Looking for a quiet, lightweight compressor, ’cause I’m finding that for a great deal of my work, that’s all I need. I have a bigger unit that’s fine for framing, roofing and such, but it’s a pain to drag it out for finishing work. There are so many little ones from which to choose, that I thought I’d ask our august panel for their favorites. The Thomas T635-hd looks fine, but I’m wondering about ones like the Bostitch CAP 1516 or any of the other multitude of sub $100 units out there. I realize something like the Thomas is clearly a better unit, but I won’t do anything like production work with it, so it’s unlikely that I’ll be wearing it out in a hurry. Not going to give up the hose, so anything that uses batteries and/or fuel cells are out. Opinions?
David
Replies
I picked up Grizzly's smallest model oil bath unit...
Not REAL quiet but not bad...
small enuf to carry in, but has no problem running a trim gun...
119$...
#$&%(*$#
Please excuse our mess....
Tagline under reconstruction...
I have it. Husky makes it. I was looking for the same thing a few years back and was at the HD and saw a little 2 or 3 gallon (mine is 3) hot dog with this tiny motor on top and they promised that it was the quietest one of its type made. It's perfect for most of what I need. It will take care of all your finish needs, and if you need to shoot some framing for an hour or so, it will handel it. The recovery time of course is not that fast (who could expect it to be otherwise?), but the low noise is unbelievable. It's nothing more than a soft buzz.
Check out the Model 2048, I think that's what you'll want. You'll love owning one.
http://www.outdoordistributors.com/Campbell_Hausfeld/ch-compressors.html
The Bostitch TrimPro Cap1516 is not under $100 - but well worth it's $140+ cost.
I have one and it's my new favorite compressor.
Lightweight, recycles in 7-9 sec, fills in 35-40 seconds it's the ultimate trimmer compressor.
I looked at the tiny Senco - but the specs on the Bostitch seemed better, and The Senco seemed vulnerable with the gauges hanging out away from the unit.
Highly recommended.
JT
Thomas hot dog compressor is the best. A little pricey but it will run all day.
You get out of life what you put into it......minus taxes.
Marv
What Julian said. The Bostich Trim Air is very quiet and very light. Perfect for trim, punch list, and even occasional framing.
I have installed flooring with the little Senco and a Bostitch flooring stapler.
Just thought I would share that...I don't recommend it. ;-)
But beyond that, the Senco is great for trim guns.
I have a Quincy. It's American made, and built like a battle ship. Delivers good air flow, and is small and light enough to carry around. It's a twin stack type like the emglo.
I got one of those little Sencos recently when my other mini compressor went out. I do have to say, man is that light. I dont know what weighs more, the gun or the pump. Okay, thats exaggerating. But its way lighter than the Puma I had. And really quiet, which I like. Primarily on the slow recharge rate - that helps it be quiet, but it doesnt fill up real fast. Nevertheless, for the little punchy things, I like it.
Real trucks dont have sparkplugs
I bough the little mini senco when it first came out. We use it for most interior trim jobs - weights nothing and is pretty quiet, compared to other machines - you can talk to someone while its running without shouting.
Problems with it - The original version that we bought had poorley designed piping - the 1/4" copper lines had some extreme bends on them because of the configuration of the fittings on the tank and pressure switch, The bends were kinked slightly and one cracked only after moderate use. I spent about two hours trying to bend new copper to fit and then, more problematic, flare the ends. The geometry of the whole thing was virtually impossible with the flare tool and bending tools I had and my replacement shortly cracked again as it was kinked also by trying to fit it in. This pattern continued at least 6 times or so over a few months - lots of lost labor - more than the $100 compressor for sure. Finally I reconfigured things and ran the pipe in a broad loop and this worked, however, I had to run it outside the protective pipe frame of the machine so everytime I accidently banged it against something it broke again. So after all this I'm in a tool store and I see my Senco Compressor and do a double take - they had since modified the part that I was having problems with - the new design was much better. I was fairly PO at this since I had registered the tool when I purchased it. Instead of Senco sending me a lot of crappy spam emails they could have sent me a new part for the machine. So probably with the new design it will work fine. We will continue to use our modified machine, however on principal I won't by a Senco again - on a side note the 2" brad nailer that came with the machine also broke after about three months of use.
Makes you feel any better my Bostitch Trimpro compressor referenced above appears to be needing a new regulator - only gives me all or nothing... haven't had the chance to drop it off.Re: Senco - it seems they make so many cheap air guns these days that it's hard to know which are the good quality ones.JT
Thanks to all for your replies. Seems there are many good choices depending on personal preference, but I decided on the Bostitch TrimPro Cap1516. Light, good specs, pretty quiet and it reminds me of my parents vacuum cleaner from the '60's. Kinda like a little pig. Maybe I'll paint flames on it to make it cool. $105 delivered (refurb) on ebay right now.
Sounds like you made a good choice. You're gonna love it.
Good price - I paid $142 or so, and at the time they were hardly nowhere to be found.It's the compressor I use the most.JT
I've had the little 1 gallon Senco for a few years and haven't burned it out yet. It certainly is a quiet little guy. My Thomas Renegade twin stack just came and it is surprisingly very quiet for it's size - much much less annoying than all the other 'full size' compressors I've worked with. I think I'm gonna be psyched with the Thomas (and keep running the little guy when appropriate).
I'd go with the Thomas ................ but I'm biased. Own a T-200ST and it's been great. The Thomas folks were at JLC Live here with T-635HD and were kind enough to fire it up for me. Very quiet to these old ears, very light (26lbs) and well balanced.
No doubt that the Thomas is a better quality unit, maybe quieter too. I do like the all enclosed feature of the little pig, though. Maybe less likely to get component damage from being banged around in the back of the van, etc. I'm not a big fan of buying cheap tools as a rule, so I'm hoping that I'm not slapping my forehead with the palm of my hand in the near future!
We've been using that little yellow "pig" for a year now. The only complaint I have is that it belongs to my apprentice (I want one). I like the way it fits into the tool case line-up. The package, light weight, and quiet operation are an unbeatable combo. The only funny thing about it is that it does not look like a compressor...sorta hard to pick out of the tool line-up...except for the hose--it is just another tool case.
I have the senco to. Love it quiet has plenty of cfm..the only issue I have is it takes awhile to recover but it is light and quiet. Especially compared to my emglo
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