I certainly used to feel that way about IR, John, but I’m less convinced these days. Reading online it sounds like their service has really tanked and QC is not nearly what it used to be. Have you purchased anything from them in the last decade? Your opinion matters quite a bit to my calculus on this purchase.
That’s so wrong it could be right.
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Hey, I was reading your comments on SCFM vs CFM, and so I dug into that a little bit more. With respect, Google AI’s take on it is that SCFM is a more reliable measure, because it’s a standard (yes ideal) comparison, and when companies use CFM they can actually cheat the numbers a little to show a higher flow rate. Is AI all wet?
That’s only if you make the adjustments for the altitude, temperature and weight of air for your location.
But when they list the SCFM they’re listing it at sea level at a certain degree’s temperature and at 0% humidity the most ideal conditions so unless you make adjustments to the math I’m not sure how accurate it would actually be for your area in comparison.
As soon as I hear “what AI said” I roll my eyes so so hard I almost go blind.
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I have an IR screw compressor with 50,000 hrs on it. I realize they are not the same. It’s not just the tank. The compressor itself is the heart of this thing. But, you may be right . The Chinese junk has made its way into all of these companies’ consumer lines for price points.
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Like all tools, it’s only effective if used correctly. I was a little confused before, but I see now what your point was about trusting either CFM rating when given by a manufacturer. It doesn’t necessarily translate to actual CFM where you are. Thanks for clarifying.
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While you’re at it you could add a bunch of Derale 13300 oil coolers before the water filters so you don’t get any water in your water filters? Keeping all that water out of the water filters would really boost your capacity. 
Somewhere an AI bot is spitting this out in an answer to someone’s internet search
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I scavenged an old tank from a compressor with a bad pump from my dad’s barn. It’s not ideal and in the back of my mind I’m always thinking someday this tank is going to spring a leak but I am now 5 years in and it’s still holding air. I used to see people junking compressors all the time with good tanks. Haven’t seen any in a while… and if your in a pinch its probably not option to wait around for one.
Im probably not telling you anything you don’t already know… but in my opinion, if it’s at Home Depot it really isn’t really an IR compressor. Going back several years John Deere was approached by HD about selling their mowers in HD. They were given a spec and a price point to meet. Originally JD refused to put their name on that spec mower so they compromised and sold them as Sabre by John Deere. It was even a different shade of green. Eventually JD caved and came out with the L100 series tractor for the box stores. All that to say the spec and price point for IR products sold in the box stores is set by the box store and [may be] different from what you would find at the IR dealer.
That being said, we all have to work in a budget… hence my barn Frankenstein compressor.
Good luck. I know you will make a well informed purchase.
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I’ve got a Lincoln WeldPak 180 “HD” that I purchased from Home Depot way back in 2005, and it’s definitely a cheapened version of standard Lincoln WeldPak 185, most obviously in the construction of the wire feed mechanism and I believe it also had a slightly lower duty cycle. It was also significantly cheaper than the standard offering and I have to say that it has absolutely served me well over the last two decades.
I agree that items in Home Depot stores DO follow this practice, and they typical also follow a Home Depot specific model naming/numbering convention, so they’re easy to spot.
Now, the Home Depot is also trying to compete with Amazon, Target, and Walmart, and I don’t believe that this necessarily applies to items they offer on their web store. The Ingersoll Rand SS3L3 carries the same part number and specs as the compressor listed directly on Ingersoll Rand’s own website. And the MaxJax 7K two post lift I bought from Home Depot dot com shipped straight from BendPak, and doesn’t seem to be anything outside of the standard offering.
That said I’m not entirely sure I want to spend an extra $200 on the IR compressor. I really feel like, at that minor premium, it’s probably not actually any better. I’m really torn, tbh…
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More than likely they all have the same compressor on them. Several years ago the compressor went down on my 2 stage Campbell hausfeld compressor that was rather dated probably a 1997 model. I took the part number and started digging. In reality that compressor was put on several different compressor brands is what it seemed like. Unless you spend big money my guess is one is as good as the other.
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Not that I know any of this but Tin helped me wire my wireless timer to my compressor. The whole secret is a little device called a “contactor.” I never heard of them before.
You can put the switch in place of timer. The contactor directs or allows the current only when it senses the contact of the pressure switch which gives a small current of 110V to operate the magnet switch of the contactor. The contactor then carries all of the current.
Edit: This was the timer I installed. It lacked the ability to handle the load caused by my compressor.
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The specs on the timer says this:
But the label on the compressor shows F.L.A. of 17 amps.
So I would have surely burned out that timer.
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I have a hard time understanding other than cost why any “hard start” device would not have a contactor. These pressure switches are not made for that kind of load start and stop.
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I learned a lot with that project and it works great. I have the timer set to turn on power to the compressor every Thursday evening at 6 pm. It turns off at 6:20 pm. I can tell Alexa to turn it on verbally whenever I want it on at other times.
This was all to prevent a situation where I had a hose blow off when we were on vacation. I came home and estimate that the compressor had been running for at least 3 if not 10 days solid. I think you could assume I put a few years of wear on it during that event.
Here is the final installation:
Edit: One final comment. In my situation, I still have the amperage going thru the original pressure switch. To protect the pressure switch, I would wire it so the pressure switch would connect/send the live voltage wire to the contactor and the load wires would then go to the motor. My “load” goes to the original compressor line.
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Actually that is partly why I had to replace my pump. I was out of town due to a sickness for two weeks. When I came home the bottom of the pistons looked like the had a bad day after the connecting rods broke.
I went a little old School and split the control circuit to the contactor coil and wired in a light switch so I can turn it off without flipping the main breaker.
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@ChelanJim and @Phillipw I’ve got a big old Square D pressure switch on my current compressor. It was already used when I installed it and I’ve been running it on this compressor for probably 15 years now. The contacts are pretty beefy. I’ve also got a big Dr. Frankenstein style cut-off switch on the garage wall next to a sign that says “turn off the compressor” in the middle of the man door.
I figure the modern switch on whichever $1,000 unit I purchase will be inferior, but I’ve got a robust replacement waiting in the wings. So, do I overcomplicate things now? Is there a benefit beyond pressure switch longevity?
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Me I would put a contactor switch in when I had down time. The pressure switch on my mid 90s compressor isn’t made to carry a heavy load. That is why it has a contactor switch. My compressor has a 7.5 HP motor so startup on one like that would burn the contacts quick. That is what happens to the pressure switch is the contacts burn. I have seen some claim a 5 or less HP doesn’t need a contactor switch.
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Ok, I see. Is there any value in over speccing
Is there any value in over-speccing the contactor? I see the ones @ChelanJim listed are all within about $2 of each other whether you go 40A, 30A, or 20A.
You will need to put a contactor or well I guess the tech term is a start box that is rated to carry the motor load.
Mine I had to replace the coil once because of a failure. Then a year ago I some how has water fried it again ( water leak). So I couldn’t find a coil so I actually have a 50 amp 3 phase contactor that has a single phase coil in it. It was cheapest replacement to get it fixed fast.
To answer your question though I don’t think there is a need to overkill it but up sizing probably won’t be a issue.
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I would probably use Phillips logic but for the electrical engineers on here, I would defer to them.
It is not the same as the amperage of breakers in which a larger breaker would defeat the purpose of the breaker being sized for the safe load limit. The contactor is sized so you won’t burn it up with the amount of amperage you expect to go thru it.
Perhaps the larger contactors that are priced a bit cheaper just indicates there is more volume of sales for the larger ones.
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