Posted by Todd Wilson on Wednesday, November 08, 2006 at 8:42PM :
In Reply to: Which air compressor to buy?? posted by David N. Lundstrom on Wednesday, November 08, 2006 at 1:56PM :
When I did my serious project 2 years ago on my 71 Charger I found out in a hurry I didnt have enough compressor. I had the Cambell Hausfeld Serious Duty 5hp 20gal unit. Really nice setup but not enough poop to run a DA sander any length of time and wouldnt run a HVLP gun. I ended up getting a Craftsman Pro series 1.7hp 5peak HP 30 gallon unit brand new and cheap. It was damaged freight and cheaper then any others I could find. Not my first choice but the price was right and I didnt care about the damaged frieght as it was gonna get tucked in the corner and plumbed into the existing air system.
I ended up plugging them both in and they both together did a fine job with my 71 project. I could run a DA or air file non stop. I had 50 gallons of air tank and 2 compressors plugged into a T going to a filter system and then the hose out to the work. Worked great!
The CH was a cast iron piston pump and the Craftsman was the oiless unit. When we went to paint we thought we would just use the oiless pump to avoid any possible oil contamination to the air even though we had a dryer and filter setup. It would not keep up with the HVLP gun. Everything ended up just fine but both compressors would run together.
Looking back on things I didnt think to the future when I bought my CH and what I might be doing. Try and get the biggest setup you can get. Marty is right 15cfm is about what you need. I think you can get away with 12-13cfm. I know I did. I think your Kobalt 10.2 cfm may not have enough poop to run a HVLP gun. It will be very close but I would hate to see you buy it and find out its just not quite enough. It is amazing what it takes to run a HVLP paint gun. They use way more air then you think. They need a certain amount of air to work period. Not like a DA where it could run slower or you stop and let things catch up. When its time to paint its time to paint and you cant stop to let the air catch up.
Todd
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