Mine too. Crappy little Craftsman pancake thing. Sounds like a chainsaw. There's no good reason for an air compressor to make so much noise for doing so little work.

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Remember, Safety Third!
'99 E300 Turbodiesel, '82 300TD, 1996 12V Cummins Turbo, '94 Neoplan - Detroit 6V92TA

thats because there is no oil in them. the sump type pumps are quiet as hell

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have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

I use a 5HP electric motor to run an air compressor to power a DA sander. Seems like an electric tool would not be using 5 HP' worth of electricity.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

Yup, and refrigeration type compressors, scroll compressors. It's just cheap. One of the few tools I wish I hadn't bought (but rather if I had sprung for a higher quality one)

I think it's 5HP peak. It probably doesn't run continuously, and it doesn't use full power for the whole cycle.

OTOH, you'd have to be a really terrible engineer to design an electric tool that was less efficient than an air tool (esp when powered by an electric compressor).

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Remember, Safety Third!
'99 E300 Turbodiesel, '82 300TD, 1996 12V Cummins Turbo, '94 Neoplan - Detroit 6V92TA

Some air tools are brutal on air consumption. What is not helping much these days is the amount of misleading advertising by resellers. First time I noticed was a neighbour asked me what gauge of wire to feed his compressor with. I asked him the horsepower and length of the feed cable. He told me seven horsepower and whatever the distance was.

Then I got a look at his compressor. It said seven horse but was the first time I saw an electric motor with the new rating system . It may have been a four horse motor at best. Even at seven hundred dollars today they are little but high reving overated toys. Unable to drive a good high volume low pressure spray gun without running out of air pressure.

A good compressor setup is expensive new now. Second hand if you learn how to test a compressor can be a good deal with at least a true five horsepower motor. They turn much slower and are quieter and usually long lasting unless you use them for sandblasting as they are not water cooled. Staying away from aluminium compressor blocks is also a good ideal. If you buy a used true five horsepower unit right. After the usage you will subject it to being an occassional user. . Usually the salvage value when you are finished with it might be about your cost.

You normally want a two stage head if you can find one that shuts off at 175 pounds. I use south american V twin all cast iron compressor heads. About two feet wide across the heads.Rebuild parts are available and overall for the money not bad value. The big names are crazy on price. Five horsepower by the old rating is still faily sensible for the average electrical service in a domestic dwelling. it will pull about twenty six amps at 240 volts.

I hate direct drive compressors. Nothing but noise machines.

Car and Driver did a test of electric impact wrenches in May of 2011. It is online and you could Google it.