A friend of mine is thinking of purchasing the following:

http://www.harborfreight.com/c...54463

What do you guys think of the overal quality, useability, and noise level produced by this compressor?

 

Tell your friend to spend $50 more dollars!

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr...blink

Or wait until the tank alone goes on sale (I got mine for $269) and buy some better quality tools if they are going to get a lot of use.

 

Sears had a huge sale this weekend. It was very hard to walk by the compressors and not eyeball them as they called my name.

Pssst! Hey you!
No!
You know you want to!
No. I can't!
But it'll make your life easier. C'mon over here.
But... but... I don't have a garage and you'd have to live in the basement. Do you want that kind of life?
I have a 30' and 50' air hose... I'll reach your driveway.
No!!!!! (Goes off running to housewares)

 

Depends what he's using it for

If he's just gonna fill tires
its fine
if he's ever going to run an impact gun , the 13 gallon is gonna suck big time
I used a 30gallon one before, and it was bareable

I have a 60 gallon tank at home, and am very happy with it

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by KC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Sears had a huge sale this weekend. It was very hard to walk by the compressors and not eyeball them as they called my name.

Pssst! Hey you!
No!
You know you want to!
No. I can't!
But it'll make your life easier. C'mon over here.
But... but... I don't have a garage and you'd have to live in the basement. Do you want that kind of life?
I have a 30' and 50' air hose... I'll reach your driveway.
No!!!!! (Goes off running to housewares)
</TD></TR></TABLE>

hehe, last time the 60 gallon compressor was on sale, I couldn't say no
having air compressor at home is awesome

 

5.1 SCFM @ 90 PSI (which is the spec that matters) is kinda marginal. you can get a better compressor for the same or less money elsewhere. Home Depot has a Rigid for $249 (regular price, not on sale) thats 6.5 CFM @ 90 PSI. Doesn't come with the cheap tools though.

Some air tools (like cut off wheels) are notorious air hogs and use even more than 6 CFM. Most impacts are 6 or under though.

 

9cfm @ 90psi

I wish i could've gotten more, but they started to get crazy with the pricing
For non industry use, I don't think I need more

 

Just took delivery of one of these. It was back ordered 6 months, and when it showed up, it had a smoking large crack in the side of the compressor block and a correspondingly large oil leak.
It got sent back. I'm shopping elsewhere.

 

Whatever you do - GET A GOOD QUALITY ONE and maintain it

or else this might happen:

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1065634

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Big Phat R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Whatever you do - GET A GOOD QUALITY ONE and maintain it

or else this might happen:

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1065634</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yowzers. I'm draining mine tonight.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dan GSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
If he's just gonna fill tires
its fine
if he's ever going to run an impact gun , the 13 gallon is gonna suck big time
I used a 30gallon one before, and it was bareable

I have a 60 gallon tank at home, and am very happy with it</TD></TR></TABLE>

I can't speak for that brand and model but I have a 13 gallon Craftsman tank that has been fine for my home hobbyist needs including running impact tools, die grinders, chisels, etc. Some tools will deplete the tank faster than others and it does cycle the machine more often if the capacity is small but I have rarely if ever had to stop in the middle of a tool usage to simply let the tank recharge. Most of the time if you are doing something for protracted tiems, you will take some short break for a minute or so. I can take off and install four wheels and tires with mu 1/2 inch impact without it needing to cycle normally.

If you have a seperate portable air tank, it is nice if you can hook it in series with the compressor tank with a quick disconnect so you get the benefit of the combined capacities (mine are 13 and 5 gallons) plus your portable tank will always be full when you need it. The extra capacity is a bonus for hobbyists like me. Although I would like a 60 gallon mambo tank in a more serious shop, I couldn't justify the cost, wiring and size it takes up for my periodic usage. I may use it heavily on a few weekends then it might sit for a few weeks an not be used at all.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Big Phat R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Whatever you do - GET A GOOD QUALITY ONE and maintain it

or else this might happen:

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1065634</TD></TR></TABLE>

That seems to be from age, not quality. IR isn't a cheap brand. My bet is that all the tanks come from the same factory and just have different pumps bolted to the top of them.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by travis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Tell your friend to spend $50 more dollars!
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr...blink
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I have that compressor without the tools and this weekend my dad bought that same kit (compressor + tools). The compressor is nice, but the tools suck. The Impact Wrench would not take off lug nuts, and the air hammer wouldn't chisel through a small bolt but I have never used one so maybe that's not what it's for. I didn't bother with the ratchet.

As for the compressor itself, I like it. I was able to spray 20 shutters on my house, 4 coats each all back to back and I didn't have to stop once and wait for the compressor to catch up. There were times when I had to shift shutters around (10-20 second) so that helped too.