Air Compressor

I don't have any experience with the husky compressors, but I have an older model of the porter cable pancake. I bought mine about 10 years ago, and for 9 of those it was my only compressor. I've run nailers, die grinders(sloooowly), impact tools, filled tires, etc and mine has never once missed a beat. It's great for portability and to do small jobs. I only recently bought a 60 gallon one to permanently mount in the garage, so I don't use it as much anymore, but if I had to buy again, i'd buy the porter cable.

I just picked up a compressor for the same thing. A few household chores,,tires, cleaning,,,etc...I went with the H Freight pancake. Its a bit cheaper and i'm sure it wont last as long as the Porter Cable...not lookin for longevity. H Freight had a ton of compressors in the store...and they also had a 35 percent off coupon in their monthly flyer..!

If using for compressed air, look for volume. 6 is better than 4. BUT, I would look online--There are 3 25-gallon Craftsman compressors near me for $150 or less, and they're pretty bullet-proof. Always worth looking bigger (unless you're using it for finish work).

S

Buddy of mine has the Porter it a real nice lil compressor.

Joey said:

I just picked up a compressor for the same thing. A few household chores,,tires, cleaning,,,etc...I went with the H Freight pancake. Its a bit cheaper and i'm sure it wont last as long as the Porter Cable...not lookin for longevity. H Freight had a ton of compressors in the store...and they also had a 35 percent off coupon in their monthly flyer..!

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That's what I plan on doing. I have a Porter-Cable unit that I use for my automotive air tools. It's on wheels, so I can easily move it around the garage. I brought it up to VT a few weeks ago so I could use my brad nailer. That thing was a bear to get in the back of our Grand Cherokee...I had to use ramps. And it was a bit tippy during a few hard braking manuvers on the highway during rush hour.

So I'll pick up an el cheapo HF pancake/small compressor. I'll use it up in VT to finish off some other projects that require the brad nailer. I'll also use it for cleaning up the yard equipment and filling the ATV tires.

Zap,

Looks good, dials are a lil different than mine but pretty similar overall, nice looking machine. A couple things I would recommend are:

Add an inline moisture filter, especially if the compressor will see low temps, better to get the water out before it gets blown into your tools.

Use the drain on the bottom periodically to let the water out of the tank. This will help keep it from sitting in there and rusting it out.

Now for the fun part, buying a bunch of air tools to use with the compressor.

Probably more efficient and cooler. Not to mention less chance o' stuff gettin' in.

Q for others: does it matter which way the filter's blown out. I'm always thinking it should be blown out in reverse, so the dust particles aren't pushed through into the engine.

S

That's what I do...shoot the air from the inside out. If it's a pleated filter, I somtimes open the pleats from the outside and shoot air across them.

I'm not a big fan of oil-less compressors. I like having 1/2-1 qt. of non detergent oil keeping things slick(and it can be changed once a year or so). If only used occasionally I'm sure it would be OK but it does effect longevity with regular/heavy use. I had a husky(oil-less) that went south after a couple of years while I have an 8 gallon harbor freight oiled one that gets used twice as much and has been going strong for almost a decade. But who knows.
Joe