Are you looking for a home air compressor that can meet a wide variety of needs? Do you want something that is large enough to work with your air tools, yet still be quiet enough that it won’t disturb the neighbors? The California Air Tools 10 gallon steel tank air compressor might be the answer you’ve been searching for. It’s incredibly quiet at just 70 dB, is rated at 2 HP for running, and the entire tank fills in just a little over 2 minutes.
Here are some of the other stats you’ll want to know about this particular air compressor to see if it could be right for you.
- Amp Draw: 14 amps.
- SCFM Rating: 5.3 SCFM at 90 PSI.
- RPM: 1680.
- Weight: 91 pounds.
We really like the design of this particular compressor. It fits underneath a standard 36 inch workbench, so you can keep it out of the way, yet still get your work done. The weight also lets it have a good balance so you’re not worried about the compressor tipping over. It uses a standard 3 prong outlet, 0.25 air hose connections, and has two universal quick connect couplers so you can run two tools at once if needed.
An Overview of Our Impressions of the CAT 10 Gallon Air Compressor
For most tools, this air compressor is going to do a great job. We love using it. Some tools, however, require a really large burst of air when you’re using them. The design of this compressor can make that burst difficult to create. It starts with the 0.25 inch tubing from the switch to the manifold and ends with the regulator, which is about the same size. There just isn’t enough room for the air to move.
The end result is a severe drop in pressure for some tools. We found that our best impact driver, for example could drop us from 90 PSI to 60 PSI with just a couple uses. You’re then stuck waiting for a minute or two for the pressure to build up again so you can repeat the process.
As one review on Amazon put it, a solution to avoid tampering with the compressor would be to add a portable air tank inline between your air tool and the compressor. This would then act as a buffer for the pressure so it won’t drop as rapidly. We have other compressors available so we can use this CAT model for other needs, but that would be something to keep in mind.
Note: making any alterations will likely void your warranty.
So we can see a lot of great stuff happening with this setup. Most folks aren’t going to have air tools that would cause the issues we’ve noted here. Even if you do have a high impact need, however, we wanted to note that this quiet air compressor has the ability to meet your needs pretty effectively.
We are pretty impressed with the California Air Tools 10 gallon steel tank air compressor and think you will be as well.
