California Air Tools 8010A Aluminum Tank Air Compressor | Ultra Quiet, Oil-Free, 1.0 hp, 8 gal

I picked this up to use in my shop. We use it to blow dust off parts. The biggest selling point was the noise level and this thing is QUIET! I can hold a normal spoken conversation right next to it. Air delivery is more than enough for what I use it for.

Don’t believe any reviews to the contrary, this is as quiet, or quieter, than advertised. I needed something I could run in the house without damaging my children’s hearing and this fits the bill. It’s orders of magnitude quieter than the 6 gallon porter cable I used to use. The only down sides are the aluminum tank, while lighter than the steel porter cable, is not as light as hoped. Also, the handle for pulling it on the wheels is to short to be almost useless for someone who is 5’10” tall. Also, they say it’s made in San Diego California, but the box says made in China. Not good.

So if your buying this for a air brush this review will help out,, I went from a harbor freight oil less air compressor to this California air compressor. My harbor freight air compressor ran all the time and was very noisy. This air compress isnt silent but its allot less noisy then my H/F compressor and the bonus is once it reaches 100 psi it shuts off and that is allot of air brush time before it calls for air again. its a 8 gal air tank. One thing this compressor is missing is a water trap I installed one and glad I did because even though there is a water bleed valve on the bottom it still puts a little water in the air its sending to the air brush so install a water trap. Also I wish it would have had fitting for a air brush it doesnt come with any and that is a task of getting the right fitting to make it adapt to a air brush. The front rubber foot needs to be improved to a better design. also I am pretty sure it can be made quieter by installing a better front foot on the compressor. Its definitely worth the money, but you can tell its china made, the off and on switch seems very cheap. Over all I am happy with the purchase. I personally dont think it could run air tools for like a mechanic. This is perfect for air brushing. I bought the aluminum tank and seems of good quality. probably the cheapest air compressor you can buy with a large air storage tank you can buy for air brushing.

This is my second California Air compressor, the first was smaller and had a steel tank. Ive passed the smaller one to my son and he uses it with an air brush and as a general purpose compressor, he loves it. As stated its very quiet and delivers all the air I need for an air nailer and general purpose. I blow dust from computers and will eventually use it for a Laser engraver air assist. I highly recommend California Air.

I am a forty year veteran of small 6-8 gallon air compressors. My first small horizontal 6 gallon air compressor lasted 25 years. My second 6 gallon pancake air compressor lasted 10 years. My use rate is of an ordinary homeowner that uses his air compressor intermittently for blowing off riding lawn mower, adding air to tires, occasionally using pneumatic tools, etc. So what do I think of the California tools air compressor? The first thing I look at on any air compressor are the welds. On my unit the welds show no imperfections. The second thing I look for is air leaks. My compressor holds air well and shows no indication of air leaks. The air compressor fills quickly and is the quietest unit I have ever owned. One word of caution. Do not, I repeat do not use an extension cord of any size and length to power this compressor. The ari compressor has a tag right on the power cord stating not use an extention cord but I did not notice it. The extension cord caused the air compressor to overheat. It took approximately 30 minutes for the compressor to cool enough to restart. My oversight appears not to have caused any permanent damage. if you need to reach farther distances buy a longer air hose. All in all I am very pleased with my purchase. How many years will this unit last? Who knows but I am looking forward to using this air compressor for years to come.

Havent used it on a a job yet , however it is very quiet and easy to move / pick up . Its half the weight of my old compressor with slightly greater capacity . I will review again after I have some run time with it .

With out any question this is the quietest compressor I have ever had. This thing fills quickly and is very pleasant to work around. Sounds like a sewing machine. Really nice.

Builds pressure fast & very low noise. The geometry of the handle & wheels couldnt be more useless. When you try to wheel it around it will do a wheelie & flop on the back of the tank... Im only 56 tall, so its just a bad design. Get the aluminium model cuz you are going to just carry it to move it.

This is very quiet for a compressor. I was impressed, runs great and the aluminum tank is nice since I usually leave it Ill of air all the time. Holds pressure very well it has been holding steady for a few weeks now.

Seemed like a great product. Arrived intact, assembled it, and powered it up. Flicked the switch and the first thought was WOW! This thing is amazingly quiet!. I decided to shut it down before fully charging it, and immediately noticed it was leaking - like leaking so badly that the hissing sound coming from it was as loud as it was when it was running. Clearly they dont test these after assembly, because this unit would have been obviously faulty. So... go to Amazon to start trying to get help. They direct me to CAT for support. CAT support offers to let me troubleshoot the compressor, and they will send me replacement parts. For me, that is extremely lame. They want ME to troubleshoot their crap product - for no pay? I dont work for them. They dont pay me to be a depot-level repair facility, and I paid for a NEW unit - not a DIY compressor kit. So, I go back to Amazon to get a return/replacement - since CAT was not going to help. Amazon is now out of stock, and the only seller is charging $150 more than what I paid for the unit. Amazon encourages me to return the compressor, and get a credit towards the new purchase - which would cost me $150 more. So, Amazon Customer Service is out of their minds as well. Finally get someone who tells me to wait until they are back in stock - and they will send me a new one, and pick up the old broken one. What a pain. So frustrating. I hope that the replacement works well - I was really looking forward to having a nice quiet air supply - instead I have gotten the runaround from everyone involved... I fully expect that a good unit will be amazing, just hoping its not months before I can get one...