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I am looking to acquire an inexpensive compressor for occasional work around the house. I am wondering if one of these smaller compressors would be up to the job? PepBoys has a 3 gallon unit for less than $100. Says it will provide about 3 feet per minute at 90 pounds. Would this be adequate for taking the lug nuts off my truck?

Point I am trying to clear up is that my usage is small and very intermittent. Not trying to air up a shop.

I know the small compressor will not drive a paint sprayer, but I don't have one anyway. I just get frustrated when I am in an awkward position, trying to release a bolt, and the wrench will only turn about 10*. Its hard enough getting into position without having to swing the wrench 500 times to get the bolt loose. Figure a 5 second blast with the air-ratchet will do the job.

Any thoughts?

dave

Should do the job. Check a local Home Depot though, Husky has a number of good compressors, and are usually surprisingly cheap. You might be able to get a better one for just as much.

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If you can't buy it, build it.

Generally you want to get as large a compressor as you can afford. You say you will only use it once in a while, but after you have one, you may want to do more. Then, having the smallest one you could find will be frustrating. I have a 5hp 25 gallon Craftsman I bought from Sears about 10 years ago. I thought it would be plenty big for what I was doing (impact srench, air ratchet, etc.) but it has a hard time keeping up with the impact if I want to take more than 2 off, especially if they are really stuck. Figure out how much you want to spend and get the one that costs that much. If you only want to spend $100 then get the 3HP one. If you have a little more to spend, get a little bigger one. You can NEVER have a compressor that is too big.

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Build sold to a new loving home. May start another one when I have more time to devote to it. For now I play with my boat, Datsun 240Z, and GS700 motorcycle.

IMHO, stay way from the oilless type; they are very, very loud. Also, the horsepower ratings on compressors is a huge pile of BS, all marketing balony. Use the air delivery rate to compare units.

And I have to agree, get the biggest you can afford; you won't be sorry.

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Midlana book: Build this mid-engine Locost!, http://midlana.com/stuff/book/
Kimini book: Designing mid-engine cars using FWD drivetrains
Both available from https://www.lulu.com/

I'm building a portable 500 hp compressor/welder, the Jeep BJ. the same principals could be applied to a stationary unit powered by an electric motor.
http://members.cox.net/cglabe1/Air/Air.html
http://www.dune-buggy.com/webs/Off-Road ... essor.html
http://classicbroncos.com/homemade-welder.shtml
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/t.molnar/Obwelder1.htm
http://www.turbomustangs.com/smf/index. ... 7#msg91677

I've seen this thread before.... Except everytime I see the words 'air compressor', I can replace them with 'mig welder'.

I would say to go with the biggest you can afford and I second what KB58 said - ignore the hp ratings and compare the cfm ratings. The oil less are very loud - I have a 30 gallon stand up one and one day I plan to enclose the damn thing because it scares the crap out of me everytime it fires up. I even had one of my neighbors from down the alley one day ask me what the hell that noise was.

I also have a small 3 gallon hot dog compressor that I use in the house for nailing up trim and such. It is much quieter. That thing would techically run an impact wrench, but realistically for only about 5 seconds then it would need another minute or a minute and a half to fill up again. For something like lug nuts, It would probably need to refill after every one. If it even gets it off. The compressor I have is self limited to about 95 psi. I do run a framing nailer off of it in the basement when I get the 'finish the basement' urge, but even at that, I might get off 6 or 7 nails before it would kick in. It's a good thing that I'm slow and meticulous when it comes to framing.

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A man must keep a little back shop where he can be himself without reserve. In solitude alone can he know true freedom.
-Michel de Montaigne

Scratch built book frame with an 83 Celica donor 22RE. SHE'S A ROLLER!!!

Tank size has a huge impact on how long it can run without having to start up. But, if you have a huge tank and a small pump, you are still up a creek. You might get one wheel off with a 3hp and a 50 gallon tank, but you will have to wait 15 minutes for it to refill. When my 5hp 25 gallon Crap-man gives up again (I've rebuilt it twice now) I will be getting a larger, 240V 7.5-9.0HP 80 gallon upright. The oil less one I have is VERY loud. I had it enclosed for a while, but it would get so hot it blew the aluminum pipe from the pump to the tank out twice. I replaced that pipe with a copper one and it's better, but still has to be open to keep cool enough.

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Build sold to a new loving home. May start another one when I have more time to devote to it. For now I play with my boat, Datsun 240Z, and GS700 motorcycle.

That's a good point. I'm always conscious to how hot that pipe gets. We had a copper one blow off at work one day. That can be scary loud too. You'd think someone is doing a drive by or something.

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A man must keep a little back shop where he can be himself without reserve. In solitude alone can he know true freedom.
-Michel de Montaigne

Scratch built book frame with an 83 Celica donor 22RE. SHE'S A ROLLER!!!

I, too, have a large oilless compressor...it's fast, efficient, and LOUD!!! I have to agree, when you're close to it and it fires up, it scares the living *#@$ out of you! And it always seems to happen when you're holding a couple of pieces in just the right position, having spent a half hour getting everything just right, and KAPOW!!...it starts up, and the carefully posed pieces go flying all over the shop. One of these days, I'm going to build a little insulated shed for the thing. On the other hand, when it's down low enough to fire up, it fills from 80 PSI to 125 PSI in only 45 seconds...