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4-5 years ago my inherited pancake compressor sprung some leaks in its tank.
I bought a rolair vt25 from a local tool shop. They let me have the 'old' price since it'd just been updated, and threw in a finish nailer and nails, was just over $300.
It weighs about 100# but is easy to move around on its wheels. It is said to move 6.5cfm. It can run my undercoating gun at about a 1:2 (before running out of air) which is pretty terrific. I used to borrow my neighbor's 20g craftsman pancake compressor but duty cycle with undercoating gun was about 3% since its pump was so anemic - I sure hated that thing.
I've never come close to running out of air using my makita 3 1/2" nail gun, but I'm slow.
The rolair looks exactly the same as the makita mac5200 but up close you can see its much higher quality. Apparently my rolair is made in taiwan, the makita is made in china. The pump on the rolair looks like a jewel to me.
I've been super happy with it. Even the regulator is accurate. Motor is said to have 100% duty cycle which is good because its going continuously when I'm undercoating or spraying fences.
I think what I got is the smallest and cheapest compressor that can run my undercoating gun. I'd love to have a blast cabinet but that needs a much much bigger compressor, not even going there.
Rolair makes a little compressor that comes in a box frame that was super super quiet. Was so tempting after hearing it but I'd hardly use it. Its called the AB5Plus.
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