campbell haus 6in DA

any reviews on this thing? i've quickly realized how painstaking sanding a car with a wire cone will be. lol
wal mart has em for 35 but sears wants almost 60.

How big is your compressor?

60 gallon. 3.7 hp 11.5 cfm @ 90psi

That sander requires 13 CFM @ 90PSI and under heavy load, probably a bit more. I'll be up front and honest with you, your compressor will not run that sander worth a damn. DA Sanders require a lot of CFM to operate. The PSI gets you the speed. The CFM is the driving force. If you hooked that sander up to your compressor, sure...hitting the trigger it would wind right up. But just as soon as you put any pressure on it, it would fall flat on it's face.

I can tell you that because over the years, I've been there and done that with air tools/compressors, and am not too proud to admit my mistakes. Don't like to see anyone make the same. Your compressor will have no problem running air saws, impact guns, air ratchets, air hammers, air shears, flange tools, air punch, air needle guns, air nailers and staplers, air grease guns, air chucks, body schutz gun, small spray guns and some small die grinders. It will struggle with larger die grinders, high speed sanders, cut off tools, HVLP guns, small blast cabinets..It will really struggle with DA Sanders, butterfly sanders, air files, blast booths, and larger Media equipment.

So the good news is, there is a lot of stuff you compressor will operate and will do just fine. Bad news is, some of the key equipment for body related work won't.
There are a few MFG's selling low CFM DA sanders. National Detroit I know makes one, but it cost about 10 times as much as that one. Another option would be an electric DA. There are some pretty good ones out on the market. Downside is you're hampered by a bit heavier weight and will probably cost you a bit more. They don't get the RPM an air driven DA does either...so slows you down a bit.

Last option would be obviously a different compressor, but the cost there would be a real kick in the shorts. A good 2 stage 80 gallon would run that DA no problem. Anyways, not trying to cut down your plans or ripping on your equipment, just being up front with you.

not at all man! thats why i'm here. i thank you for it, otherwise i would of wasted time and money. i have looked at electric DAs and know i can do the job with it but they are more expensive.
and i understand this compressor isnt the best but my father-in-law was gracious enough to just give it to me. it was brand new. i love the thing because i was using a bike pump before. haha. eventually a killer 2 stage 80 will be in the mix.

but you are saying that my compressor won't run a HPLV gun. i have one and was planning on priming my car after i get it down to bare metal. i was going to use an epoxy primer. you think the compressor will fall flat on its face? i've never painted anything other then rattle can.

and the larger blast equipment - you responded to my rust thread as well- i was looking at a 20 gallon spot blaster from northern tool. think it can keep up? mostly just for that spot work. i dont plan on doing the whole car.

but you are saying that my compressor won't run a HPLV gun

Click to expand...

I would say certain guns it will run just fine. For instance, I sprayed a DP40 PPG Epoxy primer and a single stage Dupont ChromaOne paint out of a DeviLbiss Finishline 3 gun at a friends house. He has a very similar compressor to yours. It ran the gun just fine, but the compressor was working out. When they're working hard constantly compressing air, they're creating condensation in the tank and lines at the same time. Moisture spells paint issues. To remedy that, we had an air/oil/water separator on the line, desiccant snake and a whirlwind filter at the gun. Also kept the tank and traps constantly drained. No issues with flaws in the paint. That being said, with my Anest Iwata gun, I could not get it to spray right and keep consistent with his compressor. If you're going to spray with your compressor, I would really recommend an air/oil/water separator and a decent desiccant and/or air dryer system.

That's pretty cool your father in law gave you that compressor! Don't get me wrong, your compressor will still do a lot of different work. Air power when working on cars is priceless, and having that 60 Gallon will help you out with quite a bit, but just has some limitations.

If you are stripping paint have you thought about using a right angle grinder with stripping discs like the 3M Roloc? You don't have to listen to the compressor trying to catch up.

Thats a good DA. But Body work as said here take ALOT of air !!

eric383 said:

If you are stripping paint have you thought about using a right angle grinder with stripping discs like the 3M Roloc? You don't have to listen to the compressor trying to catch up.

Click to expand...

The sponge looking one right? i have looked all over town for them. best i can find for my grinder is a 80 grit flapper wheel. i used it for about 15 seconds before i figured out that it was way to aggressive. i'm going to granger monday but if not i'll have to order from eastwood. unless i want to get that stripper wheel with my drill.

Do you have any auto paint supply stores in town. They should have these. Flap wheels are great for grinding welds but like you discovered are very aggressive.

yea i found a few this weekend. i'' be heading to them in the morning. give me a chance to price some primer as well.

Got any surplus stores in your area? Also, my old car had lots of coats of paint and I ended up scraping it off with a razor blade scraper.....came off in sheets!!

Go to Smart Shopper on the Internet and look for a sander or Ingersoll rand Rebuilts. way better and only a small amount of money more.