Looking to see if any forum member has the Kobalt 26 gallon Quiet Tech air compressor?
I am going to be replacing my old compresser and it looks like the Quiet Tech will fit the bill. I do not need this big of an air tank, but the next size down in the Quiet Tech series is too small.
I am okay with oilless because I only use the compressor several times a month and that is light usage. Wanted someone quiet to keep the family from complaining about the noise. Don't want to pay a lot for something I would not use much, hense the Kobalt.
So if anyone has the pros and cons, please let me know.
Just stumbled upon this thread by accident, and I realize it's probably way too late to be helpful to you, Rich, but I figured I may as well chime in, anyway. I have owned this compressor about 3 years (give or take), so I have lots of experience with it. And even though it's an old thread, I've found lots of important info I needed on this forum and many others long after the initial thread was started.
For starters, let me be clear I'm not an expert on compressors, or on decibels. When I saw the skeptical/critical initial responses from someone who didn't sound like he's ever used one of these, I was kinda taken aback. But then I realized I've never owned an oiled compressor so I really had no idea how a typical oiled compressor compares to an oil-less. I was a bit surprised to learn he's right--apparently they are typically much quieter than oil-less. But there are many other important considerations that are worth discussing. The comment below will be the comment I wish I would have found when I was in the market for a compressor.
What I do have experience with is a porter cable pancake compressor. That's another oil-less. And the difference between that thing and my Kobalt Quiet-Tech 26-gallon compressor is night-and-day. In fact that's almost a literal turn of phrase in this case because there's not a chance I would have run the porter cable in my garage to do anything at night before, even being on a 2.5 acre property with good distance and trees between me and my neighbors. But with this Kobalt, running it at night would never bother a neighbor. (running the tools it powers may be another story
--but I have released the air from it at night, and the noise that makes is still quieter than running the porter cable pancake compressor).
The porter cable was loud enough that I couldn't stand to be in the same room with it unless I was wearing ear plugs. Even during the day I hated running it because I felt like a menace to society. The Kobalt is quiet enough that my buddy and I can stand next to it and have a conversation with only the slightest increase in speaking volume (quieter than a classy person's "inside voice," for sure, but we don't have to talk any louder than a couple dudes wrenching in a garage normally talk).
Rich--your original comment mentioned that you didn't need a tank this big; When I was shopping around before buying the Kobalt, I didn't either--but looking back I realize how much tank volume one "needs" depends on a lot of things I didn't understand at the time. Without getting too much into the weeds, let me just say that I did a TON of research before making this purchase, and weighed my options while being as thorough as possible about predicting what sorts of things I wish I'd considered before purchasing, so that I could consider them before purchasing--thinking about what I might want in the future, not just what I want now (or then, rather).
Depending what you're doing, there are small compressors with sufficient flow rate, but they can't safely sustain that flow rate long enough to do the work efficiently (safely means duty cycle, which I'll touch on below); some don't have adjustable regulators, which means they can blow up some tools; some have big tanks but crappy flow rates; some are quiet, but not as easy to transport; some oiled compressors can stand upright--that might matter for floor space (it mattered to me) can't always (maybe never) be laid down for storage or general use because of that. And when looking for a compressor that took into account all of the above, I don't recall a single other option that ticked every box. And certainly not for a comparable price. The price on this is considerably more affordable than buying an oiled compressor with a tank this size.
This compressor struck just the right balance between max pressure (150psi), air delivery/CFM (4.3@90psi, 4.5@100psi) for what I'd ever be likely to use it for. Having the bigger tank means it doesn't need to kick the motors on as often when you're not using it a lot, so that cuts down on the amount of
time it makes noise in addition to it making
less noise while it's running. And while oil-less compressors aren't considered to be as durable as oiled compressors, I considered that a.) I'm not running an automotive shop and not using the thing so frequently as to beat it to death quickly, and b.) at the time I was able to get 2 years of extra warranty provided by my credit card company (Costco Citi credit card, but they stopped offering this benefit in Jan. 2023, apparently).
Some other things I really like about it are:
• Ball valve-style lever on the very bottom for draining the air, which is deal for getting all the water out when it drains.
• Two outlets--you can connect two hoses at once so you don't have to swap tools back and forth.
• It's designed so it can be stored upright or laying down without getting damaged.
• It has a built in adjustable regulator on it, so you can control the output. This matters because a lot of tools are rated and only intended to be operated at 90 or maybe 100psi. Some can handle more just fine, some can't. So if you have a compressor that maxes at 150 and no regulator, you could blow your tools up. Buying a regulator to add to your setup that doesn't have one costs more money.
• 100% Duty Cycle* with thermal overload auto-shutoff. A lot of people seem to forget to take duty cycle into account. Speaking of tasks like media blasting, I've heard people say stuff like "oh I did it fine with my pancake compressor." Yeah maybe, but it probably took you 2-3 times longer than necessary (being generous), and even then you probably did lasting damage to the compressor motor. Those
porter cable pancake compressors have a stated duty cycle of 50-75% (75% kills them quick in my experience). This Kobalt doesn't have a duty cycle, effectively putting it at 100%*. (I say * because it doesn't explicitly state a 100% duty cycle. If they claimed that, people would complain if they weren't able to run it continuously, and I'm sure it has its limits. That said, I've worked it pretty hard and never had it auto-shutoff on me before.)
With all of that editorializing and anecdotal experience out of the way, I found this video where a guy did a pretty good demonstration and as chance would have it--he actually conducted a comparison test between the kobalt quiet tech 26-gallon and the same porter cable pancake compressor I used to have. I'll go ahead and spoil the results: the readings show a difference of about 10 Db (which again means the pancake compressor is ten times louder. That would be hard to believe but when you watch the video that's rbut watch for yourself nonetheless, because I feel that the audible difference portrayed in the video is an excellent representation of the real world difference you'll experience running these two generators in a garage.
As the video demonstrates: you can really FEEL how much louder the porter cable is, even though this video only shows it running 10-11 Db quieter than the Kobalt. I wouldn't have thought a 10-11 Db difference would matter so much, but apparently
10 Db difference means ten times more noise, and believe me when I say you very much feel that difference in person. With that in mind, I think the statement that "quiet oil-less is an oxymoron" goes to show that, although he's clearly correct about the difference between oiled and oil-less, and I have no doubt he's heard lots of both, he clearly hasn't heard an oil-less nearly as quiet as the Kobalt Quiet Tech 26-gallon. Anyone who gets to try one of these first hand and still says it's not quiet has either got standards that are much too high (what can you possibly be expecting from a compressor? The tools you're going to use are going to be loud!) or they're being disingenuous because they've already stuck their foot in their mouth and they're afraid to admit they were wrong. (Foreshadowing.
)
Noise comparisons from the video:
The Porter Cable runs a hair above 85 Db on average according to the video creator's phone-connected Db-meter, the Kobalt has a 74-75 Db average noise level reading.
The
official rating from Kobalt is 70 Db. I couldn't find the official Db rating Porter Cable's pancake compressor in the
digital owner's manual, but
this guy seems to know his stuff and tested it at about 80 Db.
That means the video below seems to be reading both compressors about 5 Db higher than expected, which might be because they're both against a wall and not far from the Db meter.
