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You get what you paid for with Harbor Freight

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You get what you paid for with Harbor Freight Empty You get what you paid for with Harbor Freight

Post by petervalle Sat May 30, 2009 10:15 am

I just purchased a 21 Gallon air compressor in Harbor Freight. It is advertised as having 115psi and a 2hp motor. I paid $170 + warranty and taxes. I should have gotten some advice from you guys before buying this. I put my die grinder to work and the motor comes on about every 10 seconds and it takes like 5 minutes to fill back up if I stop using the tools. the pressure drops to 70psi in about 5 seconds.
I want to do lots of body work and this is not helping at all. At this pace it would take me 20 hours to cut the drivers side floor section.

I was looking at a compressor in Lowes...60 Gallon 3.0 horsepower 135psi. $438 10.2cfm@90psi
There is a Husky 60 gallon 7HP in craiglist for $300, but no warranty of course.
I am not looking to spend more than $500, upright compressor prefered.

ANY ADVICE?????? or suggestions Question confused
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Post by LungTube Sat May 30, 2009 1:43 pm

I use mostly cheap $20 electric tool for body work. Mostly to save my air compressor. It is not a very big compressor but works great. The amount spent on the electric tool is far less than buying air tools and if I burn up a $20 electric tool I can't really complain to much. I still have all the electric tools I bought for the Volksrod build and they are doing up my Datsun build. Do not buy the Harbour Freight electric tools I got mine at Home Depot.
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Post by Bugman114 Sat May 30, 2009 3:26 pm

I also have a 21 gallon compressor, and i know it has a 6hp motor, but not sure about the other specs. But its about the same. with tools that use a lot of air, like a grinder, it turns on every 10 second, and takes about 3-4 mins to fill back up. But for my impact wrench, and the regular air wrench, and tire pressure attachment, and all that, its perfect. If you want something like a grinder you would either have to buy a huge expensive compressor (or several smaller compressors hooked up together which is still pretty expensive), or just an electric one. personally, i use electric grinders, and cutters, just cause they are pretty cheap, and last a pretty long time.
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Post by petervalle Sat May 30, 2009 3:57 pm

I talked to a friend that has a body shop and he said that my problem is the CFM the compressor puts out at 90psi. I checked mine and it only puts out 3.2cfm at 90psi...when my grinder and cutter require 4 and 5 cfm to operate. So that is my problem.
The one at Lowes puts out 10.7CFM at 90psi, which it would be great for my garage.

Thanks guys for the fast response. I'll let you guys know how the new one works.
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Post by meinvw Sun May 31, 2009 7:54 am

You almost need a 60gal+ twin to run air dies/grinders. My compressor puts out 7cfm at 90psi and it still runs constantly when running anything but an impact or air wrench. Same as eveyone else here use my elctric grinders for the most part. If I was in your shoes would wait a bit, use an electric grinder and save for a decent air compressor. I bought a 35 Gal 2hp craftsman and really wish I would have bought a larger one. And the twin cylinder belt drives do not blow your eardrums out when they come on!!
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Post by petervalle Sun May 31, 2009 10:56 pm

meinvw, you are correct. Early today I went to Harbor and returned the compressor. My neighbor is active duty military and told me about the 10% discount in Lowes. So I snatched him up, and I got a Kobalt upright 60gallon, 155 max psi, 3.7 running HP motor and it has 11.2cfm at 90psi---14.0 at 40psi. We just finished hooking up the 220V (10:30pm)...and did a test run with the air grinder. Let me tell you that it works awesome and it is much quieter than the previous 21 gallon. It is what they call an Industrial compressor. I'll post pictures tomorrow. The cost of the compressor before taxes was $382.00 with the military discount.


LET THE CUTTING BEGIN!!!! cheers
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Post by meinvw Sun May 31, 2009 11:22 pm

petervalle wrote:meinvw, you are correct. Early today I went to Harbor and returned the compressor. My neighbor is active duty military and told me about the 10% discount in Lowes. So I snatched him up, and I got a Kobalt upright 60gallon, 155 max psi, 3.7 running HP motor and it has 11.2cfm at 90psi---14.0 at 40psi. We just finished hooking up the 220V (10:30pm)...and did a test run with the air grinder. Let me tell you that it works awesome and it is much quieter than the previous 21 gallon. It is what they call an Industrial compressor. I'll post pictures tomorrow. The cost of the compressor before taxes was $382.00 with the military discount.


LET THE CUTTING BEGIN!!!! cheers
MANN!!! I might join the military (yeah like they would take me!!) for a deal like that. Man can he get another???!!

Anyway, let me know when you will be up this way, or could hook up with your brother to get you your moustache bar and an adapter for your engine.
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Post by rpm750 Mon Jun 01, 2009 6:58 am

I have that same Kobalt Compressor and you will love it! I painted my car with it and it ran about 10 cycles during the spraying.
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Post by petervalle Mon Jun 01, 2009 5:09 pm

Today I worked on the van for about 45 minutes until my $3.00 air hose exploded Razz
This compressor is amazing, you guys need to get one.

meinvw, my wife is off school starting next week. I am going to Powder Springs to stay overnight, I think it is the weekend of the 13th. I'll let you know.

My neighbor lives a day at a time and he is up for anything. I wish I could take him with me up there and you guys can clean up at Lowes.... lol!
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Post by meinvw Tue Jun 02, 2009 8:30 am

The weekend of the13 would be no good for me, will be camping in NC. The 10% would be nice but will probably wait awhile before I buy a new one.

Will hopefully get the moustache bar off for you this week and will take the adapter off of the engine going in the bug so you can mount yours in a bus when ready. Will give you a heads up when I do.
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