The little AllTrades 5-gallon air compressor I had been using since April 2006 was not quite large enough, and was easily outrun. And VERY LOUD, to the point that I had to either leave the shop or wear hearing protectors. It's a cast-iron direct-drive oil-lubricated one-piston unit running at 3450 rpm. So, I was in the market for a bigger unit.
It had to be reasonably movable by one man, so the game was to get the biggest unit that qualifies, the limit being about 200 pounds. Floor space is very limited, so it had to be vertical tank. With wheels. Reliability is necessary, so it had to be oil-lubricated with cast iron sleeves or better a cast iron pump body. Power would be single phase 110 or 220 volts - I have no problem to add a
220-volt outlet if needed, or to hardwire the compressor.After trolling through the offerings at Grizzley and Harbor Freight (if I will have Chinese Quality, I want Chinese Price), and not really liking the combinations of features on offer, I ended up getting an Ingersoll-Rand "GarageMate" (model PI-5IU-A9), for $470, including truck shipping, through Northern Tool via Amazon. Delivery is about a month after receipt of order, so I guess they make the units only when they have a batch of orders in hand.
Anyway, the unit was delivered by Con-Way Freight on Monday (28 June). The first problem was that despite the shipping documents saying that a liftgate was required, no liftgate. But the truck driver, a big burly guy, managed to get the 200# unit to the ground undamaged anyway.
The box was heavily damaged, and was coming apart. (Not caused by the driver letting it down to the ground.) There were forklift-truck fork holes in the side, and three of the four wooden feet (made of 2x4) had been torn off the box, which probably explains the fork holes. The packing list from IR says that the unit should have been banded to a pallet; this was not done.
Anyway, the driver and I opened the box, and for all that box damage the unit seemed OK, so I accepted the unit, although I did insist that the driver mark the shipping document that the box showed fork damage, thus establishing the basis for a later latent-damage claim, should it be needed.
The unit is very solid, awkwardly shaped, lacks proper handholds, and very top-heavy. It is shipped horizontal. I was unable to just muscle it into a vertical position without danger of dropping it and/or hurting myself, and so I just left it laying on the shop floor until today (Saturday).
To erect the unit, I resorted to ancient methods. I made a temporary bridge gantry with two 6-foot step ladders to which is lashed a 6' long 1.5" diameter
12L14 steel bar, this affair straddling the supine compressor.A length of 3/8" diameter nylon rope is tied to the bar, goes twice through a steel ring tied to the unit and then over the steel bar, with the free end wrapped a few times around the bar and tied. This is basically a block-and-tackle with 4:1 mechanical advantage implemented with steel rings and a round bar, but no pulleys. (I also have a pulley-based block and tackle, but it takes up too much length.)
This worked just fine, with no drama, allowed me to get the unit upright in stages, until I could just muscle it up to vertical.
Attached the handles, filled the compressor pump with oil, and fired it up. Works just fine. Much quieter than the AllTrades 5-gallon compressor it replaces. The claimed HP of the two motors is the same, 2 HP continuous, but I bet that IR horses are larger. The IR compressor runs at ~1000 RPM, and has two cylinders in parallel. The IR tank is 4 times larger.
The only damage I can find is that when the unit was horizontal, it rested on the stem of the pressure relief valve, and the concrete floor ground a bit of the valve stem away. Although the valve still works, I think I'll ask IR for a new one, if only to poke them in the ribs. This is really a design flaw - if one will ship horizontal, things should be arranged such that there is a real steel foot of some kind to take the load, not some fragile brass valve. Nor should the shipping carton have disintegrated.
Joe Gwinn