I bought this compressor to replace my Hydrovane 43, the hydrovane was my first compressor, it is a 100% duty cycle machine but I didnt need this feature and any compressor that capable of 100% duty cycle (100% means the compressor can work continuously) WILL require expensive servicing.

What I need is a compressor capable of than 450l/min FAD delivery. Given piston compressor has 50-70% duty cycle, I needed something like 900l/min FAD from a piston, a larger tank will be better as there will be a buffer.

I narrowed down my search to FIAC and Chicago Pneumatcis, FIAC is owned by FIAC, CP is owned by Atlas Copco, both good machines and give similar output, but the CP has 500 litres tank and FIAC is only 300 litres.

Kaeser from Germany has similar machine but the price is more than $10k + gst with dryer while the CP is $8300 with the onboard dryer, I cant justify spending $10k on a compressor.

The CP 7.5kw silenced piston compressor with onboard dryer is about the same price as their 7.5kw rotary screw compressor, but the service cost of a rotary screw compressor is very expensive, regardless of the brand you are looking at $1000 a year even if you are not using it, Kaeser would be even more, the Hydrovane is about the same.

The noise from the silenced piston compressor is very different to the Hydrovane, the pitch is higher on the Hydrovane, it is much lower on the CP, lower than a standard lawn mower, the hydrovane sounds like a malfunctioned fridge.

The Hydrovane has some oil in its air, you will need pre filter, post filters and a dryer to take out the water and the inpurity in the compressed air. I was told by the CP agent that you dont really need the filters for the piston compressor but I have a few machinery that requires clean and dry air so I decided to bite the bullet and get it done right first time rather than regret about it later.

The CP is about between 1/2 and 1/3 of a Landcruiser Prado,


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I am yet to hook up the Ceccato dryer at the front of the photo.
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nice display with soft touch and LED to tell you which part require servicing or what service is due
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internal of the compressor, the door itself weighs about 15kg.

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It only tells you displacement. not the actual FAD. took me awhile to find out from CP headquarter the FAD is 950 l/m
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