On Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:16:01 -0700 (PDT), jay
wrote:

Hi All
I assume it's not safe to breathe air from an oil lubricated air
compressor at sea level.
But does anyone know if it's safe to breathe compressed air from an
oil free compressor?
Thanks for your input.

I wouldn't use an Oilless unless it is designed for breathing air
purposes, since they have thought through all the failure modes and
internal materials. If the Teflon piston seals go bad and overheat,
it could send nasty stuff down the line to you...

My suggestion - HVLP. Get a bypass style vacuum cleaner blower,
where the motor cooling air is kept seperate from the blower air
circuit.

Or a Ring Compressor - 1/3 to 5-HP multi-stage blowers designed to
only push 1 to 2 PSI but a whole lotta CFM. Put a good filter on the
inlet and another on the outlet, then use a sandblasting style
total-loss hood. (But do a full materials check on the internals.)

You still have to be really careful about where the inlet to the
compressor or blower is. If the inlet is a foot away from an engine
exhaust or a fuel burning appliance...

-- Bruce --