Guides
Guides and answers
Short, plain answers to what people ask before they buy, use or repair a compressor or pallet truck.
What size air compressor do I need?
Add up the air (LPM or CFM) of every tool that runs at the same time, add about a quarter for leaks and growth, and choose a compressor that delivers at least that at the pressure (bar) your tools need.
Read →Oil-free vs oil-lubricated air compressor
Choose oil-free when the air touches people, food, medicine or paint, or when you want less upkeep.
Read →Air compressor maintenance checklist
Drain the tank every day, clean or change the intake filter regularly, check oil on oil-lubricated pumps, look for leaks, and test the safety valve.
Read →Why will my air compressor not start?
Most often the tank is still above cut-in pressure, the power or breaker is off, the pressure switch or capacitor has failed, or the motor's thermal protection has tripped.
Read →How to choose a pallet truck
Pick a capacity above your heaviest pallet, match fork width and length to your pallets, and choose hand or semi-electric by how far and how often you move loads.
Read →
Glossary.
- CFM
- Cubic feet per minute. How much air a compressor delivers. 1 CFM is about 28.3 LPM.
- LPM
- Litres per minute. Air delivery in metric units. 100 LPM is about 3.5 CFM.
- Bar
- Unit of pressure. 1 bar is about 14.5 PSI. Most air tools work at 6 to 7 bar.
- PSI
- Pounds per square inch. 116 PSI is about 8 bar.
- dB
- Decibels, a measure of noise. Every 10 dB lower sounds about half as loud.
- Duty cycle
- The share of time a compressor can run without overheating. Piston units need rest; screw units are built to run long hours.
- Oil-free
- A pump that compresses air without oil in the chamber, so the air carries no oil from the pump.
- Reciprocating compressor
- A piston compressor. A piston moves in a cylinder to push air into a tank.
- Screw compressor
- Two meshing rotors squeeze air continuously. Suits long, steady use.
- Air receiver
- A tank that stores compressed air and steadies the pressure.
- Air dryer
- Removes water vapour from compressed air where dry air is needed.
- Cut-in and cut-out pressure
- The compressor starts at cut-in pressure and stops at cut-out pressure, set by the pressure switch.
- Pallet truck
- A hand or powered truck with forks that lifts a pallet just off the floor to move it.
- Stacker
- A truck with a mast that lifts pallets up to rack height.
- Lifting table
- A table that raises a load to a working height.
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