List Price: $415.00
Sale Price: $375.00
Today's Bonus: 10% Off
I recently purchased and have been using this compressor. First impressions upon taking it out of the box was the quality of the materials and construction. Nothing in the box feels cheap or poorly made, even down to the small extras. I paid well over a hundred dollars less than the price listed here since I used a 40% off coupon through an app on my smart phone at a very large hobby store chain. Check the Lobby. If you shop on the web, the same 40% off is offered online.
In the box you'll receive a curly hose for cooling and delivering air to the regulator/moisture trap. A very nice, very flexible black braided air hose which seems to be about 8' long. You have a clamp style table mount which can accommodate two brushes and also serves as a convenient mounting place for your regulator. Not sure if it is mentioned in the description but a nice consideration by the manufacturer is that on the 'out' end of the regulator, there is a double tap fitting included that will allow you to have two airbrushes connected at the same time (the unit doesn't move enough air to power both simultaneously, however). Lastly, you'll receive several small adapters for the most common airbrush manufacturers so you will (likely) be able to connect the supplied hose directly to your airbrush of choice. I use a Badger AB and appreciated that I was able to be up and running out of the box without needing to purchase any additional fittings.
The regulator seems to be of good quality. My gauge seems to indicate that between 40-50 psi seems to be as high as it goes so I'm not sure how accurate the 60psi auto-off, 40psi auto-on feature is. I spray in the 10-30 psi range so I'm not concerned with this. Once you begin using your AB the compressor kicks on and, at the pressure I spray at, will toggle itself off and on every 5 seconds or so as the pressure builds and releases from the system. Air pressure appears to fluctuate 2-3 psi while spraying and the compressor is running, though I can't detect any discernible pulsing while this is happening.
The system seems to hold air well, though I do have a small leak. If I leave the unit on, the compressor will pump for ~1 sec about every 10 minutes or so. I do not yet have any teflon tape on the fittings, though. I am sure once I reassemble the system and use tape on all the fittings I won't see any leaks. I suspect that may also remedy the inability to actually reach 60 psi on the gauge.
Finally, how's the noise? It's pretty quiet as far as compressors go. My wife can't hear it in the bedroom with the door closed and the room where I work is nearby. The only thing that may annoy some people is the constant on-off. The compressor doesn't just run and stay running while you're spraying, instead it auto-on/offs constantly while your spraying. This isn't really a noise issue but it could be kind of distracting for some people. A constant running while you're spraying may be easier to tune out than have it toggling on and off the whole time. Then again, it's nice to know your compressor is running half the time it would be otherwise; a great feature that I hope will extend the life of this expensive unit. That said, I still plan on building a small, vented acoustic box for it, though it isn't necessary by any means.
All in all, I am very happy I bought it. The quality is such that I have no fear of its reliability, especially since the manufacturer is well known for making good products. Sparmax manufactures many of the compressors for companies like Iwata and Paasche. Those companies just re-brand them as their own.
If you can find it for the two hundred dollars I paid, then I say you should go for it; it's a good purchase for the money.
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