I’ve wanted one for years and never got round to buying one. I don’t want a huge thing that takes up loads of room and I don’t need it to have huge capacity for paint spraying etc. Mostly for inflating car tyres / some air spraying to clean bikes parts / would be nice to run an impact gun on.
Got to be under £100 and as portable as possible. I don’t know if there are different standards for fittings to go on them or if they’re all the same etc.
Any suggestions?
Found this one - thoughts?:
I can’t comment on that particular compressor (mine is a 100 litre job), but I have had a few things from SGS over the years and they’ve always been excellent for both quality and value.
I bought one similar to one of these because of the portability. It’s good but very noisy as there’s no oil in it. Works well though.
Not sure if it’s good enough to run impact tools. 6l doesn’t last very long before the compressor kicks in again….
Maybe I need bigger than a 6l tank then. Seem like ‘CFM’ is a thing and I need maybe 5-6 CFM to power an impact gun for car wheel nuts - and maybe a little bit of light paint spraying on the very very odd occasion.
Edit - actually that mighty mini above has 6.3CFM so maybe it is ok - perhaps the motor will just have to run more of the time as the tank is small?
That one in the OP will be ****ing loud. I wouldn’t want to stand near it without ear defenders on! Most of the cheap ones are very noisy tbh.
is the [i]last[/i] thing you want with that one 😂perhaps the motor will just have to run more of the time
I got one of these a couple of months ago for about £135 with a voucher. Would definitely recommend, decent sized tank and quiet.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303205058943?mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&siteid=3&campid=5336549684&customid=2255789446&toolid=10001&mkevt=1
Obviously slightly over budget even if it’s discounted again, and not that portable (is that important)?
It’s not one of my most used tools tbh. Got an 18v Makita inflator which is much better for tyres and never seen the point for cleaning! Good for running proper air tools though.
Ah ok - let’s rule that mighty mini one out then. The most regular thing it’ll be used for is topping up car tyres. However when the car needs the wheels off / brake pads and discs changing etc I’d like to run an impact wrench. I very rarely spray anything but it would be nice to have the option for very small things.
I’ll look for a bigger tank size - say around 24 litres like the one you’ve linked - although it’s borderline a bit bigger than I want to store in the garage. Need it to be a bit closer to £100 I think - and less than 96db if possible.
SGS are great to buy stuff from. I bought a compressor, then when it arrived I realised I had ordered the wrong one, my mistake, and the simply swapped for the right one without issue.
Also great for advice and generally nice people.
Tick!
Any <£200 compressor is absolute shit. Noisy, low duty cycle, non replaceable parts, will pass loads of oil so no use for paint spraying. Will be junk in less than 2years.
I needed a small cheap compressor at work for keeping an actuated valve open when the main compressors shut down. Went through dozens of these cheap crap compressors.
Replaced with a JunAir and no issues since. Oil free and silent, repairable, good parts support.
Cheap used ones ex-dentists available on eBay.
Need far more than 6cfm to drive an ugga-dugga with any grunt. Just buy a Bosch 18v instead. Buy a used JunAir for tubeless installation and a bit of small paint spraying.
I think I might get the following one given good comments on SGS. 24 litre / 9.6 CFM / £108 / 2.5hp motor / still seems fairly compact.
Appreciate the comments on Junair but they’re too expensive even secondhand I think - and this is only occasional use. More a nice to have then need to have.
Need far more than 6cfm to drive an ugga-dugga with any grunt. Just buy a Bosch 18v instead. Buy a used JunAir for tubeless installation and a bit of small paint spraying
Thais air tools use a lot of air and are just no worth it unless you already have air infrastructure in place, such as large workshops and factories. Air is a really expensive way to run tools.
If space is a premium then an upright model might be better
Ive got an SGS 50 litre compressor
https://www.sgs-engineering.com/sc50h-50-litre-high-flow-air-compressor
Had it for two years with no issues
Use it for tubeless set ups, topping up the car tyres, removing the car's wheels etc...
I also bought one of their tool kits
I have the same one in your 2nd link , it's a bit noisy compared to more expensive ones but it's only on a short time if I'm changing tyres.
Build quality seems good, I got a 15m hose and a blower with mine .
When sizing compressors for tools and the like, be careful with the figures quoted.
Most piston type compressors will give you 3CFM per HP. There are two figures, displacement - which is often the one quoted and is simply a theoretical figure based on the size of the chambers internally, and FAD or free air delivered - with is what you'll actually have to use.
It is the FAD you need to use to size up for tools, combined with the pressure rating for said tool.
Most will be between 7 and 10 bar so not likely a problem.
You can generally get away with a smaller motor and large tank (receiver) if you want to use meaty tools or spray guns because you'll have the stored volume of air to use once the pressure is built up. For nail guns or basically any tool that doesn't simply run air through it continuously whilst in use, smaller compressors are ok.
Anything that whistles air through it - spraygun, wrenches, drills, grinders, sanders will use a lot more air although drills and screwdrivers are not so bad as you tend to operate it foe a second or two then put it down for 10.
When I was in the industry we would advise the 2HP 25ltr units as a bare minimum, with 3hp on a 150 ltr the most popular for average Joe working on cars etc in their garage.
You have to be careful going over 24 litres at 8 bar for your receiver as you should then have to comply with the pressure systems legislation. This in itself is a bit of a minefield but the expense in getting done or not complying is huge - assuming there are people there to catch and prosecute you.
All this before talking about water in the air line, air hoses, couplings, waste water and a multitude of other bits.
You obviously know your stuff but some of that has gone over my head slightly!
The linked sgs compressor - will this do inflating tyres and maybe some cutting tools (I don’t have a dremel and maybe I could get a small air drill type thing?) - with the occasional removing of car wheel nuts with a 340nm impact wrench?
I’m not talking about a regular automotive use - just if I need to change brake discs on my car or something along those lines?
SGS sell some good gear but the 24 litre compressor is identical to the Aldi/Lidl versions. There's nothing wrong with that, I've got a Lidl one myself and it works very well but Lidl sell them for £69. If you're not in a rush I'd be waiting until they offer them for sale again.
Cheers Joe. It's many years since I was involved with compressed air but, the principles are still exactly the same so hopefully knowledge is still valuable.
That 2.5hp 24ltr will be about as big as you can safely go and not break the rules as it were. For bike tyres it will be fine, for car tyres as long as you let it build up and knock off first, it should also be ok.
Tools, I'm not 100% confident but as long as you let off the trigger when the pump unit starts back up you should be fine. It will just take a bit longer that's all.
The problem with an impact wrench is it will sit there hammering away on very stuck bolts. If you go for much more than a few seconds you'll drain the tank and not have the volume available from the pump unit.
I'd try running tools at around 5 or 6 bar pressure instead of 7 to 9 and see if they work ok. This will help preserve the stored air.
Whatever one you go for, always remember to turn it on and off by the pressure switch and not just the plug. This ensures the pipe between pump and tank is unloaded (emptied) before the next start, so the pump is not trying to start against high pressure.
I bought a compressor, then when it arrived I realised I had ordered the wrong one, my mistake, and the simply swapped for the right one without issue.
Thats nothing remarkable, its just distance selling Distance Selling Regulations - they've no choice other that to do that. Any retailer would do the same thing.
I find those 25 litre compressors neither one thing or the other - more weight, noise and expense than you need for low power applications like naliers, blowing dust of things, and pumping up a car tyre, no where near enough grunt for anything that you're doing to increase your effort - things that require actual sustained effort like turning nut, sheering steel or whatever, you can only work in dribs and drabs.
The the uses the OP is ascribing to the using a compressor - undoing wheel nuts - you can do that already, cleaning stuff - you can do that already. Doing the job of a Dremel.... err there are already dremels and things just like them and they don't even cost half of they £100 you're looking to spend and they don't have a bulky air hose and noisy machine attached.
For most applications that you used to have to buy a compressor for, (in anything other that commercial and industrial applications) the days of compressed air have passed (psssst) theres just better choices out there that don't need an airline attached.
If it’s neither here or there going for a 24litre tank sort of compressor then maybe for car tyres at home then I just buy a smaller cheaper compressor and forget the impact wrench for the car stuff.....I’ve got some power tools with batteries (Bosch / Wickes I think). Maybe I see if any of those ranges have a bare tool impact wrench (I have an impact driver already) that my batteries would fit.
Any <£200 compressor is absolute shit. Noisy, low duty cycle, non replaceable parts, will pass loads of oil so no use for paint spraying. Will be junk in less than 2years.
On the other hand, my £80 Lidl compressor is still going fine after about six years.
It is bloody loud though, I'll not deny that.
I have the same 50ltr sgs one that escrs links to above.
Brilliant. Use it for loads of things.
Pop over to machine Mart in Easton. (If you are in Bristol, that is) they will have one in most sizes. Probably a decent 18v kit will be easier for most jobs though.
