The Roof Cleaning Institute Of America Training & Certification Forum
"Find A Certified Roof Cleaner Directory"

jordande1 · Guest

Rigid vs. NorthStar Air Compresosors

RCIA Founder

jordande1 wrote:

Hi guys,
i read someting recently about Northstar and looked it up. saw them and they are cheaper $579 or $369 but not sure if it would work as good as rigid's $700 something monster.

i'm setting up with an All Flo.

here check it out http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/
products_290953_290953?cm_ven=natural&cm_cat...

your comments are appriciated,
rick

All things being equal, a bigger air tank is better http://www.northerntool.com/shop/to
ols/product_200377313_200377313
The ridgid is a proven performer, tested by me, and used on our trucks for years, cleaning many roofs 5 and 6 days a week.
Just because it is a Honda Motor don't mean the pump is the same ?
Some compressors use chinese pumps, and some of them ore ok, some are not.

-- Edited by Apple Roof Cleaning Tampa FL (813) 655-8777 on Wednesday 10th of March 2010 04:39:42 PM

Zeke · Guest

Apple Roof Cleaning Tampa FL (813) 655-8777 wrote:

jordande1 wrote:

Hi guys,
i read someting recently about Northstar and looked it up. saw them and they are cheaper $579 or $369 but not sure if it would work as good as rigid's $700 something monster.

i'm setting up with an All Flo.

here check it out http://www.nort
herntool.com
/shop/tools/products_290953_290953?cm_ven=natural&cm_cat...

your comments are appriciated,
rick

All things being equal, a bigger air tank is better http://www.northerntool.com/shop
/tools/product_200377313_200377313
The ridgid is a
proven performer, tested by me, and used on our trucks for years, cleaning many roofs 5 and 6 days a week.
Just because it is a Honda Motor don't mean the pump is the same ?
Some compressors use chinese pumps, and some of them ore ok, some are not.

I do agree that the Ridgid is a proven performer as I own lots of their tools and love them. However, the North Star compressor listed above by Chris is what I plan on setting up on my trailer.

-- Edited by Apple Roof Cleaning Tampa FL (813) 655-8777 on Wednesday 10th of March 2010 09:29:22 PM

RCIA Founder

We use 1/2 Yamada AODD Pumps, the All Flow is a great pump, but 3/8 vs 1/2.
One must look at the air requirements for it.
Always better for too MUCH air, then not enough.
It may not need as big a compressor ?

I like the 20 gallon air tank on these Northern tools, but a seperate add on air tank may be used with any compressor.

Harbor Frieght has dirt cheap compressors, we used some older models, worked great, except recoils went bad, and could not get parts!

I like Honda Motors, they start with one pull 90 percent of time.

RCIA Founder

We had one of these, but it got stolen from our yard!
Never had it on a truck, but did hook it up to our pumps, and wow!
It has electric start too!
Way too much compressor for the 3/8 all flow, but for a 1/2 inch pump, it was awasome.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/
Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=99918

jordande1 · Guest

thanks for the input.

i just looked at home depot.com and can't seem to find the air compressor that handles 13cfm at 90 psi. i've been looking for the old thread that has a direct link but it's forever..help...please...

KP Diamond · Guest

Apple Roof Cleaning Tampa FL (813) 655-8777 wrote:

We use 1/2 Yamada AODD Pumps, the All Flow is a great pump, but 3/8 vs 1/2.
One must look at the air requirements for it.
Always better for too MUCH air, then not enough.
It may not need as big a compressor ?

I like the 20 gallon air tank on these Northern tools, but a seperate add on air tank may be used with any compressor.

Harbor Frieght has dirt cheap compressors, we used some older models, worked great, except recoils went bad, and could not get parts!

I like Honda Motors, they start with one pull 90 percent of time.

1/2 inch pumps? confuse You wussy lol! wink Love ya Apple!!!! smile

Is it finally above 55 degrees down there in Florida?? (Daytime, NOT night) aww

KP

RCIA Founder

jordande1 wrote:

thanks for the input.

i just looked at home depot.com and can't seem to find the air compressor that handles 13cfm at 90 psi. i've been looking for the old thread that has a direct link but it's forever..help...please...

It looks like it is no longer sold by them ?
Too bad Harbor Frieght does not sell a cheap electric start compressor ?
Most of the chinese motors problems are the recoils going bad, the compressors work fine.
The motors just dont seem to start on first pull like a honda does, recoil breaks, no parts to be had.

jordande1 · Guest

i am sold with rigid compressor coz it's proven...and i dug up into my files last night and found the print out of the rigid comp. posted here before(last year), it's the same one i saw on-line at home depot yesterday but they have reduced their price so much i did not recognized it.

now going with the concept of " better to have more air than not enough" i would like to get an idea of how much the yamada pumps are and where to get them so i could compare.
thanks in advance,thanks for the help guys,
rick

RCIA Founder

jordande1 wrote:

i am sold with rigid compressor coz it's proven...and i dug up into my files last night and found the print out of the rigid comp. posted here before(last year), it's the same one i saw on-line at home depot yesterday but they have reduced their price so much i did not recognized it.

now going with the concept of " better to have more air than not enough" i would like to get an idea of how much the yamada pumps are and where to get them so i could compare.
thanks in advance,thanks for the help guys,
rick

Lori from Pressure Washer Products sells the All Flow 3/8 air pump.
It does not require as much air as the 1/2 inch Yamada, and costs less.

jordande1 · Guest

yes, i got the quote from Lori.
thanks a lot Chris

Lori- how about adding that mini int.filter/regulator + replacement filters..
also can i get the hollow cone nozzle from you, just want to try it as well, if you have?
what... sorry i'll send u an e-mail

thanks
rick

Roof Cleaning Katy Texas (281) 392-2304 · May 22, 2010

I am running a Rigid like Chris Tuckers with 15' x 1/4" air hose to a All-Flo pump KE-038B3. I have the output pressure set to 90 PSI on the Rigid. With the Rigid at 150 psi when I connect the air line to the pump the air gauge at the input to the All-Flo pump reads about 60 psi and pulses. After 5 minutes running the Rigid can only maintain an output of 60 PSI. Is this normal?

-- Edited by Roof Cleaning Katy Texas (281) 392-2304 on Saturday 22nd of May 2010 11:51:43 PM

Baltimore MD Roof Cleaning 410-482-4367 · guest

No it should keep up. It either leaks air or is not compressing fast enough. DO NOT BUY THE HOME DEPOT OR LOWES COMPRESSORS, FOR THE LAST TIME!!! They are not the same thing you buy from industrial catalogs or direct. They are specially made for big box stores to be cheap throw aways. Why do you think you can buy a John Deer mower for $1200 that costs $6000 elswere?? Because it is not the same mower!!

When we look to buy new equipment we search for part distributers to make sure we can repair the thing. I just met a guy who has the lowes rigid compressor and he has brought it back fo replacement more than six times in 6 months for replacement. The compressor keeps blowing rings. Our first pressure washer came from lowes. The troybuilts w/general pumps they had 5 years ago. We returned it for replacement 8 times in 2 months!!

Last chance ignore the warning and enjoy a broken compressor. Heed the warning and perhaps have a better experience.

We bought a used Emglo Dewalt for $500 march of last year and it has cleaned over 200 roofs with minimal problems. Starts in one pull. Recently it has not kept up as well as it used to because the compressor piston ring is going bad. It was going bad when I bought it (you can tell because it spits oil into the tank). So we will be rebuilding that (pretty easy really and less than $50 in parts). It also needed a better regulator than the one it had, and it needs an idle switch that I smashed with another peice of equipment (oops lol). My next compressor will probably be the $2500 30 gallon ingersoll rand, or for less the rigid 20 gallon Chris uses. But for just getting the system started I am sure you can find a better used compressor for $350 as opposed to a new one for that price. That's way to cheap for any kind of quality compressor new.

Guest

Hey Bill,...I have an IR compressor and it was blowing ALOT of oil into the tank and of course blowing into the air line. I thought I was gonna have to get it re-ringed. I have a water trap/filter and also an inline desiccant filter. It was making a mess of both filters,...after one use the desiccant was almost half full of oil. I was adding oil to the compressor like I was adding gas to the engine,..Ha,Ha..

Changed the $10.00 air intake filter on the compressor,...fixed.
Pumps up alot faster and keeps up alot easier.

The old one was so plugged up it was choking the pump I guess.

Jeff

Baltimore MD Roof Cleaning 410-482-4367 · guest

WOW, thanks for that alot Jeff!! I actually have that on the list of parts to order for the compressor. I will give that a go first and let you know what I get.

PS i continued to run my pump at 120psi after that prvious post and it did break a part in the pump. It was an easy fix, but I now run 2 higher quality regulators on Rex from PWP advice to look for a regulator that actually never allows more than 90psi to go through when the pump is idle. Cheaper regulators build to the max and then regulate when air is moving. Not all of them bleed off.

Baltimore MD Roof Cleaning 410-482-4367 · guest

I think I will run Mondays first roof with the air element off and see what we get.

Guest

Yea, thats what I tried first and I noticed a difference right away in the efficiency of the compressor in regards to pump up time. And then I peeked at the new desiccant during the job and it was dry. Put in a new filter and has been dry of oil ever since i did that about 3 weeks ago. Oil level stats good now also. There was a little oil trapped in the water trap,...but I think it was just from residual in the tank. Desiccant was dry though,...so there wasn't even that much.

Hope this helps your compressor,...figured it was worth a shot mentioning to you before getting the pump redone.

Jeff

-- Edited by Raystown Roof Cleaning Central PA 1-800-236-0322 on Sunday 23rd of May 2010 11:12:08 AM

RCIA Founder

Baltimore MD Roof Cleaning 410-482-4367 wrote:

No it should keep up. It either leaks air or is not compressing fast enough. DO NOT BUY THE HOME DEPOT OR LOWES COMPRESSORS, FOR THE LAST TIME!!! They are not the same thing you buy from industrial catalogs or direct. They are specially made for big box stores to be cheap throw aways. Why do you think you can buy a John Deer mower for $1200 that costs $6000 elswere?? Because it is not the same mower!!

When we look to buy new equipment we search for part distributers to make sure we can repair the thing. I just met a guy who has the lowes rigid compressor and he has brought it back fo replacement more than six times in 6 months for replacement. The compressor keeps blowing rings. Our first pressure washer came from lowes. The troybuilts w/general pumps they had 5 years ago. We returned it for replacement 8 times in 2 months!!

Last chance ignore the warning and enjoy a broken compressor. Heed the warning and perhaps have a better experience.

We bought a used Emglo Dewalt for $500 march of last year and it has cleaned over 200 roofs with minimal problems. Starts in one pull. Recently it has not kept up as well as it used to because the compressor piston ring is going bad. It was going bad when I bought it (you can tell because it spits oil into the tank). So we will be rebuilding that (pretty easy really and less than $50 in parts). It also needed a better regulator than the one it had, and it needs an idle switch that I smashed with another peice of equipment (oops lol). My next compressor will probably be the $2500 30 gallon ingersoll rand, or for less the rigid 20 gallon Chris uses. But for just getting the system started I am sure you can find a better used compressor for $350 as opposed to a new one for that price. That's way to cheap for any kind of quality compressor new.
We are now using a Rolair 5.5 hp compressor, wheelbarrow type we bought in good used condition. We paid 450.00 for it, but it was in real nice shape.

The Roof Cleaning Institute Of America Training & Certification Forum "Find A Certified Roof Cleaner Directory"

The Roof Cleaning Institute Of America Training & Certification Forum
"Find A Certified Roof Cleaner Directory"