I have a sears 220v compressor that I bought 30 years ago, and it's still running
as strong as ever. Think I paid $250 for it back in the day..

 

i have a craftsman i have been using since 1979 with no problems. just change the oil once in awhile.

 

I have a Craftsman 25 gallon upright model (air cooled) that is 10 years old. Even though I drained the tank of moisture often, the tank still developed a small leak from the inside. It still works, just doesn't hold air in the tank for long after shutdown. By the way, the tank is made by DeVilbiss which is a major manufacturer of air compressors. But this tank doesn't speak to well for them.

Next time I'll get another brand.

 

Last Christmas my wife bought me a compressor. I had been eyeing an 80 gallon upright 220 v compressor. She bought me a craftsman 33 gallon upright oiless compressor. When I first fired it up and ran it I noticed that it struggled with busting lugs loose with my 1/2" Ingersol impact. I had 150 lbs of air in the tank. 33 gallons available and a good quality air line and impact. After doing some research and looking around, I saw that the actual air feed getting to the fittings was reduced down to 1/8" pipe. The standard inlet size for your air tools is 1/4" NPT. The air lines that you buy to connect to the air tools also are 1/4" NPT. The compressor had the fitting leaving the tank at 1/4" but stepping down in size feeding a manifold with a regulator and guage and two couplers to connect to. What I did was go right next to that where the pop off valve is (1/4" NPT) and put a T in there and connected a hi flow female coupler and all my air tools have hi flow mail couplers. With everything being up in that 1/4" size now, it greatly increases the available air to the tool and it works like a charm. I took my impact and took all the lugs off of my dads ford F150 and the pressure did not even drop enough to turn the compressor back on.

NOW..granted this will unlikely be able to run an air powered D/A sander for any length of time without the need for the compressor to constantly run but for my needs of running an impact or an air ratchet or die grinder with no issues is perfect. The compressor runs on 110 v and it is slow to build from no pressure to the 150 and being oiless it is a bit noisy but I am lucky if I use air more than once a month at home. AND the compressor is mobile if I need to use it somewhere else. I also changed the drain plumbing and ran it out a bit and put a ball valve on it so I could easily reach it to drain the tank...

 

I have a cute little SENCO dry membrane compressor that fits in the lower part of a wheeled tool chest:
http://www.senco.com/CompressorDetails.aspx?k=PC1010

Since compressed air is an expensive source of energy, all my power tools are electric.

 

For a small around the house and easily portable compressor, I have a small Husky Air Scout. Does everything I need inside the house and airs up my 80psi truck and 5th wheel tires just fine while on trips. It handles nails and staples and such without issue. It's not very big at all and it's light - even when filled with air, so it's very portable. It has wheels and a handle to either carry it or roll it. Also comes with accessories and coil hose which works well for tires and the small jobs I use this compressor for.



I have a larger Craftsman upright for the garage... going on 20+ years now and is still going strong. The larger compressor does great for heavy tools and such that the smaller compressor struggles with.

 

look at the cfm-s the air tool needs to operate and then look for a compressor with the big electric motor (not one of those enclosed drill motors) . mine is a porter cable brand, twin tank dry unit (no oil needed) I can rebuild it if needed for about 60.00 (air compressor part) a unit of this type will last a very long time at home use. and about a half year building houses everyday. devillbiss builds compressors with a bunch of differant names on (hot dog, craftsman,porter cable, and a ton more I think of this min. good luck. hope this helps.
kroozeabout.

 

Depends what ya want run? What is important is cfm @ 90 lbs. I would stay away from pancake type (I've rebuilt my garage one a couple times and it just blew again). 5cfm will run most basic stuff if ya don't mind waiting for it build up once and a while. if ya are running air sanders, grinders or bead basters ya will want more. the Puma linked looks like a good home unit.

 

I recommend this as well. You can get the Northern version for bit less (link below), but it is essentially the same compressor. It is also made by Puma. I actually have the horizontal version of this compressor as I find it more stable when I need to move it or put it on a trailer to take with me somewhere.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...8764_200518764