Harbor Freight Fortress 2 Year Review

It's been 2 years since we originally purchased this air compressor from Harbor Freight. Let's do a review and address some issues and viewer comments.

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- TG (Thrifty Garage)

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Fortress 26 Gallon 175 PSI Ultra Quiet Vertical Shop/Auto Air Compressor from Harbor Freight 61
Harbor Freight Fortress 2 Year Review 72
Harbor Freight Fortress Air Compressor 2 Year Review 61

[addison]

Honestly, your unboxing video and this video are going to be accurate for most people. I'll explain. In your unboxing, you read almost every line before taking it out of the box, but you tossed the instruction manual, where it says to break in the compressor. You acknowledged the filters and how they would need to be cleaned on the regular basis. You also pointed out the auto switch didn't seem to be as high quality as the rest. Then after 2 years you admittedly did not clean the filters and did not empty the tank daily. The amount of water that came out suggests that you rarely do this. You did have issues with the auto switch as you felt you may. Basically, you set it up, then used it as you did w/o maintenance or instructions in mind. Just like most that purchase this would.
Bottom line, your reviews have convinced me this should be my next compressor. I currently have an 8 gal, that I religiously followed directions with for near 20 years, and it still operated very well. An accident in my shop recently has cracked the regulator, which I can easily fix, but I would like to have longer air supply for the tools I have accumulated over the years. If I take care of this one as well, I may have it for a couple decades too.

[RMartin]

You're not draining the tank correctly. If you look, you'll see that the drain petcock is NOT on the bottom of the tank. Even if you drain the compressor every day, you're not even close to getting all of the water out of the tank. If you lean the compressor forward, about 20°, you'll see that there is a LOT of water left in the tank. Also, if you turn the compressor on, and all it does is hum, turn the compressor back off immediately. There is an unloader valve that releases the pressure from the compressor head, after the compressor reaches it's cut-off pressure. If you hear a hum, then that means the unloader valve has malfuntioned, and the motor doesn't have enough power to start the compressor. You are burning the motor up at this point. A last point is there is a thermal release valve on the rear left of the compressor. You'll see a hole in the middle of the valve. Every once in a while put 2 or 3 drops of air tool oil in that hole. The valve can become stuck open and the compressor won't build pressure.

[stWingless]

You may want to check if you cold start valve is stuck. There is usually a valve on the compressor head that remains open until the head heats-up and allows the compressor to be unloaded on cold starts. They will sometimes fail closed.

[rimfire]

Don't know how critical break in is. have the 2 gallon Fortress, followed break in procedure for a few years now, and lighter use it's worked great even using air tools. Super quiet which is so nice.

[kkutube]

I have own an air compressor for 5 year and never drain or unplug but I now do it every just because I know better.

[treemanchris]

You might want to put a 20 amp breaker and 20 amp wire in the wall and put a 20 amp plug on the wall. 9 times out of 10 that's what the big issue is. There's not enough juice to feed it

[Oron]

I’ve had this compressor for just under two years. Of course no warranty. Use it to spray hvlp for motorcycle parts. Worked great until now. Located in az. Heats always been high during summer use. Compressor won’t reach cut off pressure. Just stops a few minutes in. Even on a nearly full tank. Heat seems to be the issue but there’s nothing I can do based off instructions, all steps have been taken. Unsure what to do now. Had the few gallon larger compressor work horsing full time in a spray shop no issues.

[deej]

I have that same compressor in the warehouse at work, bought it about 4 years ago. Recently it stopped building pressure past about 150psi. It just continues to run and run. I'm suspecting a leak near the regulator switch, or the switch is plugged with wet dirt (aka mud) from not draining the compressor often enough. I need to pull it apart this week and see what's going on.

[titguy]

You see all that rusty water coming out when you first opened the valve? That's because you don't drain the tank daily. Your tank probably has rust on the inside and is at a higher risk of catastrophic failure (in the form of bursting under pressure) or at the very least may fail sooner than a tank that was properly maintained. You might want to look in to getting an automatic drain kit. It basically has a timer that goes off on an interval and lets any condensation blow out.

Great video, this seems like a good compressor for the money, especially considering how quiet it is.

[ronyerke]

The location of that drain won't let the water all drain out as it's not at the lowest part of the tank, just kinda close. No wonder the water that comes out is so rusty.

[JackPinesBlacksmithing]

I'm looking at the 10 gallon version as my first air compressor. It's first intended use is to operation an air assisted treadle hammer in my blacksmithing shop, which I'm assured it will be fine for. Never having one before, I'm not sure what other uses I'll put it to or if I should spend the extra $100 for this big brother.

[danrich]

Nice been thinking bout getting a bigger one thanks for the review

[carissamagnus]

Gotta lean that compresser and the petcock going to clog you just twist it while you lean it, a lot more water will flow out

[funbricknj]

IT could be you need a new motor capacitor part # 96 that would cause hard starting

[louisevad]

Mine shuts off before it reaches full pressure

[gmanjef]

The Fortress 26 gal ultra quiet air compressor is the biggest POS I could have bought from Harbor Freight. I bought it in the winter, expecting to use it later on. When the weather warmed up I went to use the unit but it would not fully fill the tank. It would shut off around 30 PSI. After many attempts using the owners manual to reset the compressor, it only would fill about 20 psi or so. it took me close to an hour to get it to 100 psi. I called customer service and told them I was having problems with the unit and what could they do to help me. They asked me if I had an extended warranty as the manufacturer's warranty is ONLY 90 days. WHAT A POS. After vehemtently complaining I asked for a supervisor. After going through many exercises with the manager, he concluded that the power switch is bad. He graciously agreed to send me a power switch as I had not even used the compressor. Well after 6 months I finally got the part in the mail. Today April 2, I installed the new part. The unit behaved the same way. Won't fill up and shuts off. It took me an hour to get the tank full. I hooked my air ratchet and held the button down. The air drained down and would not come back on. I hate this product. Now I have to go to Home Depot and buy a new one. I hate this piece of shit.

[dereksuperstrong]

I was actually considering going to buy one of these today until I saw it took 10 minutes to pull up to full pressure that is ridiculous

[aaronkirleis]

I have one of these and have used it daily for over 3yrs. But now it’s runs for 20psi and shuts off and will not restart until it is unplugged and the overload resets (you hear a small quiet click) takes about 60-90 secs. Then plug back in and it runs for another 20 psi….so my issue is a bad motor overload

[Animalwon]

Compressor won't start? The problem is that you left the tank FULL of Air. These new motors cant start with a Full load of air in the tank because It creates too much work for them (HIGH Amperage Draw)

THIS is why your manual advises you to EMPTY the tank AFTER you shut it off for the day - Usually by draining the tank (Smart thinking by the engineers, Huh -?)

This way they ensure you do BOTH drain the water and relieve the air pressure.

All compressors using these Twin Cylinder designs, No matter what the Brand - They all require you to drain the air when you shut it off, or they will refuse to start.

[qhtrexj]

Thanks for the video, it’s my 1st compressor and I’ve been nervous to use it… planning to sand blast & use paint gun… do you switch it off after it fills up & continue to use it or does the engine just auto off until it needs to run again? And manually turn it off when your done for the day? I read the manual mostly & it just intimidated me thinking it would blow up or something 🙄