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30 gal air compressor

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Jul 5, 2016
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hello all,

I’m shopping for a 30 gal quiet air compressor. I would love to have 60+ but I don’t have extra 220 in my garage. Quiet is a must since it will be few feet away from me, and I’m a weekend turner only, not much high demand.

I’m open for suggestions, couple of ones that caught my eye are the Husky ones.

Lubricated 30 gal Husky 155psi

And

Oil less 30 gal Husky 175psi

Any recommendations?
 
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I had a small one from them, had to return first one it was defective, and it’s replacement blew up within an hour of being plugged in. They are high quality but I did not have much luck with them. They have similar noise levels as the new Husky
 
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I have the small 10 gallon CA. No problems and did buy a extra year warranty. i looked at the 20 and 30 gallon CA units and wow does the price go way up. The ?huskey is a lot less with the same sound rating.
 
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My understanding is that oil less is louder and will not last as long as oiled. I have a small Grizzley over 20 years old that has some problems I have either fixed on my own or found a workaround. It is oiled and on 220. But it is not quiet either. Had to use the reset button on it Saturday and as long as that works it will do.
 
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They both have same noise levels, longevity is a concern. I read that oiled lasts longer, but I don’t know if that changed in the past few years. I could buy extended warranty and not worry about it.
 
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I have found that when comparing standard compressors, oil-lubricated are much quieter than oil-less, at least the ones i have owned. But my new quiet compressor is much quieter even than the oil-lubricated. I have a Briggs & Stratton 4 gal and it is a nice, reliable oil-less machine. CFM is limited, and if I had to buy again I would pick a larger size.
 

Bill Boehme

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Let me ask a different question, would it make a big difference between oil less and oiled compressor?

I think that the maintenance cost for the oilless compressors would be higher assuming that you perform regular maintenance on both types.of compressors.

I agree with Michael about the limited CFM of the oilless compressors.
 
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I thought oilless is less maintenance. Husky makes both, should I care about the higher PSI, or just go with the oiled one.

The oilless is 175psi, 5.1 SCFM @90, 78dBA.
The oiled is 150psi, 5.3 SCFM @90, 75dBA
 

Bill Boehme

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I thought oilless is less maintenance. Husky makes both, should I care about the higher PSI, or just go with the oiled one.

The oilless is 175psi, 5.1 SCFM @90, 78dBA.
The oiled is 150psi, 5.3 SCFM @90, 75dBA

The pistons and cylinder sleeve wear on the oilless type means that you will periodically need to replace those parts. It's not a difficult job and repair kits are available that includes piston, cylinder sleeve, and reed valve, but like any repair parts they're overpriced. You generally know that a rebuild kit is needed when the compressor runs a long time before the tank is charged to the cutoff pressure ... or eventually never reaches the cutoff pressure.

The difference between 150 and 175 PSI is the amount of air that can be crammed into the tank. It's not something that you would notice unless using a tool that uses a lot of air.
 
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All true about oil-less not lasting as long as an oiled. However I use mine more for wood working and don't want any oil. If I used the compressor mainly for air tools i would get an oiled type. Eventually oil will bypass and be in the air stream. I've tried numerous separators and they do help, but are not 100% efficient. As far as longevity, my last oil-less went for 20 years.
 
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