Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[5030]

I was amazed at the diminished performance of the lithium in cold weather. I installed one in my sxs last summer and it worked great in the warm weather but once it got cold it would almost nothing till about the 3rd try or after turning the headlights on for a minute or two. Then when it got real cold I had/have to use my jump box for the first start and sometimes after a long period of being off. My jump box is an older gell type lead acid, larger and heavier booster pak.

What the toaster cars suffer from as well.

 

[5030]

The one thing I like about HF and that is, if your tool fails within the warranty, they don't repair it, they give you a NEW one.

 

[two_bit_score]

The one thing I like about HF and that is, if your tool fails within the warranty, they don't repair it, they give you a NEW one.

Cheaper for them to do that.

 

[Grumpycat]

I was amazed at the diminished performance of the lithium in cold weather. I installed one in my sxs last summer and it worked great in the warm weather but once it got cold it would almost nothing till about the 3rd try or after turning the headlights on for a minute or two. Then when it got real cold I had/have to use my jump box for the first start and sometimes after a long period of being off. My jump box is an older gell type lead acid, larger and heavier booster pak.

They use LiFePO4 which is more susceptible to the cold than lithium-ion.

The advantage of LiFePO4 is that it happily tolerates 100% charge.

 

[bmaverick]

So far sooooo G R E A T !
12V Halogen Vehicle Work Light

My driveway is 550 feet. It's almost fully lit to the road.

It takes the 35W halogen typical automotive fog light bulb too. People use these on their off-road jeeps for a low cost front roof rack 4X spots.

 

[5030]

Cheaper for them to do that.

I guess. That includes the Pro-Tig 205 as well as the 2 Titanium 45 and 65 amp plasma cutters, I just bought as well. The 65 will go on my plasma table and the 45 will be for in the shop. I kept my 2 Hobart 210 amp wire machines. Bought the Vulcan roll around welding cabinet with all the drawers and storage in it. Got it home, assembled it (was real easy, all the fastening points have pre welded nuts so it's basically plug and play. Went to open the big door (which locks with a round key and alas, the key didn't fit so I called the store and they told me to bring it back, which I did and they gave me a new one, still on the skid.

I asked them what they would do with the other one and the manager told me it was going in the 'scratch and dent section and they would sell it discounted.

I'm all good with that and the welder as well as the 2 plasma cutters all have a 3 year warranty on them for full replacement and I got one of the plasma cutters (the 45 amp) and the Pro-Tig 205, both were in the ITC flyer. I got about a grand off total and put everything on my HF card with 36 months no interest. All that for a 29 buck ITC card.

I sold my Lincoln Square Wave Weld Pak TIG machine and my Hyper Therm 65 amp plasma cutter and all said and done, I put 2 grand in my pocket and the Pro-Tig is light years ahead of the Square Wave and the Titanium plasma cutters, the consumables are 1/3 the cost of the Hyper Therm plus the 65 amp cutter already has the plasma table interface built it.

I will say the 205 is much smoother arc wise than the Lincoln ever was plus the 205 has both post flow and pre flow and varible pulse settings. It's a nice machine. Just put a CK water cooled torch on it and an Everlast Water cooler.

It's aluminum time.

Got the CK from Weldfabulous and all the fittings. I get my filled bottles from them as well and have them refilled at Air-Gas.

Last month I bought the Bauer finishing tool, was on the ITC list as well. Got it for 50 bucks. Eastwood sells the same thing for $199.00

Love my ITC membership and the HF credit card as well.

There, I bared it all...

 

[California]

Followup - I won the gamble I described above on customer-return welding wire from Amazon.

The CamelCamelCamel alert I set up last year for welding wire on Amazon, notified me of the lowest price in several years. (See the price chart in my linked previous post).

It arrived today. Flawless with the original shrinkwrap intact. Paper carton missing, that's irrelevant.

I've had uneven luck buying welding wire at Amazon that is apparently customer returns or shipping damage, but the price makes it attractive and returns are no-hassle.

I paid $10.97. I would have paid $21.99 (price today, I just checked) - if I ordered at full price when starting a project, instead of waiting for this camelcamelcamel deal to come along.

 

[crazyal]

They use LiFePO4 which is more susceptible to the cold than lithium-ion.

The advantage of LiFePO4 is that it happily tolerates 100% charge.

I'll find out. I get free stuff from Amazon to review and a LiFePO4 charger was in the list. Yesterday I started charging the battery to see what happens. It's not much above freezing in my garage so I'm thinking of getting a quick disconnect for the battery and keeping it in the basement until needed.

I thought it might be nice to leave it trickle charging so it will have a charge when the power goes out but before connecting the charger I tried to start it with the battery. No luck. I then gave it a good pull and it started. So disabling the fuel cutoff solenoid was the key. Now I'm torn between just replacing the battery with an AGM or just resigning to the fact that I most likely will have to use the pull starter.

I see HF changed their due date from the end of January to March now for their red 56" roller tool chest. Glad I'm not in a hurry.

 

[crazyal]

As for getting things like the "we miss you coupon" and getting lower prices I've found that repeatedly going to the page of the item, maybe even putting it in your cart then not purchasing it works well. Amazon seems to do this pretty often.

 

[California]

The recent Closeouts email brochure included the 1/2" torque wrench that has been $10~$12 since forever. I hope they aren't dropping it for something new that does the same thing for north of $50.

I've had one for 20+ years and it always tests identical to my Craftsman and S-K beam-style torque wrenches, when I make a comparison a couple of times per project.

 

[thepumpguysc]

Crazy.. the dead battery syndrome in our generator hits all of us..
I get around it by having a “jump box” at the ready..
Also found if u disconnect the leads to the battery when stored, the charge lasts a lot longer.. or it might be my imagination..

 

[Alan46]

I'll find out. I get free stuff from Amazon.

I’ve been getting free stuff from Home Depot for years. Since last year dollar value has dropped considerably. The best we got was a Bosch
Refrigerator! Four years ago!

How did you get on their program?

 

[Grumpycat]

I'll find out. I get free stuff from Amazon to review and a LiFePO4 charger was in the list. Yesterday I started charging the battery to see what happens. It's not much above freezing in my garage so I'm thinking of getting a quick disconnect for the battery and keeping it in the basement until needed.

"Lithium mode" on common car battery maintenance chargers turns off once a preset voltage is reached. Then resume when voltage falls to another preset voltage.

Continuous low current charging wears out LiFePO4 cells.

 

[5030]

Crazy.. the dead battery syndrome in our generator hits all of us..
I get around it by having a “jump box” at the ready..
Also found if u disconnect the leads to the battery when stored, the charge lasts a lot longer.. or it might be my imagination..

It's not. I do that with my farm tractors all the time and they sit all winter and in the spring after I reconnect the negative post, they start right up.

 

[crazyal]

I must be doing something right (or wrong). After ordering the 56" roller toolbox a few weeks ago I got another "No exclusion" coupon. This one was just for 15% off. So I bought a top box they had in stock.

 

[Oaktree]

It's not. I do that with my farm tractors all the time and they sit all winter and in the spring after I reconnect the negative post, they start right up.

I would say that'd depend on the age of the equipment. I don't see why that would make a difference on something that doesn't have any "always on" electronics.

 

[5030]

I would say that'd depend on the age of the equipment. I don't see why that would make a difference on something that doesn't have any "always on" electronics.

Makes all the difference for me. Any flooded cell battery looses about 10% of it's total charge per month standing but that increase quite a bit when it's hooked to battery cables, especially if the cables and clamps are corroded and I do it as an anti theft measure when they sit in the field overnight. A thief or kids would never think to look under the hood in the first place.

I farm with my tractors unlike most on here so any theft deterrent is to my advantage. They often stay in the fields when farming.

 

[5030]

Crazy.. the dead battery syndrome in our generator hits all of us..
I get around it by having a “jump box” at the ready..
Also found if u disconnect the leads to the battery when stored, the charge lasts a lot longer.. or it might be my imagination..

it's not....
or it might be my imagination..

it's not.....

 

[crazyal]

I see HF is offering a 10% off no exclusions coupon for everyone. I'm wondering if they are seeing sales decline and are trying to boost foot traffic.

 

[John_Mc]

I got a 15% "valued customer" coupon which expired before I got around to using it (Feb 13). Now just got the 10% No exclusions for everyone / 15% for Inside Track members. Probably won't get around to using that one either. I just don't need anything they are selling badly enough at this point.