The Upholstery Forum

I am a complete newb and still learning. I found a used air compressor for sale on craigstlist. The seller said he had it hardwired and is selling it because he bought a bigger one (he does auto restoration). Because he had it hardwired, he said he does not have the original power cord. He said you can get other power cords to plug it in.

Price: $200
Does anything think this is/is not a good deal? Any tips on purchasing these used? How much more money will I have to spend to set this up in a home garage? I understand it is not plug and play. I will probably only use this stuff a few times and have to re-sell it because I will not have time later. My use will be solely personal for painting one car at a time (want to do the best work I can). I am avoiding sand/media blasting and welding.

Here are the specs:
Craftsman - 60 gallon - 6hp
15scfm at 40 psi
11.5scfm at 90 psi
240 volt
125 psi max
asme code tank
http://mechanicguides.com/best-60-gallo ... ompressor/

@Weerirrg
If you are going to do any painting on cars you will need at least 17cfm, you can forget sandblasting with that compressor, I know that breaks your heart lol. It's not a bad price at all so if you buy it you can always get your money back if you find it doesn't meet your needs. My advice to you would be to buy at least a 7 or 7.5 hp 80gal that operates at 150 to 175psi and delivers 21cfm. You will never run out of air even sandblasting. New will be in the $1500 to $1700 range. That's my advice, I believe if your going to spend money then spend it once and get what you need. Air compressors will always have a use around the house or garage trust me.

@weerirrg Its a good price for that compressor. They retail for around $700. As far as not having the plug that should be a simple as buying one from home depot and installing it. That compressor is probably 240v so you would need to make sure you have a 240 outlet somewhere.

As far as will it be enough for you? Depends on what you plan to do. If you want to do a lot of painting then no its not enough. But for example I dont do any paint and I have a compressor half that size and I get by just fine.

That is a pretty good price and one you should be able to sell and get your money out off if you want . They are real handy and you will find uses for it you never thought about before

Those are decent compressors. As long as you don't run them non stop and keep an eye on the oil level they will do more than you think and most of all that you might need.

Great advice from these guys. I never found a price close to that when looking for compressors half that size, it is a good deal!

You don't need one that big for painting a car, that's over kill. I ran my Phoenix 500 gel coat wet out gun with a home depot 60 gallon 4 hp unit. The Phoenix would use more air than any paint gun you could come up with, sucking resin out of a drum is much more taxing than a 1 quart HVLP gun would ever be. I shot gel coat on a 20' bass boat with a little 30 gallon 2 hp unit, I didn't have any issue with air loss. And that was using a 2 quart pressure pot set at 30 psi. 200 buck's, I would thing it's about to give up, or has well over 10,000 hours on the compressor, I would walk away due to the fact it's going to cost you a bunch of money to fix it. A 60 gallon 3.7 hp 230 volt would be a better fit, a new one can be had for under 500 bucks, or shop around and find the best price.

You can never overkill on a compressor, buy the biggest you can afford.

@Scott D Valid point. The reason you need a really big air compressor for auto paint is because if you have any variance in air pressure it will completely change spray pattern of the paint and cause lots of problems. But I agree most people on the forum doing upholstery work will be fine with an average sized air compressor.

I agree with @John, to paint a car is often a big investment and to validate that you need to have a good result and even if that compressor could do a decent job and comes with a good price, you might want to think twice before buying it with the purpose to paint a car. On the other hand, mix it up with some airbrush makeup-kit and you could hose your wife with foundation in 3.4 seconds flat.

air compressors ore like shops ….You always wish you had a bigger one.

I didn’t read all the comments so I may be repeating something. But to achieve good results you need much for than an air compressor. You’ll need moisture traps along with it at the bare minimum. I paint daily most days. I use an 80gal ingersol rand. There are times when I wish I had more. But it works. Just make sure between coats you let it fill back up. If you have access get another tank and plumb it in. That’ll work great.

@ChristianKarlsson @hapyrdr Too funny

@Cody Solid advice!

Geeze guys something is totally wrong here, the main reason to have a compressor is to inflate your tires in the winter becasue they are always going fricken flat in the cold .

@Weerirrg We are about to start another truck in a guys shop and for the most part have to use whatever we got for painting can be challenging but we pretty much hope for all the things in a compressor these guys are giving you advice for.

Not sure what type of spray equipment you have, but if possible, use hvlp guns. They use less air. So you can turn your pressure down vs the old suction guns. Less air to use, less time the compressor runs or needs to play catch up. Also, it’s not quite there yet for us in Iowa, but the hotter it gets the more moisture the compressor with draw in from the air, and the more it’ll make itself just cause of the heat of compressing the air and how they work. Keeping it cool helps. It won’t solve it but sometimes I put a fan on mine. There are lots of videos on YouTube about home made moisture traps. Using an ac condenser. Zig zag piping along the wall etc. make sure the air filter is new and clean. The easier it breathes the better. Have a tack cloth and tack down between coats. ( this works for dealers and base costs only.) you’ll smear your clear and if it’s a single stage you’ll smear that too. Plenty of lighting all around. You’ll be surprised at how many colors look covered till it’s pulled outside in the sunlight. Red, oranges, yellows. Those are the ones that get you. If I’m spraying something at home vs at work in the booth. I add an extra layer of clear or 2 cause I know I’ll have to probably sand a bit more to remove dirt particles.

I know you were just asking for compressor advice, and maybe this is all old news to you. But just thought I’d share some general all around advice. Best of luck