Transcription
In this video, I want to talk about compressors. And this video is not aimed at the professional, because you probably already know all this information. This really is for a beginner who maybe just bought a compressor or is looking to buy a compressor just to do some things around the house.
I'm not talking about a big stand-up compressor that sits in your garage and doesn't move. I'm talking about portable compressors that you can use for say, a brad nailer, or to fill up the tires in your car, or to hook up a blow gun to dust some things, that kind of thing.
So, right here we have three different compressors. Although this one and this one are pretty much the same. They have the same rating. And if you take a look when you go to buy a compressor, really there's a bunch of numbers that could be confusing. Right here, 2.6 SCFM at 90 PSI. I'm not going to get too far into this, but I will tell you that this means if you're running a tool at 90 PSI, then 2.6 cubic feet of air per minute is going to be coming out and going into that tool. And that is basically it.
The more important thing in my eyes is the gallons, how big the compressor is. This is a 6-gallon, as well as the Rigid, but the DeWalt is a 1-gallon. And the difference between those is that if you're doing something using a tool that requires constant air, like maybe a pneumatic sander, a random orbital sander, that the air keeps pushing out, I would not recommend something like this because it only has 1 gallon of capacity of air. So, that is going to kick on, pretty much stay on the entire time, and you could burn the motor up, and it's not going to be consistent with pushing out the amount of PSI that you need. So, you could step up to a 6-gallon, 10-gallon, 18-gallon, whatever is going to work for you. If you're using just something like you want to do some trim work around your house, I think these are great.
This is my old compressor, and I replaced it with kind of the same exact thing, but different. Um, and the only reason I replaced it is because these gauges stopped working. And that's the next thing I want to talk about. On all these compressors, they have two gauges. And we'll take this one to show you the rest of the features that are pretty much standard on these types of compressors. This right here is the tank pressure, and this right here is the outlet pressure, or the regulated pressure. So, this is what is actually built up in the tank, the amount of pressure, and then this is the amount of pressure that is going to be coming out of this hose. So, if you need, say, something to run at 90 PSI versus 100 or 120, you can adjust this for whatever tool you're using.
So, I'm going to plug this in, and I'm going to turn it on to build this pressure so I can show you how to adjust the regulated pressure. Power button right here. Now, the compressor stops once it gets filled to whatever the rating is for it. In this case, 150 PSI. So, now, if you take a close look here, you can see that this is at about 120, and that is pretty much what I run my nailers at, and that is really important. You need to look at all your tools. For instance, on this one, this finish nailer, right here it says 120 PSI max. You do not want to go more than that because there are seals in here that can blow out, and you'll have to repair it. So, there is a reason that it has a max rating.
Let's say, right here, you wanted more pressure. So, in this case, this you can't move. It's locked in there. But, if you pull out on this and you rotate it, let's say you want more pressure, you go this way, and you can see this go up. I think that's the max, just below 150. So, let's say I wanted 75 lbs per square inch of pressure. Go down here, right there. Lock it in. And now, this will be pushing out 75 PSI.
Now, I want to talk about something that I have heard is a pain point for people, and I get it. So, hooking the hose up, especially when there's pressure in the tank. Luckily, with this one, it's really, really easy. This is a quick connect fitting. So, all I have to do is push it into place, and that's it. Uh, to take it out, you can do two ways, and I recommend this one. You push in like this. You can see this goes in a little bit. And then, once you pull this sleeve back, this is going to release a bunch of air. It might scare you a little bit. Don't worry. You just pull this back and release. The other way, which I don't recommend with this fitting, is to just pull this sleeve back. Cuz that'll go flying. That's only 75 lbs of pressure. If this was up higher, it might be a little worse. That. And that. So, like I said, I don't recommend doing that. But with that compressor, it's really easy.
So, if you take something like this that has fittings like this, where they are not quick connect, what you have to do, you can't just push it. This is the problem that people have. What you need to do is pull this sleeve back, then push this in, and then release the sleeve. So, pull this back, push with a lot of force, pull that sleeve back, make sure it locks in, and you're good. And to remove it, the same thing as the other compressor. You can pull it back like that, but you want to put pressure here, and remove it. And since I'm talking about these fittings, there are different sizes, so just make sure that you get the right size for your tool that will work with your compressor. At any store, any hardware store, wherever you can get this kind of stuff, these fittings, compressors, nailers, uh, they should have a little setup where you can match up whatever you have to determine what size you need.
If you're still nervous about hooking up the hose, what you can do, especially if you have a fitting like this that moves around, that can be a little tricky if there's pressure in the line already. So, what you can do is to hook up your nailer first, just like this. Uh, with a hose that doesn't have the quick connect, you will just do the same thing as the connection with your compressor. Pull back on this, push, and release that. Make sure it's locked in. You can also, if you want, to make it easier, just hook up the hose with an empty compressor.
And that brings me to my next thing is, if you want to release the pressure in this, it does have a drain valve on the bottom that we'll talk about in a minute, but it also has a pressure relief valve right here. So, most of these, and you're going to find this on really any compressor. On this one, it's right here. And on this one, it's right here. And they all do the same thing. When you pull it, if you accidentally hit this, it is going to scare you. So, just know that a lot of pressure is going to come out here. And this is kind of a safety feature, but I'm going to just pull it and let it go, and you'll see what happens. And that will bring it back down to a safe pressure. It's at about 70 PSI. And if you wanted to release more pressure, you can just hold this open. And you can drain all the air out of this, and when you go to put the hose in here, even if it's not a quick connect, it will be a lot easier.
Lastly, and a very important maintenance item on these compressors is this drain plug right here. This is what this one looks like here. On this one, looks like this. That's a pretty nice one, too. And my least favorite is on this one. Right here. And I say it's my least favorite because this has a small O-ring on it. And if you unscrew this too far, you can mess up the O-ring, and you have to get a new one, and you just got to be careful with this. It gets confusing, too, which way you're going. Um, but that is something you should know is every now and again, maybe every time you use it if you don't use it a lot, to drain your compressor. At least like once a week. Because what happens is the pressure in the tank builds up, it releases, builds up, releases. And as that happens, moisture builds up in the tank, and it can sit on the bottom and start to rust things out. The water can go through the hoses, can get into your guns, start rusting up the guns, and just make a mess. So, you want to drain your compressor as much as you can.
I already tried draining this compressor and nothing came out because I think it's a little too new. This one I know probably has water in it. It might be frozen, but we'll take a look. And when you do this, turn the compressor on, fill it up to its max capacity, and then you can drain it. So, what I'm going to do is elevate this slightly, and I got a little bucket here. And I'm going to balance this so that this drain plug is at the lowest point. Now, this water might actually be frozen cuz this was sitting in my garage, but we'll take a look. So, you just slowly open this valve. And already you can see rusty water on my finger. Yeah, there we go. Very slowly. You don't want it to make a mess. Don't worry, this carpet's been getting replaced in case I do make a mess. There we go. So, all of that right there, like I said, can go through your hoses, make a mess, and if you're say you're doing trim, you obviously don't want this rusty water spraying all over your trim. And I'm going to stop now. You get the point because I'm starting to make a mess on the inside of the house. So, as you can see, that water was nasty, and I recommend doing that outside. But, that is why it's important to drain because eventually it can rust out the bottom of this. I mean, 30 years, but the most important thing is to take care of your tools.
So, if you just got a compressor and wanted to see how to use it, or if you're looking to get one, I hope this video helps. Thanks for watching. We'll see you on the next one.