do it yourself valves for harbor freight vertical compressor

by mike
(chocowinity, nc, usa)

For those harbor freight compressor people, i would like to offer a possible fix if the problem is from the reeds.

After head disassembly of 4 bolts and separation of valve seat plate from head, i could see an obvious hole in the exhaust reed.

Harbor freight does not supply parts for my compressor anymore so i resorted to my own fix.

Fabrication of the reed valve which is shaped like a yoke was easy by shaping it on a grinding wheel.

For the spring steel i sacraficed a paint scraper which i also had purchased from harbor freight and ended up being appox same thickness as reed from original part.

I also never took the time to make new gaskets but instead used anerobic sealant.

This fix may sound crazy but it so far has held up well. It offers an inexpensive fix for an inexpensive compresor.

I by the way am not a machinist or engineer and any disclaimer is due to my lack of professional expertise in this topic. I am offering this possible solution to those of us who are on tight budgets who have compressor failure due to reed valves.

By the way, I am still waiting for someone to tell me why a ball check valve would not work on the exhaust port by simply screwing it in.

I never saw write-ups on this and I found them at Grainger for little money. This is something perhaps someone of greater knowledge could shed some light on for this want-to-be-do-it-yourselfer-machinist-pharmacist.

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Mike, thanks for a helpful post. I expect a lot of people will benefit.

If you sent this question in before "I am still waiting for someone to tell me why a ball check valve would not work on the exhaust port by simply screwing it in" I must have missed it?

Can you post more details about what it is you are trying to accomplish with the ball check?