This Campbell Hausfeld is an entry level air compressor. It is on sales at Canadian Tires with 50% off the regular price. Campbell Hausfeld made professional air tools. According to online reviews, this model is better than Canadian Tire’s own Mastercraft air compressor or other made-in-China no-name brands. The box comes with basic accessories, 25′ air hose, 2 adapters, inflation needles for soccer and tires, air seal tapes and a blow gun.

When choosing an air compressor, the size of the gas tank, how much horse power of the motor is irrelevant. The most important number is the SCFM (standard cubic feet minute) rating of the compressor that measures the airflow. The higher the number means the air compressor can output more air. Usually, a sander needs 6-8 SCFM, a spray gun needs 1-2 SCFM. My unit only has 0.5 SCFM@90PSI, so it is not powerful enough to drive more demanding air tools like spray guns or sanders. It is good enough to drive airbrush (0.2 SCFM) and nail guns if you don’t fire too rapidly. Or you can simply use it as an old fashion hand pump to refill tires or use it as a replacement of canned compress air for cleaning.

All air compressor are noise. According to the online specification, the noise level is 96dB when the motor is running. I have to wear ear mug to protect my hearing when using the air compressor. It takes about 5 minutes to fill the gas tank to 100 PSI. A full tank is good for 2 car tires or 30 seconds of maximum continuous blowing. (For those who are interested, 3 gallon roughly equals to 0.5 cubic feet. In theory the gas thank should last a minute, but after 30 seconds the air pressure is too low to be useful.) When the air pressure in the tank drops too low, the motor will kicks in and refill the tank. It’s really powerful blowing dust and dirt trapped in cracks. It is also handy in blowing dust on things too fragile for a duster. Having an air compressor is more cost efficient than buy canned compress air, which costs

Here is some maths for those who are interested. A can of 10oz Dust-off costs $6. The content is not air but a chemical called difluoroethane(R152A) with density 2.7014 g/L (from Wiki). A can of Dust-off has about 28 gallons of gas when the chemical is expanded in room temperature. Dust-off blast the gas at 60PSI, so a 10oz can last less than a minute. Oh! Did I mention difuoroethane is an areosol that can produce psychoactive effects and stupid teenagers stiff it to get high and kill their brains? Having an air compressor not only is cheaper in a long run, but also more healthy or maybe even more environmental friendly.

Too bad that the unit does not come with a nail gun. Now I am looking forward to get a nail gun when it is on sale. I still have to do more research about what type of nail gun I need. I think I only need a finishing nail gun, since I am not going to built any frame, dry wall or roof. I would like to have a dual use nail/staple gun and that would be handy.