Workshop air compressor

[Tacitus]

bought one of these a while ago .... but mine is red .... makes a big difference in performance

Wolf Dakota 100 Air Compressor 3HP 14CFM 230V Twin Cylinder 10BAR 150psi Belt Driven : Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

Free delivery and returns on all eligible orders. Shop Wolf Dakota 100 Air Compressor 3HP 14CFM 230V Twin Cylinder 10BAR 150psi Belt Driven.

www.amazon.co.uk

View attachment 29059

was just over 200 quid when I pressed the trigger ......
has been very good for all my air requirements ...
tyres, die grinder, blaster, etc. 90 ltr tank and very often plug my air bottle in too, if i want a bigger reservoir (30+ ltr ex-propane bottle) and also have 47kg bottle I use for air too, if that's not enough .. again just plug it in and tandem them up

That seems to be a good compressor, made in OZ apparently.

The original post talked about choosing a direct drive. DD are light and portable but extremely noisy and the CFM is marginal, good for nail guns or pump up tyres.
Belt driven are slower and use bigger pumps.

One thing I observed is that compressor suppliers, quote the free to air performance of a compressor with some free poetic license.
The table that list the CFM requirements of a tool don't help either.

The free to air volume quoted by manufacturers, is taken from the volume of the pump and the revs it spins. Rather deceiving since the resistance of the compression is not taken into account. From experience, if you need 10 CFM for a tool, make sure your compressor can deliver at least 50% more. Worse tools for air consumption are grinders and spray paint guns. Tyres can be pumped up with just about any hobby compressor if you have time to wait ... don't advocate to pump up your tractor rear tyre with a 4wd 12v compressor, but it is theoretically possible.

Good quality compressor manufacturers, have a hard time competing with the chinese onslaught, exception perhaps the Italians. Chinese compressor pumps are everywhere and their quality is variable to put it mildly. Italian pumps are better.

With compressors that are not intended to be portable, bigger is better, and watch the power supply. Compressor motors don't do well with power restrictions. a supply cable that is 4 mm2 for single phase 240V would be ideal.

As for the popular wisdom that says don't use an extension ... well ... yes, if you buy your extension at Kmart.
An extension is just more cable. The workshop or house cabling can be very long depending how it is built. So, if you have a short extension with properly rated cable, plugged in the powerpoint your electrician built in the main switch board, is not the same than having a 30 meter long extension with 1mm2 cable plugged in your bedroom powerpoint.
I run a 280 amp MIG welder off a 20 meter extension with no problems at all. I built the extension with industrial 32A plugs and 6 mm2 rubber insulated cable. The mig itself has a 10 meter 6 mm2 lead.

 

[DaveDCB]

Really? How surprising, i mean to be fair you're only on here talking about them cos up pi**ed off with them. Would you go on twitter to say how pleased you were?

My Twitter is half angry posts and half positive feedback.. depending on what kinda day I’ve had.
So yes sometimes.

 

[Regy53]

I got bored online one day and bought a compressor from euros . Random Chinese brand not recognised no belts too has 3 motors on top 150 litres. Works a treat lucky though as I really bought blind and it was £350. It’s dead silent

 

[Tacitus]

A silent compressor with multiple pumps. It's the new thing. I alway wondered how they perform.Something like this?:

Sydney Tools

sydneytools.com.au

 

[Regy53]

A silent compressor with multiple pumps. It's the new thing. I alway wondered how they perform.Something like this?:

View attachment 34893

Sydney Tools

sydneytools.com.au

Yep that’s her , Mine has 3 pumps. Works a treat .

 

[Vinpetrol]

Well I orderd one of these from SGS, they are utterly useless! Been waiting for it 2 weeks now, should of been 3/5day delivery. They don’t answer phones, if they do they just transfer you to a forever ringing line. Emails also just bounce back! If it doesn’t land next week I’ll be cancelling through the bank!

I ordered a tool box from SGS to go in my new van.
They quoted me 3-5 days to my post code .
2 weeks later no box . When I finally got through to them and I asked politely where’s my box they cut me off , then they wouldn’t answer the phone to me at all . Then I got an email saying we can’t deliver to you . You’ll get a refund in 14 days .

 

[Lancs Lad]

I ordered a tool box from SGS to go in my new van.
They quoted me 3-5 days to my post code .
2 weeks later no box . When I finally got through to them and I asked politely where’s my box they cut me off , then they wouldn’t answer the phone to me at all . Then I got an email saying we can’t deliver to you . You’ll get a refund in 14 days .

I've had no issues buying Milwaukee off them but it appears it's the bigger palletised stuff that causes issues?
Anyone can cock up...and relying on couriers it's easy to do...but it's how you sort it..

 

[V8Druid]

A silent compressor with multiple pumps. It's the new thing. I alway wondered how they perform.Something like this?:

View attachment 34893

Sydney Tools

sydneytools.com.au

Yep that’s her , Mine has 3 pumps. Works a treat .

presumably a bank of small screw compressors?

 

[Tacitus]

Just an oil less little piston compressor, with a 4 pole motor. Screw compressor are still very expensive

 

[GazCro]

presumably a bank of small screw compressors?

I've seen of folk take the compressors off fridges and make up their own silent compressors

 

[Tacitus]

You can make any compressor silent by building a box for it and suppress the ruckus, or you can make one that does not make noise.
This little things started their life in dentist surgeries and used to be very expensive. Lately they are everywhere and at very competitive prices. They achieve little noise by using light component with reduced friction and reed valves. What I don’t know is how long can they keep up their act.

 

[Gecko]

has 3 motors on top

Having seen these in action, I formed the opinion that if you bought a different style, you'd need a pretty convincing reason (upto about 12Hp at least).

After using direct-drive piston type, I was blown away by how quiet they are. Any one know what type of pump they are? I'm assuming they are a scroll pump, but don't have anything to base that on.

 

[V8Druid]

Just an oil less little piston compressor, with a 4 pole motor. Screw compressor are still very expensive

bigger version of what runs the air suspension on the P38 then

 

[Tacitus]

Here is one with 3 pair of pumps in action. Not silent but way better than a traditional compressor. I dare to say that side by side, an ordinary compressor will most likely outlive this oil less silent one by a factor of 5 to one or more. Too many moving parts with no lubrication to go wrong. Only a guess.
However, anyone with a home workshop knows the problem of compressor noise.
This is a quick solution.
Building a soundproof enclosure for the compressor is probably cheaper if you can do it yourself, and likely to outlast this little marvels.
Here is a selection of compressors from Hyundai in your corner of the woods. Check the price of screw compressors.

Air Compressors

Shop Hyundai Air Compressors for Domestic, Industrial & Pro use. Portable, Petrol, Electric, Silent Oil-Free, Screw, Direct & Belt Drive from The Power Site

hyundaipowerequipment.co.uk

 

[T whiting]

I've got one of those silent compressors and it works brilliantly if a little slowly, I've killed cheap compressors and 2 Makita ones but this one seems to be holding up well it doesn't make noises like it's trying to explode like the cheap ones do. the only thing I wished is that the pumps started one after the other a lighting tower didn't like the startup of 2 motors at the same time so I added a switch to one

 

[Regy53]

I’m not entirely sure mines as quiet as the video but it’s very decent regardless . We don’t run to much on air at work mainly cleaning tools and tyre inflation

 

[Gecko]

the only thing I wished is that the pumps started one after the other

That seems a missed opportunity to me.
You could do it with a timed sequencer switch, but it'd be easier just a couple of pressure switches kicking in the next pump when the previous one is delivering.

 

[DaveDCB]

Well that didn’t take much persuasion

“
Thank you for your email

As discussed I have requested for the refund to be credited back into your account. This should be showing back into the account within 14 working days.”

will order a wolf one of Amazon instead, probably be with us by 9am tomrrow

 

[craig]

You would like to think in this day and age, the refund should be back in the account in hours, not 14 days

 

[doobin]

You would like to think in this day and age, the refund should be back in the account in hours, not 14 days

Sounds like they might be experiencing cashflow issues...