Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

thepumpguysc · Dec 30, 2018

I have several phones & forget which one I gave them.. when she punched it in she got a funny look on her face..
I asked her if THAT was a "good #" cuz I've got LOTS of other #'s I could give her.. She just laughed & said, NO, its good..

Rock Crawler · Dec 30, 2018

Dudes.... Brand New in my email today. $85 dollars. Please, go get your $44 + tax back!

ATTENTION : NEVER MIND!
I GOT EXCITED AND SCREWED UP! THIS IS NOT THE 4 DRAWER CART, THIS IS THE STUPID 30" BASIC CART.

Harbor Freight Tools Email

Travelover · Dec 30, 2018

thepumpguysc said:
.......... I highly recommend those for trouble shooting.. get 10 ofm & give'm away to your dumb mechanic friends.. OR send'm to about 80% of the posters on this site..Lol
I saw a thread the other day w/ I get nuthin when I turn the key..35 q&a's & come to find out it was a dead battery.. 3 or 4 pages & this schmo had a dead battery.!! NOW IF he had a 1.00 test meter.. thing coulda been different..lol

I agree. I also post on an RV site and half the electrical problems posted there could be solved in a few minutes with a HF multimeter. I even send them the free coupon and get resistance (no pun intended). One guy wanted to argue how much better a Fluke meter is - sure it is, but when you are flying totally blind a cheap HF meter is like gold.

Kernopelli · Dec 30, 2018

Travelover said:
....... One guy wanted to argue how much better a Fluke meter is - sure it is, but when you are flying totally blind a cheap HF meter is like gold.

That might be because he owns a Fluke that he might not even know how to use but leaves prominently displayed when his tool buddies are around.....or when he is on public forums. Now he desperately wants to justify spending a min. of $400 to diagnose a key-off battery drain caused by his car radio or bad ground on the trailer lights when he could have used a free meter available only from a store that doesn't sell SnapOn......OH MY, how provincial :shocked: ! Our electricans at work used Fluke meters, while a good investment that offers great quality and function that some professionals truly need, their Flukes never once diagnosed an issue that couldn't have been ( or wasn't already) diagnosed with the free HF meter I kept in our tool crib.

California · Dec 30, 2018

You guys PAY for the red (and previous yellow) multimeters?

I accumulated a half dozen with free coupons.

They are fine for rough first-pass diagnostics. But comparing several, I saw a range of 12.2 to 12.42 on a battery I had neglected to charge timely. That's not sufficiently accurate to judge if the battery was ruined. I also measured line voltage at the wall outlet and saw a 5+ volt range there. Cheap is fine in a lot of instances but I wanted better accuracy.

Fry's had the Bosch fix 7665 multimeter on special for $9.95. I bought two, for barn and house. It is a whole world better. Backlight, Hold Reading button, a fold out leg on the back to slope the screen where you can see it. Battery test settings for 1.5V, 9V, 12V. Convenient size similar to the HF so pocketable, in contrast to any 'pro' meter. Voltage reading is identical between the two Bosch meters and matches a lab-grade bench multimeter I had borrowed to calibrate the HF meters.

I've stepped up from frustrating junk, to sufficient.

California · Dec 30, 2018

HF has substituted the new one drawer $85 30 inch rolling tool cart as the cheapest cart of that type, in place of the $99 4 drawer cart (that is now on sale for $107?) as cheapest. Here's an old post where the 4 drawer version was $99 a few years ago.

Rock Crawler · Dec 30, 2018

California said:
HF has substituted the new one drawer $85 30 inch rolling tool cart as the cheapest cart of that type, in place of the $99 4 drawer cart (that is now on sale for $107?) as cheapest. Here's an old post where the 4 drawer version was $99 a few years ago.

The 4 drawer was $99 early this summer of 2018. I purchased 2 black ones for $99 each.

Code54 · Dec 30, 2018

I have to agree the cheap HF multi meters are great for the price. I have used them several times to resolve a problem. The nice thing is they are "cheap" enough to have 1 on each floor of the house and 1 in each outbuilding. Never have to walk too far to get one! LOL

Travelover · Dec 30, 2018

California said:
You guys PAY for the red (and previous yellow) multimeters? I accumulated a half dozen with free coupons.

They are fine for rough first-pass diagnostics. But comparing several, I saw a range of 12.2 to 12.42 on a battery I had neglected to charge timely. That's not sufficiently accurate to judge if the battery was ruined. I also measured line voltage at the wall outlet and saw a 5+ volt range there. Cheap is fine in a lot of instances but I wanted better accuracy.

Fry's had the Bosch fix 7665 multimeter on special for $9.95. I bought two, for barn and house. It is a whole world better. Backlight, Hold Reading button, a fold out leg on the back to slope the screen where you can see it. Battery test settings for 1.5V, 9V, 12V. Convenient size similar to the HF so pocketable, in contrast to any 'pro' meter. Voltage reading is identical between the two Bosch meters and matches a lab-grade bench multimeter I had borrowed to calibrate the HF meters.

I've stepped up from frustrating junk, to sufficient.

The Bosch meter looks good for the money. I have a half dozen free HF multimeters that I have spread all over the place so that they are handy. You are right that if you need an accurate measurement, you need a better meter, but 99% of the time the HF meter suffices and I have it where I need it.