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Old 11-13-2020, 10:07 PM   #1
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New little compressor

Gang,
Well, my little stand-by air compressor, made Craftsman and later purchased by Porter Cable, had a fatal accident this afternoon. You see, over the years, as in about 7-8 that I've owned it, it's held air less and less. To the point that, it would reach cutt-off and, about 1/2 hour later, it was completely empty. Well, I put it on the work bench and was gonna do some analysis on it, with some soapy water to see if I could find any leaks. I did that and, basically I found none.

I had it half apart which, left it unstable on the bench. I took a phone call and, the compressor was still plugged in. As I was on the phone, and away from it, I could hear it cycle every few minutes. By the time I hung up and went to resume testing, the compressor had vibrated off the work bench and fallen to the floor. It was running but, major air was escaping. I pulled the plug and realized that, some components had been damaged beyond repair.

When camping etc., I use that little compressor on a regular basis for misc. So, I needed a replacement. I knew I could get another one just like it in about 4 days from Amazon but, I decided to look around. I also remembered that Harbor Freight had a model that was supposed to be considerably quieter than ANY other small air compressor. I LIKE QUIET! So, I checked out HF and their compressors and found the one I'd heard about.

I read the reviews and checked out a couple of videos on the one I was interested in. At that point, there were all good reviews. And, the demo of one running in comparison to a Porter Cable pancake model showed that the HF unit was PHENOMENALLY quieter. So, I decided to purchase one. I wasn't sure it was gonna fit in the space the Craftsman/Porter Cable lived so, it wasn't 'till I fitted it in its parking spot, that I could decide if I could keep it or not.

Annnnnnywaaaay, what I purchased is the Harbor Freight 2-gallon *Fortress* Ultra Quiet compressor. It's an oil free unit, just like about 99.999% of the ones in its class. I didn't turn it on and try it out, 'till I made sure it was gonna fit where I keep it in the coach. But, I gotta tell ya, the video(s) don't do it any justice in terms of just how quiet this thing is. In person, it is PHENOMENALLY QUIET. I've had a lot of compressors in my life, oil-less and oiled. By far, an oil-less is seriously louder than an oiled unit. So, I know what noisy compressors sound like. This HF unit is IMRESSIVE.


It's cut-off pressure is 135 psi. It had zero psi in it when I turned it on the first time. I looked at my watch and hit the ON switch. 45 seconds later, it cut off. I was amazed. I let all the air out of the 2 gallon tank and, timed it again. 45 seconds, almost to the second. It's been about 2 hours now since it shut off, AND UN PLUGGED, and it's still sitting at 135 psi, yahooooo! So far, since it's brand new and, I've really not tested it out on our 100 psi coach tires, I can't really comment on the down-to-earth performance. That is yet to be seen. This is a dual piston/dual pump unit. The stroke and size of the pump was cut in half and made into two pumps. And, the motor is a brushless motor. This is how they designed it so it would be efficient AND, really quiet at the same time.

So, for those of you that *may* be in the market for a small compressor, while there definitely are smaller ones than this one, if you can fit this one in your allotted space, so far, I'd recommend the heck out of it. Now, Harbor Freight does have a 1 gallon version of this. It's identical only, SMALLER. The prime reason I went with this one is the performance. The 2 gallon one has of course, the larger pumps and puts out, 2.1 scfm at 90 psi whereas, the 1 gallon version is .7 scfm at 90. And, HF is having a *Black Friday* sale. This compressor is normally $159.00 and it's on sale for $129. The little version is on sale for $109.00

Anyway, enough blabbing for now. I replaced an ailing and now totaled Craftsman/Porter Cable with a new HF unit that, at present, is very, very satisfactory.
Scott
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Old 11-13-2020, 10:16 PM   #2
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Thanks for the write up.
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Old 11-13-2020, 10:30 PM   #3
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Great, thanks for sharing! I am very interested in this.
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Old 11-14-2020, 09:55 AM   #4
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Well,
For those that may be interested, compressed air systems, like those anywhere from small units like the one I just purchased, to larger ones, diesel motorhomes and a whole lot more, tend to loose air over time. Some loose very little and some, A LOT in a given amount of time. Well, just as an update, HF must have done a pretty fair quality check on this unit because I pumped it up 'till it cut itself off at 135 psi last night around 8:00.

I went out at about 09:30 this morning to check and see how much it might have drained down to and, low and behold, it's still sitting at 135 psi, yahoooo.

So, again, if anyone's interested in obtaining a small (well, I say "small" but, there are SMALLER ones out there) compressor, and again, if you can fit this unit, I'd sure take a strong look at this one. If anyone would like, I can take measurements, L, W and H so you can see what the total size is for fitment in a given area.
Scott
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Old 11-14-2020, 10:37 AM   #5
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Great review and I too have the older air compressor like you had, mine is still operating, but getting one dedicated for the Motorhome might be a good idea. Thanks
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Old 11-14-2020, 11:24 AM   #6
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I agree with your review...

In my little shop, I have a large compressor and would fill a 10 gal tank to top off the tires on my old toy hauler trailer.. I backed that up with a small 12V compressor.

When I bought my class A in March. I needed a portable compressor that could handle the 100psi of the tires, and the volume of the tires, should one get low....

I took a chance on the Harbor Freight Fortress brand... I had heard how quiet they were.

I bought the 2 gal model and have only owned it for 6 months. So far I'm very impressed. I've topped off the Class A tires a couple times (I had a loose valve in one tire stem) and it handles the 100psi pressures.

When not using the RV, I keep in in my garage, connected to the 10 gal tank for more volume, and use it quite frequently for car tires, bicycle tires, etc... It saves me from running a hose from the shop to the garage...

If it proves to be half as durable as it is quiet, it will be a great little compressor..

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Old 11-14-2020, 11:31 AM   #7
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Not a HF compressor story but a HF pressure washer story.


An acquaintance was pressure washing his pool deck when his gas powered washer vibrated into the pool while running. He fished it out, drained the gas and oil, refilled them back up and cranked the motor. Fired right up, no problems and he is still using it
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Old 11-14-2020, 12:12 PM   #8
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Not HF, but a compressor story.

Years ago I had an opposing cylinder compressor outof a piece of equipment. I had one cylinder off with just the piston hanging out, two mistakes, I didn't unplug it, and some how I hit the switch. By the time I got it shut off, it had really beat the crap out of that piston.
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Old 11-14-2020, 12:16 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by dons2346 View Post
Not a HF compressor story but a HF pressure washer story.


An acquaintance was pressure washing his pool deck when his gas powered washer vibrated into the pool while running. He fished it out, drained the gas and oil, refilled them back up and cranked the motor. Fired right up, no problems and he is still using it
That's done with boat engines all of the time.
With salt water, you will want to change the oil twice.

My neighbor rented a gas powered, tree trimming saw, to cut out old underwater poles on his dock.
He cut one, lifted the blade out, but dunked the little engine. Now I know why he rented it. He got it running in a few minutes.
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Old 11-14-2020, 12:56 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by FIRE UP View Post
....
It's cut-off pressure is 135 psi. It had zero psi in it when I turned it on the first time. I looked at my watch and hit the ON switch. 45 seconds later, it cut off. ......
So how long does it take to increase the pressure of a 22.5" inch tire from 100 psi to 110 psi?

I do not care if it wakes the dead if it can do it in 5 minutes.

When I have access to a large shop air compressor it take me about an hour to get the job done on all 6 tires. The basic problems is a low reset pressure.
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Old 11-14-2020, 02:39 PM   #11
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As followingsea alluded to, what is the cut-in pressure? To me that is more important than cut-off pressure.
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Old 11-14-2020, 04:02 PM   #12
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Where is it made?
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Old 11-14-2020, 04:17 PM   #13
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Old 11-14-2020, 04:56 PM   #14
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So how long does it take to increase the pressure of a 22.5" inch tire from 100 psi to 110 psi?

I do not care if it wakes the dead if it can do it in 5 minutes.

When I have access to a large shop air compressor it take me about an hour to get the job done on all 6 tires. The basic problems is a low reset pressure.
I've only used it from 190-102psi on one wheel and 97- 102psi on the other 5... not sure when it cuts in, but I can see it start to slow down filling the tire about 20 seconds after it shuts off. I have a fill hose with a gauge and manual air lever. I take it off the tire, give the wand a few spurts of air, the compressor kicks on, and it starts filling quicker again... Obviously it will fill to 110 slower than 102...

I can do all 6 tires in about 15-20 minutes... never really timed myself so that's a guess... but it certainly wasn't 60 minutes.. seriously doubt it was 30 min... unless you count set-up, filling tires, drink a beer, break down...

The one I have is 2 gal/ 135 psi/ 2.1 scfm /1.2 HP / 42 lbs

They make another one slightly larger.....

It's 4 gal/ 200 psi/ 4.0 scfm / 1.5 HP / 49 lbs

The 4 gal one would probably work best for 110 psi tires and fill them faster from a lower pressure also..

Without a coupon or sale, the 2 gal lists for around $129 and the 4 gal lists for $199.

Both are very quiet... I hate running a loud generator at a campground.
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