Air Compressor's. Good, bad or quiet or loud

[Drifte]

Im looking for an air compressor to use in my garage. Wont be wheeling it around, basically permanently mounted. What are some of you guys running for a garage/shop compressor? Im looking for quiet, obviously reliable and able to support typical air tools. I see older belt drive models, and they seem to be pretty quiet too, appearance doesnt matter to me.

I dont want to spend too much, but I really need to get one already.

[AutoMods]

i bought a kobalt 60 gallon from lowes. It was $500 but you can get 10% off lowes coupons pretty easily, so it ended up costing me $450. Its not quiet but has worked great and flows enough. i've read of people muffling them successfully

I seen the theisens near storm steel has pretty good deals on ingersol rand sometimes, I'd try to negotiate with them. Kitch has an ingersol rand I think

[Snoclo]

Depending on your demands will dictate what you should buy. You stated air tools?, we talking occasional air ratchet or impact wrench, 2hp single stage. If your using die grinder, DA, sand blaster better be looking at 5hp 2 stage bare minimum.
Mine is a Quincy Qt5, had it since new(20+ years) didn't want to spend the money then, glad I did.
Definitely not a fan of the oiless units, noisy, just not as durable-duty cycle is key.
Tractor Supply by Storm Steel, Thiesens by Cassill motors on SW side, Thiesens by McGraths on N. Side, Harbor Freight by Metro HD/Suzuki
My 2cents worth, L8r, Al

[Sleepy]

I have a 20 or 30 gallon craftsman, I bought it 10-12 years ago and have used it a hand full of times. Al hit the nail on the head, its all what you want to do with it. I have a small "pancake" style air compressor also and use it often. My favorite tool is a craftsman cordless impact.

[AutoMods]

the die grinder is never an issue for my cheap 60 gallon. even my old craftsman 30 gallon did ok with the grinder for most hobby projects but if you got into it heavy you'd have to wait. often your moving around the work piece so there is a natural time for it to catch up.

the sand blaster i think consumes more air but i hit it pretty hard and it was doing well. mine is a single stage 3.7 hp

took me a few hours to plumb my compressor to the storage space under the garage but it is so nice to have silent air in the garage above
http://importevolution.com/temp/compressor.jpg

[Domestic Disturbance]

If you want to run any paint guns or a sandblaster, you really need at least 14cfm at 90psi. I'm yet to use mine but this is what I got that seems to be pretty decent quality but not too expensive.

http://www.aircompressorsdirect.com/Campbell-Hausfeld-TQ3104-Air-Compressor/p7630.html

Another good place to look at new ones
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/category_air-compressors+single-stage-electric-air-compressors+10-20-cfm-air-compressors

[Drifte]

For the most part, I will be airing up tires, and running small air tools. I dont really need a lot of power on reserve. I do occasionally need some power to run an air hammer or impact. Quiet is important to me, I'll build it a ventilated cabinet to help with that though too.

[Snoclo]

Sounds like a good quality 30-60 gal. 2-5 HP.I've found the big noise reduction was when I put together a different intake for better dirt & noise filtering.

[sLoWnStEaDy]

Step father and I both got the Sanborn 60gallon, 3.7hp ones from Menards for like $400~. Never had a single issue, ran my DA's and line sanders for hours on end... both about 5-6 years old now and still working perfectly.

[8204Cobra]

I bought a 60 gal 5 hp Ingersoll rand from tractor supply and at the time paid full price, and it was still cheaper than northern tool and then last month they had it on sale for $150 less.

But its average quiet in my book but is half as loud as and oil-less and being a 60 gallon has more than enough reserve

[slow ride]

So would these be a bang for the buck champs or anyone else have input? I want a decent upright 220v.

[skipdownstairs]

I ended up finding a nice C- Aire upright on craigslist for 400.00 a few years back for my shop not to loud good pressure

[8204Cobra]

In my opinion there all going to be about the same noise level, some manufacturers might offer better mufflers or accessories to help mitigate that.

The reason I chose the Ingersoll over any of them is they have been around the longest (compared to thesiens... menards.... etc that seem to change suppliers every couple of years). I'm a Jew from the way back and spent a fair amount of time researching and found that the Ingersoll rand that I bought had the best scfm @90 for the price and had the name and more importantly could get parts for it in 10 years.

[AutoMods]

I'm a Jew from the way back

yup, helped him out on a price quote today. tried jewing me even lower

[slow ride]

So anybody got a lead on any of the better brand compressors for sale. Old school used 60-80gal 2 stage 5 hp would be perfect, names like Quincy, old IR, champion, speedair, etc, etc. Even if the compressor needed work or motor I'd have to check it out. PM me if you know of one.

[Deimos]

Home depot here, cfm flow around 14.7 (big surprise) is what you want.

[JustinS]

Did you ever pick up a compressor Colton?

California air tools compressors are some of the quietest I've come across. Not sure if they make one big enough for big jobs though (without breaking the bank).

[slow ride]

I'm either going to guy a new Quincy or keep looking for a good old school one. I believe the old stuff is better than the new stuff though, I'd kill to get a old pressure lubed Quincy. All the companys are making things cheaper now and I believe Quincy is no different, but I want to know if a new one will stand the test of time or if it's no better than the box store stuff. I've seen lots of nice stuff on craigslist, but it too damn far away for the most part. One bad part of not living close to a major metro area.