Which makes me think a visit to your dentist might pay in many ways, from cast-off diamond burrs to autoclaves to maybe even an old air compressor sitting in their basement.....
Doesn't hurt to ask.
I have a silentair 50/15A, its ok for light work, such as running an impact handpiece, but it won't run a high speed rotary for any length of time. The other downside is even with a couple of traps on it, vaporized oil will leak through into your system. If you have any plastic, pvc parts in the rest of your system, the oil will attack them causing failure, and generally mucks up handpieces after heavy use.
I am using a Dewalt55168 200psi oil free, which is not silent, but I keep it in another room, and pipe the air into my studio. It works great.
Barry,
I just bought a Dewalt 200psi at Home Depot two weeks ago ($350). What a great compressor.... It is a lot less noisy than the one it replaced with more engraving time between it's cycling.
I had the super silent A20 but switched it out for the next one up, the super silent 50-TC when I started working more at home after the day.
Like Barry said, A20 is only for lighter applications which is why I switched it out for the 50-TC. I use it for work at home, although I did take it into work when our the store's air compressor went out and the 50 ran the three airgravers without any problems but it cycled pretty often .
Even with the one airgraver using it at home it tends to cycle on and off a lot more than I thought it would but I have been using it for about four years without any problems, only topping off the oil every once in a while. So if you are using it for a light amount of work the 20A should work. But like Barry said, if you are going to be running heavier use air tools, like a rotary for any amount of time then get the larger model.
The super silents are much quieter than normal air compressors ( a little bit noisier than my refrigerator ) but are also a lot more expensive. The 50-TC will set you back over 700 dollars but if you work in a condo, like I do, they are worth it.
If you get one of the silent air compressors and are filling it with oil for the first time, give your initial squeezes of oil a chance to settle before adding more., otherwise you will run past the fill line.
I use a Silent Air Sil P75/24/F which is a fantastic compressor. Not cheap and slightly noisier than I expected; it is supposed to have special 'oil scraper rings' which reduce oil carry over. It came with 3 filters!!! No trace of oil or water so far.
What I've found is if you use a compressor with a smaller receiver is that they cycle too often. You end up with a compressor that gets too hot which then eventually leads to oil p**sing out everywhere. The 24 litre model I now have is supposed to have a max run of 15 minutes on followed by 15 mins off. With my usage it takes 1.5 minutes from empty to full and takes 30 seconds to top up. This happens on average 8 times per hour which means it's only running for 4 minutes/hour; it barely gets warm let alone hot.
For me, there is no such thing as a so called 'oil free silent compressor'. They are very noisy but not as noisy as an industrial unit. Don't scrimp on your compressor, get the best you can afford. From past experience, to try to do otherwise is a false economy.
What is the best silent air compressor do most people use? I use it at home and need it to be quiet .I thought about the A20-A super silent but I've heard they aren't that great.any advice would be appreciated.
Just for another recommendation, I'm using a California Air Tools Ultra Quiet Air Compressor, and I couldn't be happier with it. Not as silent as a SilAir or similar but quiet enough to talk over when it cycles which is not often during regular use. And the best part is you can get one for around $250 shipped off Amazon.
Layne
The silent Air 20a at 1/5 HP is not big enough to run a GRS system. For that you would need at least their Sil-Air 1/2 HP heavy duty model and it actually is a little shy of what you really need. I purchased the 1/2 HP model when I started several years ago and ended up replacing it because it wouldn't keep up and cycled too often and would get way behind when I was running a air powered burr for background removal. Also the Sil-Air compressors actually use refrigeration compressors (just like your refrigerator uses) which are designed to ingest a lot of oil for their internal lubrication. That trait in a closed loop refrigeration system works just fine, however when you try to use them to power an engraving setup the amount of oil they pass into the compressed air can be a nightmare. You have to run extra oil separators and if your not careful and don't maintain them very diligently, you will end up getting your engraver system completely rebuilt when oily air damages it, don't ask how I know that.
I much prefer the silent oil less compressors on the market like the California air tools 5510se air compressor, ultra quiet,1 HP compressor, or the 15 Gal. 2.0 HP Ultra Quiet and Oil-Free Air Compressor. Those sell for a fraction of the price of the SilAire compressors and won't damage your engraving equipment with oil in the air.
Funny I have used a sil air al 24 for over 10 years with a oil coalising filter and a moisture trap, never had any problems. The filters come with the compressor.
my junn-air is too quiet. more often than not, i forget it's on and discover the next day it was on. no problem, as there is no detectable air loss in the system
Well here's my take as a home hobby hack.
I have a Silentaire 20A that I picked up used.
I use it in a home "studio" between 1 and 3 hours at a time.
It sits right next to me and it's so quiet I've caught myself several times forgetting to turn it off.
So far I've had no problems in a few months of casual use with a Lindsay engraver. It's perfect for me. If I were running a full time professional setup I'd look at a higher capacity compressor possibly remotely housed.
Jeremy
The 20a would be really too small for any GRS tool. The 50-15 works well for engraving but is not meant to for constant use with a rotary tool. The advantage of the 50-15 is it is really quiet. It is an oil compressor but the use of a required oil filter works. Also it is highly recommended you change the oil as recommended. The oil will break down and become contaminated with water and will allow it to pass through filters.
The California Air compressors are still really quiet. Not as quiet as the Silentair but I use one in my studio next to me with no issues. Any of the 1hp models will work but the 4610 has more air capacity to keep from cycling as much yet still retain a compact footprint. I use one of the 1610 models in a hotel room when engraving the NASCAR trophy and it is plenty quiet to keep the hotel happy. It makes more noise when the pressure switch kicks off than the motor running. The 1610 is a small tank but I needed something really compact for my use. I think if I did it again I would get the 4610 for the slightly larger size but increased capacity.
Actually, I just bought that California air tool compressor for $144 shipping included direct to my door! What a deal, I've never had a better air compressor for use with my gravermax.
I use the 2hp 10gal and it seems to cycle around every 10 min or so with constant use. And as Rex mentioned, it's quiet enough to keep right next to the bench. If you could locate it remotely, say, in a closet, you would hardly notice it was there. Mine has been in daily use for 2 years now and is trucking right along.
Layne