Hey guys, I just got a craftsman 30 gallon vertical compressor used from one of my neighbors for a pretty decent deal. The unit works great, but of course did not include any instructions. This is my first compressor and was wondering if there was any maintainance involved in these. Also, where is the water drainage plug? -Cory
Maintenance depends on whether it's oilless or not. Should have an air filter which will need attention. Drain is at lowest point of tank.
Water drain is going to be underneath on the bottom of the tank. I always open mine after every use and leave open till next use. I live in a humid climate though. Is the compressor an oil-less?? You would know because they are normally not a belt driven unit and they are extremely LOUD!! If its oiless not much to do other than keep the intake filter clean, the tank drained and then remember to never buy another oil-less compressor. They are just too loud! Have Fun, Jim
Yeah, its an oilless. I live in an apt. complex with a garage, so I bet the neighbors love it. Thanks for the info guys!!!! -Cory
A good friend of mine had that exact same one. I feel sorry for you for having that one as your first. They are complete junk. I hope you have a lot of patience because you'll need it with that thing. It will get to the point where it just won't compress any air anymore and instead just make a lotta racket. I have an 80gal porter cable, they're made by black and decker I think. Good quality and didn't break me either. If you have any issues at all, try to get your money back and just let it go. Get any other brand and it will be better.
A wise man once said "it is better to have a shitty car than to walk", so this compressor is better than nothing. I do agree with you that if I had the extra cash, I would buy a superior quality compressor. But for now this will do. I paid 250 for the compressor and accessories, plus 6 air tools, all by ingersoll rand. The compressor is like new, and has only been used 2-3 times.
You'll be fine. Sounds like a good buy and it oughta serve you well. It may not be the best, but you gotta walk before you can run.
There is nothing wrong with them. Mine has been working well. I have thought about putting some type of cabinet around mine to help with the noise issue other than that it works good. Remember to keep the tank drained. Sounds like you got a good deal. Use it and enjoy it!
As soon as the weather cools down, I'll be in the garage up and early friday, saturday and sunday doing body work. I got 2 cars to paint so I really feel bad for them.
Dont stand over it while it is running. I had one for about 8 years. I ran the hell out of it and it didn't owe me any thing when it went, but when it went it went in spectacular form. The rod broke and chunked off a large portion of the aluminum head and plastic shrouding. It was under a work bench so it contained it a bit but was still scarry. I have since gottena belt driven. Much quieter.
There's no way any of the oilless I know of will be adequate to paint a car. My Dayton 2 HP isn't really up to it. Some of the oilless have high HP ratings but it's because they aren't very efficient.
There are members on this board who have posted about painting with on of these. Its a craftsman 6hp 30 (maybe 33?) gallon compressor. I actually purchased it because there were at least 7-8 members who have posted about painting with this exact compressor -Cory
I work at Sears and sell these things all day long. Theyre going to work as long as you dont run the shit out of them. The smaller single stage compressors, such as this 30 gal you bought, are Oiless. No oiling needed. The cylinder wall is lined with teflon. The thing you need to worry about with trying to paint with one is that, its going to get hot as hell and thats when its going to break. the internal parts are only made of cheap aluminum and when high heat and lots of pressure combine, parts fail, mostly rods. for a good amount of painting i always recommend a Two stage belt driven compressor.
I have one and so does MercMan1951. He has the 220 version. We blocked and painted my car with it no problem.
I've painted 2 cars (plus primer etc) and 1 motorcycle with the same compressor. It's a little slow recovering at times but that's when you mix up some more paint! Bill
It will probably fail if I write this, but mine is the 33 Gal 6 HP model...I've had it for at least 10 years now. It's loud as hell, but the only thing I really am not happy with it on is running a cut off wheel or grinder- sucks the air faster than the compressor can keep up. For painting cars- I've done the complete bodywork and painted several cars with it...it's fine for painting. I got it as a gift from one of my former girlfriends, so I can't complain too much about it
Whatcha wanna do with it, is find a Craftsman 5hp 60 with the 2 piston pump, burn up the pump and buy a used 30 gallon Craftsman compressor like yours for $40... Then be a dumbass and put the single piston pump on on the 60 gallon tank, that way the loud as hell pump can run and run and run and run until your ears ring... or is that the neighbors calling to bitch.
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