Thread: Air compressor in the age of battery tools

Have you looked at trade tools? Most people I know on the tools use renegade, which is (or used to be) made here in QLD. MY renegade compressor has been in continuous use now for about 15 years and has been part the latest house I have just built. The only problems I have had are regulators, I am about to install the 4th one. Might not be as queit as the hush but they are reliable

They still have a use. Mine is mainly used now for a coil gun, and until I purchased my Hikoki framing gun this year I still used a pneumatic framing nailer for jobs where the paslode did not have enough power.

In the shed, I still use the same compressor for the spray gun, and I also used it for an 18g brad nailer until I recently bough a makita brad nailer to replace it. I have a paslode gas brad nailer, but never used it because it was too large compared to the pneumatic version.


BTW, you dont need a big compressor for most air tools. The spray gun probably is the biggest consumer of air apart from the air duster.

If you look at the 'Renegade Industrial 2HP Single Cylinder 130LPM Air Compressor 25L 2 Wheels - HP130-25' - it is the same machine as my dead one. Except that my dead one has a larger tank and a better loop over handle. They are cheap, elsewhere, and I got it a few years ago on a big sale discount so it cost me 5/8 of F..... not very much.

The thing is, that reducing the noise for my future neighbours is important to me. The last set of neighbours moved out and demolished their house. Just saying.
Seriously though, we are moving to a nice semi-rural area where people come for a bit of tranquillity. That air compressor was friggin loud.

Yeah the spray gun is a thing. I have not done much spraying and don't know what I am doing but I definitely want to do more spraying in the new shed.

You could use the tank from your old compressor as extra storage.
It probably also has a drain valve.
A friend uses 3 x 45Kg gas cylinders as storage but I'm not sure how he gets rid of the condensation.
I use 30mm high pressure PVC pipe running the length of my shed ceiling with drop points to connect to. The compressor is outside.

Cheers John T

I personally only use my tiny air compressor for a handfull of things.

filling up the very occasional tyre
using a brad nailer

everything else is done with battery or powered tools, I'd even consider moving to a battery brad nailer/stapler just so its another item I don't need a compressor for.


It's probably slightly more expensive way of doing things, but I would just get another 2nd hand cheap thing off gumtree to get you by UNTIL your shed is built and then see if you're really going to be doing much spraying etc to justify sinking that much into a compressor setup.

Hey! That is a great idea! Yes it has a drain valve, designed for the tank to be on its side.
I'll have to look at the fittings but I think that is going to be straight forward. Hopefully there is no check valve to worry about.
That does it, I am going to keep the old beast for its tank.

Yeah I wasn't really sure what pipe and where to get it from for the install. However that is months and months away. I have to find budget for a lot of other fitout first.

Yes your view is the other voice in the back of my head and hence my post. This is why I said it is bad timing. I was thinking of all the other 101 things I need to pay for before considering what to do with the air compressor. Until it up and died.

I am going to need to do various tyres much more often but I could get one of those 12v pumps for that. As you say I could just get the cheapest compressor I can find to do me for the next year or so. The problem there is once we do move next year, I'll want to limit the noise and we will have so many other things to pay for.

I looked at the Hikoi cordless brad nailer, but aside from the cost it is way too bulky. One advantage of air is that once you have it setup the actual tools are cheap.

Hi Dave. I have just purchased the Hikoki battery powered framer and bradder and they are brilliant. But they can't totally replace compressed air nail guns. The air guns are both quicker to fire and lighter to hold and for framing and fixing a whole house I think you would be mad to use anything else. The actuator on the battery framer requires more resistance to push against and was hard to nail studs to plates laying on the floor (trialled on a recent framing job).

Thanks for the quick review. I got all excited when Hikoki first came out with a cordless brad nailer but when I saw it, I think it is more for construction detail trim work than woodwork. I didn't realise the battery framer was harder to use but I guess it is no surprise. I'm an 'office' worker by day so I'd probably just get worn out too fast.

I don't have a proper air framing gun but I have the next size down air tool. Which is really more for moldings, skirting etc so I call it a molding gun. Not sure what is it supposed to be called. My next framing job will be a big one to create a frame inside the new shed, almost a year from now. Almost the same as a whole house (minus the roof) when I think about it. I don't usually do any framing but for that job I could justify an air framer. But I doubt I could justify the cost of a cordless framer. Later I want to build a pergola and things like that but frankly, for any nailing, it is going to have to be ye good ole swing the hammer or drag the air compressor onto the patio and use a long hose.

Don’t forget you can always put a cheap compressor in a noise reducing enclosure. My compressor is in an enclosure outside my shed and I leave it on most of the time. My guess is it goes off maybe once a week in the middle of the night but after 10 years of this no complaints from even the fussy neighbor over the back of our place. Plenty of examples of how todo this on these forums and other places on the web.

If you are after a compressor that lasts with great service & in Brisbane look at Compak.
My father was a builder & purchased the compressor second hand many years ago (late 70’s maybe). It spend most of it’s life on his work Ute running multiple nail guns until he retired. In recent year it lives in my shed. It is a bit noisey these days and could do with a rebuild but still doing well for the amount of hours it has run. Not used very often these days but very handy when needed for nail gun or spray painting.

I just bought a Hush 30 as my first compressor, I've not done a lot with it yet but I can confirm that it's very quiet.

I debated a lot whether the extra cash on the quiet model would be worth it but I think it is having heard it. Much more likely to get used if it doesn't deafen everyone around.

Steve

Originally Posted by BobL

Don’t forget you can always put a cheap compressor in a noise reducing enclosure. My compressor is in an enclosure outside my shed and I leave it on most of the time. My guess is it goes off maybe once a week in the middle of the night but after 10 years of this no complaints from even the fussy neighbor over the back of our place. Plenty of examples of how todo this on these forums and other places on the web.

This was my original plan. Inside the shed or just behind it but in it's own hut with some sound reducing walls. I could prevent any night activity with a simple timer.

However when you add that up, at today's material prices, it's worth it to go with a 'silent' compressor. Which if required, I can do further noise reducing with. Also I don't really have an ideal place to put it because it is either close to the neighbours or close to the office I have planned. So like most people, it's kinda awkward to get it far away from where it might be annoying.

Originally Posted by Pete57

If you are after a compressor that lasts with great service & in Brisbane look at Compak.
My father was a builder & purchased the compressor second hand many years ago (late 70’s maybe). It spend most of it’s life on his work Ute running multiple nail guns until he retired. In recent year it lives in my shed. It is a bit noisey these days and could do with a rebuild but still doing well for the amount of hours it has run. Not used very often these days but very handy when needed for nail gun or spray painting.

Thanks for the recommendation. But I'm pretty set on a low noise option or else just going as cheap as possible. However these guys might be really helpful when it comes to installation.

Originally Posted by DaveVman

However when you add that up, at today's material prices, it's worth it to go with a 'silent' compressor. Which if required, I can do further noise reducing with. Also I don't really have an ideal place to put it because it is either close to the neighbours or close to the office I have planned. So like most people, it's kinda awkward to get it far away from where it might be annoying.

I wouldn't pay std retail for materials to make a compressor enclosure.
My materials came from leftovers of building the shed (tea screws, Colorbond sheet and flashing), skips (melamine wall panelling) old machinery box (Chipboard and ply) and various verge collections (concrete slabs, assorted framing timber). I think I paid for two sets of galv hinges and

Mine is 750mm from the back fence of the very fussy neighbour. Haven't heard a peep from him about it in a decade. Because I failed to put any sound reduction between teh enclosure and the shed I can hear it inside the shed but its nothing compared to when it was inside the shed.

If you were doing it inside the shed even a new sheet of 18mm MDF and an old foam mattresses is not that much compared to the price of the shed.

Here it is after 10 years outside.
I added the PVC snorkel so that it sucks in air from higher up above the ground otherwise it sucks air from the gap under the door down near the ground which often has a high moisture content due to sprinklers or rain etc. I have extensive moisture trapping systems in my air lines but this makes a significant difference.

Snorkel1.jpg