It would be good if you would find the Husky "Quiet Aire" compressor from Home Depot. It is a discontinued model so it may be hard to find. It is quiet enough so you could work at night without bothering other people. Just keep the doors closed🙂 Cost for mine was about $85. Good luck finding one.
pv25, a handpiece repairguy told me that you could ruin your handpiece if you run it at too high a pressure. 80-120 psi will surely bust your bearings. Check your handpiece's owner's manual for the correct working air pressure. This should be from 35-45 psi. If you are practicing for the CA bench exam, it would be wise to find out the air pressure rating of the school lab you would use the handpiece in, and practice using that pressure. If my memory serves me right, UOP uses 45 psi. I am pretty sure it levels down depending on the number of students working, but it would be safer to practice on the high end than low.
Another thing to consider is the CFM rating of your compressor. IMO it is more important than the PSI. Any compressor, even the small battery operated ones, can build up a lot of pressure, but cannot maintain the air flowing at that given pressure for a long period of time. The CFM rating is the capacity of your compressor to deliver air flow at a certain air pressure. The higher the CFM rating, the better for you.
It would also be wise to install an on-line particle and water filter. It is usually a small plastic jar with a filter element inside. Water getting into the air line may not be a problem, but the rust particles from the tank might get into the handpiece turbines and ruin them. It goes without saying that it is also important that you drain your tank of water(and with it, the rust) after everytime you use the compressor.
I hope that helped.
Ivorinedust
"Apolonia, relieve my toothache!"
