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General control line discussion => Open Forum => Topic started by: Robert Zambelli on June 20, 2012, 07:57:39 PM
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After 39 years, my Sears Craftsman compressor finally failed. Mud daubers nested in the motor and it overheated and burned out.
The compressor has thousands of hours on it so rather than replacing the motor, I will opt for an entirely new one.
I've been looking at a few from Harbor Freight and I was wondering if any of you have had any experience with them.
I want one with a 15 to 25 gallon tank and it must run on 110VAC.
Any suggestions? Piston type or "oilless"?
Bob Z.
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Hi Bob,Harbor freight compressors have worked well for me in the past.Try and get the vertical tank,they use less area.If you don't go oilless make sure to get a good moisture and oil seperator.If you don't spend an arm and a leg it all comes from China anyway.Jeff
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Be warned---The oil less type are way noisier. Keith
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Keith just said it all. I bought an oilless compressor last year and took it back the next day. I couldn't stand to be in the room with it. You could hear that thing a block away.
I replaced it with a belt driven compressor and life is good again.
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My pressure sensor went out just after the warranty. HF had no parts. had to get a squareD from Grangiers. has worked ok since. Had an oil less...as others have said its way too loud. I treated the china special like a new car and changed the oil after a 15 minute run in. Changed it again in a week when I saw saw the oil in the sight glass darken. It has stayed fairly clear since but I havent used it as much. I bought it during the painting phase of my last plane. Hope that helps.
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HF has a shorty tank 29 gallon vert with 2 hp motor and cast iron piston type pump. It's usually around $350 or so, and is pretty much a copy of an older Speede-air or Campbell-Hausfield unit. Looks pretty good but I haven't had actual experience with it.
I would also check Craig's list etc. People tend to move in the erly summer after school gets out, and compressors are heavy and bulky, might pick up a good one cheap.
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I bought my used Sears compressor 40 years ago from a friend for $15.00. I have treated it very badly for years and it still keeps going. My kids dumped it over in the back of their car once, and broke all the vains in the cooling pulley. I jigged it up and glued it back to together with JB Weld, and it has been that way for 34 years. I wish they still made stuff that would last like this thing has. I have used it to spray many airplanes, air up the tires on my lawn tractor that are always flat, (we have sand burs), and just the other day used it to power up the impact wrench to remove the nuts on the primary drive nuts on my Harley. Maybe I should change the oil in the compressor as I have not done that since I have owned it. I do oil the motor bearings once every few years though.
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Thankfully my 25+ year old Campbell-Hausfield 3hp is still pumping, bought it from SAMs club. At the time I went looking for the largest compressor I could get that would run on 110 and this was the best price I could find in town. Way before HF opened a store in Tulsa.
I wouldn't be against a HF compressor, if you have a problem everything but parts for the pump can be bought and adapted to make work. I would get an automatic drain valve and like has been said a good inline water/oil filter. Not sure how thick the tank metal is but if you keep it drained it should last quite a while.
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I have been using a Campbell-Hausfield (20 gal / 2.25 HP /110V) mainly for the air saws, nibblers, etc for doing custom automotive work. I bought it in 1990, so its over 20 yrs.. and still works great.
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I'd go with a Sears Craftsman 25 gal horizontal professional series belt driven compressor model. I've had one for a
quite a long time with no problems and Sears runs some pretty good deals now...and yes, a water trap filter is a
neccesity.