Air Compressor and accessories

I may buy my air compressor tomorrow. I am going to go with the 30 Gallon 110v from Lowes (they just dropped the price down to $399 recently). What other items do I need to get? I know a hose, but what other fittings/accessories/etc are necessary/required/nice to have.

Thanks.

I just bought this Husky compressor at Home Depot last month and have been very pleased with it.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-33-gal-Quiet-Portable-Electric-Air-Compressor-C331H/203995169

$269 saves you some bucks for airplane parts!!

If you buy tools from Cleveland Tool they have a nice lightweight hose with mini quick connects which I like.

Suggestions.

- Good, durable hoses
- Teflon tape
- Hose ends
- Tool ends (swivel for some tools)
- Dryer
- Oiler (maybe)
- Manifold to run more than one hose at a time
- Hose reel(s)
- Lightweight whips to add to the end of the hose (i.e. heavy hose stays on the ground, lightweight whip is what you're moving around)
- Hardware to make drain valve more easily actuated (like a handle valve) and maybe a length of tubing to run the water (and nose) outside the shop

Not Oiless

Hope you are buying one that is oil lubricated....or you should add hearing protection to the list (if it is in the same shop/hanger area that you will be working in.) I built a dog house attached to the outside of the shop and plumbed it into the shop. I have to touch the inlet pipe to feel for vibration to see if its running; its that quiet.
Then there is the lifespan: oiless (shorter) oil lubed (longer)

N5916R said:

I may buy my air compressor tomorrow. I am going to go with the 30 Gallon 110v from Lowes (they just dropped the price down to $399 recently). What other items do I need to get? I know a hose, but what other fittings/accessories/etc are necessary/required/nice to have.

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Every review says how quiet it is. I was leaning toward the 80 gallon but I have limited space, didn't want to mount it permanently to the floor and I like being able to wheel it over the the Harley's when they need air in their tires.

I used a cheapie for my build. Years ago when I decided to build, I owned a very small "tire inflator" so decided to go ahead and use it. Four years later after building (an RV12 has 12500 pop rivets to pull, as well as all the air tools) it finally got a leak in the pressure switch diaphragm, so I bought a new one to replace it. The screaming of that air compressor sorta drove the wife buggy, I wish I had invested in it far earlier.
[/IMG]
That was the old one, here is the new quiet, more efficient one:

My $.02 worth...

As someone else suggested, make sure you get an oil lubed compressor. No question about it. Don, your new one looks a lot like mine (and thousands of others).

You will need Teflon tape and a few fittings. Of course a tire chuck for non-aviation uses. A blow-off attachment is nice to have too. I wouldn't go hog wild buying accessories right off the bat though, especially if you have a Lows/Home Depot/Harbor Freight/Northern Tool close by.

If I were starting over from scratch, I'd get a retractable hose reel for the cars, bikes, snow blower and motorcycle and mount it on the wall at the front of the garage.

I got a RapidAir kit from Northern Tool (available form other places as well) and plumbed a couple of air outlets in my garage. I highly recommend it. In fact I'm adding a third air outlet closer to the bench to feed:

the lightweight air hose and manifold kit from Cleaveland Tools, one of the better tool decisions I've made. I mounted the manifold to the front of the workbench and use the very light, flexible hoses for most of the work I do. I picked up a $15 harbor Freight regulator to feed it. I usually keep the main supply set at 90 PSI, and the little hoses run 40 PSI. You'll want to order a few extra miniature plugs, because I haven't found anyone else that sells them - certainly no one in town.

I just had 220 run out to the garage, a Christmas present from my wife. My compressor can be converted to 220, as can a lot if not most of the belt driven compressors. When I opened up the wiring box to do the switch, I found one of the wires flopping around loose -- they had MISSED the wire when they crimped on a connector! So much for QC. I guess it's been mostly running on half the motor windings since I got it. You might want to go over yours and see if they missed anything - wiring, fittings, etc. I'm glad it didn't destroy anything.

Lots of good suggestions to follow, the hose reel is a good one. After years of stumbling over hoses and cords on the floor, here was my new years resolution: http://www.mykitlog.com/users/displ...omTX&project=2429&category=0&log=201496&row=4

Compressor

Go 220v if you can. I use a regulator dryer at the compressor and a three way manifold at the end of my shop hose. For tools I use two HF regulators with short whip hoses. One stays at 90 psi, one stays low for the gun. Cuts down on adjusting. For paint work, the gun has a flow valve and dryer. HF stuff seems to work ok.

Got it home last night. Did the break in run this morning. While it was doing its thing, I walked all over the house listening. No worse than the sound of a dryer running. Outside you could barely hear it at the mailbox, but the garage doors were closed. So far so good....

I ordered my tools and a couple of practice kits today. Next week will be fun!

Good news!

Good to see you're getting going. I spent most of my empenage going back and forth between home and Lowes/Home Depot. I always found that I needed one thing or another from those places. By the time I finished the tail I had most of the things I needed and the trips to the store became much less. I found that the Tractor Supply Company near where we lived had 90% of what I needed too. Look for a TSC or Ace Hardware closer to you so you can reduce the trips. They have mineral spirits and acetone and hose fittings etc...