General Question

elbanditoroso's avatar

Compressor wizards, share your wisdom?

Asked by elbanditoroso (33577points) November 23rd, 2021

I need a 6-gallon air compressor for home use. Not heavy duty, just for miscellanous uses at home.

They seem to range from $99 (Home Depot) to up over $350, or more.

Is one brand better than another? Does paying more make sense?

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6 Answers

ragingloli's avatar

There is this chap that bought a small compressor for electronics dusting purposes and compared it to a normal blower style duster.
The compressor was a complete failure.

kritiper's avatar

The more expensive one would be the longest lasting and most reliable.

Forever_Free's avatar

It all depends on what your uses are going to be. Can you elaborate?

I recently bought a Porter Cable pancake compressor ($99) to be able to use a nailer gun, blow out water lines in the pool and sprinkler for winterizing and tire inflation. Works great. Best set of tools I ever bought
I don’t think I will be blowing up balloons or air float devices as this would not be the right application even if it does have pressure adjustment knobs.

Tropical_Willie's avatar

Get oil-less there is less maintenance.

Blackwater_Park's avatar

I have a small one that was like $100 at Walmart and I use it for basic stuff like running a nailer, pumping up tires etc. It’s not very good at the most basic thing I wanted it for: blowing dust off the inside of computers. Need a big tank for that.

gorillapaws's avatar

Just a maintenance tip. If your compressor has a tank, after you’ve finished using it and released all of the pressure, be sure to open the valve and drain any water that may be in the tank. The water is the result of humidity from the compression process and it will rust and ruin your compressor over time.

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