Compressor Advice.

[Diddn]

Anyone got any advice on buying a compressor?
ie, make, spec I should look for.
Its gonna be used for painting car panels.
Budget is Max £150.

[davidra]

I have custody of one, seems quite good condition boxed etc. It belongs to a mate who left it with me about 2 years ago when he went abroad. I had suggested selling it and sending him the money because I'm fed up of looking after it! Therefore been garaged and not used for two years, but no reason to think it wouldn't work perfectly.

No idea what its worth, but if you want to suggest a price I could forward your offer on... I can also find out make / model if you're interested.

cheers
dave

[Diddn]

Cheers Dave,

Its a joint buy between me and my mate, so might be used quite heavily, So I need one with a warranty.
(Also I have unbeleivable bad luck with things breaking down on me) :(

Thanks for the offer anyways :)

[davidra]

no problemo

[Billy]

Try Machine Mart (http://www.machinemart.co.uk)

Not quite the cheapest place, but not far off.

For £150 you won't get a compressor capable of running most spray guns continuously, so a decent sized tank is needed if you want to work for a reasonable time without waiting for the compressor to catch up. Bit of a pain when you're painting large panels.

To be honest, I wouldn't worry about buying a second hand one. They're pretty tough bits of gear on the whole, particularly the more professional end of the market. I've got an old Ingersoll-Rand job that cost me £125 about 15 years ago. Never gone wrong. I haven't even topped up the oil or cleaned the filter in that time. They're designed to run all day every day in a garage, so even heavy home use is a holiday.
There's a few places in the auto trader that specialise in used garage tackle, might be worth giving them a try. You may even get a warranty of sorts.

Does your budget include a spray gun? You could spend £150 on a decent spray gun, or you could get a cheapy for £20, but you get what you pay for. Check the air requirements too.

Oh, and don't forget you'll need a filter for the airline too. Unless you want water in the paint.

Probably best to avoid oil-free types as well. I doubt they would stand up to any serious use.

[Diddn]

Thanks for the info Billy.

I've seen a few at Halfords, do you know if they're any good?
Can't remember the make of of them.
They had 4 different sizes, the 2 top models had the same size tanks (about 50 litres) but different motors. The middle one had the same motor as the 4th model but a smaller tank (24 litres). The first 2 models were too small and didn't even look up to a medium type job. The one that fits my budget is the middle one with a 24 litre tank, but I don't know how long the air in the tank would last if I was to be painting, say, a bonnet of a car. Is 24 litres and 2 HP motor big enough for that type of a job?

No, my budget of 150 is for the Compressor only, I expect to spend a bit more for the gun, hose and necessary connectors etc.

Cheers

Didin

[Diddn]

Heres the one I'm on about!
http://www.axminster.co.uk/default.asp?part=01640

[Billy]

Like I say, I'm not sure of the durability of the oil-free types. They're certainly cheaper than the equivalent oily ones! They may even last a couple of years, who knows. Depends how far into the future you're looking, I suppose...

How about this one? (http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=000110915&r=2007&g=102)

Not quite as powerful (though Machine mart tend to be quite conservative) but twice the tank size. Probably what I'd go for in the circumstances.