Best low cost air compressor for home use ?

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Trav
Whatever you buy stay clear of oil less, they have the durability of a wet noodle.

Then why are people recommending the HF pancake compressor?

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: chevrofreak
Originally Posted By: JTK


I went mid range cheapo a few months back and bought this one: http://www.harborfreight.com/air-tools/a...ssor-67847.html A little noisy, but it works well.


I have this one as well, and it powers the 1/2" Earthquake impact gun well enough to remove anything that I have needed to.


I don't doubt it does. It takes the compressor quite a while to fill the tank to capacity, but once it does, you've got a lot of air to work with for a ~$179 setup. I was using a blow gun the other day to blast away some saw dust and was amazed at how long I could keep the gun wide open before the compressor fired back up.

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Trav
Whatever you buy stay clear of oil less, they have the durability of a wet noodle.

Then why are people recommending the HF pancake compressor?

Because its cheap. Nothing worth more than a pee hole in the snow has an oil free pump.

 

[Apollo14]

Originally Posted By: Donald
You can use a simple air compressor without a tank designed for only filling tires. I have been using one for 20 years. I have a large and a portable compressor also. But this is easy and light.

I would however get a 120V one rather than 12V.

Mine is a Black and Decker.


Yes for tire filling only, you could skip the compressor and get a small tire inflator for $20. I keep these in my vehicles just in case.

Check Amazon and you'll find ones that are dual 12v and 110v and even have digital readouts with automatic shutoffs.

 

[jcwit]

Originally Posted By: edwardh1
pawn shops are unknown quality, left in the rain in back of a truck, run too hot etc, the makita is nice esp the oil lube


Being as the pawn shops I deal with give a 2 week warranty I have little fear of buying at a pawn shop.

Course if the shops in your area do not give any warranty???????????????????????

 

[Apollo14]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette


I need it for filling tires and now for air gun when rotating tires / remove lug nuts.

Max budget $200




Get a cordless impact wrench. I have a Milwaukee M18 Fuel High Torque and it is more powerful than most pneumatic ones.

You need a decent size and price compressor to supply enough air (volume and pressure) to get the 5 or more lugs nuts off one wheel.



Yeah I agree with Donald. I would only go for the ~$200 compressor if I wanted to do more than inflate tire and remove wheels.

For removing wheels, I use my $10 HF breaker bar and my existing impact driver. If I was taking wheels off more often, I might buy the impact wrench or a more powerful impact driver if it could do the job.

 

[Apollo14]

Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Trav
Whatever you buy stay clear of oil less, they have the durability of a wet noodle.

Then why are people recommending the HF pancake compressor?

Because its cheap. Nothing worth more than a pee hole in the snow has an oil free pump.


But also because it was a direct answer to his question:

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Best low cost air compressor for home use for filling car tires so I don't have to go to gas station ?

Thanks

 

[Trav]

He also said he had a $200 budget and wanted to run an impact gun for lug nuts.
Also "because its cheap" is the same answer you just gave. and also because he said best.
Which leaves HF out of the running.

 

[chevrofreak]

Originally Posted By: JTK
Originally Posted By: chevrofreak
Originally Posted By: JTK


I went mid range cheapo a few months back and bought this one: http://www.harborfreight.com/air-tools/a...ssor-67847.html A little noisy, but it works well.


I have this one as well, and it powers the 1/2" Earthquake impact gun well enough to remove anything that I have needed to.


I don't doubt it does. It takes the compressor quite a while to fill the tank to capacity, but once it does, you've got a lot of air to work with for a ~$179 setup. I was using a blow gun the other day to blast away some saw dust and was amazed at how long I could keep the gun wide open before the compressor fired back up.


I recently replaced all of the brake pads on a coworkers car and the compressor didn't kick on to refill until I was working on the last wheel. I got the compressor for $150 and the impact gun for $80. You just have to find the best coupon.

 

[babbittd]

If you go the Harbor Freight route, you do no need to wait for the coupons to arrive in the Valpak.

They post these 20% off single item coupons every month. That's for use in-store or online.

http://www.harborfreight.com/20off-coupon912-aff-17547.html

 

[Tdbo]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Originally Posted By: eljefino
^ Those are hawt.

OP, do you need small and portable or just cheap? Because you can get a "real" compressor at a yard sale/ pawn shop etc.

The 2 hp oiled style is pretty universal, and is the most air you can get from a 110 socket.


I need it for filling tires and now for air gun when rotating tires / remove lug nuts.

Max budget $200






Running an impact now takes the pancake compressor out of the equation.
I'd say that JTK's setup would be fine for that or put the money toward a larger compressor.

 

[Apollo14]

Originally Posted By: Trav
He also said he had a $200 budget and wanted to run an impact gun for lug nuts.
Also "because its cheap" is the same answer you just gave. and also because he said best.
Which leaves HF out of the running.


He added the $200 budget and lug nuts afterwards, in which case it looks like you gave him a solid recommendation and I learnt something (thanks).

I suspect that all the other cheap compressors at $50 or so are the same quality as the HF one. The pictures I have seen show a pretty much identical design. No doubt they are all equally bad making the cheapest one the best option for filling tires only. That's my logic anyway.

I can't imagine though that it's a good option for lug nuts.

If all he wants to do is lug nuts, would you recommend the Makita or an impact wrench?

 

[Apollo14]

Originally Posted By: babbittd
If you go the Harbor Freight route, you do no need to wait for the coupons to arrive in the Valpak.

They post these 20% off single item coupons every month. That's for use in-store or online.

http://www.harborfreight.com/20off-coupon912-aff-17547.html


Valpak coupons are available online as well.

 

[chevrofreak]

Originally Posted By: babbittd
If you go the Harbor Freight route, you do no need to wait for the coupons to arrive in the Valpak.

They post these 20% off single item coupons every month. That's for use in-store or online.

http://www.harborfreight.com/20off-coupon912-aff-17547.html


Cannot be used on compressors.

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: Apollo14
If all he wants to do is lug nuts, would you recommend the Makita or an impact wrench?

I assume he has power or he wouldn't be asking about a compressor in the first place, so yes i would recommend the Makita.

With the Makita and an Air Cat 1150 total price is $363 free shipping. The Air Cat has big balls but light on air consumption (4.3 cfm). The Makita can feed it enough to do lug nuts and other small jobs that don't require continuous hammering, it only produces 3.3 continuous.

To get the same sort of power in a cordless impact you need a IR 7150, this will out power any Milwaukee, Makita, Bosch. etc all day long but it has a big price tag.
For over $100 less you get a super impact, can fill tires, use a blow gun and other small air tools like a small air ratchet. It will not run grinders and cutoff wheels well or spray guns.

http://www.amazon.com/Ingersoll-W7150-K2...ordless+imppact

The Aircat. $162 on Amazon.

http://www.aircat.com/products/impact-wrenches/killer-torque-1-2-composite-impact-wrench57/

 

[Apollo14]

1295 ft lbs of torque!

 

[zppeterson]

If it's not needed immediately, keep an eye on craigslist in your area as well. I recently was able to pick up a used Husky Pro 26 gallon oil lubricated compressor for $100 which I thought was a steal compared to the cost of new

 

[2Fast4U]

HF electric impact $45.
Electric Impact Wrench - 1/2"
http://www.harborfreight.com/12-in-electric-impact-wrench-68099.html

 

[another Todd]

Originally Posted By: Boomer
Think ahead before you buy. Will you be just "filling up tires" or will you want an impact wrench to take off lug nuts to rotate tires? Will you be tempted to buy other air tools like a powered socket wrench, grinder or air chisel? If you think you might gravitate into these, it may be better to buy a larger system with a belt driven compressor at this point. I am not saying you should do this but I am saying you need to think about where you might go with air tools down the road before making a purchase.

This, in addition you MUST identify what "low cost" means. To you it might mean $1000 or less, to someone else it might mean $25 or less, or vice versa. Give a max price you are willing to spend on a compressor so we may better help you.

 

[stockrex]

Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Originally Posted By: eljefino
^ Those are hawt.

OP, do you need small and portable or just cheap? Because you can get a "real" compressor at a yard sale/ pawn shop etc.

The 2 hp oiled style is pretty universal, and is the most air you can get from a 110 socket.


I need it for filling tires and now for air gun when rotating tires / remove lug nuts.


Max budget $200
The Makita will run the impact okay for this type of use, it had good recovery time for what it is. A pancake might not make it.
Whatever you buy stay clear of oil less, they have the durability of a wet noodle.

similar compressor homedepot husky brand is cheaper, I think they inflate their CFM rating.

I would suggest an air cleaner filter and an air dryer filter inline with the air hose for your tools.