Silent Air Compressor

Having had enough of being deafened by my compressor, I splashed out and bought one of these from Amazon.They do a 9 litre version for about £90.00 and 24 litre version for £120.00 Whilst I have yet to hook it up to any tools, I have run it to test it for noise levels.

If anyone is after an affordable, quiet compressor, I can recommend it. You can hold a conversation at normal levels with the machine running next to you.

James.

Edited By James Alford on 14/04/2018 18:01:13

They claim 65dBA which is a LOT better than the usual 95+.

The motor is only 750W (1HP), so the flow rate is only about 5cfm. By comparison, the equivalent Bambi is about 40dBA which IS pretty much silent but costs about 5 times the price. Seems a good price if it lasts and has enough flow rate for your needs.

Murray

And the product description, lower down, say air supply of 95l/m. When I was at school there were about 28l to the cubic foot, so not even 3 1/2 cfm. Not the 4.77 cfm (135l/m) quoted. So not so useful if you need to most use air tools, continuously, for any length of time. Possibly a naughty bit of mixing specifications? The 1100W version might be 135l/m

Also not sure why they say “water filter is required to use with this air compressor” when a water trap is useful with any compressor (apart from the really low pressure ones). If it IS required, they should supply it with one, IMO!

A Bambi IS quiet, but EXPENSIVE, and in our experience, not totally reliable. Our church has one to open the door from the carpark. The reservoir is mall, so it did not run for long periods to charge the reservoir. The first one seized, and the replacement was circa £800. Now running part time, on a timeswitch; a few months ago it ceased operating the door; instead, it just rattled.

Examination showed that a long 1/4 UNF bolt, holding a welsh washer in place, had broken off, flush with the bottom of the as cast bore in which it sat. The bolt was 12.9 grade and ruined two hardened drills, before we managed to extract the remains. After making up a bush, to centralise it in the bore, the hole was gradually enlarged to tapping size for 1/2 x 40 tpi M E. A stud with a 1/2 x 40 ME male thread at one end, and a 1/4 UNF female at the other was Loctited into place, all sealing surfaces coated with Hylomar, and reassembled. So far, it has performed as required.

So if you have, or are offered, a failed Bambi, this may be a means of revitalising it for a quiet compressor.

Howard

James, I bought one about a year ago, fantastic bit of kit, very quiet too. Would recommend one in a heart beat.

I had a bambi compressor running my dental unit for more years than i can remember.. certainly 15+. We did have to change the tank after several years as not passing annual inspection but that was the only hiccough. It was probably used for 1-2hrs per day 5 days a week. My staff were sloppy with draining the water trap which probably explains the tank change.

pgk

Good to know. I can’t justify buying a new one but if anything happens to the old one I know where to look, thanks.

Have looked at similar last two decades but always bottled out on cost versus CFM.

Product above 3.5CFM, take some tools:-

small 3/8" drill 5.5CFM
Basic bead blaster 15-25CFM
Belt sander 12 CFM
Small die grinder 4 CFM
Spray gun 14 CFM

Have tried above with a 25ltr tank and 2hp motor. Drills ok to an extent, compressor will be permanently running whilst in use. Same with bead blaster 20 secs blasting and waiting 3 mins to peak pressure back up and so on.

Can see its uses ok for running misters, blowing up tyres and as a low pressure blow gun be under no illusion.

My original compressor was a good unit and worked very well,, but the noise , bloody hell !!!!. Standing outside with the garage door shut was still embarassing.

I only need mine for the power drawbar and gear selector solenoids on the CNC machine and started out using my argon cylinder instead. I got a second hand Bambi from a fellow forumite which is ideal - hardly comes on and when it does, I don't need earmuffs. Would be nice to have more CFM as I have a box of air tools but I have yet to see anything in the 15-20cfm range that I could tolerate.

Murray

My point entirely for buying the new unit. My previous machine is a twenty year old, ten litre SIP Tornado unit that can wake the dead.

I tested the Orazio today with my blow torch, for which I primarily bought the compressor. It lasted much longer than the older compressor before coming on (understandable), and refilled with the blow torch still running in much the same time as with the older unit. I have an in-line pressure regulator on the airline for the torch.

I also tried using a small LVLP spray gun with it, spraying water. Not surprisingly, the compressor cut in pretty quickly, although with no pressure regulation at the moment, that might be aggravating matters.

Throughout this, I could listen to music playing without problems, even with the compressor running.

James.

Edited By James Alford on 15/04/2018 18:08:05