SILENT COMPRESSORS are the ultimate AIRBRUSH UPGRADE! silentaire DR 150 review

Thanks for making this video. I stumbled upon a used Silentaire compressor about a year ago. I bought it for dirt cheap, 50 bucks. The prior owner listed it as “Not Working”. For 50 bucks, I took my chances. I figured I could fix it. Here was the problem. The compressor turned on but then it shut off. It didn’t build pressure and blow air. I removed the housing and popped the cover off. I noticed a tremendous amount of water and muddy oil. I cleaned it out, let it dry a few days and put fresh oil. Still didn’t work. I called the company and described the problem. They said it was a stuck piston. They advised me to use a vise grip to unstuck the piston. I got it loose. Once I got it loose, I turned the compressor on and it worked like new. And it was very silent. I still have it, however, I’m buying a brand new one around Christmas. So changing oil yearly and clearing moister trap, as you mentioned, is imperative in keeping this compressor performing optimally. Judging by the condition I bought the compressor, it safe to say the oil wasn’t changed and moister trap never cleared out. Your thorough review was excellent. Love your channel.

I'd like to just pause for a moment to appreciate how ridiculously talented you are as an artist, first and foremost. The technical acumen and great content are really bonuses.

Thanks for detailed review, was searching for thing like that!

That seems amazingly quiet! But bloody expensive. Nice to know that option is out there. Thanks for the review.👍🏼

That is amazingly quiet. I have been using air compressors my while life in the automotive setting and was excited when I got one that was only 60db. If I get to the point that I'm airbrushing every day, this will be on my short list of acquisitions.

That´s a really nice compressor! Congrats, love to see you like it so much! It is very similar to one I built years ago with a refrigerator motor and two fire extinguishers (yeah, I live in Argentina... compressors always were really expensive). After 2 or 3 days, I added another motor, because it took around 5 minutes to fill. If I remerber correctly, I changed both of them after a while for a couple 1/2 hp fridge ones and that gave me like 14 minutes pressing the trigger at around 25psi. If that compressor made by me and my little knowledge, with awful weldings, 90% of the parts that were from garbage I got from the street (except the gauges and check valve and connections) lasted me for more than 8 years nearly everyday use for a couple hours.... you can expect yours to last A LOT.

I bought a No Name Cool Tooty and I love it!

i have the California Air Tools 8010A Aluminum Tank Air Compressor | Ultra Quiet, Oil-Free, 1.0 hp, 8 gal and looking to go more silently (i dont consider the CAT one i got to be quiet), obviously I heard of silentaire (oiled compressors). Good to see a review on them. Well thought out review with your testing caveats. I'm looking at the L10 gsi creos linear compressor as a future buy or going the oiled route, i do need to go the high psi route (25+ rarely though). I'm into MG gunpla/similar model sizes. Good thing I came across this review. Currently have a waterfall spray booth...the fans need to quieter/larger to run at lower rpms then it'd be prefect. Silent all things in the model world! Spray all day and no one can ever complain of the noise!

WOW! Now someone needs to come up with a spray booth thats just as quiet and then I can justify upgrading both!

One thing I would like to mention with oil based compressors like these, watch to be sure you don't get oil in your air lines. I've owned two in my lifetime and both were fabulous but I did wind up with a bit of oil seeping into the air system. The company replaced the unit for me at no cost to me but I thought it would be worth mentioning. My second purchase was the super silent 30TC that was on your list and have had no problem with it. Excellent line of compressors and the silence is golden.

I bought my Italian silent compressor about 15 years ago at USD320. Repaired broken hose once, apart from that worked perfectly. It worth the money. Only disadvantage is the weight.

Great review thanks for sharing 👍

So I know I'm late to the party but I just placed my order for the same compressor and I've made alot of my purchases due to your videos so thanks so much , I enjoy all the content you put out , thanks again and I'm looking forward to getting my super silent dr150.......

Excellent review and overview of the initial oil adding setup. I have this same model compressor and when the compressor kicks in, it's quieter than the airbrush spraying air. It's also quieter than my full size refrigerator. It can sustain a lot of spraying for a long time with no drop in pressure. The company who makes these has been around forever. A lot of companies now are saying they have "quiet compressors" but that's because old compressors are literally 100dB, so by comparison their 70dB is "quiet". This compressor is actually quiet, not just quiet relative to a 100dB construction compressor which sounds like a jackhammer. One thing you noted is that 0.7cfm is for airbrushes only. I didn't know much about cfm before buying it, as I thought only PSI mattered, but 0.7 cfm isn't considered sufficient for some of the smaller Iwata and LPLV spray guns, which require around 2.0 cfm minimum or more at operating pressure. So people needing to spray with those tools should be looking for something with higher cfm. The only thing I find lacking in this compressor is the moisture trap PSI gauge location which is hard to read, a fairly minor thing once PSI is set. Other than that, it's a tool I really appreciate. One improvement I made was to add the Sparmax 1/8" bleed valve to the hose fitting, which allows for bleeding the air tank slowly to 0psi without disconnecting hoses.

It blows my mind that you're an artist and not an engineer. You're waaay more precise and focused on details and measurements than the average video.

Great video, thanks. I've been using a silent compressor for 18 years and they are great. One thing worth noting is to only use the special, synthetic silent compressor oil or you will damage the compressor. Another silent compressor brand is Jun-air, which I believe are built in the U.S. and are built even better than Silent Air, but extremely pricey. Probably more than double the price of Silent Air.

I've had a Silentaire for about 35 years. Actually it was my wife's compressor for her business (manicurist) and it was used daily for many years. I have been using it for the past several years. I'm amazed it is still running! The oil level is still fine and I don't remember doing anything with the oil as far as changing or topping off. I'm convinced it will see me to my grave. The noisiest part of this compressor is the pressure switch. It's the only indication the compressor is actually running - an occasional quiet 'Klik'.

Great review! I live in a small apartment with annoying neighbours, so if I was to go back to my old love of airbrushing, I had to find a compressor that didn't sound like a bulldozer firing up. By sheer luck, I came across a second-hand SilentAir DR150 on eBay for £65, ($80 US), and knowing the going prices thought this might be too good to be true. As it turns out, I went round the guy's house and I think he had got it via a nail parlour, and didn't really know what he had. I explained what airbrushes were, and he offered me a bag with two RichPen airbrushes with hoses, and said, "You can have those too." (!!) Yes, the first thing I noticed as I went to take out to the car was it nearly pulled my arm off. Ye Gods, is it heavy! It was in a bit of a sorry state with both the reservoir and the moisture trap full of water, (which may have explained some of the weight), so after emptying half a gallon of rusty sludge and topping up the oil, it seems to run nicely. And the real point of this whole thing, the noise... What noise? It purrs like a kitten. You barely hear it switch on, except for the tiny "clink" of the relay. Overall, even at full price, this thing is amazing. I would totally recommend it. I would agree that the dials and the moisture trap are a bit cheap, and I might look to replace them, and one other extra, an indicator light just to remind you that it is actually on!

Bought very similar same compressor 30 years ago, still works and still very silent. Other than that it came with a wrong gasket and leaked oil for years, had to keep it in a large pan. After many years finally figured out it was the gasket and ordered another one, which turned out to be the wrong size also. Finally figured out you can make your own gasket and that worked. Air has also always leaked around the hose attachment , finally just put a two part epoxy all over the area and now the hose is permanently attached, but it works. Lastly the on switch doesn’t turn the compressor on until after a minute or two delay, never have figured that one out.

Wow, that's significantly quieter. Aspirations. If you ever get time, would be nice to hear your thoughts on the compressor maintenance, never knew the tank itself had to be drained and obtained a nice glass of rusty water from it.