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I used the identical compressor of a friend, and knew this is just what I needed. Definitely buy a Dewalt compressor, but think about an alternate source. Use caution. Unfortunate for me that Amazon is dealing with a supplier such as this one that I had to go through. Amazon was willing to take both units back, but having the frustration and downtime to return both units make this transaction undesirable. I just sent the second one back to Amazon. Both units were obviously damaged prior to shipment, as you could see where some other party received the same non-functional unit prior to me, and returned it in the re-taped box 3 or 4 times.
It works great for me as a small-footprint (15 gal tank, upright design) garage-shop compressor. I ordered this compressor twice from Amazon and had to send it back twice because it arrived damaged. I said no.Thankfully I found the compressor for the same price at the local orange big box store. I don't know if this exists, but if you don't do that the box and likely the compressor will be damaged.
it has thin cardboard with only cardboard supports inside the box. If you do buy it, you might ask for some kind of special shipping arrangement where they are careful with it. The packaging is very weak. I will update the review later after I've used the compressor for a few months.I will add that the reason not to buy it from Amazon is more Dewalt's fault than Amazon's.
It is a very good compressor. Big upgrade by going with this unit. The second time UPS didn't even bring it to my house; they saw that the packaging was damaged and asked if I wanted to take it. My old porter cable hot dog compressor, which was stolen, worked well but was incredibly loud.
It is about as loud as the oil-lubed compressor I bought for the shop at my office. Sweet. My favorite thing about it is the quietness.
Second one also came damaged but was repairable. There is no filler in the box to keep the compressor from bouncing around, since it is not always right side up during shipment. Only drawback was the shipping.
and is shipped in the mfrs. I notified the shipper of this problem, and received credit for the damage. original carton.
Great compressor for the price. This unit weighs over 100 lbs. The unit now works great and I am totally satisfied.
First one came damaged and got sent back. The main problem was the way it was packed.
In fact, when bleeding the tank, you usually only open the valve about 1/2 or 1/4 of the way, since this allows the unit to decompress slowly and helps to avoid the outlet from icing over due to air exiting too quickly. This consists of running the unit for 15 minutes with no load (and the drain valve open on the bottom) when you initially fire it up. Let me tell you, running your air compressor for 15 minutes seems like a very long time. I also asked them about how much use the unit could stand and they assured me it would stand up to most any home use. It requires pretty much zero maintenance and is very quiet. As long as you aren't looking to power a shop full of grinders and sanders, then the Dewalt D55168 is hard to beat when it comes to a small/quiet air compressor for the home, garage or small job site. Again, the unit does make noise, but for an air compressor, it comes in at a much lower sound level than most.The fact that this unit requires no oil is a joy.
The construction is very nice and the unit is clearly heavy duty. The person I spoke with explained that this unit was designed to be used at a job site and that it was intended for heavy use 5 or more days per week, even though it didn't require all that much maintenance. The dewalt provides compressed air for jobs that really require it and it does so with no hassles or complaints. Also, it was higher pressure and smaller than many of the other brands. :-) However, from what I understand, this break-in process is very important to ensuring that the unit operates properly over its life.As mentioned, one of the nice things about this unit is that it's relatively small.
Overall, however, it seemed very well made.One concern I had was the fact that it didn't use or require any oil. With the garage door down, I can actually run it at night and it's difficult to hear from a distance of even 50 feet away from the house. It required oil and was pretty loud. With this review, I will try to give a thorough rundown and address both the pros and cons.I grew up using your typical Craftsman 5HP 30 gallon air compressor. The impression I got was that it was designed to basically roll out of the box and be ready for use at a construction site - even when put into heavy use.One thing the Dewalt representative did say was that it was very important to properly break the unit it. Even when blowing out parts, 100 to 120 PSI is plenty. Basically, the pressure available at the hose is the same as most other compressors.This air compressor is outstanding for several functions.
I would say it produces about half the noise (if not less) than a similar Craftsman unit. The Dewalt unit does not. This is an excellent small shop / home air compressor. One of the units which always caught my eye was the 200 PSI Dewalt unit. For filling up tires, it's great. I almost bought a Craftsman unit from Sears, but after reading the terrible reviews about the model(s) I was considering, I decided to keep shopping.
On the other hand, if you are looking to use air tools to sand or grind down welds - or you are thinking you can run your air powder die grinder all day, then you are most likely going to be sorely disappointed and should probably look for a higher HP and larger tank compressor.Myself, I love this compressor and simply have switched to electric powered grinders for jobs such as cutting and grinding (since they generally do a better job anyway). It's also perfect for running air ratchets and impact tools (such as impact wrenches). If you attach a die grinder for example and start cutting away at some mild steel, you'll quickly find that the compressor is running nearly non-stop to attempt to keep up. I believe one of the other reviews mentioned something about the drain valve on the bottom touching the ground because the wheels aren't high enough. letting the air out) at night, there really isn't anything you have to do.The Dewalt D55168 compressor is rated at 200 PSI - however, that's tank pressure, not hose pressure.
The previous compressor I used always required oil, which is a hassle. In fact, aside from draining the tank (i.e. For blowing out parts, it's wonderful. So, when I bought my own house, one of the first things on the list for the garage was my own air compressor. I followed the directions in the manual to the letter and have since had zero problems. However, with that said, it's important to understand that it does have some limitations and is not designed to replace larger air compressors.
As such, I'm able to work into the evening without the fear of the neighbors hearing the compressor. For one, it was an upright unit, so it didn't take up nearly as much space as the sideways type. In fact, this worried me so much that I actually called Dewalt and spoke with their technical support department about how that works. However, it's noticeably quieter than other models. The recharge is pretty fast and when using something such as an impact wrench, it works quite a while before the tank kicks back in.So, if you are looking to have compressed air for blowing out parts, filling up tires or running an impact wrench, then this compressor is outstanding and fits the bill perfectly.
My dad bought it for the garage and I made use of it all through my teenage years of working on cars and fabricating. However, if you are looking to run your die grinder, air sander or rotary grinder, you are going to be a bit disappointed. Let me put it this way: when running the unit in my garage (with the garage door open), it can barely be heard from a distance of about 150 feet. This isn't any problem, however, since most air tools only call for between 50 and 80 PSI. So the tank does charge up to 200 PSI, but the pressure available via the hose is more like 125 or 130 PSI (as I recall - it might go as high as 150 PSI). It's difficult to explain exactly.
Obviously, the unit makes noise. On the other hand, if you are using an air nailer, you should be fine.So the bottom line is this: if you are looking to blow off parts, fill up tires and run a few ratchets and/or impact wrenches, then this compressor is fantastic.
This is indeed the case, but it doesn't really matter, since you generally have no need to open the valve on the bottom all the way. Tools that suck a lot of air in and spit a lot of air out (which includes most continually spinning tools, such as grinders and sanders) pull too much air for this smaller size compressor.
Based on the reviews here on amazon, it seems the quality of the recent Craftsman air compressors isn't what it used to be.After deciding not to purchase a craftsman unit, I checked into several other brands. In other words, you can't dial the regulator up to where you are supplying a full 200 PSI to your tools (nor would you want to).
As such, the fact that the tip of the lever touches the ground is really a non-issue.In any event, one of the great things about this air compressor - besides its high quality design and construction - is that it's incredibly quiet. I was told that coating technology had come a long way and this allowed them to produce a piston that didn't require any oil.
It doesn't take up much in the way of space.
It takes 3 1/2min. When I was making 2 cabinet doors out of cherry wood, I found myself waiting for pressure recovery twice as much as I was sanding. to fully recover to 200lbs after I stop sanding at 70 lbs of tank pressure. I bought this because of the price and the fact that the ad says it can easily operate air sanders. Well, after 1min 45sec, the air is below 80lbs which is what is needed to operate my 5" orbital.
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