Which Quiet Air Compressor

C

cbrussell

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I am planning on purchasing a Cyclone E100 bench top media blasting cabinet. Using it to bead blast pistol gun parts. I am looking for a suitable ultra quiet air compressor. I have limited space and must be 110/120 volt single phase electric. Looking for a reliable brand.
Any suggestions?
 
The specs on that cabinet call for 14 CFM at 80-100 PSI, That is a lot of air. It will not be easy to get that much air out of anything 120V.

You may end up having to add a big reservoir tank (around 60-80 gallons) and blast a bit and then wait for for the small compressor to refill then blast a bit more.

Even something like this Quiet Compressor is 14 A at 220V 1PH, So you would be looking at about 30A at 120V, and it is still smaller than what you need but for just small parts would be adequate.
 
I have a similar blast cabinet and it pretty much uses all the air my 5 HP, 220V 3 phase, 80 gal, compressor can produce. That is if I blast continuously the compressor will run continuously. If such a compressor is totally out of the question, you can gang together two smaller 120V compressors rated at 7 CFM each, will give you the required 14 CFM. However, they will have to be on separate circuits.
 
I have this compressor from HF. It is too small for your needs but boy it really is quiet. For use in a small basement shop, it was worth every penny. I use my old 5 gallon compressor as a pony tank to reduce the cycling.

www.harborfreight.com

2 Gallon 135 PSI, Ultra-Quiet Hand Carry Jobsite Air Compressor

Amazing deals on this 2Gal Ultra Quiet Jobsite Air Compressor at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com www.harborfreight.com
 
A few years ago I was looking for a very quiet 110v compressor. I ended up going to Lowes and getting a California Air Tools model 4620AC. It only meets 1/3rd of your required air flow; it provides 5.3 CFM at 90 PSI, so it would have to be cycled, and used with a helper tank. The compressor comes with 4.6 gallons of tank capacity. It's noise level is only 70dB, which is very quiet when compared to most compressors. It is also oil-less, which was important for the application I was using it for. It is also very light, which was important for me.

If you will be bead blasting very small parts (pistol-sized components), you can also consider hand-held products from Paasche which have far more modest air requirements. You will still need some kind of box for containing the particles.
 
Sadly, I agree with the other posts here. Even if you plan to do very light blasting to clean surfaces, if you don't have sufficient air flow the sand will clog the hose. You really need the volume of air to move the media.

Have you considered a Soda Blasting setup. They require far less air than traditional sand blasters?
 
cbrussell said:
I am planning on purchasing a Cyclone E100 bench top media blasting cabinet. Using it to bead blast pistol gun parts. I am looking for a suitable ultra quiet air compressor. I have limited space and must be 110/120 volt single phase electric. Looking for a reliable brand.
Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
If you are blasting small parts, they shouldn't take too long. A small compressor means you have to wait for the tank to recharge, then blast frantically until it's dead, then wait again... It's not impossible, but it does wear on the nerves.

There are quiet compressors out there, in the sub-80 dB range. Some, like EMAX, supply big air but are quiet due to intake mufflers. Others, like California Air Tools, might meet your quiet needs with up to 5hp on 110V in variants up to 12 CFM or so.

Of course, that sub-80 dB compressor is going to sound like a whisper next to the 92+ dB your blaster is going to generate.
 
Perhaps the cabinet can be ordered with a smaller cfm gun specified which would allow a smaller and quieter compressor to be used. Later a larger gun could be added as conditions change.
 
FWIW, I purchased a California air compressor for my son after seeing one my friend had used for a year and had a problem with (likely not a fault of the machine) CA was reachable and provided super support and free parts. I have an old 5 hp 80 gal unit that provides 17cfm at 170psi It is in the shop and obnoxious when it runs. I have thought of adding a quiet "slave" unit to keep the tank topped up. Keep in mind the duty cycle you will need. A smaller compressor with a big auxiliary tank might work for you. Some high volume use at high duty cycle will have to be powered by a big industrial type compressor. Unfortunately.
 
Something I noticed about my small "ultra quiet" compressor is that it turns on at 100psi and off at 130psi. This makes it work nicely with the larger loud compressor which turns on at 90psi and off at 120psi. I use the pressure regulator on the quiet compressor to make sure the tank of the larger compressor is not loaded beyond the 120psi it was designed for.

With this "staging", only the quiet compressor runs unless the draw is so great that the pressure drops below 90psi, at which point both compressors run to top up the tank.
 
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