Central Pneumatic air compressor

[mike rawl]

I recently saw a coupon for the central pneumatic pancake air compressor at Harbor Freight for about $40.00. I need a good light duty air compressor for blowing out turnings, blowing of dust, maybe a pin nailer, and basic tasks. I am also hard pressed for cash and will be for a considerable amount of time. Is there any reason that this compressor would not be good enough? If anyone has one what is your opinion of it. Should I buy it or save up a little longer?

Thanks
Mike

[Bruce Wrenn]

Save longer, and watch CL for used oil lubed two cylinder units. Older Sears units regularly pop up here for $50 - $150. If you buy the cheapie from HF, you will soon have to replace it. I have (lent to a friend) a oil lubed HF pancake that was given to me. The pop off was set lower than the pressure switch. Sears often puts their 2 gallon oil lubed on sale for less than $100. Had one, but someone else wanted it enough to steal it. Go to CL, and do a search in tools, general, and farm and garden, using the words air compressor. In the price just $100 as maximum price. Anything less than $100 or without a price will pop up. Currently here are a couple of Sears and DeVilbiss oil less units for less than $75.

[Brad Waugh]

i had a hf oil less compressor and it snapped the crank i would wait and checked craigslist

[David Hostetler]

I presently have a HF 2HP 8 gallon hot dog compressor, oil lubed, and have had it for, oh I guess 2.5 to 3 years now. I use it a lot. Driving nail guns, filling BIG 4x4 tires, driving an air ratchet, impact wrench etc... I got it for $79.00 on sale with a coupon...

I personally don't care for pancake compressors of any sort, just too small for me...

[mike rawl]

Thanks for the info. I guess I will be waiting a little longer.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I'd bet dollars to doughnuts my 3 gal. Evolve oiless compressor from Sears came from the same assy line as the HF unit.
I paid $59.00 on sale for it & it came with a coil hose and an 18 ga nail gun that takes up full 2" brads & 1 1/4" staples.

The Evolve replaces a 1 gallon Coleman that I picked up on impulse from Lowes on a Black Friday sale for $49.00. The Coleman still works, but, I noticed it "skipping" every once i a while & I wanted to have something as a backup if it went out. Also, a 1 gallon tank doesn't provide a lot of reserve for blowing things out.
Nice for fairly quick recharges when it's empty - but - it empty's quick.

Anyhow - these small mini compressors have their place. Their light weight/low price make them great for small jobs where you need a renewable air supply. Unlike a portable aux tank, the mini can recharge if/when it runs out of air.

Cons:
- Noise. However. My Evolve isn't any louder than my Ingersoll Rand 4 gal. "twin hot dog". The small Coleman OTOH, would wake the dead.
- Very limited air flow - CFM. Inflating tires seems to take forever. I did it once and it took nearly 20 min. to pump up a car tire that was about 50% flat, to 34 psi.
- Very, very very long recovery time. Whenever I'm running brads or pins, when the pump kicks on, it's time to put down the nailer and wait a full 3 min for it to build back up. If you're nailing a fair amount of stuff and/or holding something in place until you can nail or pin it, that's really annoying.
- Unreliable. Not that either of my mini's have quit on me, it's just that I can't trust them 100% not to. For that reason alone, I would never have on as my only compressor.
- Limited tool/nailer size. Both my mini's are great for 23 ga pinners. Fine for 16 ga brads. So-so for 16 ga. Next to useless for 15 ga and framing nailers.
- Limited warrranty. Most only come with a 90 day warranty. Problems ususally crop up either out of the box, or six months down the road. That's good if you get a DOA - bad if you use it only a few times a year.

Bottom line - IMHO - you would be better off if you save up for something a little bigger. Something in the 1.5HP class.

While I use the mini's I have for brads and pins, they do not do a very good job of inflating things or blowing things off.

My mini compressor(s) is a supplement to my larger shop/job site compressor. In my case, it's an Ingersoll Rand with about 4 CFM of air delivery @ working pressures. I also have an older Coleman portable with a 10 gal tank in the 6 to 7 CFM class.

HTH.

[Chris Hester]

An air compressor is not something I would buy from HF or any other cheapie brand. I'm very leery of compressors after hearing about a guy from this town many years ago that was killed when his compressor exploded due to a faulty weld.

Go with a good name brand.

[David Hostetler]

Chris,

I have to ask... What is a good brand these days? Most if not all of them come off the same assembly lines in China and Taiwan these days... You line my HF compressor up against the 2HP 8 Gallon Campbell Hausfield, and a similar Craftsman and other than paint, it is painfully obvious they are the same compressor...

Yes bad welds can have catastrophic results. Both cheap brands as well as high dollar brands experience weld failure. That is why you want to not be working right next to your compressor. (one of MANY reasons). It's also a good reason to build a compressor box. Noise suppression is just one of the many advantages of those!