Guys,
Here is my experience in this arena
I have a Cambell hausfeld 5hp direct drive with a 20
gallon tank.
My business partner has the upright craftsman 5hp with
a 25 gallon tank.
Both of these are perfect for the following:
Impact wrenches of all sizes - mini/standard
Paint sprayers HVLP or older HVHP or whatever my old
and trusty is.
Air chisels - my favourite tool to fix anything!!
Air socket wrenches
Filling of just about anything - (except maybe hot air
balloons)
Air Nailers - finish, brad, roofing
Air Grease guns
any other lower/medium volume tools - that i may not
know exist but will buy when I find them!!
Where they fall down is the following:
DX sanders - due to the high volume or air required -
you can run them for a couple of minutes, then the
compressor needs to recover. On another note there -
always use a line dryer (minimum silica gel - or
better, a true line dryer) when sanding or paint
spraying.
Air files - same problem as above.
Any other high volume tools - no other ones I have
used.
I have used all of the above on my compressor and the
sanders are a little time consuming, but waaaaaay
better than doing it by hand. Also I usually have a
couple of projects going so I can put down the sander,
let the air recharge, and then pick it back up again.
For sanders or high volumes - a 2 stage belt driven
compressor or a large 60 gallon non portable tank
would be required for constant use. This gets waaaaay
to expensive unless its permanently mounted in the
house. So the trade off is - high volume/high
price/low portability vs. lower/medium volume/low
consumer price/portability.
My recommendation is 20-25 gallon tank, 5hp direct
drive compressor, and deal with the occasional sanding
recharge.
Its a great piece of machinery and a must for any true
home mechanic!! IMHO
Hope this helps.
let me know if you need anything else, as I have had
mine since 96, so been through a few things, but never
had it go down - due to direct drive compressor.
Ed
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Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005
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