Small Generator from Harbor Freight and Air compressor

plow hand

Well-known Member
Looking at small generator at Harbor Freight to use as a back up to my basement sump pump are they any good its..$99 and air compressor?
 
When have you been using when power goes out?
Would a 12 volt pump work, how many ( Gallons ) times does it cycle per hour.
 
Get what you pay for spend the extra $20 for the free replacement warranty. I do get lots of stuff from there one in town and I am cheap.
 
What have you been using when power goes out?
Would a 12 volt pump work, how many ( Gallons ) times does it cycle per hour.
 
I kind of doubt if it would run much of a sump pump. We have a 2000 Coleman powermate and it will barely start a 1/3 hp shallow well pump. A sump pump might start easier, but I believe they are induction motors.
 
That might work by the time I buy a battery and pump it would be more than their small gen..10 times in an hour in the spring and heavy rains.. I have gutters and water drains away from house.. (clay area)
 
Is that the little 2 cycle 800 / 900 watt generator for usually $80 - 120 ? If so, I have one.
Mine will run lights,,1/2" drills, 8" igrinders, heaters just fine,. A good little unit that weighs only 40 pounds. But it will not start the 1/3 HP cap start motor on my little bandsaw. If your buying from a local HF store, see if they will agree to a return if will not start the load you want to run ?
 
Don't waste your money on the generator. I brought one and it was nothing but a piece of junk. I never could get it to run right and finaly sold it in a consignment auction. I brought a small Honda which cost about 10 times more but it works good and is dependable. I don't think Harbor Freight 1000 watt will even run a sump pump anyway. I'm not saying you got to buy a Honda but don't buy that harbor freight 2 stroke piece of junk.
 
I purchased a generator from TSC, made in China. On sale they are around $300. Gander Mountain sells them too. It"s a 3500 watt RV genny. Very quiet, uses very little gas, the 110v RV plug is rated at 30 amps. I purchased an adaptor for the Plug to convert it to a covential 110 v plug. It will start a 3/4 hp deep well pump with ease. I use it to power a 4 peak hp electric chain saw. Does it with ease too. There are 2 110 v outlets, however they are only rated at 15 amps each and that makes the genny struggle to start the well and chainsaw.

If I ever need another genny, definately will go with an RV genny. It only weighs 100. Did I mention just how quiet it is?
George
 
No way that generator will start a sump pump. It'll power an angle grinder, corded drill, droplight, etc. But for heavier loads like sump pump, circular saw, etc. - forget about it.

----

I picked up what look like a brand new "$129" HF compressor discarded roadside on trash day. Discovered a bad (melted/broken) solder connection inside the motor. Also the the cooling fan hub (plastic) had broken out so the fan did not spin.

It took about an hour to fix both problems; the compressor now works. But it's insanely loud. Also it takes about 3 minutes to pump up its small (8 gallon) tank.

But I got it for free - so it was worth what I paid for it(!)
 
I have been buying HF products for 20 years and have had few if any problems, considering what they are and what I paid for them. For personal use domestic, farm, and marine they work just fine. In an industrial atmosphere surely the name brands like Craftsman or Mac or Snap-on would be required.

One tool of mine comes to mind, a 4" grinder with a 3.3a motor. Paid $20 for it. I have had it for about 15 years and it still blows and goes. I use it frequently and have gone through about 10 boxes of wheels (about 10 to a box as I recall).

I have their 6500 watt APU (generator) and like it. No problems.

When you purchase an APU you have to consider the starting current times the applied voltage for your starting loads plus any "line running amps" for units already on line. That's peak watts and the APU has to have enough capacity to supply those currents. The name in the electrical world is "locked rotor amps" for starting inrush and can be 10 x the normal line running amps.

On a 5500w unit, you wouldn't want to have a refrigerator and freezer hooked to it simultaneously. It could handle the running amps, but if both cycled on together you could overload the unit and neither compressor would start, or the more robust one only.

So don't blame the small APU if you bite off more than it can chew.

HTH,
Mark
 
(quoted from post at 23:32:35 04/08/13) Read the reviews on the generator. There are quite a few of them.
Yes,the HF website has reviews on alot of their products,and to their credit,they post all of them,good,bad,and ugly. It has saved me from alot of pitfalls with their equipment,and also led me to some super reliable products as well. Good luck!!
 
I haven't bought a lot of HF stuff, but with a few exceptions, what I have bought has worked as well as most of the other stuff I can afford. It's not top quality, but it works usually. I don't have a ton of money or an ego that demands only the best. so I get by with what I can afford.

I have my pastors little HF genny in the shop right now. FWIW- parts are near impossible to get. Just know that going into the deal.
 
I have one of those small generators from harbor freight. I bet you would burn up the motor on the sump pump with it. It barely will produce enough juice to power a couple of lamps. Then the power fluctuates where the lights flicker and brown out. It wasn't very durable either. I drained the fuel out of it after each time I used it and the thing won't run anymore.

I also have a harbor freight air compressor. It worked alright but didn't last very long. I suppose if a person only aired up a tire from time to time it would work fine but I was using it to operate a nail gun and spray some paint.

I've had real good luck with harbor freight tools with the exception of these two.
 
I went with a battery backup arrangement. Cost a few dollars more, but no one needs to be there to start the generator. HF stuff generally has worked great for me. Files and punches are too brittle and break easily. Bought quite a few electrial powered items. Have abused some that will not die and a minority must be used with a little restrant so they don't burn up. But not trying to make production and I'm happy. Can't understand the problem others have with the hand tools. Bought several sets which are positioned in the various buildings for quick access and also carried in the truck tool boxes. Have beat on them with hammers, used long pipes to increase torque and not one has failed. Actually put so much torque thru an 8 ft pipe on the 3/4 breaker bar that we bent the handle slightly and started to yield the pivot pin. Failed the driving pinion on an expensive IR 3/4 impact wrench. Dealer said $500 to fix and thought that was reasonable on a $1500 tool. Gave it to him and bought a 3/4 "Earthquake" impact from HF and used to finish the remaining 90% of the job (rebuilding a JD 335 disk) with no problems.
 

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