Old Harbor Freight Air Compressor Head Gasket Replacement!

My Harbor Freight 21 gallon compressor (old school item #47065) broke down and I thought I would just leave it dead... until I priced out replacements. Join me in the adventure of getting the head gasket replaced on a 15 year old discount store Chinese air compressor.
Video Links:
Air Compressors & Air Tools Playlist ► • Air Compressors & Air ...
Tool Reviews Playlist ► • Max's Tool Reviews Pla...
Stuff Links:
Replacement pressure gauge shown on compressor ► amzn.to/3f8MB6f
This "should" be the same head gasket as the one I installed ► amzn.to/3F3boq8
Want to contact me? [e-mail]

[@knicks252525]

How's the air compressor going. Love watching you bring it back to life time and time again.

[@TheBrokenLife]

Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying the show! Since this video, not awesome. I had to replace the head a second time (which is also a video in the air compressors playlist). As of a few weeks ago, I believe the old HFT is going to be retired as I finally was able to get a decent deal on a replacement. The new guy is going to need some attention to be what I want it to be, so there will be plenty of new videos coming on that topic too.

[@knicks252525]

@@TheBrokenLife curious to know how often did you use the old one and for what did you use it for.

[@TheBrokenLife]

@@knicks252525 I was highly abusive to it, using it for many extended periods of time, for pretty much anything except sandblasting and painting.

[@Mr_Meowingtons]

dam i need the lower Gasket from the crank case to the can. mine was not installed right and was cocked in the bore leaking a lot of OIL.. so the gasket is ripped :(

[@TheBrokenLife]

The gasket kit that I linked in the description comes with 3 gaskets, one of which should be the jug-to-case gasket. That said, there's no pressure down there. You might be able to just slather it up with sealer to stop the oil leak. If you pay close attention to the side cover plate on mine, you will see I did just that to it many years ago for the same reason. 😂

[@Mr_Meowingtons]

@@TheBrokenLife nope 100% different even though my Compressor looks just like yours.. bummer i tried some RTV and it did not last a day.

[@TheBrokenLife]

@@Mr_Meowingtons Yeah, lots of these compressors look the same, but aren't the same. To seal up oil leaks on stuff like this you have to drain it completely and really clean it to have any hope... I've had about 50/50 success with "things" trying to seal them that way.

[@shidoin5398]

Im having problems with oil burning smell and large amounts of oil and moisture coming out of the line. Any ideas? It is around 6 years old. I use it almost every day to refinish cabinets

[@TheBrokenLife]

That is almost certainly a side effect of a wrecked piston, rings, cylinder, or all of them. What is most likely happening is compression from the cylinder is leaking into the crankcase and pressurizing it, which in turn is pushing oil from the crankcase into the cylinder and through the outlet. You smell it burning because the cylinder head and outlet plumbing are hot enough to smoke the oil. Usually when a compressor gets to be that bad off, it won't make much air pressure or at least it won't make it very fast. So, I would expect there to be a noticeable decrease in performance. I would also expect that it would push oil and air out of the crank case vent (usually part of the oil fill cap). The really bad news is that if the tank is now contaminated with oil, you may now risk wrecking any finish you may want to apply to your woodworking if you use that compressor on it. Once you get a bunch of oil in there, it's just about impossible to get it all separated back out. Given all of that, the compressor is probably just done. 😔

[@shidoin5398]

@@TheBrokenLife thanks for the reply. I guess it's time to go shopping

[@TheBrokenLife]

@@shidoin5398 Probably so... Sorry for the bad news!

[@tarstarkusz]

For the channel's sake, you should keep the low end. Most guys just don't have the big bucks to blow on a 240v 5hp pro compressor.

[@TheBrokenLife]

Sadly, the numbers I was throwing around were still for 120v compressors. I could actually get a more powerful compressor for less money if I had 240v available. Probably not of the same quality in that price range, but bigger for sure. As far as dumping the low end stuff, there will always be a mix of quality as far as the tools on my channel. I have a little from both extremes and a lot in the middle. I think that's probably true for most of us. Holding myself to one extreme or the other wouldn't be authentic. I have the best stuff I can afford to do the job I need it to do. If I can afford more (this being a second job and all, that's sorta the plan), or my needs change, I think it will be pretty easy for people to understand. The truth is the HFT compressor never fit my needs, but it's what I could afford. I'd like to move up to what actually suits me or as close as I can get.

[@tarstarkusz]

@@TheBrokenLife OK. I didn't know you could get a decent quality 120v compressor. You get stuck more or less to around 2kw of power (80% of a 20 amp circuit).

[@TheBrokenLife]

@@tarstarkusz The quality part is open for debate, but I'd venture better than HFT? There are 3 "quality" options I've considered and I think I have it narrowed between 2. DeWalt makes 2 different 120V options that I would consider. Currently both are basically $800. Which one of the two options I pick depends on what mood I'm in that day. I bounce between them... I'm not a huge fan of a day-glo yellow orb sitting in my shop for the remainder of my years, so I kinda try to find reasons to not like either of them whether or not that would be the wisest purchase. Currently I'm pretending that everyone on Earth would notice the yellow orb and assume I had lots of tools to steal (true), while also pretending that people don't already see the 1/2 wall of tool boxes and hear the current compressor multiple times per week (also true). Then enter Ingersoll Rand, which is an actual air compressor company, who has a model I would also consider for about $900. The IR is lower pressure than either DeWalt, and a worse form factor, but is my best guess for being the highest quality and most likely to be supported well into the future. It's also not day-glo yellow. It's an almost as unappealing light tan. If you're looking to buy "quality", I found those 3 to be serious contenders and the rest to be close enough to HFT to that I may as well just go back to HFT and save the money. Much to my frustration, I could buy a big-boy IR in 240v for like $1100... and that's exactly what I would do if I had 240v available. and... now that I've dug into it again, it appears the IR I had been eyeballing has now been discontinued. I have been, maybe 10% seriously, tinkering with the idea of getting an elderly Chevy Volt as a plug-in electric hybrid. I have also been, maybe 90% seriously, using that thought as leverage with my landlord to get them to run 240v to the garage "for the charging station".