For people familiar with air compressors, the name LeRoi (or, more properly, LeROI) is well known and has been synonymous with high quality air compression for decades. However, what many people do not realize is that there are two competing brands of LeROI air compressors on the market today: CompAir LeROI and LeROI Gas Compressors and these two are not the same thing. Therefore it is important to be sure that when you buy “LeROI” you take the time to ensure that you are buying what you think you are.
The more famous LeROI is the one that is part of the larger CompAir family of companies. CompAir has become leaders in air compression technology, especially in the United States. Over the years CompAir has come to control many of the most famous name brands in modern air compression including BroomWade, Cyclon, Dryclon, Holman, Kellogg, and Reavell as well as LeROI. Most of these name brands were once independent companies, but they have all been acquired by CompAir today.
The CompAir LeROI was originally founded as an independent company in 1916 and takes pride in its almost hundred years of experience in the air and gas compression industry. Today the division primarily manufactures assorted rotary screw compressors and has stayed on top of new screw technology so their products represent some of the best air compressors on the market today. The LeROI brand only creates rotary screw compressors between twenty and five hundred horsepower and they offer various options, like housed or un-housed units or air and water cooled ones. These LeROI compressors are distributed around the world and are generally held to be reasonably priced as opposed to some of the comparable competitors.
The other LeROI, is LeROI Gas Compressors by Rotary Compression Technologies, Inc. This is actually a small business based in Sidney, Ohio (U.S.) and does not appear to have any meaningful connection to the more famous LeROI compressors sold by CompAir. Although the website claims that this company has been in business for over twenty-five years, other sources show that it was only incorporated in 2005 and is a small business with less than fifty employees and grossing under $20 million per year. It may be that this was a division of the original LeROI company that was sold off by CompAir or otherwise detached from the same root company. Since LeROI gas Compressors is based in the United States, it seems unlikely that they would be able to use the name without just cause.
As is the case with the more famous LeROI brand, LeROI Gas Compressors also appears to make only rotary screw compressors, however they specialize in industrial models specifically designed to accommodate the gas industry. The produce single-stage compressors in the range of twenty to three hundred and fifty pounds per square inch (psi) and two-stage compressors up to five hundred psi as well as a wide range of additional options meant to appeal to the gas industry.
For people buying a brand new air compressor, the fact that there are two companies making LeROI rotary air compressors should not be a problem since the new product will clearly indicate the manufacturer. However, if shopping around for a used air compressor online, the buyer should be aware of this difference. There are in fact a number of used compressors by each of these companies being sold on Ebay and elsewhere at the time that this article was written, so presumably this is not uncommon. Someone seeking to buy a used air compressor should be sure they know which LeROI manufactures the compressor they are looking at before purchasing it, so they get accurate information about the compressor.
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