The Sears oil-less air compressors have been very noisy; if the garage door is open they can be readily heard a block away! I have a small horizontal 3-hp 20 gal. (takes a dedicated 15amp 115V circuit) Quincy QTS-3 which is very quiet and handles most tasks easily. Although it will run out of air if a high air consumption tool like a grinder is run a long period of time. The Quincy's are well built but not cheap. I also have a Rapid Reel with 50 ft of hose to keep the hose stored out of the way and untangled. Jim

Might I add that these regulations are industry regulation that do not govern the private person. Although they are excellent reference, the safety factors are very high over actual burst pressures. The accidents stated, especially the one about the pipe buried 3 feet deep and taking off the guys nose are well above the 125 PSIG that our systems normally produce and is very evident that the pressure and size of the piping was above what I care to design to. I believe that the manufactures are covering their rears in this matter.

Of course I don’t have freezing weather where I live and would reconsider this for myself if I did. Every run of my piping is out of the way or covered in the wall by drywall.

If your building a garage or are performing this before you enclose with drywall, it would be protected from external damage and offers a fair amount of protection if the pipe were to burst in the wall from degradation since installation. You can also limit the pressure you are putting into the system on you output regulator of the compressor to 100PSIG.

Adam, I think the horizontal tank unit is the better of the two and, if I were buying, is the minimum unit I would get. I'd like to know how they get those "horsepower" spec's though, both are rated at 15 amp 120 volt but one is 3.5 HP the other 6 HP - it take amps to make horsepower. As a comparison my old contractor's portable (holdover from a previous career) is rated 2 HP, 15 amp @ 120 volts, 7 CFM @ 90 PSI. BTW, you should consider a dedicated circuit to run it (especially if your garage outlets are GFI) and even though it's rated 15 amp, I think you'll find you'll need a 20 amp circuit.

Jerry M
'787 SC

Here's the one I want.

http://www.porter-cable.com/index.asp?e=547&p=4703

Very nice. Strange enough that model has exactly the same specs as a sears unit. Amazon lists free shipping for it, although I did not read the fine print.

pretty nice one. can't afford one of those right now, though. looks like my budget is going to be <$400. there is a pretty decent craftsman professional one at sears for $379 right now. it's oil lubed, too. probably will be the one i end up getting.

http://www.sears.com/sr/product/details/productdetails.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0146864270.104 8002207@@@@&BV_EngineID=cchkadchkkjmgmgcehgcemgdff mdflf.0&vertical=TOOL&prod_id=00919541000&fromAuto =YES&bidsite=CRAFT

Adam

This is the one I have. It's $429 at harbour freight, free shipping. It's a lot of CFM capacity for a single stage. Heck of a value.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=32357

Another option depending on how large your current tank is...

buy a new compressor head and motor. I have seen 2stage, 5hp compressor setups for <$300. 12CFM at 175psi - you can't go wrong. check Norther Tools. Its in their catalog.

Jamie