Looking for recommendations for "quiet" air compressors

[Garwood]

Both the Emax and the Eaton come with a 5 year warranty, are made in US and seem to have very good reviews. I kind of assumed that is considered "decent". I'm not interested in rebuilding a compressor which is why I was looking new. I have tried to find something used but so far have not had much luck.

Where did you get that idea?

Eaton is bottom barrel Chinese shit. Has been for a long time now. Buy a new Eaton compressor and when you need to buy another compressor in 2 years I guarantee it won't be an Eaton. I have owned several 15-30HP Eatons. They are junk.

There are no really good small compressors anymore. You can get lots of OK ones, but nothing great.

 

[BoxcarPete]

No love for California Air Tools yet? They make pretty nice small quiet compressors.

Here's a 4.0 HP 60 gallon tank, looks about the biggest they offer. It's actually two dual-piston 2HP compressors on a 60 gallon tank, spinning at a modest 1680 RPM they rate the sound at 75 dBA.

 

[Garwood]

No love for California Air Tools yet? They make pretty nice small quiet compressors.

Here's a 4.0 HP 60 gallon tank, looks about the biggest they offer. It's actually two dual-piston 2HP compressors on a 60 gallon tank, spinning at a modest 1680 RPM they rate the sound at 75 dBA.

I bought the 2HP equivalent to California air tools at Harbor freight a few months ago for $179 and it's been an awesome little compressor. Super quiet and the job I needed it for it ran about 60 days continuously. Like the motor never stopped running. I have it rigged up in my office right now as part of a testing rig to verify a pneumatic controls device.

 

[boslab]

Rotary screw are quiet but without after cooling and drying you get wet air, that said fitting a suitable ring main from the biggest pipe you can is good, mines 4” pipe with drops and a big flex up to it, the ring is in effect a second receiver or tank,
Mark

 

[CarbideBob]

I have a made in China Eaton 10 HP
Run it at lower than normal RPM and a 50/50 duty cycle during the day shift and never turn it off so off shift is air leaks which I have.
So far it has done well. Better than I had expected from a low cost pump.
Bob

 

[Brett W]

Flexzilla(R) Premium Hoses, Tools & Equipment >> Flexzilla Pro Stationary Air Compressors

Saw the marketing schpeel on these the other day. Impressive they took the effort to make them quieter.

 

[reggie_obe]

I have little experience with those but I've seen guys say good things about the Eastwood in the past. I have a similar type of homemade compressor made from an old A/C compressor that I use in my basement workshop for small mechanical work and electronics stuff because it's so quiet, but it's not got a whole lot of CFM.

Eastwood comes with no warranty unless you pay extra. Compounding that the sales person in the Eastwood store was as knowledgeable about the compressor as he was about piloting the space shuttle.

 

[Larry Dickman]

Eastwood comes with no warranty unless you pay extra. Compounding that the sales person in the Eastwood store was as knowledgeable about the compressor as he was about piloting the space shuttle.

You bought a compressor from a space shuttle pilot?

 

[countryguy]

Ohhh what a fun thread after a long day O' zoom calls. I think the shuttle pilot had "kirk" on his tag too.
My 3cents- Have a 5x9ish plasma table. Ran 4x8 sheets. long runs on the torch. We did the scroll -vs- rotary reviews. weeks worth. You can get a Chinese rotary or the Eastwood Scroll for about 3K as you know. To me is was about continuous air delivery, at what PSI & CFM specs. For us, to use the plasma and CNC VF unit- I went with the Eastwood 30QST. they sell 2 larger units now I think too? w/ the 30, Even on the plasma it will cycle a lot. But you may not care. on/off on/off. We ended up connecting a 2nd 30 gal tank. Whew.. Glad we did. really helped w/ the cycling. Anyway, it's been run hard for about a year. It will get wet on you. We run the output thru a dryer. On the 30QST- It will really get wet in the water filters. I have 3 now. I just cycle them thru a low-oven cycle for an hour. works fine. Anywho.. My vote would be the eastwood QST. Have a super weekend ya'll.

 

[teemfan93]

Eastwood comes with no warranty unless you pay extra. Compounding that the sales person in the Eastwood store was as knowledgeable about the compressor as he was about piloting the space shuttle.

Their website states a 3 year warranty. What do you mean no warranty?

Eastwood Warranty

 

[Cole2534]

I have a QST 30/60, bought it just over 2 years ago and would absolutely buy another. It's quiet, it keeps up with my Powermax45 or my VMC4020, though I've never run both at the same time.

Occasionally I tie it to a 300gal receiver to get longer, less frequent cycles but generally it's just the 30gal tank.

The oil cooler functions well, holds a steady temp.

I have a thread on it from late '19 or early '20 if you want to search.

It's not a Atlas-Copco or a Kaeser, but neither is the price and it's quiet.

Reminds me, I think it meeds an oil change.

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[reggie_obe]

Their website states a 3 year warranty. What do you mean no warranty?

Eastwood Warranty

I was told by the sales guy and the store manager that a warranty was an extra cost item. This was about a year and a half ago.

 

[monarch1973]

I really like my champion 5 HP 80 gallon.

 

[Bill D]

Reduce motor pulley Diameter to reduce pump rpm will help drop noise. A motorcycle muffler on the intake helps. I use an old oil bath air cleaner on mine. Lower max PSI helps. Rubber radiator hose is good enough for awkward intake pipes
Bill D

 

[Garwood]

I have a QST 30/60, bought it just over 2 years ago and would absolutely buy another. It's quiet, it keeps up with my Powermax45 or my VMC4020, though I've never run both at the same time.

Occasionally I tie it to a 300gal receiver to get longer, less frequent cycles but generally it's just the 30gal tank.

The oil cooler functions well, holds a steady temp.

I have a thread on it from late '19 or early '20 if you want to search.

It's not a Atlas-Copco or a Kaeser, but neither is the price and it's quiet.

Reminds me, I think it meeds an oil change.

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Sounds great, but $2500 for 12.7 CFM @ 90 PSI?

That seems like a less than great $$$ to CFM ratio.

 

[Cole2534]

Sounds great, but $2500 for 12.7 CFM @ 90 PSI?

That seems like a less than great $$$ to CFM ratio.

I paid under 2k. Still pricey, but it fits my needs.

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[beckerkumm]

My $700 Quincy and $800 Kellogg put out 15+. Used compressors are a deal. The Kellogg is much more loud than the Quincy though. Dave

 

[turnworks]

Since you mentioned dental compressor you could stick with those. I had a bigger jun air compressor which looked like a big metal box. It had a small 10 gallon air tank inside along with 2 motors with 2 rocker pistons per motor. Not a ton of cfm think it was around 11 cfm but more than what I needed at the time. It had some system inside to remove the moisture from the air.

New I think they run north of 22k but I got mine for under 1k with a lot of hours on it. I believe it came out of a hospital with maintenance sheets all filled out inside. It was also still being supported with spare parts at the time I had it. Very expensive price on the parts but I never needed any for it. Had it roughly 5 years and ran it a lot. Was fairly quiet compared to a regular piston compressor.

 

[CarbideBob]

Some people just put the noisy thing in a shed out back. Even just piping the inlet outside helps.
I built a separate room as I have space and pulley down to min pump RPM.
Way back I built a sound proofed enclosure not much bigger than the air compressor. Bad Idea, much heat build up.
Bob

 

[Cole2534]

My $700 Quincy and $800 Kellogg put out 15+. Used compressors are a deal. The Kellogg is much more loud than the Quincy though. Dave

I totally understand.

To me this is kind of like when someone is seeking advice on a new lathe and everyone says just get an old machine for all the normal reasons. While we'd all love to have Monarchs and ATWs finding one in acceptable condition, when you need it just isn't always an option.

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