'Morning, I am looking to set my garage up with air and came across an add for a 60gallon compressor from Harbor Freight @ 397.00. Has anyone purchased one and if so, how has it held up or what would you recommend instead.
I repair and rebuild compressors. Husky brand form Home Dpeot are about the same price and a lot better machine for the money.
Thank you, This is exactly what I'm looking for, the quality of their tools is decent if you need something in a pinch... but I want to get something that will last 10-20 years... If I was looking for something to last that long, what would you suggest? The only requirement dicatating the volume of the compressor are the requirements of the HVLP guns I'm looking at.
I bought a new Pump from Harbor freigt a coupel of months ago. Took me a month to get it. installed it. Ran for about 5 minute locked up Now I am waiting for another. Over 2 months without a compressor
Whatever you get, I have noticed a BIG difference between the single stage oil-less and the two stage jobbies. Until my garage gets built , I'm using a small 30 gallon Craftsman single stage and it's about twice as LOUD as my friends 60 gallon two stage. I don't even know if they make single stage compressors that big though.
FWIW, I've been looking into screw type compressors lately. I've worked at a couple places that ran those and they rule. They're super quiet and ubber reliable. Yeah, they're pricey, but I'll take that over having to listen to my old piston compressor hammer away. Vance
I'd be interested in who has the best bang for the buck in compressors too. my friend just got a new sears and it's nice. My old sears compresser is 25 years old. I have a newer one (maybe 5 yo) and it's oilless, I'm looking to get rid of it for an oil type. What is a screw type?
Eric (or anybody else) I picked up a Puma V twin 60 gal for $50 and replaced the motor with a HF 5HP 220V motor 15 amp--- Question-- It gets up to 100 psi pretty fast then seems to take a while to get to 120psi. Someone told me it needed a bigger motor-- or is this just the nature of the beast with a HF motor? Thanks
HF is at the lowest end of the Chinese stuff, more like rejects and floor sweepings for most of their stuff. Its like playing Russian Roulette. Old style compressors use 1750 rpm motors with pulley ratios set to run the compressor at 600-800 rpm. Quiet and last forever. Still built by the better companies such as Eaton, High end IR, and Curtis. Single and 2 stage. Cheap modern stuff designed for throwaway use 3600 rpm motors and turn the head at 1200-1800 rpm. Noisy, run hot and not as long lasting. HD, Campbell Horsecrap, Sears and others have several models of these. Mostly single stage. Then there are the oiless versions which are extremely noisy and break rapidly. Sears 6 hp and bigger in particular; and Sears rates in Peak HP, not real hp.
I would stay away from oilless. I had a Sears Oilless, had to rebuild the motor after about 2 years and I don't use it every weekend. A year later, it blew up, busted a rod in three pieces. I went to Lowes and bought one on site, as I was in the middle of a project. I got the most expensive one they had. Six months later, it broke the pulley shaft off at the electric motor. They gave me another one, it's been in about a year. Harbor Freight is where I got my air tools, bought everything I could use and figured if the break, I can decide to upgradse to better stuff then. They all still work fine, over 4 years later.
Ten years now on my Campbell Hausfield that I got at Tractor Supply. 80 gallon tank, 5hp spl. motor, and never a problem! Bought it on sale at 479.95. Sure i`d like to get a 2 stage 80 gal, like a Ingersoll Rand, but untill I get the money this works just fine! BTW, a couple pieces of sheetrock will take any noise away! Mines not an oil less design. Those are very noisey! Also , Yes mine is used on a daily basis for auto repair! You have to remember that its just like a engine in your car, you have to change oil in it and preform some mantinence once in awile!
The Chinatown stuff is basically disposable. If you need it to last a couple jobs or if they tend to "walk-off" then there reasonable. I bought a sandblaster from them and it lasted about 15 minutes. I took it back and the manager told me to go to Home Depot and get the parts to fix it. I told him that I didn't think that I should have to fix something I just bought. I got my money back. I hate going in there now. Seems like everything they sell is shit and I agree that it's all seconds or rejects. I noticed that they have an extremely high return rate. I firmly believe that you get what you pay for. Problem is now-a-days you don't know what is made in China. Seems like everything I pick up is made in China. Thanks to Uncle Sam.
I bought one about 5 months ago. Has held up well for the little I use it. If you plan to use it 7 days a week, 8-10 hrs a day, upgrade.
I buy HF stuff because I lose and break things in high proportion. On the bright side, the HF breaker bar I twisted the end off from, they not only replaced, but replaced with a 1/2" because they had no 3/8" in the store. I bought a racheting load binder and actually bent it by backing the trailer over it and they replaced that no questions either - here again all they had in stock was the next size up. (With those, I figure if I use two or three where one good one would do, I'm in good shape). So yeah, if you're in a hurry to finish something and may never use it again, HF is fine, but you get what you pay for. Plus it's probably made out of stuff like the Model T that a scrapper crushed a couple weeks back, and that's not good either.
Hear ye, Hear ye! This man speaks the truth! Most of the responses on this thread refer to gallonage-that's irrelevant! What you want in a compressor is C.F.M. at high (like 100+p.s.i.)pressure. That's what runs your paint gun and your air grinder. The best way to get C.F.M. (assuming it's not spelled out on the compressor's label) is buy all the Horsepower @ 1725/1750 motor R.P.M. you can afford. In compressors all Horsepower is not equal: 3450/3600 motors at any given H.P. rating are weaklings compared to 1725/1750.
If you're looking at the compressor as a "buy it once" deal. Look at Belaire. They have a single stage that will fix most users up. If you intend to paint with a hvlp, buy the 2 stage 80 gallion tank. When I was looking a year ago, ASEDEALS.com had the lowest price.
Whatever compressor you buy be sure to drain it religiously. I used to work in the failure analysis lab at Ingersoll-Rand. Saw several palletts of home size compressor tanks that had exploded. Every one of them was because the tank and rusted until it couldn't hold the pressure any more. Bill
Connected topic at best.... I buy Harbor Freight air die grinders, right angle and straight and have no problems at all... hey they're 20 bucks or so on sale. I do not use oil in my die grinders because I do some fiberglass work and don't want the oil contaminating the surface of the glass. For twenty bucks or so, they're great. Anything made in Main-Land China is CCC (Cheap Chinese Crap) and the differences in price are maybe because one is made in a different Province of China where the little girls get $4.50 a year before getting sold off to Bangcock as secretaries.
I like Harbor Freight a lot... specifically for things that I like to get at a very low cost and am ok with the fact that they EXPECT TO FAIL before quality tools will. Therefore, if you get it for a really great deal, it will likely fail quicker than what you'll pay more for. That said, if you're in a pinch-- it may make sense. Dont buy things that put your life on the line from Harbor Freight though. For example, I had a floorjack explode and crumble under my Caddy a couple weeks ago. Straight up scared me. No more cheapy floor jacks or jack stands. -scott noteboom
I buy all my air tools from HF. Never had a problem with any of them. Of course I don't use them day-in-day-out.
While there is truth to what you say when you speak of CFM, Why would you add that volume of the tank is irrelevent? Going from a 60 gal to an 80 gal has cut back on the cycles of the compressor, therefore more life expectance! I have been using HVLP guns now for a couple years and I have plenty of air!
Ditto all the above about HF. In addition to the things already mentioned, be especially wary of things like spring compressors (a little first hand experience on that one!). In other words, if there's no safety issue (I.E. If it fails it won't kill or maime or otherwise damage you or anything else), it is possible to make do with their CCC (Cheap Chinese Crap) offerings, and sometimes you really make out because the tool does what it's suppost to and actually lasts a while. And in the believe or not category, I've actually found a couple of items for sale there produced in the ole US of A!
If you have a Tractor Supply company nearby they have a good selection of compressors at comparable prices to that of Lowe's /Home Despot
Igorsall Rand makes a long duty 80 gal. You will be able to get parts in 20 years also. The trick on compressors is (A) never buy an oil less one. They are for the 1-2 a year wannabe handyman. (Goldchainers can leave them in the corner for looks) (B) Build a house for it outside of your shop. Plumb the air and juice thru to it. Pipe the air cleaner system to the outdoors. A excaust fan to suck out heat and particles is good to. Change the oil every 25 hours. They will last for ever. My bodyman has a 80 gal Husky he uses day in and day out for over 5 years now with out one day of down time.
Well it has been quite a while since I have posted anything but this topic I have much experience in. I am an assistant manager for Harbor Freight Tools in Albuquerque, NM. I have been with them for a year and a half now. Prior to that I worked for Home Depot for almost 6 years. It has been a fun transition from one to the other. What I can say about the particular 60 gal air compressor model 3848 cleverly named US General brand is that we sell a lot of them and in my one year and a half I have seen only two come back. One because the guy thought it was ready to go outta the box and was clueless about having to plumb the air lines and the need for electrical wiring, plug, 220 volt outlet etc.. and the other because his wife said it was too loud. I am in charge of handling the defectives at my store and we do tend to get quite a few of the smaller pancake compressors and 8 gal 2hp styles back quite frequently and of course the awesome grinders that go for 8.99! But the uprights seem to be decent for the price. If you are going to be doing a lot of painting you might want to invest in something a little better. This one boasts 3.5 horsepower motor (rated) meaning 5 hp peak Air Delivery: 12.8 CFM @ 90 PSI, 14.5 CFM @ 40 PSI Belt-driven ASME tank with safety valve Cast iron cylinder Stainless steel valves Automatic stop/start controls One year warranty Many HVLP guns require a little more in the way of CFM. We carry some that need upwards of 16 cfm. This compressor is better in my opinion from what I have seen than the market of oil-less 30-40 gallon compressors mainly from Campbell Hausfeld. I am also in the market for a compressor of this size for my home garage. I have been comparing Home Depot's Husky brand, Harbor Freight's US General, and Lowes Kobalt brands. IT seems that judging the compressor by itself for Home use/occasional use Harbor Freight's is decent. Home Depot's HUsky from what I've seen is better built and often comes with accessories to get started. Harbor Freight offers the compressor only. I hope that this helps you out. I receive no commission from any of this! Just thought I would let you guys also know that all of Harbor Freight's sockets and wrenches have a life time gaurantee that beats Sears now. Simply bring in the busted socket or wrench and get automatic replacement, no hastles, no receipts. I took a socket into Sears lately and instead of replacing it they took it and told me to wait an hour while they fixed it! Eric
i just bought a husky 60 gallon from Home depot..a couple months ago..bought that husky because the shop i was working out of had 1 there so i know what they are about..no problems...but just out og curiousity i went to harbor frieght last weekend for a new welding cart and new welding helmet and wire...while i was there i checked out there compressor...all of them..they were some 60 gallons alil cheaper than the husky..but they looked really cheap even the high priced ones were cheap looking..glad i got the husky...but harbor frieght has the good air hose ..(goodyear) 1/2 hose..for like $20 bucks...my wife is gona swing by there friday to get me the 50 ft hose and a palm sander.
This is one area where you must BUY AMERICAN. it will pay in the long run. they are rebuildable. A must for any compressor is a clean intake air supply, enough air movement to cool compressor head, change oil periododically. Remember a comp. is similar to an engine; piston,rings,bearings, etc. Ask any body shop owner its an investment. I will say that the best HF tool I ever bought was the new vert. band saw they are selling. Use it all the time and I am very impressed 750.00 & 50.00 freight its similar to a 4000. unit.
Thanks again guys, I do appreciate and read through all the feedback and direction. It's been about 10 years since I played the finishing-refinishing game,had a set-up and it's time... I've been playing the rattle can, paint roller game for too long as we moved from place to place.
I never believe HF, CH or Sears claims. One spec that should always be listed is the amperage the motor draws. A real 5hp will be right around 23A @ 240V and a 3hp will be 17A @ 240V. This is real running current, not initial start up which can be a lot more. Also as mentioned the 3400-3600 rpm motors are for CCC and other throwaways. Dont even think about ordering rebuild kits. Much better deals can be found in local weekly mags, Craigs List, etc. I usually see used 5 hp USA made with 80 gal tanks for $300-500 and about $500-700 for 2 stage. With many shops either upgrading or going out of business there is always a steady supply. If you dont know what to look for bring a buddy. ALWAYS inspect the inside of the tank. Light surface rust is OK, lots of scale and pitting isnt. My last compressor build (last summer) was a 60's Curtis 5hp 2 stage with an original date coded 80 gal tank in near perfect condition. Motor had fried and I got it for $150. Picked up a 5hp Baldor for $75 at a flea market and another $100 or so for more modern controls, regulator, gauge, etc. The head is around 150# and this beast even keeps ahead with frame sandblasting. Can barely hear it run. And if need be rebuild kits are still available as the head is still in production! Find a CCC that can make that claim. My other compressor is a huge 2 cyl V twin, a new 80 gal tank and a huge cast iron 3hp GE motor; more 60's era. Runs any of our shop air tools or HVLP gun with 2 of us working. Ive got under $250 total in it. I was given a 6.5hp/60 gal (maybe 3hp in real life) Sears oiless with a thrown rod. Havent found a use for it yet! Might mount a 1 1/2 - 2hp setup on top and use for tires, blow guns and pissing off the cat.
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