Do I really need a big air compressor in my garage anymore?

I've had a 6hp/30 gallon air compressor for a while now, but I find that I've been using cordless impacts for almost everything these days. My DeWalt has 1200 pounds of breakaway torque and I have a cordless ratchet as well. Those things take care of 90% of the stuff that I used to use air for. I bought a small sandblasting cabinet about six years ago, but never hooked it up, and I have a small pancake compressor that I use to adjust tire pressures. I'm not painting cars or using DA sanders.

This morning while cleaning up my basement, I realized that I had moved the big compressor down there about 18 months ago, and I haven't really missed it.

So, is there something I'm missing here? Do I really need a big air compressor in my garage anymore?

I think you've answered your own question!

Smart a$$ alert ....can your cordless guns fill your tires?  

759NRNG said:

Smart a$$ alert ....can your cordless guns fill your tires?  

Returning fire...   I bet if the cordless tools can't, the pancake compressor can! 

Why not hook up the cabinet and see if you use it? Both the cabinet and the big compressor are the sort of tools that, if you need them, are hard to replace with something else.

You say your battery toys can do 90% of what you used to use air for. What's replaced the other 10%?

Time to buy a plasma cutter and/or CNC table?

759NRNG said:

Smart a$$ alert ....can your cordless guns fill your tires?  

Ryobi says it can:

If I were doing lots of grinding/cutting/fab work or something, I think air would be nice. Other than that, cordless tools are now more than adequate for most jobs. I also think it's easy to get spoiled using an air gun to do rough clean up on parts and things, but that can be done with a smaller compressor.

It's like you read my mind... you'll like this issue's installment of Project Backyard Shop.

FYI, one thing that makes a big compressor a lot more useful is hose reels. I have a couple, one by the door so I can fill tires/impact my brains out outside and one by my main work area. Much easier than tripping over hoses.

I've been relying on my cordless impact way more than air tools for a long time now.  If my 33 gallon compressor dies, I will likely replace it with a pancake compressor for filling up tires, as that and using the blow gun to clear dust off rallycross gear are about all I use the compressor for anymore.  Heck, unless I need a lot of air for tires, I don't even fire it up, and just use a bicycle pump.

Great, now I'm thinking of craigslisting my air compressor, and buying a cheap pancake compressor in order to recover more garage space (my compressor is horizontal, so takes up quite a bit of floor space.

I will never be without one again. I spent a lot of years dealing with a 2hp 20 gal compressor. The current one is 4 times that size. 

Battery tools are nice, but too big and bulky for a lot of the work I would use them for. My 1/2" IR impact is less than half the size of a battery one. My 3/8s is smaller yet. My 1/4 air ratchet is tiny.

The blast cabinet is also frequently used. If you ever get one set up you will wonder how you did without it. If I lived in the land of salt and snow, I would be blasting and painting everything. 

Keith Tanner said:

Why not hook up the cabinet and see if you use it? Both the cabinet and the big compressor are the sort of tools that, if you need them, are hard to replace with something else.

You say your battery toys can do 90% of what you used to use air for. What's replaced the other 10%?

I have. This is a really nice small blasting cabinet that was designed for work in the jewelry business. It's designed for gentle work. As it is now, it can barely remove the paint from a beer can. The plan was to replace the gun, hoses and fittings with higher capacity stuff, but that never happened. I have a friend with a machine shop and I can use his big filthy sandblaster anytime I need to do something big like a wheel.

In reply to Woody :

You just haven’t gone big enough yet. Compressor wise. You’re still in the handyman size. Not the let’s build a race car size. 

To be fair. Not everyone is cut out to build a race car. Some would rather buy one or do without. 

I was actually thinking about this recently. I bought a Ryobi battery powered impact gun recently ($99 for the 300 ft lb gun, big battery, charger and case!), and got to use it for the first time last weekend doing a few jobs. For taking off wheels and other small to medium sized jobs, it was AWESOME. It cranked right through everything no problem, and a single charge did everything. Taking off wheels and removing other bolts was a breeze, and I found it easier to control and handle than the air-powered impact. But when I got to the axle nuts I had to remove, the Ryobi didn't have enough power to make them budge. I busted out the air-powered impact for that, and eventually the nuts came off. 

If I went with a more expensive electric impact and snagged a small pancake compressor for tires and for blowing air, I could see myself ditching the big compressor. 

slefain said:

759NRNG said:

Smart a$$ alert ....can your cordless guns fill your tires?  

Ryobi says it can:

didnt know this was a thing, as all my cordless tools are ryobi and this thing is only $25 i'm probably gonna pick one up

I've found myself using my 60g compressor a lot less than before. But I do still use it (cut off wheels, air hammer etc). 

frenchyd said:

In reply to Woody :

You just haven’t gone big enough yet. Compressor wise. You’re still in the handyman size. Not the let’s build a race car size. 

 

But as I ponder the option of giving up the compressor altogether, a bigger compressor doesn't really seem like a solution. 

Toyman01 said:

I will never be without one again. I spent a lot of years dealing with a 2hp 20 gal compressor. The current one is 4 times that size. 

Battery tools are nice, but too big and bulky for a lot of the work I would use them for. My 1/2" IR impact is less than half the size of a battery one. My 3/8s is smaller yet. My 1/4 air ratchet is tiny.

The blast cabinet is also frequently used. If you ever get one set up you will wonder how you did without it. If I lived in the land of salt and snow, I would be blasting and painting everything. 

I have a Craftsman compressor and I wish I had room for a bigger one. This one will provide 9 CuFt a minute at 90 psi but when I'm blasting I still need to stop every few minutes to lgive it a rest since it will run almost constantly.

I have a good selection of air tools so I don't see converting at this point.

A person new to the automotive hobby I can see may go the battery tool route.

I do use battery lights and drills but that's about it.

I may get a batt. impact but for use at the race track mostly.

Keith Tanner said:

Why not hook up the cabinet and see if you use it? Both the cabinet and the big compressor are the sort of tools that, if you need them, are hard to replace with something else.

You say your battery toys can do 90% of what you used to use air for. What's replaced the other 10%?

die grinding/bodywork?

Even if you didn't have battery tools, you don't a big compressor to run an impact wrench.  I ran them off a 4-gallon sausage compressor for years and it was just fine.  It's when you get to die grinders and air hammer/chisels that you need the big one.

As far as replacing air impacts with battery ones, the air tools are quieter, lighter, and are still more powerful.  My Milwaukee 18v lithium FUEL impact wrench rated at some huge amount was defeated by the flywheel nut on my RX7, but the Ingersoll Rand 2135 laughed at it. :)

But yes, I tend to use the Milwaukee if all I'm doing is taking the tires off because it's more convenient.

We make hydraulic hoses for the guys that make the “Jaws of Life” type products.  

I heard they are going towards the battery tools and the hydraulics will somewhat phase out.  

I also put my 60gal air compressor in the basement.... then ran a 3/4 inch pipe to the garage.

wae said:

759NRNG said:

Smart a$$ alert ....can your cordless guns fill your tires?  

Returning fire...   I bet if the cordless tools can't, the pancake compressor can! 

Can your pancake compressor operate a sandblaster, paint gun or jitterbug?  

I determined long ago, that for me, car stuff was better when things were clean and tidy. Therefore a blast cabinet is a mainstay to me. Yes, it required me to buy an 80 gallon compressor, but the end product justifies it in my mind. In that vein, I have never really made the leap to electric tools since I built my air tool arsenal back when air was the only power source in shops.