I scored an awesome deal on an old, but quality air compressor perfect for my airbrush. I have been using a 1 gallon air tank, filled from my large garage compressor for air brushing. but have been wanting a small hobby compressor so I wouldn't have to truge through the snow and ice to the garage to fill my tank every time I wanted to get creative. So, I hit ebay, because sometimes you can find a good deal on quality stuff, cheaper than you could a home depo, or "craft" quality thing. I found a guy that has at least a couple of these. I bought one at the buy it now for $29.95 which INCLUDES shipping. It is a industrial grade Thomas Industries compressor that it used commercially for medical/science research type of equipment. Also, used commercially at tattoo shops and places like that. Point is, it is a quality unit built for industrial use, not every so often in the wife's craft room. I just got mine, and it runs perfect, and a perfect addition to my 1 gallon tank. Here is a link to another one the guy has just like the one I got. Not sure if he has anymore, but he added this post, just after I bought mine, so who knows. Fast shipping, and no I am not affiliated at all with this guy, other than buying one from him. I am very pleased with the deal, so I wanted to share in case anyone else wanted to get in on one of these compressors. PS. I do have the tech sheets, specs and rebuild parts list and manuals from Thomas Industires websites if anyone wants to check into the tech info on the pump. Can also be used as a vacume pump too if you by chance need that ability. THOMAS INDUSTRIES AIR COMPRESSOR 115V AIR COMPRESSOR - eBay (item 250368432381 end time Mar-06-09 11:05:34 PST)
Cool, I see it has ended, so I hope you got it. Anyone else interested, keep watching this guys listings, because he lists these one at a time apparently, so it may pop up another one.. Good luck, hope it works out for ya. I just connected mine to the airbrush without the tank (but did put a regulator on it) and it works perfectly, even without the tank, so I may use it without the tank I have.
By the way.. the following link is a granger page that shows the newer version of this compressor. notice it sells for almost $400 freakin bucks.. But anyway, this will lead you to the tech sheets and all the info on the pump in the Ebay listing. I had asked Thomas Industries the closest model to this one, and this is what they gave me. The model numbers do not match up because the Ebay one is a exclusive model number built for a pharmacutical lab in Texas. It is phased out, but Model Number 617CA32 is a match for it for parts and specs. Pneumatics & Hydraulics > Air Compressors and Vacuum Pumps > Piston Air Compressor-Vacuum Pump > Piston Air Compressor,115 VAC,1.22 CFM : Grainger Industrial Supply
I just, bought one too, but I wonder how it is possible with free shipping and all. :thinking: I also noticed a service kit for the one at Grainger. I hope there is one available for this model if needed.
The service kit listed is the kit for it. I found that rebuild kit (however at this point mine is far from needing it) for $82.00 from "Combined Fluid Products". Seems like alot for a rebuild kit, but it is a complete rebuild kit with piston and all. Most "hobby" air compressors are not built for continuous duty like these, and they tend to be "diaphram" pumps. These are "Wobble Piston" pumps which make them much more reliable, and tough. They also have stainless steel reed valves in the head. For the most part, built for many years of continuous trouble free operation. I guess that's why they cost 3 times more than a hobby type. This guy is apparently a "re-seller", and most likely bought all of them as a "lot" maybe on auction by the lab that they were built for. The lab is in Texas, and irronically, so is this seller. He probably got a pallet full of them for very little.
BTW: the model number of the ebay compressor is: 607CA32, which is like I said (per Thomas Industries) a model number which was created for an excusive pump built for "Abbott Labs" in Texas (A pharmicutical lab). But the production variant is the model number 617CA32, which is the one on the Granger link I posted earlier. You might have noticed that I did some research and made some contacts to find out about this compressor to see if it would work out for an airbrush. It does, very well, and better than I could have gotten new in the hobby world.
I sure did and thanks for sharing.:thumbs_up: I can’t wait to check it out. I was also using a portable air tank that I had to fill from the garage compressor. The funny thing is that I paid about $30 for my 5gal tank 10 years ago.
food for thought tho.. When I first turned mine on, it did turn on, and had good pressure right from the start, but, it made more noise than I expected. It squeeled in the fan area. But after less than a minute of run time, the squeel stopped, and it sounds fine and healthy. I atribute that to probably sitting around for some time not running. All it needed was a minute or so of run time to work a stiff fan out, lol.. I ran it for some time today, and it builds up about 60 lbs of pressure (its rated max). I cut it down to about 30 with a regulator, and it runs my air brush just fine with great output and no up and down like I had thought it would without the tank on it. I may run mine without the tank now. Dont seem to need it with the air brush. :thumbs_up:
Thanks for letting us know about this Tudor. He has a couple more up for sale. I picked one of them up for myself. Hope to have the same luck you did.
If you're like most of us who like to do things in the wee hours of the morning, or late at night, your neighbors, not to mention the wife, would really like you to use the tank. Great find! Thanks for sharing and doing, and again sharing, all of the research!!!
I was wondering about this too. What sort of tank would you use for this pump? I have a regulator and a dehydrator but I can't track down the old tank I had from years ago.
Any tank really that can hold up to 60lbs. I use a 1 gal pancake style tank that I bought on ebay several years ago just for airbrushing. It doesnt have to be very big, because we aren't talking high pressures, or volumes. My 1 gal full will last a day for project painting (maybe an hour or so of actual trigger time). before that, I actually used a disposable propane tank from my colman camp heater. I simply took an empty, drilled a hole in it, filled it with water to push out any lingering propane fumes. Then I drilled another hole, then brazed standard air fitting to the holes to attach regulator, and other air fittings. It actually worked great. That said, i was a bad boy, and actually bought another one of these compressors. I figure for that cost, a standby compressor, or to use anywhere else wasn't a bad thing. With the two compressors, i still am way under cost of a hobby type from a hobby store.
Received mine today. It is more quiet that what I expected. I have to pickup a regulator before hooking up the airbrush. :thumbs_up:
Well, I snagged another one just because it is a steal. I plan to use the 1st one as is, and the 2nd one I plan to permenantly mount on the little pancake tank I was using for the airbrush. I could always use one around the house blowing dust and stuff off my laptop keyboard because it gets dusty in these parts. Or even dusting off the layout. My 2nd one should be coming in the next day or two. BTW: I think they do run a little quieter than normal. These were originally special built for a pharmicutical lab equipment, so I would assume they were designed quieter for that reason. Not sure, just guessing.