Anyone have HF Compressor?

[stormdog74]

I am in need of a new compressor and while most of what I use one for is nail guns, I occasionally need one with more SCFM than what would be needed for a gun. I noticed that HF had the one below on sale for only $93.

Anyone have any experience with this one or other HF compressors?

http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/...o?itemid=40400

Thanks for any feedback.

[just started]

It would be ok for standard paint guns, but not HVLP, will be fine for nail guns and blow guns for cleanup but don't expect it to operate any tools like wrenches, sanders, grinders, drills or chisels.

[LCHIEN]

most any of the 115V compressors will be 1.5-2 HP rated, being limited by the 15A circuits of most homes.
That means they will all be limited to about 5 SCFM at 90 PSI like the one listed.
One difference is the tanksize, some havve more than others and this gives a slight advantage in extending the air that can go out for short period. But, for continuous use tools, grinders, high volume air paint sprayers, cutting tools etc you will probably not have enough air for using them. Intermittent tools like nailers and tools of low air usage will probably be OK.

[pacwind3]

Since I actually own this compressor, I felt I should chime in here. Believe it or not, I got this compressor from a pawn shop, and I traded a much larger craftsman compressor for it. Why you say??? Size. As I stated, the larger craftsman was just way to big and overkill for my usage. Which is mostly nail guns, occational blowing up of tires etc.
Contrary to the above posts, I do believe this compressor will power an HVLP gun. I have an HVLP gun that I bought from Rockler. Now I admit, I haven't used it yet for any finishing jobs, but I had it hooked up to the compressor and was able to spray air for quite a bit before the compressor even kicked on. Do yourself a favor though and spend $20 extra for an extra 5-7 gallon portable tank. I hooked up a Y fitting on the portable tank and have the air passing though it. This give me about 10 gallons of air at a time. Seeing how the harbor freight will fill from empty to full in like 3 minutes, it seems to recover pretty quick.

[stormdog74]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone - it helps a lot.

[dbhost]

Not exactly. A good friend of mine from college has a 60 gallon Craftsman 220V single phase that blew out the electric motor, and replaced it with one from HF. It has been running worry free for about 3 years now...

[Ed62]

I have that one, but I'll admit I haven't tried using it with something that needs continuous supply. Having said that, I haven't been sorry I bought it.

Ed

[stormdog74]

Thanks for the additional feedback - think I'll give it a shot. It is actually $93 with a coupon, but it is also on sale for around $100 and I should be able to use the 15% off coupon, so about $85.

[Gator95]

Speaking of HF... anyone with a HF compresor (or not) try their luck with any of their nailguns? I'm getting sick of borrowing a compressor and nailer from my neighbor- and he's probably sick of my borrowing it.

[BobSch]

Speaking of HF... anyone with a HF compresor (or not) try their luck with any of their nailguns? I'm getting sick of borrowing a compressor and nailer from my neighbor- and he's probably sick of my borrowing it.

I've got their 18 ga brad (NOT the staple/brad combo), 15 ga finishing and a 10 ga framing gun. Haven't used any of them extensively, but haven't had any problems so far.

[pacwind3]

Good choice, I don't think you'll regret the purchase.
I did forget one thing in my original post. I did try to run an air powered sander with it. I won't keep up with that. It's just too much of a drain on the air too quick.
I still stand by the statement that I think it'll keep up with a HVLP sprayer though. I mean gimmie a break, if you have to stop spraying for a minute or two to let it recover, it's not going to hurt anything.

[Bill in Buena Park]

Stormdog,
I'm not sure what nailers you're driving, but I had a nice DeVilbiss 20g 125psi compressor that ran my HF 16g & 18g nailers well, but didn't have the umph to drive their 10g framing nailer - so I upgraded to a 26g, 150psi CM (919.167280), and have had no problems at all - also drives my air 3/8 & 1/2in air ratchets with no problem. However, I have yet to try HVLP on it - but plan to soon.

I don't believe Sears still sells this model, as I only see the 160psi model in 26g now - this one is similar to mine (http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...+%26+Inflators), but this does go on sale occasionally (reg. price $299, $20 off right now). I really like the vertical tank style, as it saves on footprint. SCFM is comparable to the HF model you're looking at.

My concern with the HF model would be the 8g tank, which would need to recharge more often than a bigger tank. The auxiliary tank idea from PACWIND3 would give you the volume, possibly more affordably, but bigger footprint.

[stormdog74]

I mostly will be using it for nail guns - 15g being the largest.

Pacwind, could you give me an idea of how you attach the portable tank? I am not sure what you mean.

[pacwind3]

not a problem. I'll take some pics tomorrow night of my setup. The great part about the portable tank is: it's portable, duh! Seriously though, it's nice to have a light weight tank to take out to the car for a tire fill up or something. Sometimes that's easier then dragging out 50 feet of airhose.

[bigdaddyjohn]

I have had that compressor for 4-5 years. It has worked for me. Definitely have got my money's worth. If you buy, get a drain kit and install before even plugging the compressor in. I know eventually the rust will be the end of it's life as I didn't buy the kit soon enough.

As for supplying drills, chisels, wrenches, etc. I used it for the air chisel kit and it was fine. No problems at all. However, I have an impact wrench that barely is able to tighten my lug nuts! The compressor is used very frequently and don't have any other issues with it. Once the rust kills it, I will buy one with a larger tank so it doesn't have to run as frequently.

Brad Nailer: Again, it's a diamond in the rough. Don't laugh too hard but, I dropped mine from 2 stories last week. 3 times. It still worked. I was replacing Soffits and Fascias and Gutters on our house, by myself, and found that if I tacked them with the brad nailer, I could easily come back and screw them to the rafter tails. Worked like a charm. (afraid of heights and NERVOUS on the scaffolding my neighbor put up for me)

If you can find another brad nailer that works after those falls, less than $20, buy it on the spot. You will not find a better deal. In fact, last year I took my Porter Cable Christmas present brad nailer back to Lowe's. The fit and finish was indeed better on the Porter Cable but the HF was able to sink the brads each time I pulled the trigger and that's all I needed.

Good Luck