# cheap equipment vs good equipment



## johnc (May 29, 2012)

There is the saying you pay for what you get but this time I'm pretty happy with my airless that I paid under $200 with a return package that if anything goes wrong return and they replace with new. This will handle any residential repaint. I have some expensive equipment collecting dust because repairs are expensive and always takes for ever to get back. Next is a handheld or cheap hvlp I bought a True coat pro 2 that I got 20 gal or less out of it and batteries are bad and needs repacked I paid $450 for that.
Anyone happy with some cheap equipment that they got there moneys worth?


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## Wolfgang (Nov 16, 2008)

I had no problem whatsoever buying good quality used equipment. Pennies on the dollar. Some things I do buy the cheapest if needed for one job. And you're right, nothing worse than having a high buck piece of equipment in the shop for repairs.


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## Tonyg (Dec 9, 2007)

Harbor freight - If it breaks just throw it away  Most of the items I bought there have lasted as long as my regular stuff


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## ReNt A PaInTeR (Dec 28, 2008)

I hate cheap equipment. 

I've seen guys that do this for a living with $200 pressure washers from sears and those tiny sprayers from Homedepot. Green roller covers and a frame that could be bent out of shape if you put enough pressure when rolling the wall.


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## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

I know a guy who buys spray guns from Harbor Freight and stocks up when they are $9.99 each. He uses a new one on every cabinet spray job he gets. He says it's cheaper then buying a gallon of lacquer thinner to clean the gun and he's right! Uses it for a couple coats and throws it away.


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## johnc (May 29, 2012)

This airless is from Harbor Freight I have probably 100 gal threw it and performs just as good as my titan 440i when it works lol last repair on that was $150 and same issue came up after maybe 30 gal and only too a month for them to repair the first time.


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## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

I wouldn't count on anything from Harbor Freight lasting more then a couple of uses. If you managed to get 130 gallons through it you are ahead of the game.

They say that if your job or your life depends on your tools, don't buy them from Harbor Freight.


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## 2peterhunter (Dec 8, 2014)

I have used Wagner sprayers quite a bit, the 3/4 horse works great for all residential. It was the only sprayer I used last season my 695 just sat there!


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## journeymanPainter (Feb 26, 2014)

The majority of the sprayers I have I bought off craigslist. $4000 machine new $400 for me (yes Graco stopped making them but they are cheap and easy to fix)


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## driftweed (May 26, 2013)

I have this argument with my sub ALOT.

He has a Graco x9 tall boy that he spoils rotten. No long sprays (releases the trigger alot), will only spray latex, purges out 5 gallons of clean water, etc...

2 weeks ago I had hint scheduled tight: 2 decent sized blow n go apartment plus a 3rd all white rollout in 1 day for 1 guy.

Now I know for a fact the two blowouts should have been done by lunch (done it personally ) and the rollout should have taken 3 hours, 4 max.

Check in @ lunch & he only has the first blowout done. So, I offered a race. I grabbed the gun and did a room in 3 minutes (no trigger release style ) and he stopped me as soon as I did it crying about how I was destroying his baby...

I said: your machine is designed for 100 gal/year... the way I look at it is if that $500 machine made me $5000 then who cares, I'd buy another one! 

He can't grab that concept. ..


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## Jab1 (Aug 14, 2015)

I have a few hvlp guns from lidl @ 15€ a gun and I have my devilbiss guns as well for doing kitchens and I have to say I get a lot less trouble from the cheap guns that's one thing I'm definitely happy with the cheap version. I find myself using the cheap guns more.


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

PACman said:


> I wouldn't count on anything from Harbor Freight lasting more then a couple of uses. If you managed to get 130 gallons through it you are ahead of the game.
> 
> They say that if your job or your life depends on your tools, don't buy them from Harbor Freight.


My youngest grandson is a tool nut. I buy him stuff at Harbor Freight.


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## TrueColors (Jul 30, 2010)

Bought my Graco 490 5 years ago and have put a ton of paint through it. I always flush it out good and change filters when need be. I paid $500 for it and have never had a problem with it crapping out.


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## Zoomer (Dec 17, 2011)

johnc said:


> There is the saying you pay for what you get but this time I'm pretty happy with my airless that I paid under $200 with a return package that if anything goes wrong return and they replace with new. This will handle any residential repaint. I have some expensive equipment collecting dust because repairs are expensive and always takes for ever to get back. Next is a handheld or cheap hvlp I bought a True coat pro 2 that I got 20 gal or less out of it and batteries are bad and needs repacked I paid $450 for that.
> Anyone happy with some cheap equipment that they got there moneys worth?


A true measure of equipment cost. 
Cost of equipment subtracted from profit made as a result of equipment, minus repair cost of equipment.


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## SemiproJohn (Jul 29, 2013)

Tonyg said:


> Harbor freight - If it breaks just throw it away  Most of the items I bought there have lasted as long as my regular stuff


I bought a sander from Harbor Freight about 10 years ago. It lasted about 10 minutes and then literally came apart in my hands. What a total piece of junk! I did get a moisture meter from there that seems to be working pretty well, and it only cost me about 17 dollars.


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

SemiproJohn said:


> I bought a sander from Harbor Freight about 10 years ago. It lasted about 10 minutes and then literally came apart in my hands. What a total piece of junk! I did get a moisture meter from there that seems to be working pretty well, and it only cost me about 17 dollars.


Bought a half dozen moving quilts there when they were on sale. Good for protecting doors and such when transporting. Pretty good deal but I'm sure they will break down mechanically pretty soon.


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## PRC (Aug 28, 2014)

Buy quality, cry once.


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## Epoxy Pro (Oct 7, 2012)

My free capspray seems to be almost as good as the 395 FP we bought.

I won't buy cheap tools any more.


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## robladd (Nov 22, 2010)

Not that I'm on a Jack Pauhl band wagon by any means. But he has a vid where he is spraying with a DYI Graco X5 in a custom home. Mega doors, jambs, base and all kinds of trim. probably 3800-4400 sq ft.

Just cruising along with a X5 like nobodies business. 1 thing I can say about ole' Jack is he wasn't big on "Pro Painter Image". But he is big on practical application and what works.

I'm more the painter have your necessary pro tools, after that what ever works is 1st on the menu. 

Short story, did the Peppermill expansion in Reno NV back in 94'. My stage partner drops a 3M handymasker from 18 floors and I tell the Super "lost in combat". He gave us a 3M DYI maskeras a replacement. Still today my 3M DYI masker is the 1st 1 out the gangbox.


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## canopainting (Feb 12, 2013)

I won't buy cheep equipment. why would I buy a disposable pump or gun . I use buy medium sized pumps, they are heavier than 395s and such but the biger the pump the less breakdowns. and I try to buy equipment that I can find replacement parts for if needed. I hate cheep crap built in China, it sucks because so much of the every day items we buy come from China. foot I will buy used quality equipment. I purchased a used pressures washer 15 yrs ago 
( Exell ) it's still running.


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## johnc (May 29, 2012)

I figured this wouldn't go well with most but that's ok. This tool has paid for it's self for sure.


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## Wolfgang (Nov 16, 2008)

johnc said:


> I figured this wouldn't go well with most but that's ok. This tool has paid for it's self for sure.


If it does the job and you're happy with it, that's all that matters.


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## goga (Aug 6, 2015)

journeymanPainter said:


> The majority of the sprayers I have I bought off craigslist. $4000 machine new $400 for me (yes Graco stopped making them but they are cheap and easy to fix)


This is not a fair comparison. The TS was applying point to the new cheap, not a used expensive. 

I got 10+ yo 795 off the Craiglist last Sep for a third of what it worth, put almost 1500 g of paint in three months through it and it is as it was with only difference there is quarter inch of paint on the hose now. I can't even imagine how many x7 or 9th I'd have to buy to get done the same, if it is possible at all.

PS: Cheap is not always cheap, and "you get what you pay for" is not always true. You get what you can to get it done the best you can.


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## A fine line painting (Dec 17, 2020)

People can talk crap about cheap equipment if you want to. My old boss did it too and stuck his foot in his mouth. He bought a brand new 395 and I bought a harbor freight B&K airless sprayer over 2 years ago. His done good for acouple jobs then he started having issues. Now every job he ends up fighting with it too work right and not spit and spends more time getting it to work right than it takes to spray the job out. My harbor freight sprayer is still going strong and does great. I will be spraying out a dog kennel building tommorow with it. It's cement block walls 4ft high then from there up is raw plywood and 1x trim to hide the seams.You just have to clean it good and take the suction hose off of the bottom and oil it good in there after every use. Some people just try to jump on the band wagon and claim I don't buy cheap crap. Well, it's just like with anything else. Spend all that money for snap on or as I like to call them (snap off) wrenches and they break and my harbor freight tools always save the day. So what they don't have a lifetime warranty. Even if they weren't quality made, I would rather have to go back and buy a tool from harbor freight acouple times then have tools keep breaking while I'm still making payments on them🤣. Just use it and shut up! Opinions are like a$$#0les, everybody has one......


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## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

I prefer Home Depot over Harbor Freight.


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## cocomonkeynuts (Apr 14, 2017)

A fine line painting said:


> People can talk crap about cheap equipment if you want to. My old boss did it too and stuck his foot in his mouth. He bought a brand new 395 and I bought a harbor freight B&K airless sprayer over 2 years ago. His done good for acouple jobs then he started having issues. Now every job he ends up fighting with it too work right and not spit and spends more time getting it to work right than it takes to spray the job out. My harbor freight sprayer is still going strong and does great. I will be spraying out a dog kennel building tommorow with it. It's cement block walls 4ft high then from there up is raw plywood and 1x trim to hide the seams.You just have to clean it good and take the suction hose off of the bottom and oil it good in there after every use. Some people just try to jump on the band wagon and claim I don't buy cheap crap. Well, it's just like with anything else. Spend all that money for snap on or as I like to call them (snap off) wrenches and they break and my harbor freight tools always save the day. So what they don't have a lifetime warranty. Even if they weren't quality made, I would rather have to go back and buy a tool from harbor freight acouple times then have tools keep breaking while I'm still making payments on them🤣. Just use it and shut up! Opinions are like a$$#0les, everybody has one......


I work on pumps graco, titan tritech...Better motors, pressure control, an a pump that can be rebuilt instead of thrown away. quite frankly a 440 or 395 will run circles around any of the cheap hardware store pumps if your spraying anything more than 5 gallons AND they will last 20+ years.


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## juanvaldez (Sep 7, 2019)

Had to get new pump bearing washers etc for my 390. Went the aftermarket route to save a few. Let’s just say, what I thought was a woman was nuttin but a man!
Back to OE for me. 


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## celicaxx (May 29, 2015)

A fine line painting said:


> People can talk crap about cheap equipment if you want to. My old boss did it too and stuck his foot in his mouth. He bought a brand new 395 and I bought a harbor freight B&K airless sprayer over 2 years ago. His done good for acouple jobs then he started having issues. Now every job he ends up fighting with it too work right and not spit and spends more time getting it to work right than it takes to spray the job out. My harbor freight sprayer is still going strong and does great. I will be spraying out a dog kennel building tommorow with it. It's cement block walls 4ft high then from there up is raw plywood and 1x trim to hide the seams.You just have to clean it good and take the suction hose off of the bottom and oil it good in there after every use. Some people just try to jump on the band wagon and claim I don't buy cheap crap. Well, it's just like with anything else. Spend all that money for snap on or as I like to call them (snap off) wrenches and they break and my harbor freight tools always save the day. So what they don't have a lifetime warranty. Even if they weren't quality made, I would rather have to go back and buy a tool from harbor freight acouple times then have tools keep breaking while I'm still making payments on them🤣. Just use it and shut up! Opinions are like a$$#0les, everybody has one......


Some of the reviews on HF's website say that sprayer is a very good pump, you just need a new gun and tips to make it a good sprayer overall. I'm glad to hear it's holding up well. Harbor Freight actually includes a spare set of brushes with most of their power tools, and a whole parts diagram. I wonder if it can be serviced? In automotive land their HVLP and siphon feed guns are getting good feedback overall.

I use Harbor Freight for some stuff, and it's adequate or good. They do have a lifetime warranty on hand tools, but only as a full set, to get out of it. Their sockets and wrenches I found I need to stop using for some stuff, on newer cars I rarely have issues, but on old cars with rusted out stuff I've had issues where the tolerances are too loose and you strip out things way too easily. I found Lowes' Kobalt house brand to have a lot tighter tolerances and still be not crazily priced. The HF ratchets and torque wrenches are pretty strong, too, never had issues with those. Their power tools seem to work, but where they cheap out oddly is using crappy recycled plastic for the housings. The motors and running gear seem really strong and I never had issues with them going out, but I've had some tools simply fall 2-3 feet and shatter from bad plastic.

Oddly I like HF's new "Avanti" paint brushes, they seem exactly the same as HD's house brand/Linzer? brushes at only $4-5 a pop. I'd prefer to use a Wooster Silver Tip but I still like them better than Purdy. I should try to review them sometime. For oil primer I used to use their cheapie $1 brushes as long as I didn't need to make super exact cuts, now I've mostly switched to shellac so I don't have to keep throwing away brushes and deal with the smell.


I think a problem with cheap vs expensive anything at all ever is in a globalized world everything is relabeled and often ultimately comes from the same factories. Lots of things are just private label stuff from Alibaba. It's pretty easy to start a "company" nowadays just importing stuff from Alibaba with a private label on it and reselling it, and indeed I've seen high end building materials (tiling related) that multiple US manufacturers rebrand on Alibaba. I just looked up paint brushes and rollers on alibaba and found a lot of stuff that looked identical to things we currently buy under whatever brand.









From one Alibaba seller's page. So while I think it's best to buy the most quality stuff you can, in today's world just having a brand alone doesn't really matter, imo.


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## cocomonkeynuts (Apr 14, 2017)

juanvaldez said:


> Had to get new pump bearing washers etc for my 390. Went the aftermarket route to save a few. Let’s just say, what I thought was a woman was nuttin but a man!
> Back to OE for me.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Use only Graco OEM or Bedford parts...


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