You made the right decision to get the oiled one! My OLD Sears 1HP
rusted through on the bottom of the tank and spit rusty water on the
pavement. Due to my ignorance and neglect it wasn't drained during
the 6 months it was used after I inherited when a neighbor died. It's
got a quarter turn valve plumbed out beyond the end of the tank that
gets opened after EVERY use.

On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 01:13:56 GMT, (Tom Miller)
wrote:

Thanks to the responders. I took your advice and exchanged the small
"inflator" for the cast-iron oil-type pump. It seems to work fine,
although I have yet to try it on a tire, and looks to be perfect for
what I want -- and it does have a tire chuck in the kit. I've decided
to also get a 25-foot extension hose for $20 so I don't have to drag
the unit around so much. It's not a high-quality tool, that's for
sure, but it will certainly work for the light use I'm giving it.

I got a little bonus on it, too. I looked it up on the Sears website
last night to see what accessories were included (it doesn't say) but
I noticed that on the web it was $89.95 instead of $99.95. I mentioned
it to the clerk at my local Sears and he took off $10 on the spot. The
exchange was totally hassle-free as well.

Thanks again for the advice.


On Mon, 28 Nov 2005 23:37:19 GMT, (Tom Miller)
wrote:

| I have a 10 gallon portable air tank I use to inflate the tires on my
| cars. For a long time, I went to my local garage and they filled it
| for me (I've been a customer for 25 years and I know the owner, so
| they wouldn't let me even fill it).
|
| Then the owner retired and closed the garage and sold the property. So
| to fill the tank, I bought a small electric compressor -- the oilless
| kind that buzzes loudly when you run it. (I also found that the 10
| gallon tank needed filling a lot more often than I thought it would).
|
| The little compressor worked for a time, but last week I was filling
| the tank and it started smoking. I shut it down, but it's broken and
| no longer pumps air.
|
| I went to Sears to get a replacement and bought what appears to be a
| 125 psi compressor of the same oilless type as I had before, although
| maybe a little fancier.
|
| However, for about a $12 difference I could have had an oil-type 1.5
| hp cast iron electric pump mounted on a three gallon tank. complete
| with hose, various fittings, etc.
|
| On the way home, I started having a big case of buyers remorse over
| the oilless "inflator" compressor I bought. Should I have gotten the
| other one?
|
| Now in case it isn't apparent, I know nothing, nada, zippo about air
| compressors. All I want to do is inflate tires on my two cars and on
| my various lawn tools. I want to avoid having to grub around in the
| bay of the local gas station trying to make the hose fitting that has
| been driven over several hundred times stay flat against a tire valve,
| especially in the winter when the fitting is frozen. And I want to
| avoid dragging the tank to the filling station every time I fill more
| than two tires, or putting my snowblower or wheelbarrow into the trunk
| of my car every season to take it to the filling station air pump.
|
| I have no interest in air tools, paint sprayers, sand blasters, etc. I
| woke up one day and for some reason was just plain too old and sore to
| build or fix stuff anymore. And I'm not interested in spending more
| than $100 which is the sale price of the cast iron pump.
|
| I'm thinking of taking the small inflator back tomorrow and exchanging
| it for the other, cast iron, one. Smart move or stupid overkill?
|
| The little one is lightweight. It will no doubt work but takes a long
| time to fill the tank. And it may burn out like the previous one did.
| And the old one was really noisy in an irritating sort of way.
|
| The cast iron pump is mildly heavy, although I can carry it without
| any trouble. I'm not sure it has a fitting for a tire valve so I might
| have to buy that separately. It has a longer hose. I guess I have to
| put oil in it (what's the deal on that?). The tank is just three
| gallons, so I guess I'd use it to fill my 10 gallon tank and use the
| tank to fill the tires.
|
| What say you all?