air source help!!!!!!

QUOTE: Originally posted by cheech27 I am about to purchase an air souce. I can get an airtank for $30, a small 100psi aircompressor for $68. I was also considering a hobby air compressor but, they are so expensive.

I can't answer your question, which is "Which one is best for me?" all I can do is point out some things to consider.

If you get a tank you are still going to have to get a regulator and some fittings at the very minimum. A dryer / filter is also highly recommended. Figure in the $75 range to get it set up right.

If you get a $68 compressor it is questionable how long it is going to last and how well it will work. Does it have a regulator? If not you will need to add one. Does it have a tank? If not you'll be turning it on and off a lot. How quiet is it and what is the warranty? Good quality and usability is at least as important as cost.

Spraying time is going to depend on how big the tank is, how much pressure you initially pump the tank up to, and how much pressure you use when spraying. My compressor has a 5-gallon tank on it and I usually let the tank fill, turn the compressor off, and paint from the tank. The tank is pressurized to 140 psi and I spray at about 15 psi. I can usually get 30 - 45 minutes of actual spray time without having to turn the compressor back on.

QUOTE: Can someone tell me what the least expensive hobby air compressors available. And another question is on the airtank, aproximately how much sparaying time do you get? I just don't know which would work for me the best with an extremely tight budget. any advice would be great.

MikeV is the man to answer that question, but once again, if you get the cheapest one made you'll probably be looking for another one in a few months. Don't throw your money away. Save a little longer and get a decent one.

I got a model master compressor and it works pretty good actually. The only bad part is when you AB the compressor is constantly on and it's not very loud, just annoying. Also the thing heats up like no other, but model master has warnings all over it showing where the hot parts are, so it looks like they planned for it to get hot. But still, It gets me kinda nervous when the thing heats up like that, but it's realiable and doesn't give me problems, so I'm happy!