Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[Adirondaks]

I have been using a shallow well pump stainless version from HF for 2 summers now to use lake water for cement mixing while rehabing my house. Well has been disconnected. 50 feet of 1 inch black plastic coil to pump then 50 feet 3/4 to hose connection then 25 ft garden hose. Elevation lift about 35 feet. Priming is a pain but once primed this pump has worked great for 2 summers. I drain it and store inside during the winter. All summer it sits out with a blue tarp over it. With 20% off I paid $70. Very surprised it works so well.

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-horsepower-shallow-well-pump-with-stainless-steel-housing-68387.html

 

[some zilch]

Step on it. Kink it. Drag it through the mud and dirt. Drive over it. Set it too close to a heater. Stretch it to reach that one last tire in the rear on the driver's side. Expose it to grease, gasoline, solvents, or paint.

Give me time. I'll think of other ways.

wow, stepping on or kinking and air hose is abuse??!! exposing it to a normal shop enviroment is abuse??!! wow, you dont expect much do you?

 

[BigE_]

Any tricks to using the welder? Also, any one have the story on the new black one? How did they improve it?

I watched a few MIG welding videos, and they had a lot of good tips there. (Local library, although I don't recall the names of the videos). I do know that if you know how to weld good, you can get a half way decent weld out of the 90A welder. My father in law and I were using the exact same setup on some practice pieces. Everything was the same, even on the same piece. His welds looked like absolute crap, and mine were pretty good.

OK, tips:

1. Like others have said: use a good ground point. I always grind off a spot and then use the magnetic ground clamp point (also from HF) to get a good ground. This makes a big difference.
2. Clean off all paint and rust from the metal where you'll be welding. Prep is key to a good weld.
3. Make appropriate v-grinds on the weld point if necessary. This will allow you to weld much thicker material.
4. There are two controls on the front of the welder: hi/lo and speed. Learn how to use these. If the welder is welding too hot and you have it on low, turn up the feed and go a little faster. Conversely, if you have a cold weld and it is all the way up, turn down the speed and go a little slower.
5. I use the 0.035" flux core weld on that welder, but I bought mine from Home Depot under the Lincoln brand. The HF flux core stuff isn't very good, and the Lincoln stuff worked a lot better.
6. Learn how to position the gun. L/R and forward / back tilt can make a world of difference.
7. Steady hands are key. Since this is a small welder, you'll be welding slower. You need very precise, controlled circles. I use the welder almost like a gas welder in that respect.
8. Having a heavy duty extension cord (12 ga) plugged in near your breaker box means the welder will put out more heat and won't overheat quite as fast. I never used a fan on mine, and I've never had it overheat and shut off.
9. Crank down the wire feed as tight as you can get it. A lot of the problem I was having was with the wire slipping as it was being fed. This is evident in the welding noise -- you'll hear it sputtering and stop/starting. It is also evident in the weld itself. (Also make sure that the tension on the coil that keeps it from moving isn't too high).
10. Keep your cable between the gun and the box as straight as you can. At least no tight radius turns. This will also help with the feed.
11. Save up your pennies and buy a nice welder when you can afford it. I bought a Hobart 187 and haven't used the HF one since. I keep the HF welder around because it is 120V and the 187 is 240V, but I've been thinking about selling the HF welder soon.

 

[skspurling]

Update: jackwelder over on Welding Web reported back. Here's the reply to his post that I posted there:

No wonder the price is unchanged.

So, is the tip still the type that is always hot? I thought i read that it wasn't arcing when the trigger was not pulled.

 

[California]

So, is the tip still the type that is always hot? I thought i read that it wasn't arcing when the trigger was not pulled.

I don't know. Jackwelder reported it isn't hot until you press the trigger and the wire starts. So that probably is the 'improved' feature.


I can't make sense of the 68887 welder manual. In its specification chart I posted above it clearly says 'HOT TIP welder'. And page 6 para 13 says

This unit is what is referred to as a "hot tip" Welder, meaning that current is available to the wire at all times [underlined] that the Power Switch is On.

Maybe that was copied verbatim from an old manual and the product really is improved.

I don't think this welder really is DCEN as shown in its specification chart in that manual. Jackwelder reports he measured 2 volts DC, 22 volts AC.

 

[jinman]

They are winding it on in the wrong direction?

Aaron Z

Yep! They had two pictures and the other one showed the proper clockwise winding of the tape. The pictures were probably made by a photographer who has no idea what/why the teflon tape is used.

 

[skspurling]

I don't know. Jackwelder reported it isn't hot until you press the trigger and the wire starts. So that probably is the 'improved' feature.


I can't make sense of the 68887 welder manual. In its specification chart I posted above it clearly says 'HOT TIP welder'. And page 6 para 13 says
Maybe that was copied verbatim from an old manual and the product really is improved.

I don't think this welder really is DCEN as shown in its specification chart in that manual. Jackwelder reports he measured 2 volts DC, 22 volts AC.

The old welders spec chart give the parameters as DCEN also.

 

[chopped]

I have been using a shallow well pump stainless version from HF for 2 summers now to use lake water for cement mixing while rehabing my house. Well has been disconnected. 50 feet of 1 inch black plastic coil to pump then 50 feet 3/4 to hose connection then 25 ft garden hose. Elevation lift about 35 feet. Priming is a pain but once primed this pump has worked great for 2 summers. I drain it and store inside during the winter. All summer it sits out with a blue tarp over it. With 20% off I paid $70. Very surprised it works so well.

1 Horsepower Shallow Well Pump with Stainless Steel Housing

Is it possible to place the pump closer to the water on the beginning 50 feet?That would make priming alot easier.Easier to push water than to suck it.I guess it would require more power wire also.Thanks for the review on that pump Ive been looking at it..

 

[Adirondaks]

I also used to pump to power wash a rented JD excavator. Saved $50 cleaning fee. It was able to supply plenty of flow to a Ridgid gas powered power washer. I have not cut the black coil to size yet. I will when I do a more permanent set up for irrigation after the construction is over. I am running a 100 foot extension cord to a 25 foot extention cord to power this pump, all 14 gauge. I did put a better foot valve on it but no other check valve and by not cutting the coil of plastic pipe there are no elbows to slow down the flow. At the end of the season the pipe is crungy with algae from sitting in the lake for 8 months.

 

[Travelover]

I found a HF coupon source that I have not seen before. It is formatted like a magazine coupon page. I assume that it is updated on a regular basis.

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