Hacking Your Air Compressor for Fast Fill Up

My cheap air compressor was taking a long time to pump up. So I investigated and found some strange things that impede air flow. This Instructable will show you how to make your air compressor pump up faster. This particular air compressor was purchased from harbor freight.

So the original air filter has an indirect air path to the foam filter. This is to make it quieter. But its a loud air compressor. If you want more flow with out voiding your warranty just flip this cover over and air can come in from any direction.

Also in the third picture the highlighted area shows where the plastic was covering the air inlet. This was from super high quality Chinese manufacturing.

I was looking at multiple solutions for a better air filter and I found this bad boy. Its total thickness is just a hair more than the original total setup.

A Dremil with a cut off wheel, or any rotary cutting tool, an Exacto knife, and sandpaper.

First cut off the bottom bowl.

now grind the rest of the material off until its flat. Sand the base flat as possible.


Also now you can use your exacto blade to remove the casting flaws that are blocking air flow. I highlighted the areas on mine that were clogged up with excess plastic.

1. Screw in the original base

2. Install the base plate from the kit with the washer underneath.

3. Oil the foam, and install the cover.

4. Enjoy your new fast filling air compressor.