Has anyone used a compression tester from harbor frieght

Gradywhite3535

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Dec 29, 2012
Messages
480
I bought a compression tester from harbor frieght and i just wanted to see if they are accurate and if anyone had experience with it?
 

etracer68

Ensign
Joined
Oct 11, 2009
Messages
906
Re: Has anyone used a compression tester from harbor frieght

I have an Actron tester, with 5 differant plug thread sizes, its made in China, and was only $25, and comes with extra orings. The gage can read 5 to 10 lbs differant from others at times, but its generaly a leak somewhere that cause the differance. The main thing is that your cyc are with in 10% of each other, when taking readings. Put a little oil on the orings and you will get a good seal. I see nothing wrong with the cheaper ones, as long as your useing it correctly.
 

ThrottleBack

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jun 15, 2013
Messages
242
Re: Has anyone used a compression tester from harbor frieght

Had mine for years and years if you take care of it then it will be as accurate as anything else
 

Mr. Asa

Seaman
Joined
Jul 18, 2013
Messages
64
Re: Has anyone used a compression tester from harbor frieght

The only way to ensure accuracy is to test it against a known good gauge. Any time you drop, bang, or otherwise treat a gauge (any gauge) harshly the accuracy of it can suffer.
Might not be off by much, but those testers don't normally come in a foam packed box, so who knows how damaged they might be? If you can test it against another gauge somewhere and it checks out then you should be good.

Regs when I was a mechanic in the USAF said that we had to get our tire gauges verified every month, other gauges weren't used as harshly or as often, so they mostly got an annual verification.
 

H20Rat

Vice Admiral
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
5,204
Re: Has anyone used a compression tester from harbor frieght

Might not be off by much, but those testers don't normally come in a foam packed box, so who knows how damaged they might be? If you can test it against another gauge somewhere and it checks out then you should be good.

harbor freight gauge actually does come in foam, and it makes a nice long-term storage box. As far as accuracy, the nice part about compression testers is that they don't need to be overly accurate. The psi reading itself doesn't matter, it is the difference between cylinders that is important. If a gauge reads low, its going to read low on all holes.
 
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