My compressor died today and was wondering what anyone thought of the
VAL-AIR by Silentaire Tech. Had a Huskey cheepo and it just stopped
running but still has power, don’t know whats wrong with it and only
had it for about 1 1/2 years. It was an oil free one. I think it
should still be working but used it a lot, any thoughts?
Thanks in advance
Note From Ganoksin Staff:
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I had the same Husky quiet air compressor that you have and I did
the same thing about a month ago and I purchased the Silent-Air
compressor from Stuller and now wished that I had bought it the first
time. It sits beside my bench and it sounds like a refrigeration
compressor. Really nice and quiet and keeps up with no problems at
all.
I hear they’re great, but they are pricey, around $900. Don’t know
much about the anatomy of compressors, so I can’t advise on fixing
the old one. I know there are less expesive ones out there than the
Silentaire. Check out this link.
Thanks Every one for the feedback. Ordered one from GRS yesterday!
Love GRS cause they always have the right products at the best
price! Excited that we can concentrate on work instead of how loud
that DANM Monster is.
Check with Ernesto at Air Compressor Express http://www.silentaircompressor.com. He can set you up with the
perfect compressor for your needs and save you some money at the same
time. He carries all the major brands, does warrantee work and
carries spares. He is also most helpful and a pleasure to talk and
work with.
No affiliation, just a very satisfied customer.
You will love using a silent compressor, whichever brand/model you
end up getting. If you are using it mainly for powering an air
powered graver handpiece, any one of the smaller models will be more
than adequate. If you do things like sandblasting, airbrushing or run
a high-speed rotary handpiece you will probably need to look at the
CFM (cubic feet per minute) requirements of your tools and match the
compressor to the capacity required for the tool that needs the most
air. Add a bit for cushion.
The pumps on these compressors are the same type used for air
conditioning and refrigeration. The main thing that will kill these
compressors is heat, which is generated by operating the pump for too
long without a cool-down period. You ideally want the pump to operate
less than 50% of the time you are using the compressor, with a
maximum of 15 minutes constant operation, followed by 15 minutes off.
Tank size is an important consideration, with the larger tanks
increasing the off-time of the pump during use. I add a clip-on
cooling fan to my compressors. There are models that incorporate a
fan, but they add considerably to the cost, and a cheapo clip-on fan
from the Dollar Store works almost as well as the built-in variety.
Not all of these compressors are the same, even though many look
nearly identical. The one part that will give you the most grief is
the regulator, and the cheaper models obviously have cheaper
regulators. Cheaper regulators (plastic body) will clog and jam open
with heavy use, requiring a periodic tear-down and cleaning. They
also don’t usually do as good a job of cleaning and drying the
compressed air as the better quality metal bodied regulators. Oily,
wet air can mess up handpieces, blasting media and whatever else is
being powered. It’s not a bad idea to add an in-line oil
separator/filter/drier before your tools either, especially if you
have a GRS Gravermax or equivalent. The rotary valve and handpieces
of the GRS units are really allergic to dirty air. Important little
detail if you intend to use it with a wax pot too.