Air Compressor Questions. Need a New One

[darkoverlift]

I am looking for a air compressor. I had a pancacke 3 gallon no oil required from Home Depot I gave away a year and a half ago before I moved and am now back and would like to get a good, but not pro quality one.

I plan to use a impact for auto shop work on my Jeep, and would like to nail with it. I guess my questions are:

Brand?
Size?
Oil or Oiless?
Is one quieter than most?
Price, is it possible to be under 150? 200?

I was thinking would 8 gallons be enough or should I go larger? I want to run it on 110 and for it to be easy to move around if need be. Would 21 gallons be better? Opinions please.

 

[sargentl]

Home Depot sells an 8 gallon Oiled Husky for around $100. It will run an impact no problem, but mine struggles somewhat to run my DA sander. You don't really need much power to run a nailer. It's pretty damn loud, but cheap.

 

[WHT]

For the home, I have a Thomas T-2820ST 13.5 amp 2-horsepower 4-gallon oil-free twin compressor that works very well. I also appreciate that it is made in the U.S.A. and relatively quiet.

 

[bryan11]

Generally, the oil lubricated types will be quieter. Ignore HP ratings and look at CFM.

 

[pipsters]

Ignore HP ratings and CFM, and look at tank size and max pressure. On a smaller 120v unit, CFM won't make a damned bit of difference.

If you were sandblasting or using a sander, look at CFM. Otherwise don't give it a second thought.

My $0.02

I've never tried to run an impact on an 8 gallon, 20-30 gal 135-150 psi seems to be a good sweet spot for impacts. But doesn't mean you couldn't do it, the run time would just be fairly low.

 

[Straightgrain]

I have an Ingersoll Rand DD2T2 4.5 gallon capacity oil lubricated compressor I purchased from Tractor Supply a few years back for ~ $330 that I'm real happy with. It delivers 4.4 CFM @ 90 psi, and 4.1 @ 125 psi.