I’m a newbie poster here. I just had a question for MikeV or anyone else that could help. My Holdings mini compressor recently died and I figured that instead of purchasing another painfully expensive hobby compressor, I could opt for a cheaper alternative.
I’ve been very impressed with MikeV’s recommendation of cheap viable alternatives including that fantastic little reconditioned number. However, I’m in Australia and my current options are to either use a heavy duty 2hp belt drive Ingersoll Rand AC that I already own (which I figure to be too powerful for my needs) or a little 2hp direct drive air compressor. It’s 1500 watt (200L/min) with 7.27 cfm true air delivery with a 21 litre air tank. It’s relatively cheap ($97 AUS) and has a regulator.
Is this overkill for using a small hobby airbrush? I really don’t want to fork out another couple of hundred bucks for these mini hobby compressors but I also don’t want to buy this 2hp direct drive if it’s too powerful for my airbrushing nedds.
If you already have a compressor then by all means use it. A large compressor simply means a large volume of available air. It will most likely already have a regulator on it, but if not you will need to add one. I have a 2.5hp compressor and run a 50 foot hose over to my bench. At the bench I have a secondary regulator and moisture trap (not really necessary, more for convenience), as well as a “T” fitting so I can get low pressure air for my airbrush and also high pressure air for blowing off my bench and models.
Welcome to the forum.
I agree with the others.
The size of the compressor doesn’t really matter and the fact that it is bigger only means that it can be used for other useful things as well such as running an impact gun, spraygun, nailgun, filling the car tires, etc.
I have a Craftsman 1.5 hp 12 gallon tank compressor that I used for a long time and it worked great. I still have it but rarely use it as I have both a Badger Million-Air as well as a Jun-Air silent compressor.
[:)]I run my Badger 200 off a cheap and cheerful GMC 1.5HP 40L compressor I bought at Bunnings for $99 (Au$). If GMC has a repair centre close by (as Perth does) you should be able to pick up a non claimed repair or reconditioned unit even cheaper. I did buy an additional water trap and initially had difficulty obtaining the appropriate adapter but it is now working brilliantly and I am very pleased. The biggest problem now is the noise but I turn the compressor on and allow it to come up to pressure before returning to the workshop to spray. Because of the capacity it rarely repressurises more than once or twice (even for big spray jobs) a session - it does make me jump when it does however!! This compressor comes with one non adjustible and one fully adjustible outlet and is powerful enough to run an automotive spray gun for larger projects (I sprayed my workshop and will use on my R/C planes). Don’t feel obliged to buy a purpose designed airbrush compressor.[8D] [8D]
I really appreciate all your suggestions. I did settle on the 2hp direct drive AC after all. I’ve only just unpacked it, but plan to give it a run by the weekend. The old testors airbrush has had it too. Well…there’s a surprise!
(what do they say, when it rains it pours?)
lol
Anyhow, I’ve saved on the compressor so I can splurge a bit on the airbrush. And no more plastic/siphon ABs either.
