HELP WHICH AIR COMPRESSOR TO BUY FOR MY RIG

Date 03-18-2008 02:00

IR compressors are pretty good, and 20 cfm with a 30 gal tank are about the minimum to use a carbon arc for anything serious

By MDG Custom Weld (***)

Date 03-18-2008 14:12

Are you looking to buy something to run from your welder, or a stand alone engine drive to add to your rig? If you plan to run it from the welder I don't think you'll find something with enough air without eating your output for gouging. If your going to get an engine drive, Honda and Ingersol are the way to go. 20 or 30cfm is the lowest that I think you could go without having troubble gouging. A farmer buddy bought one of these last summer to use for field service on semi's, and it's great. I'm sure if you look around you can get it cheaper than Grainger.

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/6WA84

By weiser1876 (*)

Date 03-18-2008 16:12

I Use a puma with a honda regulate it to around 45 to 50 psi works good you Know the twin tube tipe with the wheel in the front i can load it in the truck by my self attwoods 689$ good luck

By MDG Custom Weld (***)

Date 03-18-2008 18:31

45-50psi seems low. That small tube type compressor can keep up with gouging air needs??

By weiser1876 (*)

Date 03-19-2008 01:18

Yea so far used it about 3 years now and i can over work it but we all have to figer we work by the hour and what is the work load of the welder rated for 100% at 350 amps no if so it will not last long the compressor will buld up quickley for a small one good luck

By makeithot (***)

Date 03-19-2008 16:30

I have one of the same It is a 6.5 cfm that puts out 10 to 130 psi with an electric motor that I run on 220 off the welder and it keeps up to gauging all day nice and light and takes up very little room on the back of the truck. For intermitant gauging it also works well dialed down to 60 psi. 20 cfm for a mobile compressor just to do a little gauging now and then seems like a little over kill 8 or 8.5 would be about max a guy would need. If your welder dosn't have the power though you may need to look at a machine that is engine driven there are hundreds to choose from ranging from few hundred $ to the thousands. First step is to look at what you want ot do with the machine and the cfm and psi required by the tools you whish to opperate. Granted the unit I run will not keep up to a 1" impact gun for long but the odd time I need something that big I rent it. If I had a bigger budget I would have bought a rotory unit as opposed to a piston compressor , but they are almost double the cost, They are compact and light weight though. If you look in the lincoln bible "The Procedure Handbook of arc welding" it will give you all the parameters for compressors in regards to cfm and psi It says that a guy can get away with as little as 3cfm at 40 psi for 1/4" rod - intermittent use on a manual torch. That seems a little light to me but again I run at 75-80 psi at 6.5 cfm and it works well and it keeps up to everything I need it to do. Of course if your going to be running 3/8 or bigger rod your going to need some more ponies but can your welding machine keep up to that ,that is the ultimate determining factor right there and if your using one of those 250 or 300 bobats I'd have to say not for long.

By Cactusthewelder (*****)

Date 03-24-2008 13:10

I run a Dewalt tube type with a honda motor. Works Great. It doesnt take alot of room and I can carry it by myself.

By weiser1876 (*)

Date 03-20-2008 18:37

OH i forgot to add CHARGE FOR IT i charge $55 a day wen i use it helps pay for gass and rod and where and tear on the welder the com dont seem to mind to much hell you are saving them money in the long run anyway gouge or tourch let them pick good luck

By Keplinger78 (**)

Date 03-20-2008 23:48

Hum thats a good idea!!!

By Keplinger78 (**)

Date 03-20-2008 12:12

Hello,
I have a Rigid from Home Depot it was $700 and seems to work fine for air arcing,Only down side is the orange paint has faded and looks like peach colored now....It has a 5.5 hp honda and has never ran out of air yet. It's over a year old.

Later Tom K

By darren

Date 03-22-2008 20:20

http://www.vmac.ca/index.php?webpromo&gclid=CK_mgrDFoZICFSdCYQodjBsvPQ
http://www.google.ca/search?q=under+hood+air+compressor&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

By nevadanick (**)

Date 03-23-2008 14:21

yeah those underhood rotary screw air compressors are cool until you price one ! plus consider the fuel cost of your pickup running and idling up to 2000rpm all the time

By vantage500man (**)

Date 03-23-2008 15:15

Yea I have a diesel truck here and in Mich. we are paying 4.29 a gallon so any thing to stay away from that cost plus in 22 years I have never seen the work so slow or bad to come in it is awful I thinking of moving to tx or la... I do appreciate all the advice about the compressors thank you keep it coming Bear

By makeithot (***)

Date 03-23-2008 16:39

As I said before if your welder can but out the power I am soldon the electric units you have to run the welder any way.

By vantage500man (**)

Date 03-23-2008 22:11

I have a lincoln 500 so I have the power the two concerns I have are 1. having to deal with getting it protected from weather 2. I've heard it takes a lot of start up power to get them going ...
which one do you use my primary thing to use it for would be air arcing off bull dozer blades stuff like that but I always try to buy the best and over kill so I don't have to buy again later...

By DaveBoyer (*****)

Date 03-24-2008 03:19

The motor and even more so the compressor will need cooling air, provide for that when You build the enclosure. While You could run a pretty big compressor from that machine, get one only large enough to support the air arc, so there is still plenty of weld output. A friend of mine runs a 7.5 HP Quincy from a Trailblazer 301G. Starting that compressor takes all that machine has.

By JescoPressure (**)

Date 03-24-2008 05:06

ya those vantage 500s dont even sweat with 2 grinders running and welding at the same time. i was building a 10000 bbl tank with a crew and didnt want to string out my truck for a little grinding so i pugged in and so did anouther guy and he powerered his horizontal subarc off ac for the drive motors and weld power and it had no problem at all

By makeithot (***)

Date 03-24-2008 15:12

The one I use is the american eagle brand and when I compared it to the dewalt they were exactly the same machine, one blue one yellow, one $1800.00 the other $1200.00 and with a contractors discount I payed $1050.00. You are right that they do suck up some juice on start-up but the unit I have has a constant run mode so that even on 110 volts it works by unloading the compressor instead of shutting off the motor I still run it the same way in 220 volts it eliminates that dead short draw that happens if you set it for the motor to shut down. I have and do use this machine for the exact same purpose as you have suggested. All the machines I looked at offerd this option and I think it is worth having so you do not over load the circuits on the welder. They do recomend thaugh that if you are to run the machine for extended periods that you do not let it run with out a load for long as this causes the compressor head to over heat, but when gaugeing I have yet to have this problem . and if I do take a break I just leave the torch on a little so the compressor is always loaded.

By Wrench Tech (**)

Date 03-25-2008 03:51

This is what I use - no comparing one of these to ANY piston compressor. Expensive...Yes! But 75CFM@150PSI ! You never want for air. Not that much bigger than an alternator. It doesn't cost as mush as you think to run either. And we're payin' $5 per gallon for fuel here, too.