Testors "Blue Ice" Mini Air Compressor

In a word...No!

I bought the Testors Mini as a set with my airbrush and replaced it within 6 months with an industrial, 3 gallon compressor for under $80.00. My issues with this compressor were as follows:

1) An absolute maximum air pressure of 24 psi under NO load and only about 21 or 22 psi when painting.

2) Serious issues with pulsating air flow.

3) Dramatic air pressure variations when trying to paint at low pressures (under 10 psi).

4) Over-heating issue...after less than 5 minutes of use, the connections to the air pressure gauge were too hot to touch.

5) The compressor did (does?) not come with a moisture trap or air pressure gauge. Both had to purchased after the fact.

All-in-all, I would not recommend this compressor to anyone.

djohannsen,

I would agree that it might be a good idea to avoid this compressor. Have you tried looking on ebay? I bought a Badger cyclone there, slightly used, for under $100. Works great. If you have never purchased off of ebay let me know, i'll give you some pointers.

Jesse

Badger shows some refurbished AirStar V compressors on their garage sale web site for $99

http://www.badgerairbrush.com/garagesale.htm

QUOTE: Originally posted by Foster7155 In a word...No! I bought the Testors Mini as a set with my airbrush and replaced it within 6 months with an industrial, 3 gallon compressor for under $80.00. My issues with this compressor were as follows: 1) An absolute maximum air pressure of 24 psi under NO load and only about 21 or 22 psi when painting. 2) Serious issues with pulsating air flow. 3) Dramatic air pressure variations when trying to paint at low pressures (under 10 psi). 4) Over-heating issue...after less than 5 minutes of use, the connections to the air pressure gauge were too hot to touch. 5) The compressor did (does?) not come with a moisture trap or air pressure gauge. Both had to purchased after the fact. All-in-all, I would not recommend this compressor to anyone.

I had the same issues, and posted them over a year ago. This thing is JUNK.

Steve

Thank you to all who replied. Based on the fact that it is so inexpensive, I thought that it might just be a toy - the universal condemnation confirms my suspicions. I just started poking around eBay looking at compressors (long time eBayer, just never before looked at compressors), and it looks like this may be an avenue to pursue. Again, thanks to everyone, I really appreciate all the help.

Dave

I would check out the Badger Airbrush garage sale as well... they are used BUT refurbished and have a warranty... for only $99.00... not a bad deal!!!

damn.........wish you guys would have posted this a longer time ago...........bought a mini-blue compressor bout 2 months ago.

so far........no reported problems.......21-22 psi not bad.......considering i use only a single-action aztek A470 (i only use the single).

it doesn't give me trouble........but im not likeing the reviews on it........=[

-Brian

hey Brian... if it works for you then it's not a bad product, right? I too had a blue ice which worked fine with my aztek, when I upgraded to the Badger 155 it was at that point it became the weekest link for me!

Ya i know, but i wish i could upgrade to an iwata air jet.......but poor college student can not afford it and besides when the fall semester hits ( Aug 29 - December 16) i wont be doing much of any modeling due to ORGANIC CHEM! eek........i have saided the dreaded words........i shall perish with an F! Happy Modeling!

-Brian

ahahahaha, you have ORGO???!!!! hands down worst class in rutgers EVER.
g'luck to ya buddy, n it's true you won't be doing much modeling nor having a life.

as of right now i am absolutely trying to ditch this blue lil devil piece of junk as well. it almost killed my sherman's postshading. (my other compressor needs a replacement quarter inch adapter for the hose). think i can use it for priming later on though. that should be adquate enough of a role for it to play.