Air compressor home use recommendations

My cheap Draper compressor has failed – well the pressure switch that stops it when it reaches the correct pressure is broken but I’m inclined to replace the whole thing as it’s very noisy.

What’s the STW recommendation for home use? Someone recommended me a brand a while back but I can’t remember what it was.

Ta

I cant recommend one as i dont havee one. Keep meaning to get one, but never seem to get around to it.

I have been looking at these which are meant to be a lot quieter.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/295506309676?itmmeta=01J3DWZ5CWSQ22433BVYR9KM8J&hash=item44cd8c722c:g:7DwAAOSwThxgR42M

I suppose you tube is your best bet for a review of one.

Hyundai ought to be decent – deffo worth a closer look.

I saw this website and emailed them…

Air Supplies

Jun Air I use them commercially and they piss all over the rebranded Chinese crap – whisper quiet. They are often used in dentists / medical applications so are often replaced when still like new – have a search on Ebay.

What do you want to use it for? Blowing up tyres, seating tubeless tyres, will you use any air tools? What size is your current one.

I like the silent ones for noise, but the CFM is normally low for the affordable ones, my 50l on was 3.5cfm, my 90l belt drive is 14cfm.

These guys have good customer service. The first one I bought was the wrong one for what I needed and they were happy to take it back with full refund. Possibly helped that I bought the correct replacement but they were also very helpful in guiding me to the right compressor. I wished I had just asked them in the first place.

https://www.sgs-engineering.com/air-compressors

In terms of use, seating tyres is really easy 🙂 but also car tyres at the correct pressure, air hammer to remove stuck bolts and right at the moment I use it to blow away all the bloody sanding dust from the car build.

I hope to be spraying primer next weekend so hopefully it will be okay for a paint gun too.

Jun Air was the brand I couldn’t remember – thanks.  Use case is tyres obv (!) car and bikes, air duster/drying, very occasionally a wrench if it was powerful enough but not a deal breaker. Current one is 6l but 96db – this one in fact Draper 6l

I liked it as it was small and therefore easy to store when not in use.

I disliked the fact that it would not hold enough air to seat a tubeless tyre without starting up half way through making it hard to hear if it had seated properly. And also that it is now broken after very light use.  It was powerful enough though.

There are too many to choose from but I want a reliable, quiet, compact one ultimately.

Ideally oil free although I have no idea how much of a faff the oiled ones are – does the air end up with oil in it though? Not sure I want oil everywhere…

I’ve got a 6 litre Stanley one, its just a generic 6 litre sprayed yellow and sounds like a v8 when fired up. The replacement I’ve had my eye on was the Stanley fat max wall mounted one.

It’s only 2l but seems quiet and very compact. The Yorkshire bike mechanic reviews one on YouTube

Ideally oil free although I have no idea how much of a faff the oiled ones are

You put oil in them the day you buy them… And thats in in my experience. ‘Oil free’ seems to come as part of a package with ‘cheap’ and ‘noisy’

‘Oil free’ ones are free of oil, they’re just a sealed unit so the oil can’t leak out – With something like the draper you originally used – because its small they need to be a sealed system as they’re likely to be stored on their side, upside down or whatever. You’re not going to use a 100l litre compressor on its side chuck it in the car upside down

Small with a tank you could maybe look at the Senco  PC 1010 – quite when its running (still make a noise but its a smoother tone rather than the a harsh buzz) and enough in the tank to seat a tyre I’d expect

Heres the quiet one in use. Advance through to 1 min and you can hear it against a standard compressor. Night and day.

Any reciprocating piston compressor will have oil in the sump – on the cheap Chinese branded crap ones some of this oil passes over into the air stream. You need a decent downstream filter to remove the oil especially if you are wanting to paint spray.

Jun Air are swing/rocking piston and are oil free hence use in dentists/medical.

That Hyundai looks impressively quiet. Equally the Senco fits the bill in terms of compactness. Looks to be about half the size of the Hyundai. I’ll get the full specs and have a ponder….

Keep in mind that the larger,and 24l isnt that big really gives you more options. Small 4l ones might be easier to store but you’re really limited to tyre pumping, and a nail/brad/staple gun. Forget painting, theres not enough oomph.

Whatever you decide on, avoid 2nd hand. Due to the nature of air, it fills the tank with moisture as well and that corrodes the inside, until one day, the tank explodes. With 2nd hand, you dont know if they used a filter, or how long its been in use.

Screwfix sell both handily. The Jun Air might be a bit over budget…

“This is the best deal you’re going to get.”

Whatever you decide on, avoid 2nd hand. Due to the nature of air, it fills the tank with moisture as well and that corrodes the inside, until one day, the tank explodes. With 2nd hand, you dont know if they used a filter, or how long its been in use.

For Chinese crap then I’d agree – the condensate drains always contain rusty water, for the Jun Air then this doesn’t apply. New ones are cost prohibitive for DIY/home use but I’d happily have 2nd hand.

Whatever you decide on, avoid 2nd hand. Due to the nature of air, it fills the tank with moisture as well and that corrodes the inside, until one day, the tank explodes. With 2nd hand, you dont know if they used a filter, or how long its been in use.

I was recently given an old Airmate compressor that I would guess is 80s. I’ve used it without dying this far, but should I be concerned?

I’ve used it without dying this far, but should I be concerned?

There are other vids on this happening, but it needs a YT sign in and im not a YT member. Just type in ‘exploding air compressor’ for more examples. But yes they can blow up and its rust causing weakening to the cylinder.

Interesting as I’d have thought that corrosion would weaken the tank to the point at which it just starts leaking at the point of most corrosion

I’d expect a failed pressure regulator to allow pressure to continue building until it reaches the point that even a none corroded tank would open up over a large area. (I.e. explode)

Interesting as I’d have thought that corrosion would weaken the tank to the point at which it just starts leaking at the point of most corrosion

I have a large amount of pressure vessels and pressure systems under my responsibility.

There’s varying failure modes. You could have a pin prick where the corrosion ‘eats’ through a fault in the underlying steel – this is unlikely to have catastrophic failure. But you also get loss of shell thickness due to general corrosion which does lead to catastrophic failure as per the pic above.

My pressure vessels have 12 monthly in service inspection with a thorough (fully drained and opened) 24month sign off by a competent 3rd party. NDT is now 5yearly based on lack of corrosion due to absolutely dry oil free compressed air.

I’d expect a failed pressure regulator to allow pressure to continue building until it reaches the point that even a none corroded tank would open up over a large area. (I.e. explode)

A pressure relief valve should operate if the pressure regulator failed in an unsafe manner. As per above – all my pressure safety devices (pressure and vacuum relief) are tested with certification by a 3rd party every 24months.

This is in contrast to knackered old compressors that never get drained clacking away untested in backstreet garages and STW houses for seating tyres.

* I am an absolute hoot at parties and can hold members of the opposite sex in absolute raptor with my conversations about the pressure vessel directive.

https://www.sgs-engineering.com/air-compressors

I got a SGS 6 litre compressor as well. It’s very good for setting up tubeless especially fat tyres. But I wouldn’t use it for any long duration work – they suggest a time limit of something or other that I can’t remember. And it’s noisy, so a quick ten minutes without disturbing the neighbours. But for its price and occasional use, good.

I have that Hyundai one. Only paid £130 from an eBay HUKD a few years back. It’s not “silent” but it’s a bloody sight quieter than any other cheapo one I’ve used! Can happily be in the same room as it without ear protection.

At work we have some of the Bambi ones, bought from AirSupplies. They are very quiet but £££.

I’ve also got one of the Hyundai quiet compressors. It’s SO much quieter than a normal compressor

This is in contrast to knackered old compressors that never get drained clacking away untested in backstreet garages and STW houses for seating tyres.

*quietly wanders off to drain the tank*

Bought a Hyundai in the end – thanks for the recommendation. It’s very very quiet but heavy to lift. Not used it for a tubeless setup yet but I am not expecting any issues.

I’ve got a Stanley 6 litre one. It sounds like an F16 with afterburners on full chat when you fire it up and runs out of puff very quickly. Not recommended.

I’ve got a 50 litre sealey, been perfect for about 9 years.

Two main uses are

1. tubeless tyres, obviously totally ott but a definite upgrade on my coke bottle solution

2. Swapping out winter wheels on the cars. Really good for this, not quite F1 timings but it does make light work on 8 sets of wheel nuts and checking tyre pressures.