How Good is the DXCM303 DeWalt® Compressor?

We’ve purchased the DeWalt® DXCM303 single-stage compressor. What do we like and not like about it? We’ll give you our honest impression.

#compressors #compressoroil #compressedair

First off, let’s get this issue out of the way. The major tool manufacturers and many retailers have chosen to offshore the manufacturing of their products. They can get entire products and components cheaper by using Asian labor and materials. Even though the main supplier, China, has very questionable human rights, labor, environmental, and trade practices, products and components continue to be sourced from China. China accounts for about 28% of the manufacturing in the world, the U.S. is at about 17%, and Japan comes in third at 7%.

Worse, many brands, including DeWalt®, emblazon branding on their tools or packaging with “Assembled in the U.S.A” along with American flag type imagery, with subtype, “With Global Materials.” On the DeWalt® DXCM303, the labeling shows clearly that the motor and mechanical items are all from China. It would be more accurate to say, “Made from Chinese Parts - Assembled in the U.S.A.”. But of course, that wouldn’t go over well.

The DeWalt® DXCM303 is also available as Husky® (Home Depot) and Craftsman® (Lowes) brands. The comparable compressor I saw in Home Depot was EXACTLY the same, down to the labels on the motor (which showed the motor to be made by Mat Industries, LLC - China), as the DeWalt® unit. All of these brands offer the same unit, from the same Chinese company, and market it as a U.S.A. brand.

I’m not against other countries, per se, but do think that you should, when possible, support the economy and workforce of the country you live in. These very large brands, which are well-capitalized, could use their funds to reinvest in this country’s manufacturing and labor base. Enough of all this, let’s look at the compressor!

The DeWalt® DXCM303 has an oil-lubricated cast iron air pump with two cylinders in a single head. It is a single-stage pump, and DeWalt says that it performs much like a 2-stage unit. The pump is powered by a poly belt driven by a 2 HP totally enclosed motor with an SF 1.0 rating - meaning it can be operated continuously.

The 30-gallon tank is ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) rated and has a drain valve at the lowest part of the vertically oriented tank. It’s reasonably accessible, but we will be improving that with either a braided reinforced hose and valve or an automatic valve to ensure we keep the moisture drained off the tank. This is a critical maintenance task, and we want to be sure we mind this task well.

The pump head is cooled both by the oil and air flowing around the fins on the air pump. Oil filler and drain plugs are reasonably accessible, but we will be modifying that in the future to make oil changes entirely convenient.

The air inlet and filter are workable but too small for our tastes. We’ll be getting a bigger filter set up soon.

Air delivery is rated at 6.2 SCFM (standard cubic feet per minute) at 90 PSI (pounds per square inch). SCFM is set at optimum conditions and always is higher than what typical operating conditions will be. We rate the actual compressor air delivery at about 4 CFM. This is determined by dividing the tank volume number in gallons (30) by 7.48. The maximum pressure for this unit is 175 PSI.

This unit is equipped with a high-flow regulator with the 2 customary gauges that indicate tank pressure and regulated pressure that you can set for the task or tool at hand. The unit has a lower-pitched operating sound and is rated at 78 dB.

The ratio of time the pump is being operated and the amount of time the pump is off is referred to as the duty cycle. If a compressor has a duty cycle rating of 100%, it means it can be operated continuously without needing to rest and cool down. Most compressors have a rating of between 50 to 100% This unit’s rating is being researched and will be updated when available.

The unit weighs 126 lbs (57 kg), with the majority of the weight at the top of the unit where the air pump, fan pulley, belt, motor, and regulator are all located. When moving the tool around, you need to be mindful that it can tip over easily. It is equipped with 2 - 10” (25 cm) pneumatic tires. We don’t plan to keep the tires mounted as we will be putting this on a raised platform in our shop mechanical area. But, they are nice to have on the job site!

When we’ve had the DeWalt®DXCM303 Single-Stage Compressor in service for over a year, check out our review on how it held up and is performing here:

COMING AFTER ONE YEAR OR MORE OF OPERATION!!!

We like the DeWalt® DXCM303 Single-Stage Compressor, but some after-market enhancements make it easier to service and run better. Check out our “Pimp My Compressor” episode here:

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