Craftsman Air Compressors options

My air compressor died on me this weekend. Anyone running a 26 or 33 gal craftsman compressor? (general duty, not professional)
Both 26 gal & 33 gal are on sale at the same price. I am looking at light duty use.
Some painting, occasional cutting wheel, some grinding, occasional air ratchet, impact here and there. Not expecting miracles out of a
general duty compressor. I made do with a 15gal with 2hp motor for the past 10yrs. Just looking to get a little more
performance out of the next one.

Know of any better ones in the 250-300 price range?

don't get an oil-free compressor, they suck for anything more than light duty. I had a craftsman compressor for more than 23 years, replaced it with a standup oil free piece of crap from Home Depot, Lasted 4 months, got it fixed under warranty (which took the authorized service center almost 4 months) got it back worked for 2 months and same exact problem. By this time the warranty expired. I scrapped the POS and bought an Ingersoll Rand. Oil-free are noisey and they just don't hold up.

Just my 2 cents.

I have the 33, love it. It works really good for all air tools along with paint guns.

Gary took my exact words out of my mouth....or off my finger tips!
IMHO Craftsman hand tools and life time guarantee are of the best bargains to be had.

When it comes to the rest of the Craftsman line, I am not impressed, have innumeral bad experiences and happen to know they contract to the lowest bidder for the least quality possible. Not everything but most everything. $ for $ I think Northern Tools or Harbour Freight would be comparable.

But again don't buy the pancake oil less units....they are POS out of the box.

Thanks for the input guys. Unfortunately price is going to determine this purchase. I would love a bigger higher dollar compressor, but it just doesnt fit the bill right now. My old craftsman was an oil free unit, I got 10 yrs out of it, just wished it had a little more power.

David, How long have you had your 33? I have read reviews that it is slow filling, do you have a lot of downtime waiting for it to catch up?

I've had my 33 since may and have used the crap out of it. It may be slow filling from empty but using it I've never ran out air. I use it mostly for impact wrenches, body saws, and paint guns and it performs really well. I got my compressor on sale and for the price it has totally exceeded my expectations. Its also quiet compared to other compressors I've used.

-David

I also had the 25 gallon model and used it for over 20 years before it crapped out. I now have a 33 gallon model and I'm happy with it. Higher pressure and more capacity, and much quieter than the old one. Longevity? Won't know until the "future is here".

Paul Briggs