Budget Air Compressor

[davew]

Can anybody recommend a budget air compressor, I know they come up on offer at Aldi Lidl Netto occasionally but can't see one on there at the moment.

Are the cheaper ones really noisy?

[Blatman]

Even the not so cheap ones ca be really noisy. It's a question of duty cycle. If you buy a big enough one, the compressor won't be running all the time

Mine has a 100 litre tank and will run a 1/2" air ratchet for several minutes before the pressure drop calls for a re-fill. My die grinder though, can empty the tank and keep the motor running all the time

[pistonbroke]

The Aldi one I bought is OK noise wise , not used it much though,  except for blowing tyres up now and again and clearing dust out of the car , beats vacuuming hands down  

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

What do you need the compressor to run, (and how often)? Air line for tyres, paint spraying, air tools, really big air tools, etc.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Even the not so cheap ones ca be really noisy.

You'll find some of the tools make a fair old noise too. I got the cheap Halfords ratchet that was on promotion a few months ago, it's a handy bit of kit, and was cheap, but it's noisy enough that I would want to use it too often on the car while it's in the open air on the drive. I'd soon have a mob of angry neighbours round    

[Blatman]

I had the opposite problem... neighbours wanted to borrow my air tools and compressor to work on their cars...

[davew]

What do you need the compressor to run, (and how often)? Air line for tyres, paint spraying, air tools, really big air tools, etc.

Just looking to do a bit of sand blasting, spraying and maybe a couple of tools later on.

Or if somebody could maybe suggest something equivalent to the aldi kits on ebay that would be great or of course if anybody has one they no longer use then I would be interested.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Sand blasting is the one that sets alarm bells ringing for me; IIRC you need a lot, and I do mean a LOT of air for most of the media blasting guns I've seen. I would have thought you're going to need something with a big tank - plenty of reserve, as well as high working cfm. I've got a feeling when I asked about this before buying a compressor myself,  I was told I'd probably need something that could deliver upwards of 10 cfm minimum. Which means quite a big, or multiple, motors/pumps.

In the end for reasons of cost and space, I got a 2.5 hp 50 litre jobbie, gave up on any thoughts of media blasting, and picked air tools carefully to be below 6 or 7 cfm. (Even then though, continuous use stuff like a windy gun, or my die grinder are capable of having the compressor running flat out, without careful use).

[davew]

I think I might forget the sandblasting option as I could have another solution for that, just looking for something that will do a bit of spraying and basic tools then.

[dhutch]

Another option is to look for a good second hand one ofcause.

- Adds anther dimention, but this is the sort of thing where i'd rather spend £100 on a second hand one that will outlive my children and  retain its value forever, than go through three £50 ones in the next 20 years.

Daniel

[davew]

Another option is to look for a good second hand one ofcause.

- Adds anther dimention, but this is the sort of thing where i'd rather spend £100 on a second hand one that will outlive my children and  retain its value forever, than go through three £50 ones in the next 20 years.

Daniel

Sounds like a good way of thinking