run once and not making you deaf 😛

The dakota 90l I got is belt driven and much quieter which again for me was another bonus but it was also £250ish!

You just need to ensure the stated free flow rate of the compressor is 20% or so higher than the flow rate that the tools/things you plan to use require. A lot of air tools use lots of air, high flow rates, so if you buy a compressor that has a low capacity it will always be recharging the receiver. If you but one with low free flow rate it won’t be able to supply the tool with enough air to work properly. If all you need it for is inflating tyres and blowing out dirt and dust a lower capacity (50 litres or less) receiver will be fine, as will a lower flow rate.

If you can find one an old Ingersoll Rand type 30 compressor is nice & quiet & almost bomb proof.

Oh BTW I worked as a service engineer on pretty much all types of compressors for 5 years

As above, but also remember that when manufacturers sell compressors they give you displacement figures and not FAD (free air delivered) when quoting CFM.

The displacement is exactly that and FAD is what actually comes out of the pump unit that you can use.

As a rule of thumb you get 3CFM (FAD) per HP for piston type compressors and 4CFM per HP for more industrial vane and screw machines.

The wolfs are notorious for melting pistons under heavy use , having a fairly low duty cycle.

Im currently waiting for a clarke vat free day to pick up at 150l un. Nearly spent a wedge ( about 60quid less than a vat free equivalent from machine mart) on a dakota 150 before i found out it lacked a cast head and liked to melt under heavy use.

Currently making a 24l tooltec work hard for a living spraying land rover parts – bar being on often its coping ok.

Wolf will be fine for most home use but wasnt suitable for me.

Hey Chapaking thanks for the info, do you own use one of the lidl machines?

if so what do you use it for and how do you rate it?

Yes, I just use it for bike tyres, vehicle tyres, inflatables etc.

Can’t really fault it with the Prestaflator.

Are you the same zedz who’s supposed to be buying some tyres off me?

One and the same… did offer to paypal + fees in advance if you remember, offer still stands, I only live up the road so am happy to come and collect, let me know…

Email in profile.

For blowing up bike / car tyres once in a while, the cheapest possible compressor will do the job. They’re extremely noisy and pack up quickly under heavy use. Unless you suddenly get ambitious and start trying to run air tools off them, they will do most people.

The Ingersoll Rand machines are awesome, but can be absolutely massive. In a DIY context you would never wear one out. We have an extremely second hand one – it looks to older than the Titanic, but it will happily run tools all day.

Mr Overshoot – can I pick your brains on these? Ours doesn’t shut itself off, which could be a bit worrying if you get forgetful…

Probably an hour or two of use twice a week for what I already have lined up, air blowing duties with keeping my working kit clean and dust free and the added benefit of easy maintenance of tubeless tyres 😆

This is why I was enquiring of the forum’s good members’ experiences, as it is often the case that I buy what I think I need and find out later that an alternative, either cheaper or more expensive model would have been more suitable and have usually overspec’ed and spent too much or gone for a bargain and end up shifting it on to buy a better model.

tron – Member
Mr Overshoot – can I pick your brains on these? Ours doesn’t shut itself off, which could be a bit worrying if you get forgetful…

Does it have an electrical control or a pneumatic unloader?

I sounds like the main pressure control just needs turning down until it drops the contact off

No idea! I’ll take a look next time I’m in the shed. It has a valve in the side of the tank that will blow air out if it gets beyond 100 PSI or so. Can I be dead cheeky and bounce you an email when I get a chance to look at it?

I’ve got a fairly inexpensive (£80?) SIP Hurricane which has been going strong for a few years including respraying my motorbike (which did include a fair amount of stopping and waiting, but was otherwise fine). Think it’s a 50 litre, 1.5hp. I used to use some other air tools with it but ended up just not bothering, so now it’s just tyre inflator and airduster and the rattle gun’s pretty much retired.

tron – Member

No idea! I’ll take a look next time I’m in the shed. It has a valve in the side of the tank that will blow air out if it gets beyond 100 PSI or so. Can I be dead cheekyem and bounce you an email when I get a chance to look at it?

No problem just send a picture

Sorry to hijack.. is the lidl compressor online anywhere?

Lidl = rebranded wolf.

nickdavies – Member

Sorry to hijack.. is the lidl compressor online anywhere?

Lidl? It was a Thursday special about a month ago…

Lidl still have their 24 litre oil model in stock.

Combined with a Prestaflator it’s brill.

Thanks a lot guys, going round to Chakaping’s later to check out his Lidl / Wolf special, and pick up some tyres.

I’ll probably get one of those and if it seems underpowered / too noisy I’m sure I can move it on the STW For Sale forum.

Don’t go expecting anything that doesn’t make your ear’s bleed for that price – but a cheaper option is you can make a home made insulated box to pop over it which will help or get a longer hose so it’s further away from you whilst working.

Not sure I agree with what trail rat said about wolf’s getting hand meltingly hot as mines been on all weekend for the past 2 months with an air grinder and is spot on.