air compressors

[flasharc]

Looking into buying new air compressor what brand is the best for a small shop? I use my table quit a bit. I have to stay with 220 1 phase. Thinking 5hp 80 gallon tank. I don't want to break the bank on it. I've been looking at Quincy and Ingersoll Rand both 2 stage. Any thoughts on these 2 or do you have a better one in mind?
Thanks Jason

[Gamelord]

Cant go wrong with a Quincy.

[tnttracy]

i dont think you can go wrong with either one, i would learn towards the quincy. but air compressors seem to be one tool that is always available for pennies on the dollar used atleast around my area.

[Larry83301]

I agree, check Craigslist for your area and look and see what people have grown out of or are moving and don't want to move. Great buys are found there, and not so far that you need to pay shipping.


Larry

[little blue choo]

I love my Quincy. 5 HP 60 gal. tank and it has no problem keeping up with my PM65, even when I'm painting.

Rick

[tnbndr]

Quincy is made in USA, not so sure about IA. When I replace mine it will be Quincy.

[motoguy]

Need to check the Quincy model, as well. I forget which, but one of their models is an import, meant to compete with the other import models at a lower price point. The QR series, I think? I learned this speaking with an industrial air supplier, who offered the Quincy as a "budget friendly" model "meant to compete with the big box stores", if I didn't go with the Saylor Beale stuff he recommended.

Personally, I went with the Harbor Freight 60gal unit. It received excellent reviews wherever I looked. Italian compressor, I believe an American made tank, etc. I was even able to purchase it with a 20% off coupon. Ran it for a short period (minutes) with OEM oil, drained and refilled with straight weight air compressor oil. Ran for 30 minutes, drained again, filled with Royal Purple compressor oil, and it's been going strong for the last year.

I normally don't buy extended warranties, but the 20% coupon saved enough to pay for it. I found a coupon that did not exclude compressors. The manager balked, I told him I'd buy the warranty if he' honor the coupon. If anything happens in the next year, I'll go swap it for a new one.

[flasharc]

Thanks everyone

[jimcolt]

I have owned a few "box store" 3450 RPM compressors in the 60 to 80 gallon receiver sizes and 11.5 to 14 cfm (don't use advertised horsepower.....it means nothing!) For relative motor power look at the "full load amperage" rating on the motor tag, higher amperage is more power or look at the cfm rating at 90 psi which is a good way to compare one compressor to another.

The more hours that you have to work in a small shop with a 3450 RPM motor....the less you will like it. My last one spent its last 5 or 6 years outside under a roof overhang so the noise was far less annoying for me. When it was on its last legs I starting watching Craigslist and local Ebay a couple times daily. I found an EBay deal 1 hour away on a Kellogg-American compressor 26 amps at 230 Volt (single phase) If you do the math that is almost 8 horsepower (26 amps x 230 volts= 5980 watts divided by 750 watts (which is roughly 1 horsepower) = 7.97 HP. These big industrial units run at 1/2 the speed....1725 RPM, and because of that are much quieter and last much longer. This unit was in a private hobby type shop, was about 10 years old with very little use...new sells for $2400. I paid $200. There are some deals out there on used equipment if you are patient.

This compressor lives inside, and when running I can still hear the tunes on the stereo! Jim Colt Hypertherm

[Bobcat320]

I have a "Box Store" 80 gallon compressor, 2 years old. Motor burned out in less than 30 days. Replaced it with a good American made motor. Then pressure switch burned up. Replaced it. Now for some reason it lugs way down when the plasma cutter is in operation... still haven't figured out why that is.
Anyway, when it does die I am going with a quality Quincy or comparable compressor!

[see&see]

I have a "Box Store" 80 gallon compressor, 2 years old. Motor burned out in less than 30 days. Replaced it with a good American made motor. Then pressure switch burned up. Replaced it. Now for some reason it lugs way down when the plasma cutter is in operation... still haven't figured out why that is.
Anyway, when it does die I am going with a quality Quincy or comparable compressor!

Sounds like the classic symptoms of low voltage. The plasma cutter draw, if connected to the same under amped panel, would decrease the voltage, slowing the motor down, heating it up and also arc the pressure switch upon starting.. Your electrical supply might need some checking.. Most electric motor supply stores will tell you that 9 out of 10 compressor motor burn outs are caused by low voltage and then destroying themselves mostly due to inadequate power supply....

[Bobcat320]

I have a "Box Store" 80 gallon compressor, 2 years old. Motor burned out in less than 30 days. Replaced it with a good American made motor. Then pressure switch burned up. Replaced it. Now for some reason it lugs way down when the plasma cutter is in operation... still haven't figured out why that is.
Anyway, when it does die I am going with a quality Quincy or comparable compressor!

Sounds like the classic symptoms of low voltage. The plasma cutter draw, if connected to the same under amped panel, would decrease the voltage, slowing the motor down, heating it up and also arc the pressure switch upon starting.. Your electrical supply might need some checking.. Most electric motor supply stores will tell you that 9 out of 10 compressor motor burn outs are caused by low voltage and then destroying themselves mostly due to inadequate power supply....

I was wondering about the voltage issue, but it has worked fine for the past two years after I replaced the motor and pressure switch, just started the lugging issue about 2 months ago. Think I will still have the voltage checked though!

[Diesel]

Be careful with the older Quincy's...what can seem like a good deal in the used market can turn into a spendy project.

Mine is a model 325 with ROC 12...circa 1969. Really beefy son of a gun, all cast iron, full pressure lube, drilled crankshaft and connecting rods for full oiling of the big and little ends of the rods, oil pressure over air actuated unloaders, etc. If you look through the parts catalogs, you will see what they are made of...everything is built to last forever - they use the same basic pump for upwards of 500 PSI, natural gas compression, etc. Mine had a worn wrist pin bushing on the high pressure side, could have probably ran it for many more years like that, but I decided to rebuild it.

I rebuilt mine soup to nuts, and haven't had any issues...but I had the entire cylinder head surface ground on both sides and then had the head and all of the internal (and some external parts) double coated with yellow zinc dichromate.

But even after a full rebuild, some folks have had issues with cylinder head corrosion.
These things were made to run *hard*...when you run them hard, they burn off the condensate in the cylinder head and will run literally forever. If you let them sit and/or don't run them hard they can corrode.

The newer 325's and QR25's have a different design on the cylinder head that is much less prone to corrosion. They've also improved their valve bodies and so forth - better materials that resist corrosion. Unfortunately I am not aware which ROC brought on the new design. Heck, mine is so old it doesn't even have a spin-on oil filter. There are many different variations on unloaders too.

With all that in mind, I don't want to cause folks to shy away from the older 325's...just be prepared. Quincy is proud of their parts if you go OEM, but the aftermarket stuff is OK. Keep in mind it's a compressor, not an F1 engine.

I love true industrial compressors for all of the reasons Jim Colt stated. I can carry on a conversation right next to mine...it's quiet because the pump is only running about 900 RPM and the motor is a large frame unit that barely ever breaks a sweat. 3450 RPM compressors are annoying, rubbish, weak, disposable, deplorable and have no place in my shop.

Here's a video of mine for compressor nerds like me. Motor is a single phase but sounds like a 3-phase.
(I put reflective tape on the pulleys to monitor speed with a tachometer.)
https://youtu.be/ZpFPUWdqOzg

Cheers,

Matt

[marvelmetalworks]

i have been running a Ingersoll Rand 80 gal 5hp that I bought from tractor supply for over 10 years now and never a problem ....

[Plasma Creations]

Quincy you can't beat the customer service and made in U.S.A.

[Metriccar]

I have a Quincy QT5. 5 hp, 80 gallon. $2000. It is their entry level compressor. It has a Made in USA sticker on it.

[Keneel]

The best is always going to be an industrial quality compressor that has the capacity in CFM and the size tank you need. Figure out which tools you intend to drive off of the compressor and learn how much air in CFM they need, then get the best bargain you can find that provides what you are looking for. I got a Schulz compressor https://mechanicguides.com/best-60-gall ... ompressor/ on sale for $400, and have had zero problems.

If you don't intend to paint with it, you can get adequate compressors from any of the sources you mentioned in the range of $350 - $500. As long as they are oiled, they should do fine for your application. If you intend to do a substantial amount of painting with it, that's another story. People have built RVs with the smallest compressors you can imagine, as well as the largest. You can do a search and find several threads discussing this over the last few years.

If you get a 220V compressor, be sure and figure in the cost of wiring to accommodate the compressor, if you don't already have a 220V outlet.
On YouTube there are a lot of useful videos on a similar subject, I'll leave here one, I hope this will help someone in the future.

[SegoMan DeSigns]

Eaton air compressors uses the pump from a larger machine and slows it down, this equates into a cooler and quieter running machine. Lower temps = less condensation and better consumable life. They are also made in the USA.

I have had their 15/20 HP 3 phase unit for over a decade - still doing great