pacer_3iii
New member
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2021
- Messages
- 3
On this edition of "Not Another Compressor Question", I was hoping for some help from more knowledgeable people than me. I have a 2003 Bostitch CAP20280WB just like this one. It claims to have 7.6 CFM at 40 PSI and 6.5 at 90 PSI with twin 4 gallon tanks. I don't use it a lot, it mostly sits under my miter saw station and powers a blow gun, occasional hobby airbrush, and maybe 50 to 60 brad or pin nails a month. I also use it to blow out the water lines in my camper for winterizing, topping off tires, and to very occasionally use the cheap purple Harbor Freight HVLP spray gun. It says it has a 50% duty cycle, so I try not to do too much painting with it. I have zero need for media blasting, impact guns, or other high flow needs nor do I have any real desire to get into anything that would need those.
I open the drains on it after using it, but I so seldom use it not much would ever come out. I got a wild hair and wanted to plumb my shop for air so I don't have to pull a hose everywhere, and part of that required moving it to a better location for that. When I pulled it out from its home, I could hear water sloshing around in the tanks and it sounded like a lot. I opened the drains and nothing came out, so I just completely removed them. Still nothing came out. I took a stiff wire and ran it into the ports, and orange water poured out, about 3 gallons from one tank and 1 or so from the other. I cleaned out the drain valves and put them back in, and they work now.
It was given to me about 10 years ago, and I have no idea how hard it was used from the previous owner. I don't use air enough to justify replacing it with the current equivalent Dewalt that costs $1000 or more, or anything close to its claimed output numbers. I started to buy an 8 or 10 gallon hot dog compressor, but the 20 gallon verticals from Husky and Kobalt look decent for a similar price. I also looked at swapping the tanks out for a 20 gallon receiver tank or something, but those cost almost as much as the above mentioned 20 gallon compressors. None of those compressors are even close to the same output, although they are in SCFM and I only have CFM to compare it to.
Here's my dilemma....am I in enough danger of a tank failure that I need to replace this compressor with something probably inferior that I can still afford and meets my rather minimal needs? I can swing $300 or so, but I just don't know if the tanks are really damaged from my negligence or not.
I open the drains on it after using it, but I so seldom use it not much would ever come out. I got a wild hair and wanted to plumb my shop for air so I don't have to pull a hose everywhere, and part of that required moving it to a better location for that. When I pulled it out from its home, I could hear water sloshing around in the tanks and it sounded like a lot. I opened the drains and nothing came out, so I just completely removed them. Still nothing came out. I took a stiff wire and ran it into the ports, and orange water poured out, about 3 gallons from one tank and 1 or so from the other. I cleaned out the drain valves and put them back in, and they work now.
It was given to me about 10 years ago, and I have no idea how hard it was used from the previous owner. I don't use air enough to justify replacing it with the current equivalent Dewalt that costs $1000 or more, or anything close to its claimed output numbers. I started to buy an 8 or 10 gallon hot dog compressor, but the 20 gallon verticals from Husky and Kobalt look decent for a similar price. I also looked at swapping the tanks out for a 20 gallon receiver tank or something, but those cost almost as much as the above mentioned 20 gallon compressors. None of those compressors are even close to the same output, although they are in SCFM and I only have CFM to compare it to.
Here's my dilemma....am I in enough danger of a tank failure that I need to replace this compressor with something probably inferior that I can still afford and meets my rather minimal needs? I can swing $300 or so, but I just don't know if the tanks are really damaged from my negligence or not.