How to Choose the Right Air Compressor for Automotive Applications
3 Basic Questions to Ask
Choosing an air compressor can certainly be a challenge, especially if you don’t have all the necessary information, or are unfamiliar with the questions that you even need to ask. Air compressors are used in a wide range of applications, and power a wide range of tools and equipment. And the size and type of air compressor used will depend on the particular needs of the application, but the questions to ask to arrive at the right choice of air compressor are generally the same.
Today, we will focus on the automotive service industry, specifically auto repair and auto body shops and facilities, and provide you with some simple, useful advice and tools to help you make the right decision in sizing and selecting a suitable air compressor for your particular needs.
Vehicle service, repair and auto body shops typically rely on 5 to 30 HP air compressors with 80 to 240 gallon air receivers that power an automotive shop’s pneumatic tools and equipment. Piston, otherwise known as reciprocating air compressors are also still the most common type of air compressor in the automotive service industry, although this is quickly changing due to the increased benefits and reduced costs of rotary screw air compressor technology.
Let’s look at our agenda, in part 1 we are going to cover 3 basic, but essential questions you need to ask in order to help properly size an air compressor, and then in part 2 we’ll cover 3 additional questions you need to ask in order to properly select an appropriate type of air compressor for your particular application, whether it be a piston or rotary screw air compressor. We will highlight the most common mistakes that are made in sizing & selecting an air compressor, and provide a few useful ‘rules-of-thumb’ that will help guide you in making the right choice.
Let’s look at the 3 critical questions you need to ask in order to properly size an air compressor:
- How much compressed air do you need?
- What pressure do you need?
- What kind of electrical power do you have available on site?
Note: This post serves as an introduction to and overview of how to choose an appropriate air compressor for your application. Please use this information as a general guide. To ensure you design your compressed air system appropriately, please get in touch with our compressed air system experts.