Anyone have experience with Harbor Freight air compressors?

[waterinthefuel]

I've been looking to get one to build a plane in a few years. It seems that the reviews are mixed, some say they are fantastic, some say buyer beware. I've heard that central pneumatic makes good stuff. I can't afford a big name brand one right now.

Any direct experience?

 

[lowkee]

Re: Anyone have experience with Harbor Freight air compressors?

Ditto on this question. I'm just about to buy a new compressor as well. My 5HP oilless isn't cutting the mustard anymore and that 5HP 60Gal behemoth at HF looks mighty tempting.

As a tip to water, buy a copy of boating magazine, as they always have a 20% off coupon in the back of them. Worth $160 for the 5HP model.

 

[beck4]

Re: Anyone have experience with Harbor Freight air compressors?

i have had a 20 gal harbor frieght air compressor for 2 years now. trust me wen i tell u spend the extra money. the compresser cant keep up with any air tools. not even impact wrench. just to get the air to flo right i had to conect the hose rite to the regulator box because with the quick disconect on there i would drain the air out of the line and have to wait for the line pressure to rebuild. save some cash and buy a bigger name brand you will be much happier. also oilless suck but thats just my opinion. if you have a farm and fleet by you they have great air compresers for a fair price. have a friend that just got 1 there and he loves it.

 

[bucky7680]

Re: Anyone have experience with Harbor Freight air compressors?

I have 3 of their compressors that see medium to light duty. The tanks and compressors themselves are OK. It is the air distribution part that can be the problem. I had one with a 1 piece cast manifold that cracked on me. I was lucky to be able to salvage the supply fitting from the tank to the manifold and I was able to build a new manifold from brass fitting from the hardware store. I also have a small pancake compressor where the crimp connector for the hose from the compressors to the tank failed. I was able to use a hose clamp to repair it.

I think their air volume specs are a bit optimistic.

I have no problem buying tools at Harbor Frieght and have been buying from them since they were strictly a catalog outfit. I'm very selective as to what I buy from them. I have never had an issue with their pneumatic tools. They are good value for the money.

 

[marlboro180]

Re: Anyone have experience with Harbor Freight air compressors?

Step 1: Go to HF, buy one. Go home, plug it in and use it for a little while blowing up inflatables.

Step 2: Have your bud come over to fill up some trailer tires. Tires will not hold air, but try for an hour anyway.

Step 3: Let the magic smoke out of the electric motor.

Step 4: Wait forever to get replacement parts.

Step 5: Get parts, install.

Step 6: Plug in.

Step 7: Let magic smoke out again.

Step 8 : Take smoked out motor off, tie it to a line to use as a spare anchor for the canoe.

Step 9: Take the teenie- weenie thin walled pump , paint in an artistic fashion and pawn it off on Craigslist.

Step 10: Go buy some bags of concrete. Drive home.

Step 11 : Mix concrete, install to inside of air tank for a nice leak-proof liner.

Step 12: Darn, it still will not seal. Add more concrete.

Step 13 : Darn, still no seal.

Step 14 : Spend a day figuring out how to seal the leaky tank.

Step 15 : Realizing that the tank has not a chance in hell of being worth a darn for holding air , the motor already had found a better use, and the pump has gone to a sucker on Craigslist, speculate about what to do with a nice concrete lined tank for another day.

Step 16 : Come to the realization that you just wasted your money.

Step 17 : Form a charitable organization.

Step 18: Donate the nice concrete lined steel tank to your neighbor so he can use it as a mooring for his swimming raft.

Step 19 : Drive to a real store.

Step 20 : Buy a nice compressor that you will not have to worry about.

Step 21 : Drive home, wire it up and rivet / grind/ buff/ inflate away to your hearts content.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Anyone have experience with Harbor Freight air compressors?

Don't hold back !!! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Tell us how you really feel !!!

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Anyone have experience with Harbor Freight air compressors?

Yep, I got a Central Pnuematic about 5 years ago. It takes oil, but has never "used" any or leaked any. I don't use it much, but everytime I have used it, it performs flawlessly. It doesn't have enough capacity (I can't even remember how many gallos it is, 6 or 10?) to keep up completely with my air ratchet or impact gun, but it recovers well enough. It airs up tires like a dream! It's on little plastic wheels, that roll nice. And it's got a metal handle under the cylinder head, that allows me to lift it with that and the plastic handle at the back. Neither has shown signs of fatigue or breaking. Regulator works flawlessly, quick connects work flawlessly, and it drains in two locations, flawlessly.
For $120 I am COMPLETLEY satisfied.

As far as its capacity, I looked at a lot of higher priced models in the same size, and fact is, NONE of them has enough CFM to keep up with an impact or an air ratchet, or a sander, unless you get into 20 gallon + tanks. It doesn't matter how much you spend on a 10 gallon or less compressor, it won't keep up. So why spend $200+ on Campbell Hausfeld?

 

[robert graham]

Re: Anyone have experience with Harbor Freight air compressors?

I've run the Harbour Freight 3 gallon "pancake/low profile" compressor for several years(about $100), this is my second one, valves stuck on first, junked it, bought another one, so they're sorta disposable like TV's, micowaves,etc. Compressor is mostly cheap junk but it works O.K. for my needs for 3 or 4 years, go get another one. For $100 it works O.K., Just depends on what you need and can afford. Lots of Harbour Freight stuff is junk, that's why it's cheap!

 

[robert graham]

Re: Anyone have experience with Harbor Freight air compressors?

Marlboro180, that's pretty darn funny, you should do some commercials for Harbour Freight Tools!....I bought one of their super cheap paint sprayers the other day and it was total garbage!, took it back for refund. But you know, I'm still over their buying their stuff, cheap goes a long way! Good Luck!

 

[BWR1953]

Re: Anyone have experience with Harbor Freight air compressors?

I recently bought an 8 gallon 2hp 125psi unit from HF and it works fine for me.

Seriously, if you need professional grade, then buy professional grade.

For light to moderate home use, most HF tools/equipment are fine.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Anyone have experience with Harbor Freight air compressors?

As far as its capacity, I looked at a lot of higher priced models in the same size, and fact is, NONE of them has enough CFM to keep up with an impact or an air ratchet, or a sander, unless you get into 20 gallon + tanks. It doesn't matter how much you spend on a 10 gallon or less compressor, it won't keep up. So why spend $200+ on Campbell Hausfeld?

My compressor has a 5.2 gallon tank, and puts out an HONEST 6.5 CFM at 90 psi. Tank size means nothing for sustained CFM, it only dictates how often the motor turns on. If the motor can't meet a certain CFM, it makes no difference if there is a 3 gallon or 300 gallon tank, you can't sustain that CFM.

http://www.amazon.com/Makita-MAC5200-Big-Bore-Compressor/dp/B0001Q2VPU

Its well worth spending the extra for a decent compressor. i've owned a couple harbor freight compressors, they work, but don't expect to run much off them if you need CFM. Even their rated CFM might be optimistic. My only complaint about my makita is that it isn't exactly quiet. Pretty much every other oiled compressor I've had previously was quieter than this beast.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Anyone have experience with Harbor Freight air compressors?

I was thinking about getting the Harbor Freight air compressor for my next compressor. I would definitiely get one of the big 220V ones though.

I was thinking about this one. Of course it has a high CFM rating which, if it was true, would be more than I would need. My thinking is even if it was way optimistic, it would be more than anything i could throw at it.

http://www.harborfreight.com/5-hp-60-gallon-165-psi-two-stage-air-compressor-93274.html

One of the reviews for this says the compressor pump is made in the US.

I was thinking of building an airplane for awhile, an RV. You need a good compressor with a lot of CFM.

What I think is hilarious is all these compressors that run off of 110V that claim to be 5HP....that's impossible.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Anyone have experience with Harbor Freight air compressors?

just to get the air to flo right i had to conect the hose rite to the regulator box because with the quick disconect on there i would drain the air out of the line and have to wait for the line pressure to rebuild.

That is not the fault of the compressor. That's the limitiation of the quick disconnect. Equivalent of putting too small a gauge of a wire to send a hugh current. You get pressure drops across those quick disconnects and should never use one at the tank. You should only have a quick disconnect at the end of your hose and that's it.

 

[slia67]

Re: Anyone have experience with Harbor Freight air compressors?

I bought one of their super cheap paint sprayers the other day and it was total garbage!, took it back for refund.

That's funny. I bought one of their cheaper paint guns a few years ago to use around the house and it turned out to be the best gun I have ever bought. (I have at least 6, from cheap to more expensive HVLPs.) So much so that I strated using it on a car that we were rebuilding. But my son used it and didn't clean it properly, basically only cleaned the pot, and trashed it. So I went back to get another one, they no longer had the exact model so I bought one that was very similar. It was the worst gun I've ever bought. I won't even use it to stain a deck.

 

[slia67]

Re: Anyone have experience with Harbor Freight air compressors?

i have had a 20 gal harbor frieght air compressor for 2 years now. trust me wen i tell u spend the extra money. the compresser cant keep up with any air tools. not even impact wrench.

I don't know of any 20 gallon compressors that will keep up with constant use air tools especially impacts, da's, air ratchets, etc. They take a lot of air.

 

[dolluper]

Re: Anyone have experience with Harbor Freight air compressors?

60 gallon 13.2 cfm@ 90 psi 600 bones 220 switch and it's killed by my air grinder...paint all day,drill ,impact...little weak on sanding .....at the shop twin 80 gallon 18.3 cfm@ 90 psi 5200 bones....do anything any time 2 hours to drain

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Anyone have experience with Harbor Freight air compressors?

My compressor has a 5.2 gallon tank, and puts out an HONEST 6.5 CFM at 90 psi. Tank size means nothing for sustained CFM, it only dictates how often the motor turns on...

Alright, let me clarify then. MOST 5 gallon compressors don't produce an honest 6.5cfm at 90psi. It's only when you get into the 20 gallon and larger tanks that the compressors start having really high CFM ratings. I'm glad yours does, but I'll bet you paid A LOT more than $120 for it. (How about $215 MORE! Yikes!) And a DA or an air ratchet will still use more than 6.5CFM, so it's still not enough for some applications. Glad you like yours. I love mine from Harbor Freight, and loved the price even more. It is a little loud, though.

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: Anyone have experience with Harbor Freight air compressors?

Thanks guys! Your input was fantastic!!

 

[j_martin]

Re: Anyone have experience with Harbor Freight air compressors?

I don't know of any 20 gallon compressors that will keep up with constant use air tools especially impacts, da's, air ratchets, etc. They take a lot of air.

I have one. It'll run a jackhammer. It's driven by a 4 cylinder jeep engine. It just plays with a tire changer going flat out.

Tank size and delivery are unrelated except that they are two aspects of the cycle time for the compressor.

my 02
John

 

[BigB9000]

Re: Anyone have experience with Harbor Freight air compressors?

I bought the full size roll away tool box from them, here is my quote from another forums

I'm eye'in this

Now, being sold where it is tells me its junk.

So, home depot, sears, and lowes have all gone to **** quality in the past few years.

My 'test' is by opening a large Drawer, and pushing on one of its sides. Prior to me having a decent amount of money, I would shop for these all the time, and the sides never flexed like they do now. they are all made cheap and thin. You look at them wrong and they break.

This pile from harbor freight doesn't bend much at all. Pretty much to my liking. Its heavier than the lowes/depot/sears ( + ) and doesn't dent or bend by looking at it wrong.

and its $300 cheaper than the large chains sell.

I would like to get the $800 stainless steel one they sell at costco from time to time, but I haven't see it yet.

And snap-on, at $8,000 is a damn joke.

So, opinions?

I bought it. top, sides, bottom.

Love it.