When running through the local Home Depot with my kids the other day, I came across two Porter Cable air compressor deals.
This deal comes around every now and then, although it might have skipped a year or two. (Porter Cable has started posting to social media again after taking a couple of years off as well.)
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This is always a good deal. You get a “top-rated” 6 gallon air compressor for $99 and free shipping.
Key Features & Specs
- 6 gallon air tank
- Top handle
- Pancake-style form factor
- 150 PSI max
- 2.6 SCFM at 90 PSI
- 10 amp power draw
- Weighs 30 pounds
- 2 quick connect couplers
- 0.8 HP running
- 82 dBA noise level
- Oil-free
- Made in USA with global materials
Model number: C2002
Price: $99
This is a pretty basic air compressor, but it has been on the market for a while and seems to be reliable.
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Next up, the Craftsman CMEC6150K air compressor kit seems to be based on the Porter Cable C2002 and is bundled with starter accessories.
This might be a better first-time compressor for users who don’t want to have to pick out their own air hose, quick connect fittings, or basic attachments.
The kit comes with an air hose with pre-connected quick couplers, blower, tire chuck, a basic pressure gauge, and selection of inflation and accessory nozzles, and an additional quick connect coupler for attaching to a tool that has a female-threaded connection.
Price: $129
Lowe’s has the Craftsman CMEC6150 air compressor by itself for $99.
Price: $99
There’s also a new Porter Cable air compressor and nailer kit, model PCFP3KIT.
This kit comes with the same Porter Cable 6-gallon air compressor, and adds 3 nailers and a 25′ air hose to the bundle.
It comes with a 23 gauge pin nailer, 18 gauge brad nailer, and 16 gauge finish nailer.
Price: $199
Buy Now via Home Depot
Compare: Different Kit on Amazon
If you want a different nailer kit configuration, Lowe’s has the Craftsman CMEC3KIT, which comes with the Craftsman 6-gallon air compressor, an air hose, 3/8″ crown stapler, 18 gauge brad nailer, and 16 gauge finish nailer.
Price: $199
A-A-Ron
Has anything happened with Porter-Cable since that rather cryptic “sawdust blowoff” vid they posted on their social media a couple months back?
Stuart
More social marketing posts, no new tool announcements or press developments.
Jared
Maybe just hired someone new to manage social media then. I was hoping this signaled… something.
Jim Felt
It basically “signals” that their marketing department has no “aware of modern marketing concepts” management.
Jared
This is all basically the same stuff between Porter Cable and Craftsman right?
E.g. not just the compressors, but presumably the CM nailers are also PC clones?
If you need nailers, the packages that include them look like pretty good deals.
Stuart
I assume so.
Julian Tracy
When was the last time Porter Cable made an air compressor worth buying? Seems like at lest ten years, right? I guess you can’t beat the gun/compressor deals, but I hate a cheap loud compressor as much as I dislike using a cheap loud shop vac.
But I do know there’s guys out there for which cheap and loud is what they like.
Stuart
$99 is a good price point for something that might be used infrequently or heavily abused.
There’s a reason this is a $99 deal or $199 nailer bundle deal once or twice a year.
Mike
The last time Porter Cable made anything worth buying was before Dewalt bought Porter Cable and switched all their manufacturing to cheap imported crap. Dewalt did this to eliminate one of their biggest competitors in the power tool market.
Mike (the other one)
Since Craftsman is a Lowe’s “exclusive” I guess Porter-Cable is the “not Craftsman, but sold at Home Depot, Tractor Supply, etc.” brand.
Stuart
Roughly, yes.
There are also Bostitch and Dewalt options, with slightly different designs and typically slightly higher prices.
Steve
The Porter-Cable cable and Craftsman deals have both been there multiple times in the last year. I picked up the $199 PC kit in November at Home Depot and got the $22 11% rebate on top of that. The Porter-Cable kit is a better deal than the Craftsman because the pin nailer is far more valuable than the stapler, even when the Craftsman kit was $179.
They must have way over produced on the PC nailers because mine (New in November) had years old production days on them.
Jim Felt
Why can’t one of these lesser brands come out with a quieter version. Mid to low 60 dB? It seems to me that would be a truly homeowner useful marketing position.
If the old Sears still existed with their old “Good”, “Better”, “Best” positioning I’m sure they would have. But now?
No?
teicher
You can get a ultra quiet Kobalt or Husky for a little more money. I have one, I’ll never go back to the standard oil-free compressors
Doug in post falls
I have the 4.3 quiet tech Kobalt. I can hear myself think … which might be iffy if that was good or bad. The quiet tech might be the best thing to happen to an air compressor in a very long time.
Nathan
I’m noticing that porter cable is only being sold at Home Depot now – while craftsman has supplanted all their parts at Lowes. Or so it seems.
while I like my porter cable compressor – I try to steer people away from the kits that have the hoses and the other parts bits. LIke that inflator and tire gage etc – just pass on all that mess. You can with a little time pick up inflator with gage for 15-30 dollars. and a decent hose doesn’t have to be that expensive. I especially hate coil hoses.
Otherwise I do like my pancake compressor.
Nathan
incidentally CPO outlet has the Porter cable compressor for 89 dollars at the moment – not sure on shipping but it might be one of those buys where 2 or so items makes the shipping worth it.