Man, this hits close to home because I'm the guy who always buys the cheap one and then acts shocked when it dies. My last aftermarket compressor made it 14 months before it started sounding like a lawn mower full of rocks, so no, I never got 3 years out of one. That 8 minute short cycle you saw is the killer, it's just beating itself to death trying to keep up. The part that gets me is the amp draw, because 20% more power over a few years quietly eats up whatever you saved on the part. Guess the $420 was the cheaper option all along and I just didn't want to do the math.

That "$20 tester" catch reminds me of a post I read where a barber's clippers kept stalling and it turned out his fridge was on the same circuit. Old buildings got some wild wiring.