What Air conpressor i need to paint my car

[DSM_GSX01]

Yes i have a couple unanswered questions i cant find. But i am going to be painting my car and need to buy a compressor that can run a spray gun and sander and all mechanic tools mostly and was wondering what size of compressor to buy? I know 60 or 80 gallon might be big enough but not sure. thanks for any help.

 

[91-GS]

Look for CFM (cubic feet per minute) rating on tools and find a compressor rated for that continuous CFM.
The gallon rating is not as important, as long as the compressor itself can keep up.

 

[WES_393]

Look for CFM (cubic feet per minute) rating on tools and find a compressor rated for that continuous CFM.
The gallon rating is not as important, as long as the compressor itself can keep up.

Exactly. In order to paint an entire car, I would suggest at least 10 cfm of flow. My little 10 gallon Craftsman can only put out around 2-3cfm, which is enough to run most air tools for a few minutes, but is barely enough to paint a hood.

Also, you'll want some good air dryers. If you can, go with a gravity fed HVLP gun. The high pressure siphon-fed guns (like from Harbor Freight) don't work very well.

 

[91-GS]

Here's some common air tools and their air consumption at 90 PSI (unless othervise noted):

DA Sander (Random orbital sander)- 4 CFM
Air board (inline sander)- 5 CFM
Jitterbug (Random orbital sander that uses regular sand paper, good for clearcoat sanding)- 8.5 CFM
Cutoff grinder- 5.5 CFM

HVLP Spray gun (Gravity feed spray gun)- 6 CFM @ 40 PSI
Touchup spray gun (Small gravity feed spray gun)- 3 to 5 CFM @ 40 PSI
Airbrush- 0.2 to 1 CFM @ 40 PSI

Numbers from Harbor Freight, other tools might be different.

 

[DSM_GSX01]

would a 60 gallon compressor keep up with me painting the car. I think i am going to buy a 60 gallon compressor. is that big enough.

 

[91-GS]

Where are you buying it from? Can you post a link to that site?

 

[firstdsm2g]

my lil porter cable is a 6 gall and she keeps up good its all about if it ca keep up with u.

 

[DSM_GSX01]

This one is at homedepo.
Husky 60-Gal. Stationary Electric Air Compressor-C601H at The Home Depot

But i really wanted a 2 stage compressor. they are expensive though.
5HP 80 Gallon Vertical Two Stage Compressor - 51866 Speedway

I also found this one
3 HP 60 Gal Single Stage Compressor -Cast Iron Belt drive with ASME tank-51850 SPEEDWAY

 

[91-GS]

Quotes from sites in same order as you posted the links:

CFM at 40 psi is 13.4 and CFM at 90 psi is 11.5

12.0 CFM @ 90 PSI and 13.1 CFM @ 40 PSI

10.2 CFM @ 90 PSI or 11.5 CFM @ 40 PSI

Any one of three provides more CFM of air than any of air tools i listed consumes.
In other words either one will do just fine.

 

[DSM_GSX01]

ok cool i just don't want to have to buy a compressor for along time so i want a good brand also. any suggestions?

 

[KFred 513]

Not sure if you have experience painting but you'll also want to get a water separator to make sure no moisture from the tank is mixing with your paint...will ruin a nice spray job every time

 

[pauleyman]

Gallon size isn't what matters the most as stated above. CFM is what matters. You can get a 60 gallon single stage and dual stage. dual stage will provide more CFM. They also cost more. If I had it to do over again I would've bought the 60 gallon dual stage stationary instead of the 30 gallon on wheels. Only thing that stopped me was the lack of available 240volt power.

 

[Mischif]

I use a harbor freight compressor. Central pneumatic 2.5hp 10 gallon compressor that i plumed into an extra 44 gallon tank. So a total of 54 gallons. It keeps up pretty damn good with everything i do. I've used impact wrenchs and air ratchets. If i let it fill up competely to 125psi then leave it running i can run the impact for a good 2 minutes or so before it drops below 90 psi and i have to let it build back up. I've used one of those cheap harbor freight hvlp gravity feed spray guns to paint a car before too. Just fill it up to 125 turn it off and im able to to go through an entire bottle of paint(20 oz) without having to stop and fill the compressor back up. I would imagine if i left it running i would be able to easily lay a single coat on the entire car without having to wait for the compressor.

The cfm is the most important thing, but when you lack that, gallon capacity and max psi will make up for it.

 

[dot45]

Also dual stage tend to be quieter.

 

[Raul420a]

All depends on the quality your shooting for!! Keep in mind that your not going to be spraying a 90psi. You will need a regulator at the gun, and the length of hose you run will also affect the pressure you set at the tank than what your getting at the gun(hence the regulator). Youll want water filters so that you dont get fisheyes or none of that crap. Heck id even use separate hoses, one for mechanic tools ,another one just for paint. but thats just me, quality is what i strive for. Best thing to do is research to know what your doing.