Air Compressor - is this worth getting?

[WorldClassAccident]

http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers...12-03-09-10-07

special from Aldi. I am thinking it will be useful for all the sanding, possibly the painting and other bits and bobs.

It seems cheap but is it a waste of money because it is carp and won't do the job or will it be a good deal?

All advice welcome

[garyh]

Great, apart from small tank! It will never turn off.

[captaincrash1971]

Got one of these last year, nowt wrong with em for general working. I run a riveter, impact wrench, ratchet and a cut-off tool without any problems. It does kick in pretty regularly during heavy use, but it's never run out of air yet. I also run a spray gun, and a powder coat system.
I doubt you'll find a better one for the same price.Also the air tools they usually sell at the same time are pretty good value too, my cut-off tool is mega useful.

[WorldClassAccident]

Guess where i am going on Sunday!

[Patton]

Toolstation are doing the same at the same price and include a gravity spray gun a curly air hose and other bits, PAT

[WorldClassAccident]

1.5 hp vs 2.5hp

Is that relevant? I am thinking the tool station one looks good now.

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Powe.../sd3164/p93604

Any views/ advice?

[Mister Towed]

Depends what you want it for: I needed one that would power a sand blaster and the critical thing was that the blasting pot I bought needed at least a 7.3cfm flow rate. I purchased a 2hp compressor with a 50 litre tank that flowed 7.5cfm and worked well enough.

It kicked in after only about 15 to 20 seconds of blasting and didn't ever get completely exhausted although the initial 30 seconds of blasting were definitely the most effective.

Some cracking deals are out there at the moment so I'd be inclined to go for the most powerful motor coupled with the biggest tank that you can afford for the versatility that it would give you.

As a bonus, I managed to sell my compressor and blasting pot on ebay for just over half what I'd paid for them new and I found stripping everything back to bare metal really satisfying so it was a worthwhile buy for me.

Anyway, best of luck choosing a suitable compressor for your needs.

[volospian]

That Aldi one looks like a rebadged version of the Wolf one I have (which is probably some rebadged something else). It will handle sanding.... just... if you're not sanding large areas in one go.

Spraying isn't a problem for it, but any air tools that need serious power will drain it in seconds. I ended up buying a serious 5.5 hp petrol engined 200litre beast off eBay to drive the sander/grinder/cutter, etc. and even that can run low on long stretches of work. I now have the 'leccy one on a shelf under the workbench and use it when I just need a quick dab of air, for things like the impact wrench, quick blasting or air dusting.

[WorldClassAccident]

It certainly looks similar. The tank is quite small but the 2.5hp motor seems to cope. The spot blaster is a waste of time. It hardly touched surface rust and wouldn't remove the grease and grime from the gear box housing.
will be trying the detergent wand when I get the suspension back on and can roll the chassis out of the garage.
Paint sprayer might be used on the bbq to see if it is any good

[volospian]

Hmmm... I've used a blast gun on mine and it was adequate for cleaning rusty metal, it just sent dust everywhere and I decided that I'd buy a blast cabinet if I wanted to blast stuff in future

I have used the wolf for sanding, it just runs out of puff on long stretches. For doing a bit, checking, doing a bit, checking, and so on it's capable.

I also used my wolf to respray an Alfa 155 for a "banger rally" road trip thing. It was more than capable.

tbh I could have coped with just the little wolf, but I knew I wanted a bit more oomph and I saw the big 'un for a good price and so I went for it.

[WorldClassAccident]

I am planning on using mine mainly for the sanding some hopefully it will cope. It seemed okay for several minutes at a time using the 'blow out' gun fully opened for dusting the garage / shooting spiders.

[volospian]

I'm sure it'll be fine. If it's anything like my wolf you'll probably just find times when you need to let it catch up a bit

[cmontgomery]

I also need a new air compressor and due to this I checked different offers. I have not decided yet which one I prefer. Last week I needed one and so I decided to try air compressor rentals which worked perfectly. So until I will have my own air compressor I will bypass the time with rental services.

[WorldClassAccident]

Need to sort out a sanding tool for the end of mine. Any suggestions welcome.