Harbor Freight compressor?

Hi btp,

It looks like a nice compressor.  I used a badger compressor similar to it, for years.  I added a moisture trap to mine, but here in Kentucky, when spraying on hot and humid days the trap would fill with water quickly; soon the water would spray out along with the paint.  I had a second trap in my hose as well, and it didn't help much.

When I lived in southern Arizona, I had no trouble with moisture in my line. :)

You might consider looking for a compressor with a tank, or getting a compressed CO2 tank and regulator.  That's what I have now, and I love it.  The only problem I have with the tank is the danger of transporting it.

The hose looks good on the HF compressor, but you might consider getting a braded one later on, they are sturdier than rubber/plastic hoses.

Good luck!

I have that compressor is the same one but I got it as part of combo
http://www.happinessismandatory.com/misc/Tools/Compressor.htm

Works great and I have never had an issue with it at all.  I am new to airbrushing so take my advice with a grain of salt.  But I don't see why anyone would need the reall expensive ones as compare to this.  Its quite, keeps pressure and works great.  Once I get a more perminate spot to airbush in I am going to get a small tank just for ease of use.

 Later

espins1 wrote:

Harbor Freight also carries a really nice compressor with a 3 gallon tank.  I picked one up on sale a year or so ago for around $49 - $59.  I had a stand alone compressor like the one you're looking at and after using the one with the 3 gal. tank I will always stick with units with a storage tank.  It gives you so much more control over the air pressure and is great for both long and short spray jobs.

i'll second what scott says, i  got one of those ab compressors for a gift and took it back and got one with a 3gal tank.

I have one like this (it may actually be the same one). I got it for Christmas a few years back, but I'm pretty sure it was purchased at Biglot.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=90168 

  I love it. It has an automatic regularor that keeps the pressure up, turns on around 80PSI or so. The tank is large enough to spray an entire 1/48 scale airplane if you don't want to turn it on. I added quick disconnects and a water seperator to mine. I run it in the house, it's kinda loud, but I can still hear the stereo over it (barely).It charges quickly though, then you leave it off.

 Here's another low cost one with a tank:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=97080

I bought that exact same compressor about a month ago. I't works well with 2 important caveats. With a Paasche H and a badger 100, it will not support more than 15 psi continuous, so forget about the 30 psi rating. It reads 30 psi until you pull the trigger, then quickly drops to 15psi

Also, the bleedoff regulator was poorly designed on mine and didn't work correctly out of the box. It would unscrew completely before making any change to the output pressure. I had to remove the spring and cut it down (shorten it) before it functioned as designed. Of course, given caveat #1, this isn't a very important feature for the single action. For the double, I can now turn it down a bit for close-in work.

I have gotten good results with it at 15 psi, although I have read here that that should not be possible.I probably have to thin the paint more than I would at 25 psi, or whatever.

btp2k2 wrote:

Hey guys, I am in the market for a new compressor. I replaced my Aztek airbrush with a Paasche and the Testors Mini is just not up to the task. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93657 I am shooting with a Paasche H and I also use a Badger 250 spray gun for doing big 32nd scale jets. Any opinions on the compressors from Harbor Freight would be much appreciated.

The HF compressor will not be much an improvement over the Blue Mini. You are using 2 external mix, siphon feed airbrushes which requires stronger airflow than those using internal mix, gravity feed brush. Look for something that can provide at least 0.7 CFM at 35 psi or higher. None of the Harbor Freight airbrush compressor meets this bill, even the more expensive one. You would want to look at the well established airbrush dealer's site. Good house brand compressor can be had for about $100. I will look at Airbrush-Depot, BearAir.

If you can put the compressor away from your work area, such as the garage, and pipe in the air, you may consider a shop compressor. They are noisy even for the oil lubricated ones. Again, I found the well know compressor brands such as Senco, Dewalt or Maxus offer much more refined products at competitive price than the HF shop compressors.

There are quite a few discussions on the compressor topic this year. Do a search on this forum and you will find many helpful suggestions.

Unfortunately, having the air source elsewhere and piping it is not an option.

So 2 CFM @ 30 PSI is too low for external siphons?

I am looking into one of the 3 gallon 100 Psi compressors that HF has, and getting a moisture trap. The fact that the airbrush compressor I linked in the OP has a moisture trap already on it was what made it so attractive in the first place.....but based on what I have heard, I think I might pass......especially that 15 psi as soon as the trigger is pulled part.

btp2k2 wrote:

So 2 CFM @ 30 PSI is too low for external siphons? I am looking into one of the 3 gallon 100 Psi compressors that HF has, and getting a moisture trap. The fact that the airbrush compressor I linked in the OP has a moisture trap already on it was what made it so attractive in the first place.....but based on what I have heard, I think I might pass......especially that 15 psi as soon as the trigger is pulled part.

2 CFM @ 30 PSI is pretty good for external siphons. Just take caution to dilute your paint properly. The 2 CFM is a lot more than an airbrush needs, but 30 psi is marginal at best if you use thicker paints. For your purpose, 1/32 scale aircraft model, 2 CFM @ 30 PSI is good enough.

A mositure trap for the shop type compressor is essential because they tend to get pretty hot and have lots of condensation in the storage tank. Just make sure that you can tolerate the noise which is pretty loud even for the better brands that I mentioned earlier. The cheaper HF or Campbell Hausfeld brand are unbelieveably bad in noise. You can check my post on compressor upgrade.

/forums/984490/ShowPost.aspx

Thanks for the help.

I went and got a 100 PSI compressor with a 3 gallon tank and then picked up a moisture trap and a kit with a bunch of different adapters and nipples, etc. Ran me less than 100 bucks. It is rated for 1.00 CFM @ 40 PSI(What the heck is a CFM anyway?). I got it hooked up and fired up the Paasche H shooting unthinned Model Master acryl (they say it is "pre thinned"...uh-huh)....I was very impressed. Like you mentioned...a tad loud....but it painted extremely smooth. Very impressed. This is actually the first time I have been able to use my Paasche, because the old Testor's Mini was not able to cut the mustard and would cause the airbrush to just kind of "sneeze" out paint every minute or so. I have a spray booth in the garage, so noise really isn't an issue.

Now I just need to figure out what to do with this Testor's Compressor.

btp2k2 wrote:

What the heck is a CFM anyway?

CFM = Cubic Feet per Minute

PSI = Pounds per Square Inch 

  Simply put, CFM is the volume of air that a unit can move. PSI is how much force it can put behind it. 

Generally speaking, if you increase the CFM at a certain PSI, you're moving more air. Increase PSI at a certain CFM and you are moving it faster and with more force.

espins1 wrote:

Harbor Freight also carries a really nice compressor with a 3 gallon tank.  I picked one up on sale a year or so ago for around $49 - $59.  I had a stand alone compressor like the one you're looking at and after using the one with the 3 gal. tank I will always stick with units with a storage tank.  It gives you so much more control over the air pressure and is great for both long and short spray jobs.

Walmart sells one with a two gallon tank (Campbell-Housefield) for about $73. They also have one with a one gallon tank for $53 that looks to use the same compressor stage. I have the one gallon job out in the garage for air up tires (little slow but works). The downside is that they are noisey, and I like my Iwata Smart Jet better even if the CFM is a little on the low side.

gary

squeakie wrote:

Walmart sells one with a two gallon tank (Campbell-Housefield) for about $73. They also have one with a one gallon tank for $53 that looks to use the same compressor stage.

The 3 gallon compressor I got at Harbor Freight was 59.00, add 7 bucks for the moisture trap and another 5 for some fittings...and I call that a pretty sweet deal!

I spray in my nice climate controlled garage (SO glad my wife talked me into insulating and dry walling in there last summer) so the noise doesn't bother anyone....and I tend to have the stereo going pretty loud anyway