Central Pneumatic Air Compressor

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roadrunnerh

roadrunnerh

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Does anyone on FABO own this compressor?
http://www.harborfreight.com/2-hors...-cast-iron-vertical-air-compressor-68127.html

I know it's a Harbor Freight air compressor and before anyone jumps on me, I've read really good reviews and it's right in my price range. Made in china, but then again, so are "Milwaukee" drills now...I'm not a professional, just working on old Mopars and the two daily drivers. It seems to meet my needs.

Do you own one? Any opinions? I appreciate any feedback even if ya roast me.....:D
 
I was looking at those compressors when I was at harbour freight. The tanks seemed to be as thin a gauge metal as they can use. Other than that I would buy one of those before an oiless model. The oiless ones are super loud. The jump in price to a real quality compressor is probably at least three times as much. Keep the water drained out of the tank and it should last for home use.
 
I bought the 21 gallon oiled model a few months ago and I am happy with it.
It is very loud but serves my hobby car purposes just fine. I paid for the extended HF warranty for a little piece of mind. I've worked it pretty hard and it is holding up just fine. Check the net for reviews of your particular model. It may have its own little quirks different from mine.
 
As said above it is very loud compared to my blackmax I have now but it kept up ok with my pnuematic tools.
 
Get the extended warranty.

I'm usually NOT a fan of those, but with HF and anything that's over $100, and has any kind of motor.....
 
Seems pretty expensive for a "cheap" HF compressor.

I'd rather go on craigslist and get myself a higher quality used one for less money.
 
For a $150 more, you can get this Kobalt 3.7 HP 60 gal compressor from Lowes like I did. It is half as loud as my last harbor freight compressor and more powerful, will give you more options. I could not break loose a tranny crossmember bolt the other day by hand. I fired the Kobalt up with a 1/2" impact gun and it broke it loose in a split second. I will warn you, however, you need to transport it standing up, so you'll need a truck or pay Lowes I think $50 to deliver it to your door.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_54284-1126-...=1&currentURL=?Ntt=air+compressors&facetInfo=
 
Bought the 2.5 hp,25 gallon model.Been using to jamb my Scamp.Loud,but works well.Good quality 110v compressors are expensive.
 
I use the Craftsman compressors. The top of the 110 volt selection. 5 horse and like 25 or 30 gallon tank.
 
I have an older model, HF (2HP?) "twin tank" compressor. It is built like a tank and has never skipped a beat. Tools, painting, airing up tires... It's very quiet and just keeps going. Great little compressor.
Waaaaaay quieter than my oil less Craftsman v-twin (good god)
 
I too am very interested in this compressor! It does seem to meet my tool requirements. If I can get any Okays on this compressor ill buy it too. I'm going to be painting my dart, so if this will meet the requirements then let me know! I know it meets the cfm but I don't know if gallon size is too small
 
Not the whole car,in one shot.I have ,the same compressor. IT WILL ,not paint a car ,period( unless,you shoot,a non metallic color,in single stage.) Pop ,for the better compressor. Your life,will be much easier ....
 
Usually, cast iron pumps are pretty durable. I would be concerned about the tank size. If you ever want to run anything that requires a high CFM such as a sander or a paint gun, or anything that requires a lot of "on" time, that compressor does not have a large enough tank. You can add probably around 100 bucks and get a 5 HP and 60 gallon tank which would be enough.
 
Yea I'm just gonna get a 60 gal of Craigslist, just sucks if something is broken on it I'm screwed. Harbor freight has those plans so when it breaks I can at least get a new one. Oh well!
 
Andre68 said:
Yea I'm just gonna get a 60 gal of Craigslist, just sucks if something is broken on it I'm screwed. Harbor freight has those plans so when it breaks I can at least get a new one. Oh well!
Click to expand...

Buy a name brand compressor used off CL and you should be able to get parts. A buddy of mine just got parts to rebuild the pump on a 30 year old compressor. Good luck on trying to buy any parts for a HF compressor that is out of warranty. Since I use my tools, I have already learned not to buy anything from HF that has a cord on it.

I haven't had any issues out of their pneumatic tools except for the grease/silicone/teflon or what ever that crap is they have been putting in their cheap paint guns recently that contaminates the paint causing you to redo the job again.
 
Looks like the kobalt I have from tractor supply, You may want to check them out.
 
I bought a 60gal husky from home depot a few years ago. it was pretty cheap and does what I need. its seen motor swaps, trans jobs, etc .... I use all air tools, the compressor does not cycle too often unless constant grinding going on !
 
I ended up buying a Campbell Hausfeld compressor from Tractor Supply. It's a 60 gallon unit that I am very happy with. I got it on sale for $400.
 
been there done that. it ran all the time when running air tools buy some thing a lot bigger
 
Just adding my experience with harbor freight compressors, realize you already have one but for those thinking about one I purchased mine about 4 years ago, it is a 5hp 60 gallon from harbor freight, they don't seem to sell my particular model anymore but I did a lot of reading and folks came to the conclusion it was a rebadged belaire compressor because it used the same tank, motor and pump. I paid around 350 for it and it's one of the few things from HF I would buy again. Sucks they don't allow the 20‰ off coupons any more on them, they did when I got mine.
 
With most lower cost compressors you MUST pay attention to the duty cycle. You can not run most of them pumps all the time. You will burn them out. If it has a 30% duty cycle,you can only have the pump running 30% of the time. Runs for a minute it must cool off, not running, for two minutes. If you only need small volumes of air these are fine. Air grinders, sanders and lots of spray guns eat up lots of air in a hurry. Good rule of thumb is to buy the biggest one you can possibly afford.
 
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