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Single Piston vs. Dual Piston Air Compressor

16K views 9 replies 7 participants last post by  Panthers65 
#1 ·
Went up to Lowes today looking for Air compressors. I talked to the guy for a while about why they haven't had any of the Kobalt 60 gallon units in since the big sale in Dec. He said they were having problems sourcing parts and are now selling the Campbell Hausfeld Units. They are the same price, same size tank, and put out the same numbers, but the CH unit is a dual piston pump and the Kobalt is a single piston pump.

This better or worse? I would ASSume it's better, but does this make the compressor louder, quieter, faster, ect...

I could pull up a bunch of reviews on here, but most of them were 2005 and earlier, nothing current. Thanks!
 
#2 · (Edited)
Dual piston is more effecient. Noise will be roughly the same if they are both oil-free. You don't want oil-free if you can afford a good oiled compressor.

EDIT: What is the CFM of the unit you are looking at?
 
#6 ·
I used to work for a while at a shop that repaired industrial compressors. As far as single vs double piston compresors are concerned....

Some double piston compressors are just 2 single pistons. Air goes in the piston and then air goes to the tank. 2 pistons gives twice the volume of 1 piston. These are usually refered to a single stage compressors. Usually used in high volume / low pressure aplications

2 stage compressors have 2 pistons but usually the second piston is smaller than the first. What happens here is the first piston compresses the air to say 75 psi and dumps it into the second piston. This piston then repressurizes the air to say 175 psi. These are usually used when you want higher pressures than can be optained with a single piston, but geanerally at a sacrifice in volume. Air compressors for fire companies or scuba use these type of compresors, some times with up to 5 stages to push pressures up to 6000 psi.

BTW really high volume maches use a screw type compressor not pistons, Thats what you'll find in big factories or jackhammer compressors.

Having said all that, look at the ratings for the machines. If they are both the same I would go for the 2 piston machine as it will probably not work as hard to make the same amount of air. I have had rotten luck with my Campbell Hausfeld compressors. I've had 6 of them and had problems with all of them, the oilless ones especially. The valves seemed to go bad all the time. I even had problems with the oiled unit on my 50gal upright. These were all new compressors but I got them years ago so maybe they've fixed the issues. I wouldn't buy one. I'd look at Ingersol Rand, Eaton, Speedaire (I think they are under a new name but can't remember what it is) for a big shop unit and Emglow for smaller units, gas powered / pancake.
 
#7 · (Edited)
I got an Eaton single stage two cylinder compressor due to the additional CFM it pumped vs the 2-stage at the same HP rating (5hp). It pumps to 150 psi. The 2-stage pumps to 175 psi I believe. Nothing I have will need the additional 25 PSI. That being said the added CFM on my unit is great with air tools operating in the 90 psi range.

EDIT: Save your money and buy a good compressor. I bought a half assed one before the Eaton, and ended up selling for a loss, only to buy the Eaton later.
 
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