New compressor landed today.

diamond

H-M Supporter - Gold Member
H-M Supporter Gold Member
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Apr 26, 2018
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Moved recently to a home in Prescott AZ with a nice shop building. Left my 7hp noisy beast of a compressor back in the old shop in CA. I went back and forth a lot on what to buy but I knew I wanted quiet. Finally settled on a CAT 4hp 60 gallon with auto drain and it arrived today.

I was (and still am) a little nervous about going oil-less. Will it really be quiet? Will it last?

However after firing this thing up for the first time, I was shocked about one thing. It really is amazingly quiet!

Time will tell on the lasting part. I don't do much extensive work so I expect this won't see much of a duty cycle. Mostly it's for blowing chips, running tool changer on my mill, fog buster etc. I do occasionally run small air tools and I do have a small sand blasting cabinet (I've never used). I wanted the larger capacity in case I do start doing more.

I have it in the area underneath the stairs going to the shop loft. I planned to put a door on the opening to contain noise but now I'm thinking I won't. It'll get better ventilation that way and the sound is hardly noticeable walking around the 1100 sqft shop. Even standing in the contained space under the stairs it's not bad. That old compressor would have been painful in there.

Next up is plumbing the Maxline, manifolds and filters. After I get some pads and bolt it down. Though there's really no vibration when it's running.

I'd say for the first look at this thing, I'm cautiously impressed.

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I think my next compressor will be from them.
Is yours an aluminum tank?

That rust-proof feature is one that might make it my last compressor too!

-brino
 
I think steel is better, they say the AL tanks are more brittle and subject to cracking with repeated cycling. I don't know if it's true, but I believe it to be true.
 
Nice for light use, and the noise level is definitely a plus, but not nearly enough cfm for my needs. Mike
 
I checked both the CAT site and Amazon. The tank is steel.

I think steel is better, they say the AL tanks are more brittle and subject to cracking with repeated cycling. I don't know if it's true, but I believe it to be true.

Thanks guys!

Has anyone seen data on aluminum tank longevity?
Does any supplier offer a stainless steel tank? I would pay double!
I fear that just like other places it makes great sense (vehicle brake lines and exhaust) that it will be unobtainium (either totally unavailable or 50x the price).

-brino
 
2 x 2hp 1700rpm motors with 2 single stage pistons per motor. 10cfm @90psi. That certainly sounds like it would run most any air tool I have. I wonder if it would keep up with a blasting cabinet?
 
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