After blowing dry my lawn sprinklers this year with my 25 yr old unknown make 1Hp 12 gallon compressor, I returned to the shop to find it filled with blue smoke. I unplugged the thing, grabbed the handles, rolled it out of the shop and promptly flipped it on its side on the concrete walkway. (It was an accident, really). It had no belt guard so it bent the crankshaft when it hit the flywheel. With perfect timing my wife stepped into the shop, covered her nose and said "Looks like you need a new compressor". I couldnt agree more. I wanted a vertical tank (so I can put it into the basement and free up shop space) with at least 60 gallons (so it doesnt take 4 hours to blow out the sprinkler lines each year), wanted a good name brand and wanted to keep it under $500. I searched for a long time and came across some deals on a new Porter Cable C7550 175PSI, 6HP 80 gallon 2 stage V-twin. Way more compressor than I'll ever need. But...One site (I wont post the link lest it be removed*) has this $1100 list compressor offered for $799, $7.99 shipping and they are throwing in a PC BN200 18 guage brad nailer for free! (I have a brad nailer so this one will be on Ebay in a week or so). Amazon has it for $849 with free shipping but no nailer. How they can ship a 450 lb compressor for $7.99 (or free) beats the heck out of me. Anyway, if anybody is interested in a monster compressor, this deal is very hard to beat. Note: you need a 240V 30 Amp circuit to run it). Now my problem. It does not come with a regulator and I can't seem to find one at a reasonable price that can handle 175 PSI on the input. I called Porter Cable and they said their regulator model PF383 (PF384 with filter) can handle 175PSI, but I have not been able to confirm this. All the websites that come up in a google search end up pointing to Amazon but there are no PSI specs on either the PF383 or PF384 and the guage on the image shown (poor resolution) sure seems to max at 90 PSI. So I am skeptical. So forum readers, does anybody have (or have access to) a PF383 or PF384 regulator and can tell me the specs or maybe has an alternate choice that can handle 175 PSI (and isn't an Ingersoll-Rand for $200)? Any ideas appreciated, I'd sure hate to blow half my air tools with 175PSI... Thanks, Snarksdad * If really interested in this deal, do a Google Search on Porter Cable C7550 and about the 6th link down is a site called Tool****.com where **** is a "a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom". Go to the page referenced and then do a search on that site for C7550....

This air compressor shows 90 lbs of air in the tank which is exactly what I want! The relief valve when pulled lets air escape! However, there is 'NO' air pressure showing on the gauge that is attached to the air hose. I can't get air out through the hose! What's the probable problem? Thx, Ron