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harbor freight on board air compressor

outlander

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Columbus,Ohio
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93186

It's probably the typical h.f junk but for 60.00 I'm thinking of giving it a try....maybe hooking it up to a 5 gal air tank.How do you think it'll do with a tank for filling tires.I wonder if it'll fill the tank up to 150 psi?If it fills it up to 100 or so I could use an air wrench for a quick burst to bust shit loose on the trail....am I day dreaming here?It's way cheaper than a viair or oasis so I'm not expecting top of the line performance...
 
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i had mine for 6 months, works pretty well, except some of the screws i had to locktite in place (comes loose). inflates a 31 inch tire in about 5 minute or less..... not bad for a less than $100 compressor
 
just put the 60$ towards a viar or higher end system, most likely you will run that until it either breaks or you want to upgrade, at which point its 60$ wasted. Just my .02
 
A buddy in my club bought one for his ARB. Doesn't use it for tires too often, Tail Only TJ. It has the same specs as the mid level ViaAir or the Quick Air 2.
I use a Quick Air2 for the ARB and a 2.5 Gal Tank. Will fill a 33 from 10 to 30 PSi in about 5 minutes. It has about an 80 % duty cycle and with the tank means you don't have to stop to let it cool down every tire. Still it's a solid 20 to 30 minute time frame to bring tires back to road pressure.
Now my Power Tank, will fill a 33 in about 35 seconds. It will fill around 20 of them on about 7-8 lbs. And it will reset the bead on a 35 no problem.
 
If I run this attached to a small air tank,will I be able to reseat a bead?It's supposed to get up to a max of 150psi so I assume it would reseat a bead......
 
XJ_Vikings said:
just put the 60$ towards a viar or higher end system, most likely you will run that until it either breaks or you want to upgrade, at which point its 60$ wasted. Just my .02

If that were the case everybody would build their first rig with Fully loaded Dana 60s, Atlas T-Cases and 40" Red Lable Krawlers right off the bat. I'm personally a fan of trying out the low end alternative first for many things, if it never dies I just saved a ton of money, if it does die, I usually already got my $$ out of it.

I say, try it. It may never let you down, you may realize you don't use it as often as you imagined, making it even better that you didn't drop the coin on a big dollar compressor. If you end up using it all the time and it does break, well, then you can probably justify a better unit.
 
jeepdeepfreak said:
If I run this attached to a small air tank,will I be able to reseat a bead?It's supposed to get up to a max of 150psi so I assume it would reseat a bead......

I doubt it. Maybe if you strapped the tire, but it's a function of the flow rate, not the PSI rating. Not sure you can get a high enough flow rate out of a small tank. I CAN NOT set one in the garage with my 30GAL compressor. Just doesn't flow enough.
 
DaffyXJ said:
I doubt it. Maybe if you strapped the tire, but it's a function of the flow rate, not the PSI rating. Not sure you can get a high enough flow rate out of a small tank. I CAN NOT set one in the garage with my 30GAL compressor. Just doesn't flow enough.

You're right, its more a function of flow, and that shouldn't depend so much on tank size as with hose length/diameter. This is where pressure comes into play, you'll get more flow out of the same size hole with more pressure.

If I crank my 33gal to 150psi, and use the shortest fattest hose I have, with the valve stem removed and the quick disconnect placed right on the valve I can usually seat a bead without too much hassle. If I use the longer skinny hose at a lower pressure it just doesn't do it. Of course, I prefer ether anyway :D
 
jeepdeepfreak said:
So how is it holding up after 8 months?
Great. I'm in the process of outfitting a small tank for it. It will run a small airgun, but only as something to save your arms from repeated movement--not as something to break stubborn stuff loose. Also, no, I don't think it could reseat a bead. It has the p.s.i. capability but not the c.f.m. necessary. Same reason it can't run a real impact.
 
I have re-seated beads with a Quick Air 2 before. One was a 32" tire on a 10" rim. Seated it just fine. A compressor by itself does not have enough flow to re-seat a bead, but if you run a air tank and let it pressurize to 125 psi, then hit the tire with that pressure (with a strap around the tire pushing the beads outwards) it works every time. Don't knock till you try it, I'll bet it will work.
 
Andy in Pa. said:
I have re-seated beads with a Quick Air 2 before. One was a 32" tire on a 10" rim. Seated it just fine. A compressor by itself does not have enough flow to re-seat a bead, but if you run a air tank and let it pressurize to 125 psi, then hit the tire with that pressure (with a strap around the tire pushing the beads outwards) it works every time. Don't knock till you try it, I'll bet it will work.


That's exactly how I see it also....There's only one way to find out,I'm going to h.f!!
 
20 minutes to air up seems a bit much for me. after gettting oba i use it more and more. i run air tools off it, fill tires, reseat beads, use high pressure air for cleaning, run my lockers, and vairious other things using my stock ac compressor. i feel that at 1.3 cfm your on the real low side of things, maby if you were using it for you lockers or something. i guess if you wheel very seldome it would work grand but for the average wheeler it is just plain slow
 
This is the one I put in my rig... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180015400486&ssPageName=MERCOSI_VI_ROSI_PR4_PCN_BIX_Stores&refitem=170006965120&itemcount=4&refwidgetloc=closed_view_item&refwidgettype=osi_widget
...has a higher CFM than most of the other 12v compressors, definately more than any that are similarly priced AND it has a 100% duty cycle. It'll air up my 33x12.5's from 10-27psi in about six minutes and will run air tools for short periods. I got mine from the Buzzard Gulch website, but it appears to be down and now I can only find them on Ebay.
 
jeepdeepfreak said:
If I run this attached to a small air tank,will I be able to reseat a bead?It's supposed to get up to a max of 150psi so I assume it would reseat a bead......

The easiest way to reset your bead is to carry a can of starting fluid or something else aresol that is flamable...just squirt it in your tire and lite it...just don't use to much.
 
MogifiedXJ said:
The easiest way to reset your bead is to carry a can of starting fluid or something else aresol that is flamable...just squirt it in your tire and lite it...just don't use to much.

Easiest and most dangerous. I would not give that advice to anyone, especially advice that can get someone hurt or killed.
 
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