Compressor Advice

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sfhogman

sfhogman

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The living corpse of San Francisco Ca USA
So, a few days ago I fired up my little Porter-Cable pancake compressor to top up the tires in my motorcycle. Went upstairs for a few minutes to spare myself the racket of the little thing doing its thing...and after a short while I realized that it was still running after it should have shut off. Well, foo, I thought, I must have forgotten to close the drain valve. Went downstairs and as I walked up to the little thing its blowoff valve blew off and I realized I had a problem. Clearly, its pressure switch had gone to join the Choir Invisible and I needed another one. Which arrived from Amazon two days later...I have since found out that this is not an unusual problem for these compressors.

Repaired it and aired up my tires while it did its noisy little happy dance across my garage floor.

I have come to the realization that I want another compressor even though I don't really need one. I'm thinking about the 2 gallon Fortress compressor sold by Harbor Freight. It has 2 cylinders, is quiet and seems to be well designed and made. I also like the idea of and aluminum tank versus steel as I live in a damp environment. It seems to get very good reviews across the Internet. It goes to 135psi which is more that I need for tires, nailers and such.
https://toolcraze.net/new-harbor-freight-fortress-brand-air-compressors/

Anyone have one? Any advice?

Thanks,
Jeff
 
I would suggest an oil filled compressor.
They last much longer than an oilless one and are usually quieter.
All my compressors are oil filled ( I have several ) , even my trim compressor. 
 
I have an oil filled compressor and its noisier than a straight piped Harley.
Its small, rated at 2hp and a ten gallon tank. I got it for small stuff and occasional air ratchet use.
Got it at Harbor Freight for about $100 a few years ago. Went to rebuild a brake caliper on the bike and fired it up and the regulator fell to pieces.
I knew I had another but couldn't find it in the pile of stuff but found enough stuff to make it work.
Wouldn't ya know after I was done I found TWO regulators!
It works well enough for what I intended.
 
I make a living with my tools and the last place I would buy from is Harbor Freight.
There might be a place for their tools but making a living is not one of them.
 
I've had my old Craftsman 4hp 25 gallon compressor since back in the early 90s and it's never given any problems. I keep it in a storage room in the basement and I ran an air hose though the wall out to a 50 ft. reel in my workshop. I can barely hear it running in the storage room.

sXmisr0.jpg
 
Rook said:
I've had my old Craftsman 4hp 25 gallon compressor since back in
the early 90s and it's never given any problems.
Click to expand...
The one I had (left it in CO when I moved, but bought a smaller one here) produced
the same same results. Bought it in the mid eighties, used it when ever I needed,
even loaned it out several times. A tad noisy due to plastic warp, but full function.

Personal preference is the steel tank, and make sure you drain it after using.
(especially the condensation inside) :wink:
 
Rook said:
I've had my old Craftsman 4hp 25 gallon compressor since back in the early 90s and it's never given any problems. I keep it in a storage room in the basement and I ran an air hose though the wall out to a 50 ft. reel in my workshop. I can barely hear it running in the storage room.

sXmisr0.jpg
Click to expand...

Had one of those and I retired it TOO Loud for one and too slow.
Small compressors? Emglo is very hard to beat durable fast but a bit noisy.
I use a small emglo dual tank for framing keep up the my nail guns no problem.
The biggest draw back is it's heavy a boat anchor you might say!

https://www.cpooutlets.com/factory-reconditioned-emglo-e810-4vr-1.1-hp-4-gallon-oil-lube-twin-stack-air-compressor/emgre810-4vr.html?ref=pla&zmam=31282435&zmas=47&zmac=722&zmap=emgre810-4vr&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIiuO56aqQ6wIVyPvjBx1ZDASnEAQYASABEgKOXvD_BwE
 
Might want to look at one of these. So far, pretty happy with it

https://www.eaglecompressor.com/silent-series
 
Busterswoodshop said:
I make a living with my tools and the last place I would buy from is Harbor Freight.
There might be a place for their tools but making a living is not one of them.
Click to expand...

Your Choice. I'm sure they don't miss your patronage. I guess that the number of satisfied customers is larger than the people that condemn HF since they've been in business for quite a long time.
 
caryc said:
Busterswoodshop said:
I make a living with my tools and the last place I would buy from is Harbor Freight.
There might be a place for their tools but making a living is not one of them.
Click to expand...

Your Choice. I'm sure they don't miss your patronage. I guess that the number of satisfied customers is larger than the people that condemn HF since they've been in business for quite a long time.
Click to expand...

I don't go to harbor freight for something I am going to use heavily on a day to day basis but sometimes I need something to do a job at home that I know I will not use again for a long time or maybe ever. That is what harbor freight is good for. I needed a hammer drill for something I was doing once & didn't want to spend over a hundred dollars for something I was going to use once & then put away. So I went to HF & bought one for $20. Worked like a charm. I also sometimes get their uni-bits & some other drill accessories. They are cheap enough I'm not upset when I destroy them.
 
As for compressors the only one I own is a 1998 vintage Husky (I believe it was made by Campbell Hausfield). It is still going strong. The smaller ones have their advantages but I don't think I would use it enough for it to be a worthwhile investment for me.
 
I/we have 3 of the Coleman "pancake" compressors and have been fairly satisfied with them. Not for everyday use but as a handy air source for airing a tire now and then. My "little" generator is capable of running this size compressor so we carry both in the farm pickup during planting and harvest.
If you use one of the little guys often, a real advantage is an auxiliary air tank. Around here, this is often a tank off a junked compressor with a quick connect coupler. A "T" with 2 male QC couplers and a female QC coupler allows the aux tank to be added into the line so the compressor doesn't have to cycle on/off as often.
For constant use nothing beats volume so our main compressor has a 65 gallon tank and even that's not enough when running two 1/2" impact wrenches.
 
Mike J said:
caryc said:
Busterswoodshop said:
I make a living with my tools and the last place I would buy from is Harbor Freight.
There might be a place for their tools but making a living is not one of them.
Click to expand...

Your Choice. I'm sure they don't miss your patronage. I guess that the number of satisfied customers is larger than the people that condemn HF since they've been in business for quite a long time.
Click to expand...

I don't go to harbor freight for something I am going to use heavily on a day to day basis but sometimes I need something to do a job at home that I know I will not use again for a long time or maybe ever. That is what harbor freight is good for. I needed a hammer drill for something I was doing once & didn't want to spend over a hundred dollars for something I was going to use once & then put away. So I went to HF & bought one for $20. Worked like a charm. I also sometimes get their uni-bits & some other drill accessories. They are cheap enough I'm not upset when I destroy them.
Click to expand...

I steer clear of Harbor freight, have not had any luck with their junk. I earn my living with tools can not
afford that cheap junk stuff just does not last! ps
 
powder smoke said:
I steer clear of Harbor freight, have not had any luck with their junk. I earn my living with tools can not
afford that cheap junk stuff just does not last! ps
Click to expand...

Trust me I know about good tools for making a living. I suspect my box is at about 40k in Snap tools (my last genuine inventory was 1989 and it was 22k then) but HF has it's place. As stated before it is great for that one or two time specialty tool that is expensive. There are some that you can buy four or five at HF for the price of one at a quality truck. If you only use it once or twice, even three times and buy a new one each time you are still ahead of the game.
 
Pre compressed is impossible.
The ed is past tense of compress.
Pre means before. You can't compress it before you compress it. Especially after compression.

And if the pancakes are compressed you don't need a pancake compressor.

Lol

At work our big two stage 220v 100 gallon compressor had a motor bearing fail. They were too cheap to repair or replace it so they got a 2nd Harbor Freight unit and plumbed it in.
We ran it to death in no time just using blow guns. It made a terrific amount of water even though we had water separators it still got through. Then the water started getting milky. You know what that means.
 
I just replaced my old BIG RED shop compressor not because it didn't work but because I was tired of the noise.....

I bought a rotary compressor from Eastwood Tools ......it is half the size(30 vs 60) and makes the same CFM .....but is so quiet it is amazing.....it wasn't cheap but the lack of noise is amazing....did I mention how amazingly quiet it is :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
 
Bought the Harbor Freight 2 gal. Fortress. So far it seems like a good choice but we shall see.
Very quiet, looks to be well made with very little plastic, has an aluminum tank and fill in under a minute. Bought it for tire inflation and other light duties, so we shall see....

Jeff
 
protoolman said:
Compressors aren't getting quieter you might just be getting old and deaf!
Click to expand...

Well I will agree my hearing isn't what it use to be but A rotary compressor really is about 1/3 as loud.....definitely helps my old ears and may save my sons hearing so well worth the investment.......
 
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