Compressor comparison

[air man]

Have you ever been walking through one of the big box stores only to find yourself in the tool department saying to yourself, " You know, I could use a new air compressor. The one i bought from this place two years ago just doesn't seem to "keep up". Lets check these things out". Most big box store carry quite a selection of compressors. From single stage to two stage, portable, stationary, on 60gal. tanks and some on 80gal. tanks. and all of them are priced at or below $1,000.00. Then you say to yourself," You know I'm not real comfortable buying something like this from a box store. What happens if something goes wrong, or I need some advice. I think I'll call my local industrial distributor and see what he can do for me."

So you go home, get your yellow pages out and look for an industrial distributor. You call them up and ask for pricing on a 5hp, 2stage, single phase air compressor. The nice gentleman on the other line says he would be glad to get you a price. He state that he sells "brand x" and that these are industrial rated machine and that the street price for it is $2,000.00.

Now your thinking to yourself, "2K??? Is this guy out of his head? I just saw one for 1K at the box store". You kindly tell the industrial rep. thank you very much and hang up the phone. The very next weekend you go to the box store and bring home the 2 stage air compressor on the 80gal. tank.

Now 2 to 3 years later you find yourself doing the exact same thing because the box store compressor you purchased doesn't sound like it did when it was new and it doesn't seem to "keep up".

Here are a couple pics to try to show you why the industrial units cost slightly more than the box store units.

First here is a pic of some running gear from a box store compressor.

http://dmaxcentral.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=88&pictureid=697

Doesn't look to bad. Now here is a couple pics of the bottom end of an industrial unit.

http://dmaxcentral.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=88&pictureid=698

Doesn't look much different does it. Now lets see them together.

http://dmaxcentral.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=88&pictureid=699

The industrial lower end looks a little bigger doesn't it?

Now here are some pics of the case and cylinder of each unit and a comparison.

http://dmaxcentral.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=88&pictureid=700

http://dmaxcentral.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=88&pictureid=701

http://dmaxcentral.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=88&pictureid=702

Now here is a side by side pic of the case cylinder and the head.

http://dmaxcentral.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=88&pictureid=706

So, next time your out shopping for a compressor and wonder why the industrial compressor is nearly twice as much, It's because the industrial unit is way more than twice the compressor.

[Crazy_Steve]

Holy!

[dmaxlover]

The box store pump shown looks just like the one I rebuilt a few weeks ago. I had a broken intake valve on one of the cylinders that needed replacing, it was blowing air out of the intake, instead of sucking the air in.

[air man]

The box store pump shown looks just like the one I rebuilt a few weeks ago. I had a broken intake valve on one of the cylinders that needed replacing, it was blowing air out of the intake, instead of sucking the air in.

Was the top of the piston "peppered" pretty hard? The pistons in these things are very soft. Sometimes, when the intake valve lets go, the piston will pinch the top ring. Keep an eye on your pump. If it starts to pass alot of oil, this could be the reason.

[dmaxlover]

Piston and oil level looked perfect. I ran it with a broken valve for about 8+months.