Petrol Air Compressors

How do you select the correct air compressor?

There are three important figures you must take into account when you want to select the correct compressor:

1: What volume of air do you require?

This is litre/min or Cub Feet per min (cfm) or m3/min. Without one of these figures, you are lost. You will have to get technical advice from Airpower. It is our best product and it is free.

2: What pressure do you need?

This is measured in kPa, Bar, or psi. Your compressor has a cut-in and cut-out pressure. The cut in pressure must be higher than the minimum pressure you require. Take into account that you still have a pressure drop from the compressor to the point of use. View our Online Compressor Tools to determine your pressure drop from the compressor to your point of use.

3: What will your duty cycle be?

Select the compressor suitable for the duty cycle.

What is less important when you select the correct petrol air compressor:

1: The tank size is not so important.

The tank size only determines the cut in and cut out cycles and will be determined by the designer of the unit. The tank size is only important if your air consumption is high for a short while and then low for a long time.

2: How many pistons the unit has is not important.

The output of a compressor is not determined by how many pistons it has. The pressure is determined by how many stages the compressor has and you need at least one piston per stage.

3: It is not important if the pistons are inline or in a V configuration

As long as the piston pump cycles are equally spaced over the 360° turning of the flywheel. If not equally spaced, the compressor has lower efficiency and the delivered air is much warmer than when the pistons are equally spaced.