Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[California]

If you get one, get the orange one, not the blue one.

I have the orange grinder, plus the next two larger sizes of orange to use when I need to hog out material. The 15 amp 9 incher is a monster!

I also have their blue 4.5" grinder with a wire-cup brush on it, and just bought a second blue one @ $9.95, plus a stack of flap-sanders for it. When they are that cheap I figure its worth it to just reach for a different grinder when I go from grind, to wire brush, to sander.

 

[California]

And a special heads-up. They are closing out the yellow jump-start batteries.

The 17 amp-hour ones are gone here but I got the last 24AH for $50 then less a 20% coupon, so $40 plus tax.

The new series look identical but gray with longer cables.

I'm going to try this battery to support emergency lighting. (The power was out here for 11 hours yesterday). I already have some 12 volt fluorescent lights that can be powered from a cigarette lighter plug. I might even try my inverter to power the DSL modem and router so the laptops get internet access! Maybe my next invention will be to send 12 volts straight to the modem and router in place of their power-wart transformers.

 

[BigE_]

Maybe my next invention will be to send 12 volts straight to the modem and router in place of their power-wart transformers.

It's fairly easy to do. The easiest way is to just buy an adjustable voltage regulator. It's a 3-pin part and only needs a couple of resistors and capacitors to set and regulate the voltage. The only problem with these is that they are very inefficient, so if you are going from 14V (car battery) down to say 4.5V, you are losing about 60% of the battery power to heat.

However, if you use a switching regulator, you can do the same thing and only lose about 20%. Switchers are easy, just need more external parts.

The very easiest - they used to sell these at Radio Shack where they were supposed to plug into your cigarette lighter. They had a slide switch on the side that let you set the voltage you needed, and then there were several different plug options. Don't know if that is still available... Once again, very in-efficient since it is using a linear regulator instead of a switcher.

 

[California]

buy an adjustable voltage regulator.

I just climbed under the table to read the labels. 12 Volts DC for the router (Netgear) so that can run from the battery. And 15V DC, 1A for the DSL modem. It may run ok with reduced voltage. Or I can drive its transformer by the little inverter I have for car-charging my camera battery. This is 150/450 W and plugs into a lighter socket.

I have built simple power circuits like you describe. They worked ok but were a little klutzy. I would rather avoid that approach.

 

[BigE_]

I just climbed under the table to read the labels. 12 Volts DC for the router (Netgear) so that can run from the battery. And 15V DC, 1A for the DSL modem.

I suspect they'll both run from the car battery directly. Be aware that the car battery doesn't drop to 12V until it is nearly dead. A fully charged car battery can easily put out 14V.

What will save you is the fact that both are going into a regulator..

Regards,
-Steve

 

[California]

I was talking about using HF's jump start battery

as an emergency UPS to power the modem and router. There's no regulator.

I charged the battery overnight. The charge light went out and the built-in voltmeter shows 13.4 volts; 13.2 V with the built-in spotlight turned on. So I don't think I have an overvoltage problem. But I may have to find another DSL modem that runs on 12V if my present 15VDC one won't run.

I dreamed up this solution when I called the local utility to see how long the power would be out, and they told me to look on their website! Ok......., except my laptop can't find a wifi signal with the whole neighborhood down.

 

[Travelover]

I just picked up a HF 1000 gram scale (97920) for about $9. I'm impressed with the quality and it seems pretty accurate based on my weighing several different coins. Probably not accurate enough to weigh powder for reloading, but good enough for most of the small stuff that I'll ever weigh.

 

[Robert128]

I've got the 4" and the 9" angel grinders and they are great and I work them hard too - Extra set of motor brushes to boot! So far the only thing from HF that messed up was a car polisher that I tried to use for an angle grinder - (I don't recommend that - Ha) - Stripped the gears - and that was my own fault. - Anyone tried the Plasma cutter from HF?

 

[Marshal9]

Also found HF coupons in VFW and American Legion Magazines.

 

[Skyco]

- Anyone tried the Plasma cutter from HF?

Have the 40A one, so far so good!