I need a new air compressor for running a Blasting Cabinet. Advice?

[Corellian Corvette]

So my old Craftsman garage air compressor is just not cutting it. It's a 2 stage 110v unit with a small tank (i'm going to say 25 gal)

I have a TP Tools 850 Cabinet (says it needs 10-15 cfm @ 80 psi)

I can't even use the cabinet for a few seconds without the compressor going on, and I get maybe a good minute or so of good pressure. It takes longer to fill the tank then I get air. After about 2 minutes it's useless.

It's driving me batty. So I want a new compressor. I can afford to spend a few dollars, but i'm not super intersted in paying much over a grand, if I can get away with it. But I'd like to spend less (obviously)

Can anyone tell me what specs I'm looking for? I'd like to find a good compressor that will do the job and at least give me a few good minutes of blasting and not take forever to refill.

I can go to 220 if need be so power is not the issue.

Advice?

 

[MichaelP]

You look at CFM and duty cycle. It would be better to get more CFM than your blaster requires, so that the compressor is not constantly on. If the consumption is about the same you compressor produces, buy a compressor with 100% duty cycle.

Ideally, try to find something closer or above 20CFM. This will allow you to use larger nozzles if needed.

And no, you don't need a 2-stage compressor for this, and this can save you some serious money. But it'll be a 230V unit, of course. Probably, 5-7.5 HP.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

While you don't need two stage, virtually all true 5 hp and 7.5 hp compressors are two stage and there are reasons why they are a good idea (increases run time per cycle, but fewer cycles, more stored free CF of air for a given tank size).

I have a 7.5 hp two stage, 80 gal Husky (Campbell-Hausfeld) that is about 24 CFM and it works OK with my TP blast cabinet. I really would not want to try running it on a smaller compressor, I doubt that a 5 hp (about 18 cfm) would ever quit running when blasting, as my 7.5 hp does cycle on and off, but dang near runs full time, especially when I'm doing something large that I blast non-stop on.

Charles

 

[Tscott]

X2 on the above. I use a gun from TP tools and it really needs a lot of air. I'm running an Eaton 7.5HP 80 Gallon and it runs almost non stop to feed the cabinet. It does catch up, but cycles back on in under a minute. Not sure you going to be able to find anything new in that range for under a grand, but you may get a good deal on Craigslist if your willing to be patient. I almost got a 7.5 hp unit for $400 but the guy flaked on me and did not show up. Glad I went new, but I did pay for it.

Tom

 

[Tom2]

Yea, for a lot of blasting I would go with a 7.5 horse 80 gallon 2 stage around 20cfm.

For just a little here and there stuff - a 60 gallon 4-5 horse around at least 10cfm would probably be ok. But don't expect amazing results.

I had a 4hp 80 gallon 2 stage 12.6cfm(at 90psi)..It would run constant when blasting..It worked alright, but if I buy over again, I'll probably go bigger.

 

[Corellian Corvette]

Any suggestions on specifc models?

Harbor Freight as the 60 gal 2-stage compressor that delivers 15 + CFM at 90psi.

Looks like reviews are pretty good. Is it a good unit? Or should I go bigger?

Thanks!

 

[Tom2]

Just depends what you can afford and how much blasting you plan to do. If it's all you can spend, and you don't need to be blasting frequently, then it's probably good enough.

 

[LWW]

The other advantage to the larger compressors is that they will generally be more quiet and it's easy to add an additional intake muffler to quiet them down even more. An oiled compressor at about 1700rpm should be very tolerable in the same space as your work area.

I have a 5hp 60gal IR and it works great for what I need but I don't do any serious blasting. I do have an additional 33gal auxiliary tank from my old Craftsman and two 15gal HF auxiliary tanks plumbed in so I have quite a bit of reserve air with all the 3/8" hoses and 123gal of air.

 

[Corellian Corvette]

I also saw this one was reasonably priced from Lowes.

It's a Campbell Hausfeld 5 HP 80-Gallon unit for $800.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_292655-1126..._prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_quantity_sold|1

 

[Tom2]

Not a bad deal..but it's only a single stage (140psi max) - and I don't see the CFM listed? Some Google searching on that model would probably yield the answer though.