Does anyoody understand air compressors and the cfm ratings?

Question

I am preparing to buy an air compressor. I was told that in order to use certain air tools, the CFM (cubic feet per minute) rating on the compressor needed to exceed the cfm or scfm rating of the air tool. Unfortunately, most of the 110v air compressors that I've looked at, up to $400, don't have the cfm output volume that various air tools require (as stated on their packaging). I find it difficult to believe the that I would need to buy an industrial 220v 10hp air compressor to get enough cfm to drive, say a sand blaster.

Anybody know about this? Your help would defintely be appreciated.

Answer 1

YOU HAVE HEARD CORRECTLY....THE AC MUST AT LEAST MEET THE CFM REQUIREMENTS OF THE TOOL...AND TO INSURE THE MAX USE OF THE TOOL MUST EXCEED THE CFM REQUIREMENT...

Answer 2

I'm thinking the 80g might be a lot quieter than the 60g because of the 3 cylinders. Any chance you can hear them in operation? I would pay quite a bit for something quieter than my Craftsman single cylinder. I think you could get an honest 22 cfm out of the pair of compressors. I expect one would run and the other would not in light duty because one would hit the start point a bit before the other, but if the draw goes beyond 11 cfm the second would kick in also. That's a pretty atttractive arrangement if you are going to spray paint or sandblast.

Answer 3

110 volt or 220 volt depends on what kind of power you have available. Standard household outlets are 110 volts and usually 20 or 30 amp breakers. Which means if you are using a standard outlet you will need a compressor that runs on 110 volts and 20 amps. CFM is cubic feet per minute. and PSI is Pound per Square Inch Most nail guns run on 90 PSI Other tools like Air impact wrenches and sanders can use up to 175 PSI but can usually be use with lower pressure they just wont be as powerful. The compressor you get depends on what you are doing and what kind of power you have where you will be using it. The higher your CFM is the faster your air tank will fill and the more air you can use constantly. The higher your PSI is the more power you will get out of your air tools(make sure not to exceed the max PSI for the tool). Also there is something called duty cycle. This is the percentage of the time that your compressor can be running. So if your duty cycle is 30 percent your compressor should only be running 3 minutes out of every ten. More than that can cause it to wear out too quickly. So make sure you are aware of the demand you will need and buy a compressor that is more than capable of keeping up. Hope this helped.

Answer 4

And a sand blaster is probably the biggest consumer of air of all the air tools there are! Yes, you DO need a 10HP compressor to effectively sand blast with it.

Bert

Answer 5

If you are going to be using a tool continuously, you need a larger tank than using a tool for shorter periods. I had a compressor with a two gallon tank that was fine for using my brad nailer. It could not keep up with using a rotary tool though. Sand blasters are huge air consumers.