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

So far I do love it. Compared to what Ive had in the past its unbelievably quiet. Im a retired finish carpenter of over 45 years and still like to build and repair things and so far its fine. It works with all my finish guns but Im not doing production work so it might not keep up for that. I tried it with an air chisel and it works fine as well but I have to let it catch up. I love that it has an aluminum tank so no more rusty water to drain. And its on wheels so I dont have to lift it all the time. Really just what I wanted.

Light, easy to move, above all else quiet. My old ones would rattle your brain they were so loud. I fired this up in my living room and could talk to my wife while it was running. Amazing! Only downside is I think it needs to be more stable. I think I can easily fix that by bolting on a long bar to be wider base.

My AC arrived today. Having read every review before ordering, and with some anticipation, I first checked the condition of the external box and it looked in good condition. The box inside was the actual CAT’s box and it looked new and also good condition. Opening that internal box I found all of the parts expected and the AC itself in excellent condition—-no scratches, no dings, no blemishes, no imperfection or worrisome cracks—-nothing; the entire contents looks perfect. Welds at the ends of the tanks look perfect. I decided to spend a little more and get the aluminum tank over the steel tank for 2 reasons: rust-free and lighter. OK; on to assembly—-Easy attaching the wheels, but I added lock washers to make the bolts more secure. No problem attaching front foot rubber bumper. I attached the air filter, hand-tight as the manual instructs (yes; some people actually *do* read manuals! :-) ) There is a short plastic hose that attaches to the air filter but it ended up pointing vertically upward. That did not seem like a good position for it to be in. I began to bend the tube and attach some duck tape so that it was at least somewhat horizontal until I discovered that the cover to the air filter could easily be removed and rotated so that the hose ended up pointing almost vertically downward = much better solution (no tape needed.) Plugged it in and turned it on. Almost jumped back as a habit to my extremely noisy and annoying old pancake AC—-but no! It is much quieter. I would not say that it is “ultra quiet”, but the sound level is very acceptable—even pleasant! I checked for leaks, again as directed by the manual, using a soapy water spray bottle. I found no leaks anywhere—-and I checked every possible location: valves, cables, connectors, guages—-everything. I also checked the tightness of all the bolts—-all were fine. It is a bit odd, the orientation of the 2 pressure gauges: the tank guage being read from the side and the regulator guage being read from the top. No biggie, but I might install a 45 or 90 degree angled connector on the tank guage. I did that with my old compressor and it was then much more convenient reading the guage. Many reviewers say that they found some components to be too fragile—-especially the regulator. I am not sure I would agree with that. On the other hand my AC will remain stationary in the corner of my garage for the vast majority of the time, using a long hose reel. So I am not worried about breaking anything on the AC. If you are going to be transporting this a lot you might want to read the other reviews. Overall I am very pleased with this AC initially. If it lasts 3-5 years I will consider it an excellent purchase. Easily 5 stars for my purposes. I ordered a second one.

I bought this compressor to engrave with a GRS GraverMax G8 (compressor on their website is $400+)*half the price, same specs*. Works great, holds psi, no leaks, not loud. The only thing was a small retainer of some type was broken by the air filter so I wasn’t able to hook up one hose. Didn’t affect the performance. Recommend a dryer of some sort as any air compressor will have some moisture.

so far it is exactly what I was expecting

I purposely purchased this air compressor because a) its super quiet, and b) because I stupidly thought it was made in California. No where on the Amazon listing or on the California Air Tools site did I ever notice that its actually made and imported from China, and sold through California Air Tools. I only noticed AFTER purchasing it from Amazon and having it sit in my garage until I was able to test it (it says Made in China on the box). Super frustrating if you, like me, are trying to buy American made goods. The compressor itself was in decent shape, is very quiet (as compressors go), and is fairly easy to move with the wheels. Take care not to remove the air hose while the tank is full without hearing protection because I almost blew an eardrum it was so loud. Same with the release valve on the bottom, you can work it half way until its drained to avoid the sudden escape loudness. Fairly good compressor overall but Im super disappointed that they werent forthright with the country of origin.

Really really quiet compared to other common air compressors! A little top heavy over uneven terrain.

Very quiet compressor. Had to modify the bump stop in the front. Has two wheels in the back and one floor mount in front. Compressor is top heavy, I had to make a bracket for the front to keep it from tipping over.

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.

Since over time every compressor i had rusted out i decided to get the Aluminum model and im very happy with the compressor. Its very light for the 8 gallon size and when i fired it up in the house, you could have a normal conversation while its running. My last series of compressors were ear numbingly loud , This is a very nice unit and i highly recommend it!