Buying a compressor to be able to change my own tires, looking for something cheap that isnt plastic, it seems to have good reviews but if it turns out to be a dud, whats it like dealing with princess auto in terms of returns/exchange?
You can always ask if they will still give you the discount price. I did it with something that goes on sale once or twice a year and it was a few months since the last time. I asked to speak to someone about it and the manager gave it to me for the sale price.
Its a bit of a dud. Its VERY loud, unless you dont care about that, vibrates pretty badly, again you may not care and 2 cfm will inflate a tire however it makes it a bit harder to get that first rush of air to 'seat' the bead when changing a tire. It can be done but its harder. At $88 its a fine little unit, at $169 i'd throw a few more dollars at it and get a better compressor.
your original question, yes princess auto is pretty good about taking back things that are not as promised. I have positive experiences there.
I would look for a used Makita Mac700 (or mac2400). Nice and quiet. Oiled so they last forever if they aren't abused. 2400 looks like it will be $200-250 (better compressor but ~90 lbs so you don't want to be moving it often). Mac700 should be ~$125-175 (quite a bit lighter, but not light).
If you are feeling baller, try to find a used rolair (oiless, quiet, much lighter than the mac's). I'm not sure how often they come up though.
If you really just want cheap and cheerful, the oiless pancake compressors (PC or similar) are hard to beat. Very loud but they will last forever inflating tires.
Is that thing BIG enough to seat a bead?
Does anyone here have a 3 gallon compressor that has successfully seated a bead?
To seat the bead, you NEED LOTS of air. LOTS. MANY MANY AIRS.
I know a 3 gallon air pig doesn't have enough air to seat a small tire's bead (I've tried). You can sometimes seat a bead with a 5 gallon air pig. (I am comparing that dinky little compressor to an air pig because that dinky little compressor won't make pressure fast enough, and will basically be an air pig).
Is that thing BIG enough to seat a bead?
Does anyone here have a 3 gallon compressor that has successfully seated a bead?
To seat the bead, you NEED LOTS of air. LOTS. MANY MANY AIRS.
I know a 3 gallon air pig doesn't have enough air to seat a small tire's bead (I've tried). You can sometimes seat a bead with a 5 gallon air pig. (I am comparing that dinky little compressor to an air pig because that dinky little compressor won't make pressure fast enough, and will basically be an air pig).
The big bottleneck in seating is the hose/fitting etc. The compressor does not matter at all, just the air in the tank and how quickly you can get it out. Type V fittings and a short piece of 1/2" hose will probably give you 10 times the flow rate of the typical fittings and 25+ feet of 1/4" hose.
Well, sort of.....
If you have a 3 gallon tank, and a tire that has a volume of 6 gallons, even with a 3" hose, the 90PSI in the tank is 35PSI in the tire. Not enough to seat the bead. You need volume, which this little compressor doesn't have.
I have a two stage compressor with a 80 gallon tank, it will seat one, maybe two car tires... with 1/2" lines.
I would look for a used Makita Mac700 (or mac2400). Nice and quiet. Oiled so they last forever if they aren't abused. 2400 looks like it will be $200-250 (better compressor but ~90 lbs so you don't want to be moving it often). Mac700 should be ~$125-175 (quite a bit lighter, but not light).
If you are feeling baller, try to find a used rolair (oiless, quiet, much lighter than the mac's). I'm not sure how often they come up though.
If you really just want cheap and cheerful, the oiless pancake compressors (PC or similar) are hard to beat. Very loud but they will last forever inflating tires.
Well, sort of.....
If you have a 3 gallon tank, and a tire that has a volume of 6 gallons, even with a 3" hose, the 90PSI in the tank is 35PSI in the tire. Not enough to seat the bead. You need volume, which this little compressor doesn't have.
I have a two stage compressor with a 80 gallon tank, it will seat one, maybe two car tires... with 1/2" lines.
Tire cannons are normally five or six gallons with a ~1 1/2" ball valve. Yes, three is a bit smaller than I would like, but unless someone has a decent high flow path, I doubt it matters much if you have 80 gallons or 3 behind the 1/4" hose. The one upside to your setup is you probably have 150+ psi to push through the restriction and most smaller compressors (except dewalt) top out at ~120.
Is that thing BIG enough to seat a bead?
Does anyone here have a 3 gallon compressor that has successfully seated a bead?
To seat the bead, you NEED LOTS of air. LOTS. MANY MANY AIRS.
I know a 3 gallon air pig doesn't have enough air to seat a small tire's bead (I've tried). You can sometimes seat a bead with a 5 gallon air pig. (I am comparing that dinky little compressor to an air pig because that dinky little compressor won't make pressure fast enough, and will basically be an air pig).
I have a similar "husky brand" 7 gallon compressor. It was a backup to a Denver 10hp I used in my old sewing shop. Been using it for years in my garage, they work OK for easy stuff like inflating, blow gun, and painting. It usually takes a few tries and a ratchet strap to seat a bead. It's not up to anything that requires pressure and CFM -- my sandblaster and air impact struggle -- you get a about a 5 second burst then a you need to let her recharge.
I also have a 3 gal that I used to power small actuators -- they are OK for filling motorcycle tires, they take about 5 minutes to fill a tire on a pickup. You can't run air tools off a 3 gal, and I highly doubt you could seat a bead. Even at $80bucks I wouldn't bother.
If you want a good universal compressor for your garage, save up and get something in the 20 gal range, that covers just about any task you would do in a home garage. The vertical models take up very little space, you can tuck them under a workbench.
@bigpoppa
Do you mean changing over winter tires on your car or changing the actual tire onto rim of car or bike?
As for PA
Talk to the staff or manager and they should give you the last sale price.
But I would try to find something better or slightly bigger used on Kijiji or other selling platforms.
When I moved into my house I splurged and got a 20 gal Dewalt. Raised it up onto a platform above my work bench and has never been down.
It's a little loud when it needs to refill bit it was a good deal at the time. I now mainly use it for filling up kids bikes and soccer balls and blowing dust off of stuff. A lot of the home reno project are done for now.
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