Harbor Freight Blaster

[jor]

I bought a 100# HF pressure blaster months ago and finally got around to using it this week. It has been a struggle. It worked for 10 seconds or so and then the air pressure at the tip dropped markedly. OK, off with all the protective gear, evacuate the air and start looking for the problem. I figured I'd start at the gun and what do you know - I found a wad of metal shavings blocking the tip's orifice. I removed it and it worked better but not as it should. I ended up taking all the fittings apart and cleaning it up. I think, in addition to the metal shavings, the assembler was over zealous with the teflon tape and it was responsible for some blockage. Anyhow, after all that it worked great for a half hour or so and then another pressure drop. I took the tip off again and this time a bee bee-like particle fell out! ha ha I advised HF that they need to talk to the Chinese guys about some quality control. Just something to keep in mind when considering HF.
jor

[mrsnicks]

So what was the 'bb' from? Does it still work now?

Patrick

[jor]

I don't know where the bee bee came from, nor the metal shavings. The bee bee wasn't perfectly round - looked like a splatter particle or something. It's working fine now. It does a great job. Although the quality control looks to be pretty poor, I have to say that HF tech support is very responsive. I asked them about the metal shavings and they did get right back - didn't help much but hey, at least they answered!
jor

[FoMoCo]

Yikes. I bought an HF blaster, the one that looks like a little 10 gal tank, and the only problem was the ball valve at the hose end wore out quickly. I replaced it with the deadman valve and had reliable service for several years now. I cant immage your unit being missed by the quality control at HF.
Nick

[jor]

Everything else on this thing seems OK. Here's the one I got. It's a 100# model. I note that the hose and gun are quite a bit larger than the smaller one. I'm not sure how they compare for performance but I have to say this one does really well.
jor