ddennison

My Feedback: (15)

Hi,
Iam looking to buy the right compressor for my Sata HVLPminijet 4.

The data suggests 4.1 cfm at 29 psi.

Is that the total needed for the supply line?

Can anyone tell me what i need to run the minijet?

Thanks
Dave</p>

Gollywock

 Dave- Although your  Sata will run on less, I wouldn't consider anything less than a 2 H.P.,30 gallon piston type compressor as the run time will be less and it will operate other tools as well. I would stay away  from 'oil less' or diaphram compressors (way too much noise).  Jim
   PS, excellent spray gun.

planebuilder66

My Feedback: (8)

Look at it this way, when you look at the specs of compressors, they state a CFM at a certain pressure, most are rated at a minimum of 60 PSI flow rating, so if yoou need half of 60 psi, just double the cfm output for what the specs on the compressor states. Basically you half the pressure but have more volume on tap because your limiting the pressure. So let's say it's my little 4 gallon 2 hp piston compressor, it states 7 CFM at 115 psi, I can run my porter cable spray gun that uses 4.2 CFM at 28 psi all day long, it cycles, but does not continuiously run. I have never seen any drawbacks to running it on the line of being just enough, when I spray with my large HVLP's, it on a car body, so I just use the 60 gallon 2 cylinder 10 HP compressor, those guns consume alot more due to the volume of paint being laid down. Around 12-15 scfm. 

jimmyjames213

My Feedback: (2)

craftsman has a 3 gallon 1 hp compressor 3.7 cfpm at 60 psi (i think this is off the top of my head) on sale at sears/kmart/ect for 100 bucks.
(piston, oil filled)
it works great for me, iinflated 1000 ballons tofill my mom'sbathroom (birthday)w/ the compressor it could keep up w/ the constant inflating.
now i use it to dust off models/clean stuff/ect.

for your case it would work fine, it would run alot but it could keep up, and for 100 bucks, cant beat it. just dont expect to roof a house or paint your car.
http://www.craftsman.com/shc/s/p_101...air+compressor

ppkk

Planebuilder said it quite well. There are a few things to keep in mind while looking at the specs when buying compressors:

- In the "retail" world, most (not all) compressor manufacturers state "peak hp" as opposed to "running" hp. In so many words, peak hp is the maximum power the motor can put out before it burns out, so clearly it is not the real running hp. Running hp is typically a fraction of thepeak hp. Some times you see a 5 hp compressor delivering 5-6 cfm and running off 115V. Any way you do the math, you'd realize that you cannot run a true 5 hp motor off single-phase 115V outlet (too many Amps.1 hp = 746 Watts); a true 5 hp compressor would deliver over 15-18 cfm at pressure from 100 to 175 psig depending on whether it is single or two-stage, and would run either on 230V single-phase or different 3-phase voltages.
- The rated compressor volume (cfm) is not the "compressed" volume, but the "expanded" volume at inlet conditions. This is simply how compressors are rated in the industry, including in retail. The easiest approximationis to think about the rated cfm as the volume that "enters" the compressor. As an example,say acompressor is rated at 5 cfm at 100 psig, think of it as 5 cubic feet (at atmospheric pressure) entering the compressor every minute. If you run that compressor at half the psig, you will NOT getdouble the flow or 10 cfm. You may get very slightly more flow (eg. 5.2 cfm at 50 psig) but that's only because you get less losses in the compressor at lower pressures. The concept that Planebuilder talked about applies to the "stored" volume that is in the compressor tank.

All that said:

- When buying compressors, look at the rated cfm (always at a given pressure) and don't make your determination basis advertised hp.(If you really care, some manufacturers also rate the running hpin addition to peak hp. If not, you can alway calculate the real hp basis running Amps at full load.)
- Always get a bigger tank size that you think you may need. A larger tank (when regulated) will give you bursts of high-volume for longer periods of time .
- Lubricated compressors do last much, much longer, but you need to filter out the oil for painting applications. Look for a good quality coalescing type filter.
- If you really want to have a good quality job, you also need to dry the compressed air - but that's a whole different topic.

Good luck.

Steve Collins

My Feedback: (8)

That is a great spray gun!

I have a Sata Minijet III that I run with a Craftsman 6hp, 30 gallon compressor.

Don't scrimp on the compressor.  You will need good equipment there as well to operate without any issues.

Killer_Matt

My Feedback: (11)

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Well I have the same gun with a .8 tip.  Outside in my garage I have a 5hp and this is way overkill but it's there so I use it when using paints that are toxic or smell. When putting on the war bird colors paints (water based) I paint in the basement, fairly constant temperature and humidity, for this I picked up a small 1-2 hp compressor and it keeps up with the small tip for the most part.  BTW the compressor was $100 or so. 

With the small tip and the low pressures involved 10-15 psi the small compressor has worked for me.  If you have a friend with a smaller compressor just fill the gun with some water and spay for 15 minutes to see how it does, then go buy one.

So why would I buy a top of the line gun and skimp on the compressor? Because it works, and I can't put a big noisy compressor in the hose or the wife will have a fit.

</p></span></p>

ddennison

My Feedback: (15)

The sata minijet was absolutely perfect for painting even the large Mibo A10. The clear could be done with a larger gun but that little gun does a lot.

Just my 2 cents for anyone wondering if they need a bigger gun.