Small industrial user
www.compressorman.co.uk
There are many interpretations of "Small Industrial User".
We don't care whether you are a small one man band or employ 500 people, we know that we can help you and would like to welcome you to our list of satisfied customers.
Most small concerns start off with a small piston compressor and at a later date move on to a vane or screw compressor. This is where the trouble starts.
Because of price constraints most people look for used machines, in itself that's not a bad thing, but you must be realistic about what you want and what you are prepared to pay. You won't get a good used machine for silly money.
If you do get a cheap machine it is usually troublesome and you could easily regret buying it. Used industrial machines are not cheap to repair and can be a nightmare - all our used machines have a warranty.
Our new Hydrovanes carry a 10 year warranty which is the best in the trade and gives customers real peace of mind for many years to come.
Choose between Refurbished and New machines.
Without a doubt a new machine is the answer if finances allow it, the next best alternative is one of our refurbished machines which are much better value than taking pot luck on the secondhand market.
The best advice I can give you is to have a reality check and keep your feet on the ground. If compressed air is important to your production then some tired out old heap of a machine will be nothing but trouble and very costly to keep going..
I am amazed when people tell me what they want and then say they want to spend £3-400, when what they want will be several thousand at least especially when they tell you about the tens of thousands they have spent on the equipment that this £300 compressor is going to run for 18hrs a day. Then they say that they need good quality dry air as well, still it gives me a smile on a busy day.
Do you need more than just a compressor?
Buying a compressor is just the start of things, you will need to store the air in a receiver, do you need to refrigerant dryer, do you need some proper filtration. That's a full basic system, not every one needs all of this and some need a lot more.
Its all a matter of knowing what you want and how to go about it.
Lets break it all down into individual parts and see how we go.
Compressor
Pistons are the best known and usually the cheapest, they produce cheap, hot, crude and wet air - everything you don't want. However a top quality piston compressor will be very nice, but they cost thousands new and so you wont buy one on ebay or in the high street.
Screw compressors are very popular. Good ones are fantastic but very expensive, Lesser ones are a nightmare even when new. You need to take great care with a used screw compressor, most run at up to 9K rpm and will be very costly to repair if they have been neglected.
Vane compressors are my preference and the best manufacturer is Hydrovane without a doubt. They are fantastic machines and are fantastic value for money. However a word of caution, the same as screw compressors they can be expensive to run if you buy an old neglected unit.
Air Receivers
Many machines are mounted on a horizontal receiver and this can be space saving. Other machines have a separate receiver and this would normally be a floor standing vertical unit. A typical size would be 250 or 500ltrs although you can go up to several thousand litres for a large factory.
All air receivers must have a current test certificate, this is now a legal requirement, so don't go buying a 25 year old tank off ebay. You will be best served with a new unit, but we have some good used ones all with new air certificates. We can supply brand new receivers at good prices.
We are also able to retest units for you so that you can comply with current legislation.
Dryers
If you need dry air then a refrigerant dryer could be the answer. Another word of caution - dryers like to be serviced and looked after - tired old units with no gas in them will do nothing for you.
The general rule of thumb is that used units are usually troublesome and so we refurbish and re gas all of ours to ensure that all is well.
New ones are around £1000 for a new 40cfm unit from a decent manufacturer - you can get cheaper but our experience is that they are usually cheap and cheerful - this is not what you want.
Filters
There are filters and filters. Forget about cheap units for £30 in the high street, they are basically useless. The best ones are coalescent filters and a 40 cfm filter would be about £175 each and you need one on the inlet and one on the outlet to the dryer. They are very efficient and do what you expect a water trap to do. Bigger ones are correspondingly more expensive.
Water Traps
One of the most mis-described of things. They never stop water only moisture, a very different thing. Of course this is better than nothing, but will not give you dry air. Dry air is expensive to produce, you have been warned.
So you can see there is more to this than just a compressor and so where is a few hundred pounds going to get you.
Top quality air is very expensive.
Conclusion
Most people don't help themselves when it comes to compressed air and what they really want.
If you have a cheap and miserable old compressor, making more heat than a blast furnace you will have hot wet, dirty air. If you decide to try and clean up this type of air you will be fighting a loosing battle and it will be very expensive.
You would be better getting a decent compressor which is suited to your needs and running properly - the air quality will be much better than the machine mentioned above. From this point you can move forward.
A receiver and a decent small filter will be enough for many applications, if you need it a little better you can fit a coalescent filter and that would be reasonably fair quality air.
If you need to go better than this, then you will need a refrigerant dryer and a pre and after filter unit, this makes things much better.
After that you are heading for laboratory quality air and that is another world.
So be realistic or it will all end in tears.
Don't be fooled by glossy brochures and salesmen in shiny suits.
Even when you accept all of the above and are ready to go forward you will need to speak to a competent person who can give you the proper advice.
Most salesmen can only sell what they have, and usually out of a brochure, I am always amazed at how little they know about compressors. They are always more interested in sales figures and commission, and so you will not get good advice from most of them.
Most of them have only been in the job 5 minutes and will be doing something else by next year - heaven help us all.
What make of machine shall I buy ?
If you accept that after 35 years in the trade that I have got the hang of it all by now, then my advice to you is always buy from a proper recognised manufacturer. They are not all as good as they should be, but most of the small manufacturers are often lacking in everything to give you a good deal.
We can or could sell about any make of compressor which we choose. We sell around 200 machines a year and no manufacturer would turn that volume of business away, some of the small manufacturers don't sell that many in total.
We sell compressors that we are most happy with, we are 99% Compair Hydrovane and for those that we cant convince the merits of this manufacturer, we sell Avelair Screw Compressors..
Why do we sell these makes and not others ?
Its simple really, we don't sell anything which we wouldn't buy ourselves. Compair Hydrovane make the finest compressors that I have ever come across. Quality and value for money surpasses anything else which is available. Also we get almost no warranty claims which is good for everyone.
About 18 months ago we were persuaded to sell machines for another very well known make, we sold 10 units quite quickly and had warranty problems with 8 of them - what a disaster - never again. Needless to say its Compair Hydrovane or nothing for us. we have 35 years experience with this make and nothing else comes close.
If you want more help, call me on 07904 - 471183
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