My new house will be done in around a month and I'm looking for suggestions on an upright compressor for the garage in the sub-$1500 range. Something in the 50-80 gallon range with a high enough scfm to run pnuematic sanders, drills, etc.. and enough pressure for a nail guns. I'd love to be able to afford a Kaesar, but in leue of that what would you guys recommend?

Campbell Hausfeld makes a great upright one. I bought my husband a 30 gallon 6hp one and does the job just great. Home Depot.

For non-commercial use, even the oil-less ones work fine. I have a 30 gal, 115volt, Sears that runs nail guns, impact wrenches etc without breaking a sweat. Easily portable and takes minimal space. The die grinders and sanders are the heaviest users of air I think. You can get a large stationary, belt drive, for about $500. Commercial ones with multiple cyclinders are less than $1000.
MikeG

Just make sure it has a 2 stage pump and oil, if you plan on doing any autobody work you'll need the higher cfm's @90psi.
Home depote has some decent units, but personnally I got a gripe going with them right now, so I'ld tell you to go to Lowe's.

Try Harbor Freight, they're having some serious sales right now.

I would not go oil-free. I have that now, the noise is pissing me off.

Remember that SCFM is NOT equal to actual real usable CFM. My SCFM is higher than I need, yet some continuous-duty tools, like sanders, run me out of air.

Run yourself two output lines. A coiled one for convenience and a real hose on a reel for the bigger work (the coiled hoses are restrictive on airflow). Harbor Freight has a very nice reel marked down from $25 to $10 right now. And bronze fitting kits on sale for $2.50 (coupler with five connetors).

For something that big, consider a dedicated circuit. I've been running mine on a shared circuit and sometimes pop the breaker. Having the table saw, miter, big lights, or washing machine going at the same time is too much for a little 20a circuit. Also, even when it doesn't pop a breaker, it's running on low voltage which is a huge stress on the motor.

On the tools, cheap stuff is fine for some things that don't need to be precise. Air chisel, grinder/cutoff, brad nailer, etc. On stuff like ratchets and impacts, mid-line is good, but cheap is really bad (so I've learned from experience). Harbor Freight has a nice brad nailer on sale right now for $13(!) that does a good job with up to 1 5/8 nails.

Thanks for the great advice everyone.I appreciate it.
BTW, how does Ingersol Rand compare?

I get the impression they are mid-line, which is probably good for home use. Also, Campbell-Hausfeld has just come out with a new "pro" line which got some good reviews. No idea on pricing.

Oh yeah, and don't forget to check eBay, even for something that big.

Check out the Champion Industrial line. We sell them to the Car Wash industry. Check them out on our website : www.sonnysdirect.com
For pricing I can fax you a price sheet if you pm me a fax number.

Always put in a dedicated elecrical line for any decent compressor. They pull 14-15a and more on startup. Mine has a very heavy cord and recommends no extension cords be used.
MikeG

Got a 220V 50A circuit put in for the compressor and arc welder. :grin:

Ingersol Rand make some of the best air tools in the industry, I have used them for years and they have out lasted every ohter manufacturer so far....plus they have the best replacement parts availability, but I can't honestly say anything about their air compressors just because I don't have one.
I use a 40 year old 80 gallon unit out of an old service station. Got it at a auction years ago... still works great! I don't even know who made it, but it looks super tough.

EVLXX is right. DA sanders use a bunch of air. you are going to need a 2 stage comp. and a big tank. I have a Sanborn (sp?) Black Max 2 stage w/ an 80 gallon tank. It's been going strong for over 10 years.

Eric got it right.

Spend the extra on an Ingersol Rand. I've got two. A 5hp single stage T10 in the basement and a T30 7.5 hp 2 stage in the shop. Both compressors have been trouble free with the exception of replacing points on the pressure switch. This seems to come at about 10,000 hours on the machine.

The T30 sells for about $1500. I'd guess mine has 15,000 hours on it and it runs continously some days for 18 hours at a time.

Good Luck