DEWALT D55168 Heavy-Duty 200 PSI 15 Gallon 120-Volt Electric Wheeled Portable Workshop Compressor |  | Brand: DEWALT
Category: Home Improvement
List Price: $710.42
Buy New: $369.00
as of 11/25/2009 12:09 CST details
You Save: $341.42 (48%)
Seller: Amazon.com
Rating:  16 reviews
Media: Tools & Hardware
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 43.6 x 23.6 x 19.8
MPN: 115-D55168
Model: D55168
UPC: 028877575544
EAN: 0028877575544
Shipping: Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Features:
| • | Helps with maintenance and repair on cars and equipment | | • | 200 PSI max tank pressure minimizes down-time | | • | Lightweight and portable; quiet operation | | • | Weighs 110.5 pounds | | • | Oil free for less mess and no up-keep |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Product Description
Lightweight enough for easy portability, this 15-gallon compressor from DEWALT lets you repair and perform maintenance work on cars, as well as a variety of equipment, and can also help with nailing projects and blowing dust away from your work area. Ideal for home or small shop use, its quiet, 78 dBA noise level and oil-free design make for a more pleasant, less messy working experience, while its ability to efficiently operate air tools like paint sprayers and ratchet wrenches gives you plenty of options. The D55168 also minimizes down-time and stands up to wear and tear, thanks to its 200 PSI max tank pressure and 5.4 SCFM at 90 PSI operation.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 16
Great value, small footprint, runs the big tools well enough. September 15, 2009
Mark Lord
At CDN$350 from the Borg, the price was excellent. The small, upright tank means it fits easily into the shop, under the lumber rack. The 15-gallon tank is small, but the 200psi tank pressure means it still holds as much air as a larger, lower-pressure tank does.
Takes a long time to fill the tank -- so you may be tempted to just drain only the water daily, leaving the air nearly fully charged. Dunno if that's good or bad, but most of my buddies say they do the same with their compressors.
Has no trouble running a 480 ft-lb impact wrench for intermittent use. Works fine with the air-chisel, and for 1-2 minute long bursts of the 1/4" die grinder. Nailers use much less air than that, so no issues with those either. Just about perfect for home workshop/garage use.
The gauges are excellent, as is the built-in quick-connect.
Quieter than the pancake compressor it replaced here, but still noisy enough to warrant wearing some hearing protection.
After a couple of weeks of use, I noticed little black specks of belt debris all over the floor near the unit. Took the shroud off, and filed down some rough castings near the belt. Dunno if that took care of it or not -- maybe the belt tension is off (?). Will keep an eye on it and exchange it if the problem persists.
Cheers
 Caution, this may be a second, or a refubished unit April 15, 2009
S. A. Conley (Down South)
Use caution. I just sent the second one back to Amazon. Both units were obviously damaged prior to shipment, as you could see where some other party received the same non-functional unit prior to me, and returned it in the re-taped box 3 or 4 times. I used the identical compressor of a friend, and knew this is just what I needed. Unfortunate for me that Amazon is dealing with a supplier such as this one that I had to go through. Definitely buy a Dewalt compressor, but think about an alternate source. Amazon was willing to take both units back, but having the frustration and downtime to return both units make this transaction undesirable.
 Good compressor; Don't buy here April 1, 2009
R. Rater (Texas, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I ordered this compressor twice from Amazon and had to send it back twice because it arrived damaged. The second time UPS didn't even bring it to my house; they saw that the packaging was damaged and asked if I wanted to take it. I said no.
Thankfully I found the compressor for the same price at the local orange big box store. Sweet.
It is a very good compressor. My favorite thing about it is the quietness. It is about as loud as the oil-lubed compressor I bought for the shop at my office. It works great for me as a small-footprint (15 gal tank, upright design) garage-shop compressor. My old porter cable hot dog compressor, which was stolen, worked well but was incredibly loud. Big upgrade by going with this unit. I will update the review later after I've used the compressor for a few months.
I will add that the reason not to buy it from Amazon is more Dewalt's fault than Amazon's. The packaging is very weak... it has thin cardboard with only cardboard supports inside the box. If you do buy it, you might ask for some kind of special shipping arrangement where they are careful with it. I don't know if this exists, but if you don't do that the box and likely the compressor will be damaged.
 DeWalt D55168 December 12, 2008
Frank S. Kresica
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Great compressor for the price. Only drawback was the shipping. First one came damaged and got sent back. Second one also came damaged but was repairable. The main problem was the way it was packed. This unit weighs over 100 lbs. and is shipped in the mfrs. original carton. There is no filler in the box to keep the compressor from bouncing around, since it is not always right side up during shipment. I notified the shipper of this problem, and received credit for the damage. The unit now works great and I am totally satisfied!
Excellent small shop air compressor November 29, 2008
R. Johns (Monterey, CA)
24 out of 25 found this review helpful
This is an excellent small shop / home air compressor. However, with that said, it's important to understand that it does have some limitations and is not designed to replace larger air compressors. With this review, I will try to give a thorough rundown and address both the pros and cons.
I grew up using your typical Craftsman 5HP 30 gallon air compressor. My dad bought it for the garage and I made use of it all through my teenage years of working on cars and fabricating. It required oil and was pretty loud. So, when I bought my own house, one of the first things on the list for the garage was my own air compressor. I almost bought a Craftsman unit from Sears, but after reading the terrible reviews about the model(s) I was considering, I decided to keep shopping. Based on the reviews here on amazon, it seems the quality of the recent Craftsman air compressors isn't what it used to be.
After deciding not to purchase a craftsman unit, I checked into several other brands. One of the units which always caught my eye was the 200 PSI Dewalt unit. For one, it was an upright unit, so it didn't take up nearly as much space as the sideways type. Also, it was higher pressure and smaller than many of the other brands. Overall, however, it seemed very well made.
One concern I had was the fact that it didn't use or require any oil. In fact, this worried me so much that I actually called Dewalt and spoke with their technical support department about how that works. I was told that coating technology had come a long way and this allowed them to produce a piston that didn't require any oil. I also asked them about how much use the unit could stand and they assured me it would stand up to most any home use. The person I spoke with explained that this unit was designed to be used at a job site and that it was intended for heavy use 5 or more days per week, even though it didn't require all that much maintenance. The impression I got was that it was designed to basically roll out of the box and be ready for use at a construction site - even when put into heavy use.
One thing the Dewalt representative did say was that it was very important to properly break the unit it. This consists of running the unit for 15 minutes with no load (and the drain valve open on the bottom) when you initially fire it up. I followed the directions in the manual to the letter and have since had zero problems. Let me tell you, running your air compressor for 15 minutes seems like a very long time! :-) However, from what I understand, this break-in process is very important to ensuring that the unit operates properly over its life.
As mentioned, one of the nice things about this unit is that it's relatively small. It doesn't take up much in the way of space. The construction is very nice and the unit is clearly heavy duty. I believe one of the other reviews mentioned something about the drain valve on the bottom touching the ground because the wheels aren't high enough. This is indeed the case, but it doesn't really matter, since you generally have no need to open the valve on the bottom all the way. In fact, when bleeding the tank, you usually only open the valve about 1/2 or 1/4 of the way, since this allows the unit to decompress slowly and helps to avoid the outlet from icing over due to air exiting too quickly. As such, the fact that the tip of the lever touches the ground is really a non-issue.
In any event, one of the great things about this air compressor - besides its high quality design and construction - is that it's incredibly quiet. I would say it produces about half the noise (if not less) than a similar Craftsman unit. It's difficult to explain exactly. Obviously, the unit makes noise. However, it's noticeably quieter than other models. Let me put it this way: when running the unit in my garage (with the garage door open), it can barely be heard from a distance of about 150 feet. With the garage door down, I can actually run it at night and it's difficult to hear from a distance of even 50 feet away from the house. As such, I'm able to work into the evening without the fear of the neighbors hearing the compressor. Again, the unit does make noise, but for an air compressor, it comes in at a much lower sound level than most.
The fact that this unit requires no oil is a joy. The previous compressor I used always required oil, which is a hassle. The Dewalt unit does not. In fact, aside from draining the tank (i.e. letting the air out) at night, there really isn't anything you have to do.
The Dewalt D55168 compressor is rated at 200 PSI - however, that's tank pressure, not hose pressure. In other words, you can't dial the regulator up to where you are supplying a full 200 PSI to your tools (nor would you want to). So the tank does charge up to 200 PSI, but the pressure available via the hose is more like 125 or 130 PSI (as I recall - it might go as high as 150 PSI). This isn't any problem, however, since most air tools only call for between 50 and 80 PSI. Even when blowing out parts, 100 to 120 PSI is plenty. Basically, the pressure available at the hose is the same as most other compressors.
This air compressor is outstanding for several functions. For filling up tires, it's great. For blowing out parts, it's wonderful. It's also perfect for running air ratchets and impact tools (such as impact wrenches). The recharge is pretty fast and when using something such as an impact wrench, it works quite a while before the tank kicks back in.
So, if you are looking to have compressed air for blowing out parts, filling up tires or running an impact wrench, then this compressor is outstanding and fits the bill perfectly. However, if you are looking to run your die grinder, air sander or rotary grinder, you are going to be a bit disappointed. Tools that suck a lot of air in and spit a lot of air out (which includes most continually spinning tools, such as grinders and sanders) pull too much air for this smaller size compressor. If you attach a die grinder for example and start cutting away at some mild steel, you'll quickly find that the compressor is running nearly non-stop to attempt to keep up. On the other hand, if you are using an air nailer, you should be fine.
So the bottom line is this: if you are looking to blow off parts, fill up tires and run a few ratchets and/or impact wrenches, then this compressor is fantastic. It requires pretty much zero maintenance and is very quiet. On the other hand, if you are looking to use air tools to sand or grind down welds - or you are thinking you can run your air powder die grinder all day, then you are most likely going to be sorely disappointed and should probably look for a higher HP and larger tank compressor.
Myself, I love this compressor and simply have switched to electric powered grinders for jobs such as cutting and grinding (since they generally do a better job anyway). The dewalt provides compressed air for jobs that really require it and it does so with no hassles or complaints. As long as you aren't looking to power a shop full of grinders and sanders, then the Dewalt D55168 is hard to beat when it comes to a small/quiet air compressor for the home, garage or small job site.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 16
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