Air Compressor Recommendations?

[Fox 3]

I'd like to buy a compressor to be able to paint some bits on the 205 with, I don't want or need it to be able to run power tools, I'd just like something to be able to push some paint onto the car.

 

Obviously I want to spend as little as possible, but don't really know what capacities or power to be looking for!

 

Also, where can I buy DIY paint from? I thought it was all water based stuff now?

[omega 82]

buy the biggest you can afford and that your power suppy can handal as once you have one you will find lots of users for it.

a rough guide is a 2hp moter,50 liter air tank and delivering about 8 cfm output.

[toddydal 1]

like said buy a decent one mines 200ltr 13cfm and runs on 240 volt but has to hard wired into 30amp supply has enough power to do resprays as you need 2bar constant before the compressor kicks in,my old one used to drop to about 1.4 bar before the comp kicked in and i had to wait until it built the pressure back up before i could continue

[Fox 3]

Something like this then?

 

My link

 

or this?

 

My link

 

Am I right in thinking the cfm is the force to drive the tool, then the tank size is basically how long the blast of air lasts?

 

Space is at a premium in my garage, so maybe a wall mounted one would be better?

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

Either of those will be fine for odds and sods, don't expect to run a air greedy tool like an air sander for long though.

 

Also do not underestimate the physical size and weight. Mounting on of those on a wall would need some bloody serious bracketry.

[welshpug 1,657]

if space inside is at a premium stick it outside and build a small shed for it, keeps the noise out of your workspace, would be worth insulating it to keep noise down for the neighbours sake too.

 

if you have a decent size motor you can always add capacity with an air tank of some sort, old gas bottles or knackered compressors are popular, we had a pair of 300 litre compressors linked when I worked in a haulage garage, large bore pipe too

[trogboy 17]

CFM is the ability of the compressor to keep up with the demand/put air into the reservoir.

 

If you don't pump air in then the size of the reservoir governs how much usable air/time you get before the pressure drops to the point where the tool becomes uneffective.

 

You could get away with a tiny reservoir if you had a mahoosive motor/compressor that could keep pace with even very hungry air tools, although the pressure may fluctuate or pulse. On the other hand you could use a massive reservoir and a small compressor/motor combo to give you usable durations for high consumption tools, but it would take forever to reach the operating pressures and to recharge again once spent.

 

I've got a 50lt 3hp compressor, and to be honest the motor/compressor combo isn't man enough for using most air tools for extended periods without annoying breaks to let pressure build back up. It might be fine for spraying though, but not much cop for a DA sander.