Campbell Hausfeld #HL5501 8GAL 15A CI Compressor

Pros: Affordable, portable, sturdy, very heavy-duty power cord,
oil-lubed dependability.
Cons: Noisy (for an oil-lube), poor quality wheel hardware
(could've been an isolated problem on only my unit).

Let me start by saying that I can't live without an air compressor. Those of you who don't have one have no idea how much you'll use it and what an integral part of any household project or repair it will become when you finally have one. That being said, let me explain why I bought this particular compressor and what I think about it thus far.

Until recently, I had an 8-gallon oil-free compressor that was handed down to me from my dad after I bought him a large stationary garage unit about 6 years ago. This thing lasted about 13 years with very regular use with a few repairs over the years. This is absolutely unheard of with an oil-free compressor. It recently started smoking and seized up, causing me to...Read more

I've had the HL5501 for a few months now. Until recently I used it for blowing a workbench clean and filling the cars' tires. About a month ago, the home renovation project I bought it for finally got under way.

Using a Gilmour Handi-Sand sand blaster, it worked pretty hard to sand blast a set of garage door hinges custom built by the blacksmith of the family. Sand blasters are notoriously hungry for volume, and the HL5501 was hard pressed to get the job done. For very occasional use, on small projects, I'll blast with it, but I don't think I'd ask it to do any production sand blasting. Twelve pairs of pintle hinges, each leg 2"x 3/16"x 20", took a long, long time.

Which brings me to my first complaint: during that job, a couple of the fittings under the protective plastic shield vibrated loose and leaked enough air that the compressor couldn't reach shut-off pressure. No big deal to pull the cover (four phillips-head screws) and tighten the fittings, but I...Read more

I purchased this for my mom because she lives alone a few miles outside of town. She doesn't need it to run air tools, basically she'll use it for airing up tires. When I first plugged it in I was very suprised at how quickly it was allready filled up. It should work very well for small around the house type stuff.