Porter Cable Air Compressor

[jseklund]

As many of you may or may not know- I have recently been spending all of my free time rehabbing a house. I have run into various issues, but I think the big stuff is behind me now (I hope), and I am about ready to begin putting the home back together. I am going to be putting up new trim work in some areas, putting the old stuff back in others, putting up a chair rail, and putting down a hardwood floor. Thinking about doing all of this work, I have been kicking around the idea of buying a compressor. I figure I can get a compressor, staple gun, and the Harbor Freight hardwood floor 2-in-1 tool for maybe $150-200 more than I'd spend renting everything for a weekend.

My first and largest question is- what do you think of this compressor?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/cus...700865&sr=8-14

I have read in some other threads that you need a minimum of 8.0 SCFM at 40 PSI to run HVLP/paint spray tools. I think a 20+ gallon tank would be more appropriate if I were looking to run spray tools a lot, but my thinking is that this will run the nail guns I'll be using, a torque wrench in the future, etc.- and would be OK for a once in a while spray tool application. For less than $210 (from amazon) I don't think I can beat it. I was looking at the HF compressor which isn't quite as good, and it's only about $70 less- and the stats are probably questionable. At least I can trust, somewhat, Porter Cable.

And of course- I recognize this is a loud machine, but will it run the entire time you use it? Or just when it needs to compress air? I've never used a compressor- so I'm clueless as to how they run.

And my final question is- what are the differences between the Brad Nailer, Framing Nailer, Roofing Nailer, Stapler, etc.- I see so many choices, 18G, 16G, 1 5/8", 2"- I'm confused. For trim work, what would you recommend? I don't think I'll be doing any framing/roofing with it anytime soon.

Thanks again for the help! It is much appreciated.

[Greg.B]

I'll comment on the different types of guns. A framing nailer is used to frame out walls, etc. and uses a large grade nail 2-1/2 to 3". A Finish Nailer is much smaller in comparison uses 16G or 15G nails, all lengths. Brad Nailers uses an even smaller nail, often 18G.

For trim work I use a finish and brad nailer. Brads do not give you a ton of holding strength, so often if you need to hold a molding tight to a wall that has a bow in it, the brad will pull out. While the finisher with the bigger nail will hold.

As for a compressor I use a Porter Cable that has 5.5SCFM @ 90, and 7.7 @ 40. I can do spraying with it, and auto work as well. Below is the link. I personally love it.

http://www.amazon.com/Porter-Cable-C...705686&sr=1-15

[LCHIEN]

compressors have a pressure switch with a fairly large hysteresis and an output regulator.
They typcially will turn on when the air is at about 100-110 psi in the tank and then won't turn off until the tank is at 135-150.
That means they'll run for a minute or two at startup and (assuming no leaking) will run after you've used enough air to pull it down to the lower limit. Since you have a regulator on the output that's below the lower limit, the air pressure your tool sees will be affected only by the line (hose) loss due to air flow.

So the compressor runs intermittently. Bigger tank or higher upper pressure tank means it will run less often but longer each time it does.

Having a 2 HP motor (or 1.8 as they state) (the biggest you can get to run on 15A 120V circuit). limits the maximum continuous air flow. whether you have a 4 gal tank or a 30 gal tank, it will run continuously if you use the max air flow.

But if you use half the max rate airflow (continuously) or a bunch of bursts (like with a nailer) then you will have the motor on maybe half the time.

Nailing doesn't use a lot of air - I have a 6 gallon pancake compressor from Sears and I can fire about 8 brads or so before the compressor comes on. OTOH, when I use the blower nozzle to clean off the bench and tools, it runs close to 100%.

I predict on that one you are considering with 15Gals, you can probably go many more nails before it comes on, then it will run for 2-3 minutes each time. You can also diust off things, it'll be a 20-30 seconds before the motor comes on and then it will stay on as long as you continue to dust. (The secret is to use bursts more than continuous if possible.)

I think the PC and the Sears I have both use the deVilbiss compressor assy, I assume DeVilbiss makes the whole compressor under contract for these guys.

[jhart]

I have both the DeVilbiss and PC pancake compressore. I believe that DeVilbiss is owned by PC, as their parts are interchangable. The package deals on the PC are usually quite good, check the Internet for comps and you can get various combinations.
For trim work, I would use the finish nailer, as mentioned before the brad nailers just don't have as good of holding power. The finish nailers will take nails from 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches. Brad nailers from 1/2" to 1 1/4"

I have used these compressors with framing nailers, finish nailers, brad nailers, staplers, roofing nailers, spray guns and texture guns. Most all are smaller projects and have had plenty of pressure. Depending on the job, the compressor cycles on and off at reasonable rates. Spraying will keep it going continuously unless you stop spraying and let it catch up as I did with a 12 X 15 ceiling. Unit is still working fine 5 years later. Also used it to spray a bunch of shakes before putting them up on the building. Again, a pause while spraying allows it to catch up. I probably would not try to use it to paint a whole house, although stoping for setup time, changing positions, etc., would give it time to recover.

I really like the portability of the pancakes. They are loud, but just keep going and going. I keep one in my garage and one in the basement workshop. So far, in 9-10 years of using a compressor, I have not felt the need for a larger one.

[jseklund]

Thank you all for your replies. This board has been a big help to me lately. I have very limited time as I am renovating a house, working about 50-60 hours a week, and I just had the A/C Compressor and Serpentine belt on my car go. I just need more hours in the day and the advice that I get from everyone on this board is a step in that direction- you save me a lot of time.

I am thinking of the PC that I listed, given what the responses were. However, I would like to find one with similar stats that is oiled- as I believe it may be quieter and last longer. The HF compressors have good stats and are oiled (and cheap!), but I've seen mixed reviews...not sure I wanna go that route yet.....

Thanks again!

[JimD]

I have a little Bostitch, 2.7 cfm at 90 psi, 3.4 cfm at 40 psi. It has always been plenty of air for my nailers. I have a 16 gauge Bostitch finish nailer (2 1/2 inch maximum), an 18 gauge PC brad nailer (2 inch maximum), a HF stapler (says it will do 1 1/2 inch but that is a stretch), and a 24 gauge Bostitch pin nailer. I mostly do furniture stuff but I did all the trim work in my basement. For the trim, I used the 16 gauge to go through trim that was 1 inch thick, 1/2 inch drywall, and 1 inch into the studs. On the other edge of the same pieces I often used 2 inch 18 gauge brads. The trim was only 1/2 inch thick on that edge and was going directly into the door frame which I didn't want to split. I used the stapler to put backing on the joints in the crown moulding (which doesn't show) and sometimes used the pin nailer on the miters (but I used brads most of the time on these).

For finish work, I think there are plenty of uses for the brad nailer and finish nailer. 2 inch brads are the maximum and not really long enough for some trim. They hold pretty well so I do not worry some much about that, more about getting enough penetration into the studs.

I also spray with my little compressor but it is marginal. I bought a Wagner conversion gun because it is supposed to work well with small compressors. It works but the compressor runs constantly and I cannot throw a large pattern without running out of air and letting the compressor catch up. I may buy a bigger one soon. Probably an oil type because I am tired of the racket. That will mean oil traps when I am spraying but most of the time I run the nailers and they would prefer a little oil. I do not plan to get anything bigger than the one you posted.

Jim

[jseklund]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm sorry I haven't been around to read/reply to all, but I've had a crazy time lately. Last thursday my A/C Compressor on my car seized which caused my accessory belt to break. My alternator, water pump, power steering, etc- is all on that belt so it was undrivable. The next day my gf was driving and her brake caliper seized. Luckily we noticed a funny smell before it happened, and I had her pull into a parking lot so I could take a look. Couldn't find anything under the hood and was beginning to suspect the brakes. She went to leave the parking lot to go home and no brakes. Guess I had her pull in just in time. Also, as luck would have it, I had the receipt for the tow truck that towed my car the day before in her car- so I had the number. How lucky can you get with that one huh?

So in short I have been fixing houses, fixing cars, and working my real job. I thank everyone for the help.

I have narrowed the search down to two compressors, and increase my budget a little. I am looking at:

1. Dewalt 55146- 5.2 SCFM @ 100 PSI, 200 PSI Max, Oil Free, 78 Db, 4.5 gallons, 12.5 Amps.

2. Porter Cable C3151- 6 SCFM @ 90 PSI, 150 PSI max, Oil Free, 90 Db, 4.5 Gallons, and a full 15 amps.

So, basically my decision is Higher CFM and lower price (PC) vs. lower noise, lower amperage, and higher max PSI (Dewalt). My logic says go with the cost savings, higher CFM and noise- 78 Db and 90 Db are both pretty loud I would think- so who cares?

Which would you go with?

Thanks again guys!