We've recently added an enormous selection of Freeman air tools and Puma air tools to Air Compressors Direct. The reason we did this is to provide you with top quality tools at a more affordable price.

Some popular brands of air tools cost over $400 per tool. Freeman and Puma make very high quality air tools at a much better price. Freeman tools come with a 7-year factory warranty. Furthermore, Freeman's accessories are significantly less expensive than accessories from some other major brands.

Now if you're looking to beef up your air tool collection, we've got you covered from high-end tools to top quality tools at a more affordable price. We only carry quality products, and our selection has just grown by two entire lines of tools. So come by and check them out, add to your collection of air tools, and send us your video reviews for a chance to win a cash prize!

Howdy! 

It’s getting cold again, and we’re getting a lot of calls on sprinkler blowout compressors. Air Compressors Direct customer and sprinkler system owner, Tony Weir, shared this great info on the procedure:

"This is in the operator’s manual of my Hunter irrigation system:

'Use an air compressor with a Cubic Foot per Minute (CFM) rating of 80-100 for any mainline of 2" or less, and do not exceed 80 PSI on PVC piping or 50 PSI on polyethylene piping.'

This is what a rental shop supplies, or what sprinkler companies use to blow out 99% of water and vapor from the sprinkler lines.

Anything less, like a 60-gallon unit producing 15 CFM, will only remove around 50% of water. Keep in mind that water expands by 9% when it freezes. This means that if it freezes, there may be enough water left behind to cause a break in the line or a break in a sprinkler head.”

I had been blowing out the system at my old house with a 60-gallon air compressor and only had one break in eight years. Elevations were very flat and I got lucky, but I had to let the tank recover after each zone. Furthermore, I went through all 10 zones 3 times each to get as much water out as possible. We need to have this information circulated to everyone. We don't want people to buy inadequately powered equipment with high expectations."

Here’s my "boilerplate" answer to this question. The same one that I have shared with you through the seasons:

Blowing water out of lines requires the largest capacity (CFM @ psi) compressor possible.  So we recommend the compressor that has the highest rating that fits your storage area & budget. More CFM is always faster.

Tony’s information above is very helpful in demonstrating the right way to do it, however some people are still resistant when it comes to purchasing a 60 gallon air compressor unless they plan to use air tools. It's important to remember that even if you're not using air tools, higher CFM is necessary for many other tasks - especially those like blowing out sprinkler systems.

Air powered tools are a great solution for many, many jobs.  They are smaller, less expensive, more durable & weigh less than an equivalent electrically powered hand tool.  Safer too since no heat or sparks are generated by an electric motor.  

We've even heard of air tools being used underwater to work on ships’ hulls.  Just don’t expect the warranty to cover tools that look like a rusty anchor. Sounds too good, but is there a catch? Well sort of…they are useless unless you connect them to an air compressor.

So, will any air compressor power any air tool?  Sorry, but the answer is "no."  A $99 two-gallon model may be great for air brushing or filling a car tire, but using it to paint your car is a no-go. It can produce the necessary pressure (psi), but it can’t keep up with the tool’s air flow requirements.

An air tool requires air flow to work. Think of a windmill. A slight breeze lacks the power to turn the blades. However, a strong, steady wind like a storm front will turn that same windmill fast enough to generate a substantial amount of electricity. 

Some air tools consume more air than others. Nailers and staplers require a puff of air. Sandblasters and sanders need massive gusts.

So, you basically want to know how fast the air comes out of the compressor. The air flow is measured in Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM).  The greater the flow, the greater the power.

You simply select an air compressor that exceeds the CFM of your most powerful air tool. If the flow isn't strong enough, the air tool simply won’t perform properly.

Intermittent tools like nailers or staplers use a short blast of pressurized air.  Even impact & ratchet wrenches are normally in operation for only a few seconds, just long enough to remove or tighten lug nuts or bolts.  However, other tools can be operated continuously, for example: sanders, sand blasters, cut-off tools, grinders & paint spray guns.  For those tools, we recommend sizing the compressor at least 1.25-1.5 times the CFM of your tool for continuous operation.  If the compressor does not produce enough air volume, CFM, then the pressure will drop leaving the tool of no practical use.

 A 120V AC electric air compressor can only produce about 5-6 CFM @ 90 psi so it is limited to intermittent use air tools.  A 240V AC or gasoline engine driven air compressor is necessary to produce the 10+ CFM required to operate continuous air tools. 

Pairing a 120V pump/motor on a larger tank or even daisy chaining multiple tanks together does not solve the problem.  It does increase the air storage & lengthens the time until the psi drops, but it also overworks the pump beyond what it was designed to do.  This will cause premature failure of the pump & the pump is the most expensive part of an air compressor.

Everyone knows about Black Friday sales, and most of us have become familiar with Cyber Monday sales by now. If you're not familiar with it, Cyber Monday is a day when online retailers drop prices and list significant sales on their products. It's a day when millions of online shoppers can get Black Friday style prices without the hassle of fighting strangers at the door.

Well, we too are going to be celebrating Black Friday and Cyber Monday with deals on all of our power equipment sites.

However, we will not be here for Black Friday! While other retailers make their employees work overtime and weekends to capitalize on the shopping-based holidays, we choose to send our employees home for the weekend to do some shopping of their own.

Every site we have has Buyer's Guides to help you through the decision making process, so even though you can't reach customer service or our experts, we've done our best to provide you with answers to as many questions as possible. If you want more information, you can scroll to the bottom of the site and click on "How-to Library," where you can find many articles about our power equipment.

Furthermore, most of the items on our site have customer reviews and expert reviews as well as accurate up-to-date ratings generated by our cutting-edge algorithm so you can feel confident in your selection.

If you have questions or concerns about your order, feel free to contact us on Cyber Monday, December 2nd, 2013.




Find Cyber Monday Deals at the Following Stores:

Snow Blowers Direct

Electric Generators Direct

Leaf Blowers Direct

String Trimmers Direct

Chain Saws Direct

Chippers Direct

Log Splitters Direct

Air Compressors Direct

Pressure Washers Direct

Sump Pumps Direct

Water Pumps Direct

Mowers Direct

Tillers Direct

 

Like most conventional two-stage air compressors, it has an air tank, a pump, and an electric motor.  

The big difference is that a duplex air compressor has two equal sized pump-&-motor sets.   

So a 10 HP duplex compressor has two 5 HP pump/motor units mounted on one air tank.  A 15 HP has two 7.5 HP pump/motor sets & so on.


So why would you need two pumps & motors? There are three main reasons:

• Redundancy – if one pump/motor set fails or need repair, the other pump/motor can continue to operate.  The air flow will be cut in half, but it can keep your business in operation.
  

• Electrical Limitations – What alternative is there when you need a 10 or 15 HP compressor, but three phase electrical service is not available or is too expensive to bring into you facility.  Then a duplex compressor with single phase pump/motors can be installed.

• Varying Air Usage – If you do not need all of the air flow, CFM, of a 10 HP compressor except when you use your plasma cutter, sand blaster, CNC machine, etc.  Only one pump/motor set will operate when the demand is lower, but both sets will run when a high demand is needed.
  

We sell duplex compressors manufactured by Campbell Hausfeld , Chicago Pneumatic, C-Aire &  Ingersoll Rand.