Going compressor shopping...Anyone have any < $450 suggestions?

Im looking for a compressor that will support a HVLP paint gun, run air tools etc. My budget is as close to $400 as possible, and not exceeding $450. Does anyone have any suggestions? Is it possible to meet these expectations at this price? At the bare minimum, I want to be able to shoot a primer coat on my car.

Thanks

 

You can get a nice Craftsman for way less than that ...

 

I had a craftsman 33gal 220v 5hp compressor, I just replaced it with
an ingersoll rand 80gal 5hp dual stage. Got it at the tractor supply.
Of course it is twice your budget but you wont run out of air.
It kicks in at 140 then off at 175 and the regulator is set for about 125psi.
My other one just couldnt keep up with the DA. Would keep up with a
paint gun but I decided to go large since i had the money and was worth
it too.
Robert

 

They sell a lot of compressors at:


www.smallenginewarehouse.com

 

A word of caution reguarding Craftsman compressors... JUNK!!!! We bought a 5 hp compressor with a 60 gallon tank from Sears for around $400 to replace our old Maco ( Coleman) when it broke down.( It was 10 years old at the time.) The Craftsman was the biggest pile of scrap we ever saw. We never abused it, but within one year it blew up two motors and left us stranded for weeks. Never again. We got rid of it and found someone to get our old Coleman running again. Coleman compressors are not cheap, but they will last for years and can run all your tools without bogging down. You really need to know how much horse power and what size tank you think you will need to run your tools to determine how much you will need to spend. The better the compressor, the longer they will last.

 

craftsman

I have had a Craftsman 30 gal 5hp that has lasted for years. Its loud as crap but I guess its want your going to do with it. Mine is used a little while each day. Dont know that I would want it to use all day everyday but I guess each has his own experience. I kinda wonder if most of the "home" type compressors is not made by a handfull of companies with imported or generic parts kinda like lawn mowers,vcrs and most everything else thats not true "industrial" guage. JMO

 

Pretty sure Craftsman is made by Campbell Hausfeld ....

 

I just bought a Craftsman 30 gal. 5hp compressor, and so far it has been great. Just can't use a die grinder or spray gun for too long...like a minute or two. But, I knew what I was getting and what I could afford. $299, and a set of tools came with it. Just hope I have better luck than Jean with it.

 

Whichever brand you go with try and stay way from the oil-less types. They are for light duty use. mine, bought at Lowes is a 5hp 60 gallon devilbus. Oil-less. I sand-blasted, primed and painted my truck using it, which was probably abusing it. It cracked a piston a 6 months old. Granted it was very easy and cheap to fix and I fixed it myself. If I ever buy another it will be a oil filled type.
I bought 2 new pstons and sleeves for mine for $35 and rebuilt it in about 2 hours so I guess it was'nt too bad but the oil types will run for years and years without any problems. There are trade offs though. An oil-less costs alot less. Does'nt have oil in the system to need filtering. It's alot loader than oil types. Cheaper to work on the oil types. Runs hotter than oil types so you need good water filtering.
clint

 

Yeah ... I've always been told the type where the compressor is seperate from the Motor and driven by a belt is the best type to get ...

 

I think they are. My airless is so load that the dawg runs from the shop whenever she sees me headed to turn it on. lol
It also is hot so I always have alot of water in the filter.
How are your new seats coming?
clint

 

I stopped by there yesterday and he hadn't started yet .. actually he was out to lunch and I didn't talk with him. Gonna stop by today and see if he is gonna squeeze me in before those NOVA seats I was telling you about .....

 

I hope you have better luck with yours too. The one we bought was intended for industrial use, but it just didn't cut it. The first time the motor went, it literally exploded! The bearing went right through the bottom of the motor. The Sears repairman who installed the new motor told us he had the same compressor and his motor blew up too. It turns out that model compressor came from the factory with bad motors, which Sears knew about. Of coarse, Sears never bothered to tell anyone about it either. The motors where cheap imports. The second motor seized up too. That's when we got smart and got the old Coleman up and running again. We will never buy another Craftsman Compressor again, especially now that Sears is going to be bought out by K-Mart. Do you want a compressor that is endorsed by Martha Steward?

 

Here's a funny side-bar on the Sears Compressor in my last post. We sold that compressor to our neighbor who got it fixed yet again. He hardly ever uses it so it will now probably last forever. Last week he came over all pi**ed off and said he was going to throw the compressor in the dumpster because it would not start. My hubby told him to push the re-set button and see if it would start. It didn't. The neighbor starts to pull off the hoses so he could toss the thing when my husband suggested checking the breaker box. The neighbor says the compressor is running on the same line as his welder and the welder runs. Well, we had him pull the panel off the breaker box anyway and guess what? Not only was the compressor NOT on the same line as the welder, the breakers for the compressor were shut off. My husband flipped the breaker and the compressor sprang to life. I think our neighbor turned about 5 shades of red.

 

sounds like something I'd do...