Pooofer wanted?

[MrWolf]

I have the small HF compressor ultra quiet 1 hp compressor for my reloading/ inside house shop (converted a bedroom). I use it for blowing dust off, etc. It is very quiet. No complaints.

[NyFirefighter357]

Get a cheap electric leaf blower. I have 2 sizes I got them both for cheap/free. You can buy them new for $50 and under.

[wilecoyote]

if you have any friend who repairs or maintains refrigerators, he will be able to show you how to use the electric motor of any abandoned fridge to connect it to a cylinder and get what you need for little bucks.
(the motor of quiet compressors is nothing more than a refrigerator motor)_
I use two or three of them, built in this way_
and I have a pathological tendency to accumulate fridge engines, of course

feel free to PM me if you need photos about them, so you know what to ask and look for.

... I forgot to add that when one of these engines breaks, it is not difficult to change it with another one from anyone who collects refrigerators for their disposal, or from anyone who decides to change this appliance_

[Omega]

I got a small compressor at Lowes to use with some of my air tools, it works great for most things and would work great for your purposes. It is pretty quite, very comparable to the more expensive units, and only about $150. I had it paired with a cheap generator and finished up a bunch of the trim work in my shoot house. Worked pretty good, plenty of air for my nail guns, just needs to run constantly when using air intensive tools, like a ratchet or impact wrench.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-QUIE...sor/1001014016

[fallingblock]

I’v got the 6gal Porter-Cable pancake, it’s loud but it’s worked good for me. I got it for under $100 bucks at a Black Friday sale a few years ago.

[Soundguy]

Speaking of that..air compressors gone up bad..my harbor freight pancake cost me 49$ and my husky upright under 500..i have a 29g one too.. Seem to remember 130 to 150$.. Now everything is near double...

[georgerkahn]

Thanks again for all -- here's an update:
1st, re advice (thanks much!) re repair/refurbish my unit, the 1947 motor has gotten quite tired (I can smell ozone when it runs a few cycles); the air-control unit (which was almost impossible to find and set me back roughly $200.00 five or six years back) is shot -- my option (which I've been using) is to flip on breaker box with single 2-pole breaker in it and watch pressure gauge; when it gets up to ~130lbs. I turn it off. I can hear the ssssssssssssss as air leaks back, and I have about fifteen to twenty minutes use time. And, as stated, I never (should've ) drained water as frequently as I should have...so, again as I previously wrote, I DO wish to go to heaven -- but am in NO hurry to get there !
BOTTOM LINE? No matter what I elect will cost me more bucks than simply buying a small portable unit I can use in the reloading room as well as take out to garage -- in both cases, needing pretty much no more than a high air velocity blower. Heating with wood, I really find a blower as almost a necessity for maintenance of my several Stihl chainsaws -- if nothing else!
Sooooooo -- listening to your valuable suggestions, and (maybe I got lucky?) with "Prime Oct 11-12" on Amazon, I have a $99.00 6-gallon Pancake coming. One of the beauties of Amazon is that I have a half-dozen chainsaws in need of getting poofing, and this detail alone should prove or disprove its worth. If the latter -- it IS returnable -- and my #2 choice will be the CAT unit. No plans to run pneumatic tools; do roofing ; et cetera -- just provide a pooof with gusto from reloading tools/projects in den, to, outdoor gear.
God willing, this Porter Cable -- I believe it be the one fallingblock mentioned as having -- (thanks) should do me.
geo

[georgerkahn]

About 40 years ago I bought a 2 HP compressor. I did not send in the registration so I never was told about the recall. One day while running the mill a few feet from the compressor there was a loud explosion. The seam on the tank let go and sense the compressor was under the bench and the seam was on the bottom, stuff on the bench went every where. It took several feet of the corner wall out along with clearing all the dust out of the corner. Luckily the only thing that happened to me was shaky knees for a while. I had to get a lawyer to get the company to replace the wall. The drill bit holder was on top of the bench so I was finding drills months later.

An addendum to my prior comments: A very close friend had a unit not too dissimilar as mine -- another dinosaur compressor -- and his wife noted she had an almost flat tire. With zero pounds in tank she turned it on to get sufficient air for tire inflation, and somewhere along the line (and she's not a teeny/skinny gal) she hit the wall, maybe 12 feet away! And -- she was able to see most of the bone from her left wrist to elbow where all the skin/muscle/etc had blown off. Miracle of miracles, albeit it took better than a year and one-half, she kept the arm/hand and has -- according to her -- better than maybe 3/4s use of it; pinky and ring finger do not move that well... I've never seen what it looks like -- she always wears long sleeved tops. Thankfully, one of their boys heard the explosion, ran to garage and threw mom in car with a Hefty garbage bag over damages -- raced to hospital with tire still flat! She was air-lifted to a trauma centre, and they were immediately told she'd most likely lose the arm... I repeat: a miracle, indeed!
My unit has a manufacture date of 1947 on it and it was very, very much used unit before I bought it with both a non-functioning compressor and motor mounted atop the tank... At my present age of 74 -- I do hope I'll have a lot more functioning years than I very well may have the privilege to have...life...
You were indeed so very lucky (no personal injury)! I cannot get Rick's wife arm injury out of my mind... hence, "repairs" to my unit -- now -- are not even being considered. I have a couple of oxygen tanks for my Oxy/Acetylene welder with 3,000 lbs; her -- our PCP airguns tanks hold air in this range... Who'd a thunk less than 100 pounds could do that much damage???? A risk this fellow's not about to take.
geo

[dverna]

George, stories like that are worth sharing. People do stupid stuff to save some dollars or time.

You made the right decision to get a new unit.

[elmacgyver0]

Confucius say,
Once you have a compressor, you can't live without one.

[MrWolf]

The tank on my old Craftsman tube compressor finally dies from to much rust. I was gonna just convert an expansion tank I have which I rated for over 100 psi's. Not sure it is worth it vs a new tank or unit based on some of the horror stories on here.

[Shawlerbrook]

I have a small upright California compressor and it works great for almost 10 years.

[Soundguy]

Heavy wall 4" pipe makes great tube tanks...

[wilecoyote]

Heavy wall 4" pipe makes great tube tanks...

I agree, and scuba tanks and fire extinguishers can save a lot of work when used as a reservoir for compressor air_