Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[IslandTractor]

I have three or four HF battery tenders. No real complaints though one failed after a few years. Only 600mA output so very unlikely to harm any battery but on the otherhand maintenance is about all they are good for. 24 hours of charging gets you 14 amp hours at best. A true trickle charger. I only use them over the winter when I don't operate any small engines other than the snowblower.

 

[dragoneggs]

I have three or four HF battery tenders. No real complaints though one failed after a few years. Only 600mA output so very unlikely to harm any battery but on the otherhand maintenance is about all they are good for. 24 hours of charging gets you 14 amp hours at best. A true trickle charger. I only use them over the winter when I don't operate any small engines other than the snowblower.

Yes, a tender is what they are in'tended' for. And by my book, they are great. I have charged brought from the dead smaller 'tractor' sized batteries with them though. They work. Maintenance is the key word. Kill a battery due to neglect and there is no magic device. Correct me if I am wrong.

 

[IslandTractor]

Yes, a tender is what they are in'tended' for. And by my book, they are great. I have charged brought from the dead smaller 'tractor' sized batteries with them though. They work. Maintenance is the key word. Kill a battery due to neglect and there is no magic device. Correct me if I am wrong.

Agree. The HF "maintainers" work as advertised but are dumb. They do one thing and do it well. There are now smart battery maintenance chargers that I believe can desulfinate (is that a word?) which can extend battery life and these higher tech chargers are often built in to care for big expensive battery banks such as found in cruising boats. Not sure when that technology (which couldn't be much more than a few chips and parts from Radio Shack) will make it to mainstream battery maintainers. For now the simple HF devices do the job and are less than $20 so are good bang for the buck.

 

[newbury]

It's BACK and CHEAPER!
View attachment 471456

Note - no barcode, when I clicked on the ad it just took me to the "regular" $380 price.

DARN!!! Bought TOO SOON!!

Could have saved another $4!! How can I get a price adjustment? Should I buy more? Will the price drop lower?

/edit -
But seriously - does anyone know of a database/web sit that keeps track of HF's past sales prices?
Often I "need" something but it's not critical NOW, I can wait.

 

[DFB]

DARN!!! Bought TOO SOON!!View attachment 471888

Could have saved another $4!! How can I get a price adjustment? Should I buy more? Will the price drop lower?

/edit -
But seriously - does anyone know of a database/web sit that keeps track of HF's past sales prices?
Often I "need" something but it's not critical NOW, I can wait.

Well maybe you could just return it and buy it over at the lower price.


But here is the warranty page


Get the GUARANTEED LOWEST PRICE from Harbor Freight!

You shop at Harbor Freight for "quality tools at ridiculously low prices". But did you know that Harbor Freight guarantees the lowest price? We will beat any competitor's price, even an advertised special, within one year of your purchase.

That's Harbor Freight's guarantee – quality tools at the ridiculously LOWEST prices!

Warranty Information

 

[IslandTractor]

DARN!!! Bought TOO SOON!!View attachment 471888

Could have saved another $4!! How can I get a price adjustment? Should I buy more? Will the price drop lower?

/edit -
But seriously - does anyone know of a database/web sit that keeps track of HF's past sales prices?
Often I "need" something but it's not critical NOW, I can wait.

I don't know of any such website. I do recall that the Insider Club prices tend to be about as low as HF charges on items if you can just be patient and wait for the item to show up on their monthly IC flyer.

 

[Garandman]

Got tired of the hassles of setting up a vehicle or battery jump start when my tractor, boat, or ATV had a battery run down, so I bought the 3-in-1 power pack/jump starter. It's come in handy a bunch of times. Well worth the $45 or so with coupon.

3-in-1 Portable Power Pack with Jump Starter

Bought one and returned it. It barely started our boat.

Got a Clore JNC660 and it's twice the price and a lot more powerful.

 

[DFB]

Got a Clore JNC660 and it's twice the price and a lot more powerful.

I agree that's definitely one to have when you really need it!

 

[California]

Got tired of the hassles of setting up a vehicle or battery jump start when my tractor, boat, or ATV had a battery run down, so I bought the 3-in-1 power pack/jump starter. It's come in handy a bunch of times. Well worth the $45 or so with coupon.

3-in-1 Portable Power Pack with Jump Starter

Is that the one that takes a minute or two to charge a large capacitor, then provides a short-term surge?

I bought a jump starter at HF about 3 years ago that has a battery 25~50% larger than what they usually sell. Its back panel has a large bulge for that battery. It cranks the tractor (1100cc 2-cylinder) great.

I keep this in the house for power outages, and have a small inverter (250 watts?) stored with it. A LED light in its cigarette lighter outlet would run for days. It should run a 12V cell phone charger adapter for several days as well.


One comment on HF's $5 'charger/maintainer': I used to leave this on for weeks when the tractor wasn't in use but I found the battery water level was low, exposing the top of plates, every time I finally got around to checking it. Now I monitor voltage with a voltmeter and put that little charger on for a couple of days if I see voltage lower than 12.5v.

 

[PhysAssist]

My BIL had a great Stihl chainsaw except for one thing - Once in a while, while running at full throttle, it would just quit. And then was a bear to restart, and then would run perfect for a while, and then just quit. Made an otherwise good saw too frustrating to try to use.

I was the designated saw doctor. Finally found a tiny shred of reddish fabric embedded in the carb fuel pump port. The color was unmistakable, and you guessed it - shop rag. Cheap Chinese cotton fabric is sometimes NOT a bargain.

I find it hard to blame that on the cloth, rather than on whomever somehow got it into the fuel tank in the first place.

When we refuel, we brush or wipe down the gas filler area and cap before we take the cap off, and have never in 25 years of use had any problems with getting the fuel filter clogged.

Just saying.