125 PSI air compressors: the standard industrial setpoint

125 PSI is the most common rating on rotary screw compressors and the default working pressure on most plant air systems. It leaves room for 10 to 20 PSI of drop through dryers, filters and piping and still delivers 100 to 110 PSI at the drop, which is what production air tools, pneumatic cylinders, packaging lines and paint booths are built for. This page also carries the 115 to 120 PSI class: the oil free scroll machines (Quincy QOF and Atlas Copco SF2-6 at 116 PSI, Chicago Pneumatic COAIRE CSOF at 115 PSI) and the small California Air Tools ultra quiet piston units rated 120 PSI. They sit in the same pressure band and feed the same tools.

What is on this page

Rotary screw: Quincy QGS 5 to 50 HP and QGSV variable speed, Chicago Pneumatic QRS, CPBG, CPCG, CPF, CPI and the CPV VS PM permanent magnet variable speed, Atlas Copco GA15 to GA37 and G7L to G22 in their 125 PSI builds. Oil free scroll: Quincy QOF 2 to 30 HP, Atlas Copco SF2-6 and Chicago Pneumatic COAIRE CSOF 3 to 60 HP. Piston: Champion VP series and more than 40 California Air Tools ultra quiet oil free models from 1 to 6.5 HP on 1 to 60 gallon tanks, plus the Chicago Pneumatic EZ Air hand carry. Portables: Chicago Pneumatic CPS 110 and CPS 185 KoD towables, Atlas Copco XAS 110 towable and U110 utility mount.

Choosing a 125 PSI machine

If every tool on the system is happy at 90 PSI, a 125 PSI rotary screw with the pressure band set at 110 to 125 is the efficient choice; every 2 PSI of setpoint you avoid is roughly 1 percent in energy. If you have a few 120 PSI consumers or long pipe runs, step up to the 150 PSI page instead of running a 125 PSI machine against its relief valve. Piston units in this class are rated at tank pressure, not continuous delivery, so check the CFM at 90 PSI figure and the duty cycle before you put one on a production line. Pair a rotary screw here with a cycling or non cycling refrigerated dryer sized for its CFM, and size the receiver at 1 to 3 gallons per CFM on a fixed speed machine.

Related pages

• 100 PSI air compressors
• 135 PSI air compressors
• Variable speed rotary screw air compressors
• Oil free scroll air compressors
• Shop by PSI and Shop by CFM