Cheap compressor?

In a week or so's time, Aldi will be selling air compressors for the
princely sum of GBP59.99.

What I want to know is, is it worth buying? Will it be useful for
anything more than pumping up the tyres on my push bike? What are the
chances of being able to operate some decent tools off it, like a wrench
or something?

The spec is below. According to my calculations, 140 l/m is about 5 cfm,
which according to Machine Mart's website should be enough to drive
anything less than their 0.5" Extra Heavy Duty Impact Wrench, which is
probably more than enough for working on a bike. Isn't it?


Compressor and Accessories

One-cylinder air compressor, complete with sixpiece accessory set. Easy
to use, it features a directly coupled motor and built-in starter,
relief pressure reducer, air intake filter and pressure switch,
regulator gauge, self-stop quick coupling, drain valve and safety valve.
The accessory kit comprises tyre pressure gauge, blow-out gun, air hose
and three-piece adaptor set.

* 230 volt
* Speed 2850/min-1
* Operating pressure 8 bar
* Air intake capacity 210 litres per min
* Air output at 0 bar = 140 litres per min.

 

Eddie composed the following;:

I used to work for Desoutter (They make top-dog airtools) and would say
yes, this compressor will run any airtool well enough for home DIY type
work, such as wheels off a car etc. It wouldn't power a production line
all day, but that's not what it's for either ..

I have a 'home-brew' compressor with very similar specs that takes the
wheels off my Landrover easily enough. You just let it start up
between wheels, but then, it's rare you'd need to take all four wheels
off at once.

Once you've used one, especially if you use a spray attachment, and
indeed the tyre blower-upperer, you'll wonder how you ever lived without
one.

I blew about 30 off footballs up for school the other day ... (I'm an
infant school caretaker) and the kids thought it was magic.

 

Paul - xxx wrote

Fucking bollox. All you need to blow up tyres is a to carry half a ton
of lard.

 

Just had that email myself.

Wish I'd have had one of those and the nail gun when I was doing the
decking last year. 180 deck screws, ffs!

 

Right, having one of them.

Ta.

 

steve auvache composed the following;:

Heh .. doesn't work on a Landrover with big tyres. They go all soft and
squashy.

 

Only 180? Pah! Our deck needed ~1000 screws, but it is a decent size.

You didn't put them in by hand, did you? Tell me you at least used a
cordless drill or something.

 

Thinking about it, 180 can't be right for the size of it..... it's 4m x
3m. Has to be more, surely?

Think I'd better check I screwed enough in.

Wasn't cordless, 'cos they are usually shite, but I bought a really nice
Bosch corded just for that job.

 

Well, ours is about 6m x 5.5m in total, but it's split level, which
means it needs more screws than if it were flat, I think.

I'd guess you'd need about twice as many as that. Actually, I've got a
feeling ours needed ~1200 or even 1400 screws in total, 'cos when I
worked it out I forget to allow for the edges (or something).

We used my and my then-father-out-law's Bosch cordless drills, both with
spare batteries. No problems, plenty of power.

 

Yeah, split level would add screws.

I'm going to have a look on my day off.... I know it took me 3
afternoons to complete screwing them in, but that was more due to
boredom than anything else. I'm sure it's a lot more than 180, on
reflection. 180 was what they supplied, which was evidently not enough.

My experience of Black and Decker el cheapo cordless put me off another
one. Mind you, even a decent Makita (spelling?) cordless wouldn't go
through the concrete lintel in our place in Swansea when we were fitting
blinds, but an ancient Black&Decker corded did.

 

Within reason, you get what you pay for.

Bosch stuff is always worth considering; IME, they don't do tat, full stop.

 

Yeah, my Bosch corded drill is awesome, with adjustable torque, speeds,
hammer settings etc. Lovely.

 

Eddie brought next idea :

Got one already....

You would find it quite capable for most things apart from spraying and
it will even do that in short bursts, with time to catch up in between.

 

Harry Bloomfield composed the following;:

To help with spraying using a cheap compressor, up the pressure a bit to
over 100PSI (they run normally between about 80 and 95 PSI) but reduce
the volume of air available at the spray head. Nothing beats a larger
tank, but ...

 

It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember (SteveH)
saying something like:

'Bout 31/2 years ago I bought a Bosch green-bodied SDS drill as a
stopgap, meaning to replace it later with something more pro grade. To
date, it's chiselled, drilled, screwed and hammered for near enough
every day since and hasn't even needed a set of brushes yet.

--

Dave

GS 850 x2 / SE 6a
SbS#6 DIAABTCOD#16 APOSTLE#6 FUB#3
FUB KotL OSOS#12? UKRMMA#19 COSOC#10

 

Life is way too short to be spent counting screws in a wooden deck, ffs.

 

ITYM "to have a wooden deck"

 

I did a reasonable job on a VW camper with my 2HP 25l SiP jobbie.

Put it this way: the defects in the painting weren't down to the spray
gun or compressor...

 

The Older Gentleman composed the following;:

Heheheh, arguments of 'my deck's bigger than yours' could run for a
while I reckon.

We don't have a deck, but we just laid an 11' by 22' concrete slab in
front of the shed, if that counts ..

 

Got one from screwfix a few weeks back. It was £59.99 and came with tyre
inflator, nailer and paint sprayer [1]. Only used it so far to inflate
tyres. Works well. It's no longer in their latest catalogue. B&Q have
compressors in at the moment which looks identical to the one I have, but
are a different name. If I remember right they are also £59.99, but I don't
think they come with tools.

Ash

[1] The screwfix catalogue didn't mention that it came with tools, so that
was a bit of a bonus.