Question for Harbor Freight 21 Gal. vert compressor owners.

[gaalcom]

After proper break-in and a couple hours use I notice there seems to be a fair amount of piston/cylinder blow-by as indicated by the air coming from the vent hole of the oil filler cap. Probably the same amount of air as from a small/mid-sized fish tank air pump. Was hoping someone could verify the amount of blow-by their 21 gallon vertical compressor experiences.

As per a previous thread from me I do intend to "some day" transplant my old Craftsman 230v hardware onto this tank but for now would like to take advantage of the extreme portability of this very light unit with integrated motor/pump.

 

[FigureItOut]

Funny you ask. I've had mine for about 4 years I think, and I just noticed that yesterday. When I felt it I thought I had a bad leak, but it filled as fast as it always has, and does not leak down. I haven't owned other compressors to compare it to, but I can confirm the blow-by you describe is present on mine also.

 

[gaalcom]

Thanks for sharing your experience FigureItOut!

I wasn't overly concerned about it but your confirmation of basically the same amount of blow-by and, more importantly, the fact you don't notice any lengthening of fill-time is positive news. The fill-time is something I had no baseline for.

Now it's beginning to have the slow/no start problem. I recently ran robust 50a/230v and 20a/115v circuits so using the latter pretty much debunks Harbor Freight's reasoning that this no-start problem is typically power supply related. I'll check a few things before RMAing this unit, could simply be the infamous check-valve or poor terminal connection.