Porter Cable Pancake Compressor

[Jim]

I am looking to buy a compressor for general use...Filling vehicle tires, kids snow tubes, bike tires, air brush and what not.

Does anyone have this one and recommend it? I like the small and portable idea.......

 

[crlatoursr]

Dont have the pancake, but do have the twin tank one. It runs my spray gun, air tools, nailers and staplers well, and is used to inflate all my tires at the house. Works well for my truck tires as well as the car. Get it(either one) and you wont feel bad about buying it

 

[bassboy1]

For small and portable, it is fine. I've got one, and used more like it on quite a few out-of-shop jobs in past years.

 

[russ010]

the picture you have listed is the same one I have... doesn't work the best for air tools (sanders, grinders, etc) because it seems to be catching up way too much.

I used it to paint the 12' boat, and it worked great. When it started running, I quit spraying so that it wouldn't give me paint splatter. I use it all the time for tires, rivet guns, nail guns (large and small) and it works like a charm... not to mention the one I have is about 5 years old now. The only thing I'd suggest doing is replacing that hose. It's ok in the summer, but it changes with the weather - you'd think it was frozen solid when it's in the 40s-50s.

 

[JMichael]

I've got a similar compressor borrowed from a friend, just trying it out before I buy a smaller compressor than my current portable. It's marketed by Sears so there's no telling who actually makes it. It came with a little trim nailer as a package deal when he bought it so I'm giving them both a trial run. I've been doing home repair/remodeling full time since 1990 and have used many compressors and nail guns over the years. These are not commercial grade items, but I have to say I'm impressed with how well they both preform for an $80 investment. That porter cable is advertised as a 150psi compressor. Be sure you use the regulator to reduce your line pressure down to the correct pressure for what ever you have attached to it. 150psi could blow the seals out of a lot of air tools.

 

[nomowork]

During my working career, our vans had those twin tube compressors that were enough to run our air tools.

My personal compressor is a Harbor Freight eight gallon item. It barely has enough capacity to run air tools and will fill three of my truck tires before it has to cycle to replenish the tank. I'm not talking completely filling from nothing but just to add several pounds of air! My next compressor will be much larger.

 

[bobberboy]

Like many things it will depend on how much and often you use the compressor. I have a Bostich version of the PC you are looking at and it does a good job for limited use. It is good for filling tires and relatively low volume tools like a brad nailer or stapler. For using with high volume tools or paint sprayers it would be nice to get one with a bigger tank so it isn't running constantly. Unless you specifically need a portable one you might want to go larger. Even a 10 gallon unit doesn't cost too much more than a two to four gallon pancake one, it doesn't take too much more floor space and may be more useful in the long run.

 

[Captain Ahab]

Do not do it - you will put your eye out


I will send you a text

 

[thudpucker]

I have that one. We call it "Breathless".
It'll fill tires, but wont drive any air tool for more than a few seconds.
For a fill-in its a good unit.
Until I get my two larger Compressors fixed...

 

[Hanr3]

I have 3 portable compressors sitting int he garage. One is a Porter Cable I acquired from a friend. The other two I acquired from a construction contractor. He had to spend money on new tools or pay the tax man.

I use them to power my impact gun, fill tires, blow sawdust, air grinder, nailers, etc. Thye do have a limit on power duration, however if your not in a hurry, they will do the job just fine. I wouldnt recommend it for a full time job requireing massive amounts of air, but for around the house, hard to beat the price and convienence.

 

[freetofish]

my suggestion based on your intended usage, go to Harbor freight and for $39.95 you can get a pretty good small pancake compressor... I use mine for about the same things as you mentioned and its going on 5 years old.... biggest favor you can do any compressor is drain the tank after every use

 

[kjames]

I like freetofish comment I am no professional but have found that tools you don't use to make your living coming from harbor frieght isnt always a bad thing. But some of their stuff you have to watch for it isn't much cheaper than name brands.

 

[jladdsmith]

I have the same model and it does good for what it's intended to do. It will not run air tools at all- anything past a stapler or nailer. They are very loud in comparison with higher quality compressors. I have one literally 8 times the size and 5 times the power and it's about 1/5th as loud as the little PC pancake.

One thing you can do to extend the life is to spray a little wd-40 into the intake while it's running. (NEVER DO THIS IF YOU PLAN TO USE THE COMPRESSOR TO PAINT ANYTHING).

The WD-40 will also quiet the machine down a little and help extend the life of your check valve on the bottom.

 

[Ictalurus]

Jim

As someone else had mentioned, you can get a 3 gallon pancake at HF on sale for $40. I have one, and like someone else said it's breathless. Works for filling up a low tire, but wouldn't recommend for tools.

 

[bobberboy]

A lot of differing points of view here. It's been my experience that buying lower quality tools ends up being a frustration. The tools in question never work well but they won't break so you're stuck with crappy tools. It's hard to buy a new tool when you already have one, albeit a crappy one. I learned this in my 20's when I first started buying tools. They worked ok at first but too soon things like cheap bearings start to fail. You end up with a drill or saw that whines like a jet engine. It still does its job (kinda) but who wants to use it. Forty years later I'm preparing to retire and am buying tools that will be around longer than me. I still can't afford the top of the line but never buy the entry level ones. Good quality tools work better and are arguably safer than cheap ones.

Given the nature of this site, everyone here can relate to this same idea when it comes to buying fishing gear. I have a harder time making decisions about fishing gear because I don't know it as well as I do tools but still know not to buy on the cheap because I'll be sorry I did. As a fair-weather fisherman I don't need top of the line stuff but at the same time when I go, I want to spend time enjoying fishing and not fooling around with gear that doesn't work well. It's hard too because I have only so much money to throw at all the things I like to do and have to strike a balance among them.

I don't suppose I have to tell anyone here to watch Craig's List and eBay. Over the past six months I've bought most of the stationary tools for my retirement wood shop on C'sL. I focus on one thing I want to get and check the listings often. The really good stuff goes fast, within an hour or two on C'sL. The tools I bought are practically new and I paid half of what I would otherwise have paid. Lots of people buy things (guitars, exercise equipment, etc.) with the best of intentions but end up not using and keeping the stuff. Save your $40 on the HF compressor and put it towards a good used compressor. I think good quality used is generally better than poor quality new.

 

[nomowork]

My HF eight gallon compressor's regulator recently failed. This compressor was over ten years old, so just bought a new ten gallon HF compressor. It still doesn't have enough capacity to fill four truck tires (just a few pounds apiece) and starts very slowly. I did price other name brands but for my use, I'll stick to the HF compressor.

When it comes to power tools though, I do buy the best that I can afford. I bought a few HF power tools and did regret it.

 

[gillhunter]

I bought one this fall when my 25 year old compressor finally died. For filling tires and running my pin nailer it works just fine and I like the portability.

 

[JMichael]

I found one of these Porter Cable models in craigslist for less than half the cost of a new one and it looks great. I'm thinking it might be a good time to buy one.