Air compressor - Harbor Freight - Boo!
Thread Starter
TECH Veteran
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 4,055
Likes: 1
From: Hartsdale, NY
Air compressor - Harbor Freight - Boo! I just bought a Harbor Freight air compressor; it is a small unit - 4.5 HP with a 21 gallon tank.
It worked for a few days and then crapped out!
My advice: avoid these cheapie units ($169)....
It worked for a few days and then crapped out!
My advice: avoid these cheapie units ($169)....
Eh most of the harbor freight stuff is econo I agree but for stuff you may only use once or twice it is a good place to shop. It was cheaper for me to buy the 12 ton press and the bearing and gear puller set to redo my tranny and rearend vs the labor I would have paid. They worked fine but I have only used them twice so take that for what it is worth I guess.
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 304
Likes: 0
From: Buffalo, NY
I got the 20gal central pnuematic compressor there (online) . It took 8 weeks before I had it, and when I fired it up there was a pinhole leak where the motor bracket was welded onto the drum. It sounded like a train wistle at 80 psi. I called them up and the offered to either pay for shipping the defective one back, or they would direct ship me a new tank from central pneumatic, either way would take 6-8 weeks, so I went with the new tank since I had work that needed a compressor. The new tank works great after I switched the motor over. The only problem I have now is that its automatic cutoff is at 105psi (instead of 120) and it doesn't kick in again untill 80psi (instead of 90 to keep my tools running)
Teching In
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
Don't they have some type of pump switch on them...On my water pump switch I take of the small square cover and I have 2 adjustment screws ...one adjusts the cut- off pressure and one adjusts the cut-on pressure...
Dave
Dave
Thread Starter
TECH Veteran
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 4,055
Likes: 1
From: Hartsdale, NY
It was a pain to ship the Central Nuematics compressor unit back; I had to bolt it into the Craftsmutt Sears box and then staple the old box to the frame....call the shipping company several times to get this piece of junk out of my house.... I don't even get the refund until the box arrives at the Harbor Freight warehouse in six weeks and someone looks at it and determines if it is truly defective.... like it doesn't pump when I plug it into the wall outlet....DAAAA ..can you please return my money when UPS picks it up instead?
Next time I will be careful to not buy a large cheapie item that might need to be shipped back - it sat in my garage for a month until I got the new unit and swaped the boxes....
Next time I will be careful to not buy a large cheapie item that might need to be shipped back - it sat in my garage for a month until I got the new unit and swaped the boxes....
