Stick to the well-known brands & you can't go wrong - SMC, Festo, Parker, Legris etc.

Do you have a 'real' tool shop near you rather than an automotive bunnings like supercheap?

Reason I ask, is that I know a guy who sells decent filter/regs to the wholesale market, and the supercrap ones are literally a $5 cost item from china/india/taiwan that are whatever the supplier can get their hands on for that week. It's likely that the next batch will be totally different, but they will come in a pretty package to please the average joe blow customer who doesn't care if he can't buy a new bowl or element for it in 6 months time.

Good ones are of quality construction, hold stable pressure much better (don't rely on the cheap regs fitted to most sub-$600 compressors - built to a price) and they filter a lot better than the cheap ones. A specialist pneumatic supplier should be able to supply you a decent one at a reasonable price - it's probably going to be cheaper (and easier) in the long run to get a combined "all in one" coalescing filter-reg unit.

You already have some good advice but I would just like to add something that is worthwhile, it has certainly been worthwhile to me and when you will find it most effective is when there is humidity around and the efficiency can really be seen then.

What I did was get a plastic tub about 50 litres in size, used to Be used for brewing beer, bought a full roll of annealed copper pipe, still available at places like Bunnings or Tradelink, Reece etc (copper is getting replaced with plastic even in pressure pipes) I then wound it around the inside of the tube like a big coil and then it goes to the water/oil separator and then to the gas trap.

I used to put icy bricks with cold water into the tub when I was painting and I am sure that air was very dry when it passed through the system. It catches lots of water so remember to keep emptying it. I use SMC and they have served me well. The coil is effectively a dryer like panel shops have. It substantially raises the efficiency of the separator/gas trap.

A good mid range unit would be the Jamec Pem brand. They are an Australian company, been a brand part of compressed air in our country longer than Holdens. Without going industrial professional, that is a brand I would recommend. Should be available at any Repco, Bursons, Autobarn, industrial supplier etc.

quote:

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Originally posted by peter_flane
A good mid range unit would be the Jamec Pem brand. They are an Australian company, been a brand part of compressed air in our country longer than Holdens.

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That would be Holden the car, not Holden the body builder or company name.

Jamec PEM have been around since around the mid/late 1930s.

Holden was established in 1856 as a saddle maker, they built their 1st car body in 1913 & merged with GM in 1931 to form the company we know today as GM Holden.

An interesting piece of trivia is that they are the oldest of all the GM subsidiaries & division, I believe that Opel is the 2nd oldest.

Dr Terry

P.S. There is nothing wrong with Jamec PEM equipment though, I've been using it for years.

That's what I meant. That is why I said Holdens, not Holden. Holdens are the cars, Holden is a company.