I am considering painting my car. I was wondering how big of a compressor/tank I would need. Also, any reccomendations that are not overly expensive would be nice. Are there any certain specs other than size and psi I need to look for?

Ben

 

ttt

 

I guess it depends on the gun and how much you are going to paint. I have a 15 gal Cambell Hausfield compressor with a water seperator and it works fine for me. I have a gravity fed HVLP gun and run 43 PSI inlet pressure. I'm also not painting entire cars, so the compressor has plenty of time to refill the tank between coats (if it was even running low, I never checked tank pressure after painting).

 

I plan on painting my entire car, and if I get it I would imagine we will end up doing one or 2 more eventually. I figured I will probably get at least a 30 and would like to get a 60-80 if I can afford it or if it is necissary.

 

Ok, well, I was looking at craftsman's page. There were several compressors I looked at the descriptions on. There were a few 60 gallons for 4-500. These are all 7 hp 2 stage with slightly different options. These range from 135-150 psi max, and have around 10.2 scfm at 90 psi and 12.6 at 40 psi(one of them has lower scfm ratings-9.0 and 10.6) . Then it jumps to about $760. At this price, it is a 5 hp compressor, 2 stage, and 175 psi. It has a much higher scfm of 16.5 at 40 and 15.5 at 90.

So here's the deal. I want something that is going to work for whatever I need to do down the road, but dont want to spend more than I have to(I know, those 2 things dont necissarily go together). What should I get and does anyone know of any other brands that will be good, but at a better price?

Also, what exactly is scfm? I know what cfm is and figure that scfm has to do with what volume of air is displaced in a given amount of time, but wasn't sure exactly what it means or what the difference between it and just cfm is.

Thanks

Ben

 

Do you have a gun picked out? It should have some requirements listed.
From the craftsman site:
Craftsman Automotive Spray Gun
Get glass-smooth finishes just like the pros! Non-bleeder-type gun is perfect for auto refinishing and other commercial uses. Machined brass external air cap aids in giving a superior finish.

Hardened steel fluid tip for longer life. Requires 7.0 SCFM at 40 PSI.

My advice, stay above the minimum requirements.

 

I havent picked out a gun no, but some of the guns I have seen people talk about in some of my searches require more like 12-13 scfm at 40 psi. This is why I was wondering.

Ben

 

Then don't buy a Craftsman. IMO 'oil-free' air compressors suck. Porter Cable, Cambel Hausfield, Devillbis and others all make a better compressor than Craftsman and are not 'oil-free. Also, you're probably aware of this but, most larger upright compressors are 220v. If you don't have a 220v source near where you are planning to set you compressor, you'll have to do some wiring. I have a 25gal Cambel Hausfield that I'm pretty happy with. If I were to buy another again, I'd go with Porter Cable though. It's a little beter compressor for about the same price. The one I have runs my Cobalt HVLP and Central Pneumatic "hvlp" guns pretty good. But have a similar hunger n the 10scfm range.
A little reading material for you.. http://www.cleandryair.com/scfm_vs__icfm_vs__acfm.htm

 

Craftsman has both oil free and non oil free. I figured I would go with a non oil free anyway because I had hear that they were better. If one of these other compressors is better and a decent price though I might go that way. You say that you have a 25 gallon Cambel Hausfield that supports your paint guns pretty good. I looked at a 26 gallon made by them and I think it only had something like 6.? scfm at 40 psi if I remember correctly. Is yours that low and works fine? How do you like your paint guns. Would you have a reccomendation for a paint gun.

As far as the outlet, I realize that I will need a 220 outlet, and can have one installed.

Ben

 

Ok, well, I was wondering where I would find a good air compressor. I dont know where to be able to buy one without outragous shipping. devilbiss I have seen listed in a couple places as making the compressors for craftsman but havent actually seen them for sale.

Ben

 

ttt

 

I wouldn't ever buy a craftsman compressor, my friend had one and the piston split in two after less than 20 hours of use.. oil-less POS that thing was LOUD! Now I've got an 80 gallon standup single stage I got from lowe's and it works great for the 4 years i've owned it

 

Non even the compressors that actually use oil? What kind of cfm does your compressor produce, and how much was it? Does it have a brand?

Ben

 

I second the craftsman statement from dan but, I have a friend who unfortunatly owns one too.


Ben.. I would just look through you local yellow pages and call around to see what place carry what brand. Find the model/brand on the net for specs and then call back to see if it's available. I've had good luck with cambel hausfield so I already had in mind what I wanted. I called a few local places and asked what they carried in 120v, went and looked, bought.
I've been quite pleased with my Cambel Hausfield despite it's low rating. As far as compared performance.. I know for fact that it operates my impact better and at a lower psi than my bud's craftsman (which is higher scfm rated). The one I have is a vertical 25gal, twin cyl, oiled compressor. Shutoff psi is 135. I like it mostly because you don't have to scream over it running. If I were to buy another though, for roughly the same price, I would get a Porter Cable. A slightly better performance/$$ value and isn't oil-free.
As far as paint guns, I like the Cobat I have. It's been a pretty good gun and paint comes out fairly smooth (considering the operator ). I bought the Central basically for a primer gun. It was on sale for $50 at Harbor Freight so, I couldn't pass it up. I think they (central pneumatic) use the term HVLP a little loosely though (overspray is nearly on par with a standard paint gun). I did use it messing around painting some teal on my camaro and it doesn't lay paint all that bad either (excluding overspray).

 

I found at Low's that they carry a pretty complete line of campbell hausfield. I couldnt really find much else that would probably be big enough for painting in town. Anyway, I may go that route when I get the money saved up. The heads, intake, rockers and gaskets(including dead soft header and collector gaskets) I just bought drained me of pretty much all the money I had.

Ben