Harbor Freight Air Compressor Review

I purchased a cheap air compressor from Harbor Freight (94667). This air compressor was purchased for the air tank to connect to a better quality air compressor I have had for over ten years. I went to a Harbor Freight retail store because this model is not sold from their warehouse and a similar model would cost $100 for truck freight.

I was looking at an 8-gallon compressor with the same pump but it was only on display and I did not see it on the sales floor. There was a hot dog style air compressor in the store with a smaller compressor pump, both were advertised for $99. I chose this 21 gallon air compressor because of the large size tank and it was on sale for $139.99

I have used this compressor for a few days and my only complaint is the noise level, it will literally wake the dead. There was also a few defects I had to repair:
1. The threads in the bottom of the tank were bad and it had an air leak. I run a pipe tap in the drain and it now seals like it should.
2. The pressure switch was set too low at 105 PSI, I had to set that up to 115 PSI and it works great.
3. The safety valve has a low setting and I ordered a new one with an additional 10 PSI to keep it from popping as an air storage tank. Never remove the safety valve from the air tank!

Overall, I believe these air compressors from Harbor Freight are a good value. You may get one with a minor defect that can be easily repaired. It took me less than an hour to fix the problems with this air compressor. I live 100 miles from the store I purchased it from, it was easier to fix the defects than try to return it because the pressure was low and it had an air leak.

I also have a pancake air compressor and I have no complaints about the product quality in comparison to the cost.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Harbor Freight
• air compressor
• review
• air tank
• air
• tools
• home
• compressor
• 94667

[kuvuakoj]

i was thinking about buy one like that, how is it on impact guns, i need for for fixing car

[dollman0]

@kuvuakoj I believe the black compressors are better quality (a little more money) a 20 gallon tank will run most air tools on a limited basis. If you do heavy work you will need a shop compressor (60-80 gallon). I run an impact gun on a pancake compressor to bust tires loose, you just have to wait for the air to recover. Air tools are only as good as the compressor used to run them. If you run synthetic oil in a HF compressor, it will last much longer than using cheap oil.

[redneckrollercoast1]

people buy things from harbor freight and say they are junk most off the time when you take care of your tools and treat them how you should they will take care of you im only 15 and probably have over 10K invested in my tools.

[dollman0]

@redneckrollercoast1 People go to Harbor Freight looking to save money, I have some of their tools and you get what you pay for. I bought this compressor just for extra air storage and it does OK for the $160 I paid. This was a better option than buying a large shop compressor. I agree that if you take care of your tools they will last a long time.

[boatbros23]

Thanks for the review.  I am considering buying one. How long does it take to fill the tank up?

Thanks

[dollman0]

@boatbros23 It takes around 3 min depending upon the pressure

[KrankieV2]

they have one of these where I work. it takes forever to pump up, and the regulator does not allow much flow. No good for inflating large truck tires. It's a POS.

[dollman0]

@hotelgm07 There is a check valve that keeps the tank pressure from loading the pump, it may be bad and I have heard it gives a lot of trouble. Try using a better quality part... You can get most compressor parts and do your own plumbing. I have had no problems with my unit but I normally use it as a back-up pump and additional air storage.

[robby844]

we have one of these same compressors. i bumped the air pressure up from 105 to 120 and the diaphram blew thru. we rep[laced the shutoff/unloader valve for 20 bucks from grainger.i also put a higher pressure safety blow off. the regulator is useless and restricts air flow so i removed it.

[snarlingrabiddog5150]

I just did a video on mine if you'd like to see it. Thanks again for the really nice review!