Eastwood QST 30/60 compressor 1 year review! Check this thing out! Quiet air!

[@N4sir98]

I'm glad to hear your QST30/60 has been reliable. Many others can't say the same. Is the unit as quiet once it begins the air bleeding phase (pressure release)? No one seems to demonstrate on video their units after reaching a full tank of air.

[@UnkleThor]

It sounds like every pressure release on any compressor. It’s the same components used as a standard compressor. The square D pressure switch is slightly quieter than the unit provided. But it’s what you’d be use to hearing.

[@rotarycomptech]

If you haven’t had a condensate issue in your lubricant you must live out west where there is virtually no humidity from what I understand these units do not have a thermal bypass valve on them

[@UnkleThor]

@@rotarycomptech there is some truth to that. But also this is a major issue with piston compressor and I’d imagine the problem would be only worse in comparison. I know that all of the units I’ve had on work trucks so far in the winter and the rain have always ended up with huge amounts of oil blow when everything’s soaked and wet and I don’t think this set up would be worse. Imagine (someone problably already builds them) a scroll compressor just turned with a horizontal shaft small utility engine). I still think this would be a better route to go with improved performance. Considering blow by on the piston driven units I’ve ran out in the field I bet this would still alleviate that issue atleast to some small degree.

[@rotarycomptech]

@ if you’re having condensate issues with a piston compressor, it’s quite simple. The duty cycle is too low unit is not running enough therefore water accumulates in the crank case in a rotary air compressor or or this scroll compressor, which is oil injected just like a rotary screw air compressor is. you also need to have a pretty good load on the unit and the unit needs to get up to temperature at least 170° preferably 180 to 190 would be better if it doesn’t you’re going to make condensate in the rotary unit, regardless what kind it is that’s why I made the original comment as to where you lived

[@UnkleThor]

@ piston compressors just wear so fast regardless they endlessly have blow by. I’ve never had one I could maintain fast enough running them all day everyday. They get up to temp and run ok for three-four oil changes and then there pretty much worn out and done. I’ve only ever managed a season out of a piston driven compressor. You’re right for that small window of time the rings seal correctly. Once that starts to degrade they keep dieing for a very long time and eventually just won’t keep up and burn so much oil they finally get destroyed and the wall scaring is to much or they get hung up and you end with Cato’d crank, case, or piston. The lack of wear life basically makes it so there’s just no argument for the short lived life where there not burning oil just to burn an excess amount of oil. This is the first single phase compressor I’d dare to continue painting with day in day out for that reason.

[@rotarycomptech]

@@UnkleThor may I dare ask what brand and model of piston air compressors you were using before, the Quincy QR 25 series is pretty robust and will take quite the abuse but if you are consuming that type of air, I would seriously consider stepping up to a rotary screw air compressor

[@johnsutter1497]

Will this keep up with air sanders and sandblasting?

[@UnkleThor]

12cfm so blasting is a yes but only small stuff. Any of your small cabinets it should be ok with. But if you start trying to up your nozzle sizes and get real coverage your not gonna have what you need. Air tools, sanders, smaller blast cabinets does great. I run my whole shop with this and run various sanders and other air tools all day everyday.

[@johnsutter1497]

@@UnkleThor thank you

[@jamescole3152]

I have seen people say the maintanance makes this Eastwood compressor no good. Water in the oil or something crazy.

[@UnkleThor]

I think people expectations are extremely unrealistic to be honest. It’s still a compressor. But it’s a huge improvement over a piston compressor. Especially if your running it hard. This is going on how long now? Before this compressor I went through a plethora or piston driven 60 and 80 gallon units that had a catastrophic failure of some sort atleast monthly. I think people purchase this unit thinking they’ll have 100% dry air without any other set up just right off the compressor without a dryer. I also think they think it’s just gonna be 100% maintenance free. For me it’s been real close to that. And even with my regulator and incandescent dryer there’s still some moisture. But that being said it’s by far the dryest air with the least amount of issues I’ve had in my personal shop ever. Only thing better I’ve ever experienced is a big screw compressor with a large dryer.

[@jeffreyfranz8399]

why is it 'ok' to expect to replace a switch on a unit that costs in excess of $2.5k delivered?

[@UnkleThor]

Because they go out just the same on the 2.5k plus piston driven machines but this went a whole year and that’s it. No belts, no motor issues, no start capacitors, and you can get some dry air out of this unit. The last 80 gallon CH machine I had by this time was on motor rebuild 2, alot of start capacitors, 3 belts, and then proceeded to put a rod through the side of the pump. So comparing a name brand 80 gallon piston unit to this 1 switch compared to everything but the tank. Which has been my experience with attempting to run a piston driven compressor all day everyday for as long as I could remember. I’ve bought a new 60 or 80 gallon compressor at a minimum once a year since I was 17.

[@LarryBouley1]

Good for you. I've had mine for 10 months and it has pretty much died. Pressure relief valve never stops releasing air and unit gets very hot. It took Eastwood a week to get back with me and they still not have resolved the issue. This will be going in the trash soon. I will never buy another product from Eastwood.

[@UnkleThor]

This is is your pressure switch sticking open. The entire reason I replaced the switch with a beefier D-squared. Now I’m 3 years deep daily use no issues. These pressure switches were a problem on all the 60-80 gallon units before hand. But between, pressure switches, motors, belts, and dieing heads I’m done with that shit. I’ve yet to get a whole season out of a piston compressor.

[@Plymouthgoat]

I see the argument here on moisture in the oil vs oil in the air. Yes this thing will probably produce a lot less moisture in the airlines than a piston compressor but my piston compressor NEVER gets moisture in the oil. I've had my 5 hp 80 gallon Air Flight for well over 15 years. Not one problem. Same pressure relief valve, not one head rebuild, magnetic starter still primo. If you never had a piston compressor last more than a year then stop buying Walmart compressors. And I have my water separator 20 from the compressor to allow for condensation. You can't put the separator any closer than that because you're not allowing the air to condensate and let the separator do its job. And I live in high humidity Wisconsin. I paint cars with not one drop of moisture in my paint. I had and IR (Ingersol Rand) 60 gallon 5 hp once and the line blew off while I was gone. Still had the switch in auto. That compressor ran so long that the cast iron pump was WHITE when I got home. It was smoking hot. Let it cool for an entire day. Compressor made excellent air after that. Testament to buying a quality piston type compressor. I never leave my compressor switch on after that! I talked with the rep at Eastwood and he assured me all of the problems with this compressor have been worked out. That was a year ago. I can see they have not.

[@UnkleThor]

So you’re trying to argue what? You’ve had a piston compressor for 15 years. You don’t even use your compressor enough o understand or have an opinion dude. There’s the cold hard truth of the matter. Piston compressors used everyday and serviced don’t last a year. They don’t have moisture in the oil, they have sloppy pistons, thrown rods, bad motors, need endless belts and never last enough hours to worry about moisture in the oil. I haven’t had any moisture in the oil of my machine yet. I also haven’t bothered turning it off since last Thursday. I’ve been running two shifts in my shop to get some projects done. This little guy has yet to skip a beat.

[@UnkleThor]

I’ve owned all the different 80 gallons, a Ingersoll Rand is every bit the same piece of cheap shit as any other brand. I’ve been tearing them all apart and putting them back together for years. They don’t have the duty cycle to be able to hold to any kind of hard extended use. There made sit in the corner of the average Joe’s garage who never accomplishes shit and mostly lets it sit un used until there kid pops a tire on there bike. There’s a few 3 phase industrial units that are better. But nothing like the reliability that this little guy has given me. Belts still wear, compressor heads still wear out relatively fast, and the only thing particularly good on the 3 phase industrial units is the switch quality. I haven’t bought a new compressor that didn’t have the switch die in the first few months. Including this Eastwood. Single phase shit is cheap because they know if your committed enough to get a decent building you ain’t willing to work and regardless of the price point it’s just going to sit in the corner and waste away. A lot like your compressor you’ve had for 15 years……………. It still works, but when are you going to start?

[@nickschoenly742]

Wipe the oil off your camera lense

[@UnkleThor]

I’m a shop man first, a cameraman second, and always remember safety third.

[@kwakernaak78]

Are you being paid to say what you did? Man I feel 180 degrees the other way. Mine is spitting oil all over the place, oil tank filling with water all the time. Lots of oil inside the airtank… popoff valve going off INSIDE the machine spitting out oil vapor. This thing is NOT as advertised.

[@UnkleThor]

I’m not being paid. But from the sounds of it you haven’t owned enough air compressors to actually understand how shitty they are and how much of an improvement this machine is. I haven’t had any water in my oil. But as with them all there’s abit of blowby. Just significantly less than any piston compressor I’ve ever had. Most of what I’ve seen for bad reviews seem to come from people who don’t understand how difficult dealing with compressed air is. This is the first compressor I’ve had yet that’s ran for more than 2 weeks using it everyday without having a issue that’s taken it out of service. Considering that it’s significantly better. I’m bad to. I haven’t been great about draining my tank everyday. I get to it like once a week or so. Only being a 30 gallon tank it fills fast to.

[@jamescole3152]

@@UnkleThor If it is such an improvement then why aren't more manufacturers making these? Who wouldn't want a quieter machine.

[@UnkleThor]

Well Quincy and Ingersoll rand do build some similar models. Price points start around 7500 bucks. Quincy and Ingersoll rand build 80 gallons that are built from the same Chinese shit as the cheap 80 gallons for comparable prices to this. This is the only 30 gallon tank I’ve seen but there is 60 gallon tank units that perform real close to this. So they exist. And there mostly out of reach of the single man fab shop.

[@Good-luck-Jonathan]

Hi moisture water accumulates everybody knows this. You’ve got to burn off the moisture and have that 100% duty cycle heat it up. Some people run a thermostat for the oil cooler.

[@UnkleThor]

That’s the hard part in some ways with this guy. Its performance goes up with some heat for sure. I think I’m going to install a air dryer at some point. But this to this day is still performing really well considering. My other 80 gallon I run at my dads house is an absolute problem and everything is hydraulic instead of pneumatic. You couldn’t paint if you tried out of that system.

[@rotarycomptech]

So the unit does not have a thermal valve whoever designed this machine does not understand the way rotary screw, rotary vein or even for that matter a liquid ring compressor if you don’t achieve the magic number of 170° discharge temperature you’re going to make water in the lubricant

[@Good-luck-Jonathan]

@@rotarycomptech They added a auto water drain now. Still the best compressor on the market for the price and quite.

[@usvett]

i think people who live in the north and east have more humdity and oil spitting out

[@UnkleThor]

I’m sure they do. I know how bad a piston compressor is in high humidity to. And im sure it’s still a huge improvement over that mess. Seattle Oregon coastal with a piston compressor is like running compressed moisture, not so much compressed air.

[@PaulThomas-qo9vy]

High humidity is a major issue for all coastal proximity areas that recieve saturated air blowing from the the ocean. In South Central Tx. where I live, Icheck the weather conditions daily & in July 2023 most mornings relative humidity (RH) in the mornings exceeded 95% most days! At max. temp of 100°F, RH drops to 35%. Now, in Aug. '23, morning RH has dropped to 85-90% & now our annual dry spell is in full effect. Temps. peak at 102 to 105°F & RH is 30%. Extraordinary means are required to achieve dry, conditioned air! Aftercooler with fan, water seperators & traps/drains, coalescing filter, desicant silica beads & final filter. I try to get the air dry enough Before it enters the tank, so no moisture condenses inside the tank for long term tank safety. Final drying & filtering is done near the point of need (plasma cutter, sand blaster, paint gun, etc. The 3rd Gen. Eastwood 30/60 has the upgrades I believe earlier versions lacked to deal with a high humidity environment. I would like to acquire a 3rd Gen. When I can afford it. Until then HF compressor pumps are what I can afford on my shop system & my portable gas powered unit ! Want vs. Need, right?

[@straightpipeproductions3726]

It will be great for a year…. All down hill from there. It’s a weekend warrior 2 car garage guy. Not meant for real 100% duty cycle.

[@UnkleThor]

I had to replace the pressure switch because the original was sticking which has also been an issue on all of my piston driven units I’ve bought new. After that this unit has ran day in day out in my shop for 3 years now. No issues. Best compressor I’ve owned so far actually.