[ecs]

Hey guys, I've been lurking around on this site for a few weeks as a guest picking up as much information as I can before painting my car but I have a few questions I decided to bring up here so I finally registered.

First, I own a Chrysler Cirrus (not exactly a hot rod...) and my buddy was driving a while back when it got hit. I've recently decided to do all the body work and painting myself. I don't have anywhere to paint this except for my aunt's garage and I know she wouldn't like it if I tried to wire it for 220v so i'm stuck with 110/120v. I've emailed a guy on craigslist with a Craftsman compressor model number 919 176290. On it, it says: 8.8 scfm @ 40 psi, 7.0 scfm@90 psi, and 125 max psi. He also stated that this was a 110/120 volt unit. Do these CFM ratings sound realistic? I've NEVER been able to find a compressor under 220v that could put out that much air. I tried doing some research on google according to that model number but there is absolutely nothing. It's like as if that compressor doesn't even exist.



I know the tank is a bit small but I think with a filter on the wall and a filter at the gun, i'll be safe from moisture problems from the compressor running regularly off the 15 gallon tank.

Now, I know that I'd be hard pressed to run a "real" gun off of that compressor which is why i've done a little more research and i've come up with a few options. First I looked on ebay for that W400 copy that you guys were raving about. However I came up short, well... not entirely. I found the R400 which seems very similar to what you guys were playing around with.



It claims to only draw 3-4CFM at 30-50 psi, which even if it draws double that, I should still be safe with the compressor, assuming the ratings weren't inflated.

The second option (which i'll probably end up getting anyway) is the Eastwood Concours gun. This was the only "name brand" low CFM gun that I could find anywhere. I even got a chance to email Kevin Tetz of Paintucation.com and Trucks! on SpikeTV to talk to him about the Concours gun since there's his review of it right on the Eastwood website. He confirmed that it really does only draw 4cfm@29psi. Just to triple check, I was wondeirng if any of you guys had any experience with these guns?

Thanks in advance for responding!

[oldred]

You are on the right track trying to locate a gun with minimal requirements and I think you are also on the right track by being suspicious of those CFM numbers! I have to admit I have no first hand knowledge of that particular compressor but 7 CFM@90 PSI just sounds totally unrealistic for a 110 volt unit.

[ecs]

Originally Posted by oldred

You are on the right track trying to locate a gun with minimal requirements and I think you are also on the right track by being suspicious of those CFM numbers! I have to admit I have no first hand knowledge of that particular compressor but 7 CFM@90 PSI just sounds totally unrealistic for a 110 volt unit.

Thanks for the confirmations oldred. I knew I had to have learned something from the weeks of research

I'd ask the guy to look at the CFM ratings again, but I don't think the printing on it will actually change. They may just be inflated and that's that. I'll try bringing my gun with me when I go there, hook it up, and see if the pressure drops after a few minutes of wide open trigger pull. If that one doesn't work out, there's a 26 gallon Husky near me that supposedly puts out 6.5 CFM @ 40 PSI, 5.1 CFM @ 90 PSI. Although still high, that sounds much more realistic; not to forget to mention that the huge (well... it's big to me ) tank will definitely help out.

[jcoby]

SCFM is not equal to CFM. be careful. compressor makers used to play games with numbers to make really bad compressors look really good.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCFM

my 5hp, 2 cyl oiled compressor will move 18 CFM @ 90, if that gives you a reference.

[oldred]

If you are limited to just 110 what's the chances of getting two compressors? If you can come up with two dedicated circuits and run both compressors together that would work.

[ecs]

There's only one pair of outlets in the garage and i'm pretty sure they're on the same circuit. Unless I run a wire from the kitchen to the garage... Um not such a good idea. I might have an angry aunt coming from the kitchen wielding a frying pan

Thanks for the word of advice jcoby, however i'm still confused by that article. Even if the tests were ran in a different temperature, with such a low CFM to begin with, would the ratings even be inflated that much? I can understand a compressor with say... 50 CFM varying by up to 5 CFM (10%) but a 8 CFM compressor varying 10% would only be .8 CFM. A little loss but not overly significant for the low demand guns i'll be using. Regardless i'll still be skeptical about those numbers, which is why i'll be bringing my gun with me to see if the compressor can keep up.