Harbor Freight Liquid Transfer Pump (Stick) failures

[5030]

Your not the only one. I have went through 4 in the 5 years that I have had my tractor. Gotta be a better,economical way.

Gravity and the no spill EPA mandated spout that leaks. That is the better way.

FYI, the HF battery pump is on sale all this month for 6 bucks and change. I'll buy a few extra ones just in case. 6 bucks is chump change even if they only last a short time and I have to say, the last one I'm using has lasted over a year now.

 

[5030]

Amazon.com

I don't think so,. not for 80 bucks when the HF pump is 6 bucks. Interestingly, that one looks just like the HF pump but with a longer hose. 80 bucks ain't gonna happen.

 

[kickback]

I have the worst experience with these things. I've probably had 6 or 8 in the last 4 years. I never even have to change the batteries in them before they fail.
Is there a more reliable option?
I store 20 gallons of diesel and 20 gallons of gasoline all in 5 gallon cans, and I fill my equipment 5 gallons at a time (1 can), so I don't need anything large or elaborate, just something reliable.

I filled the mower this morning with gasoline which worked fine, set the pump aside to drain while I got the 5 gal can of diesel for the tractor, about 5 minutes, and the pump completely died in those 5 minutes. I checked the batteries, they were fine (1.46v) and I changed them just to be sure, nadda, dead! I use Energizer batteries.

Any options?

Junk
View attachment 882799

Try TERA Pump. Makes all types of transfer pumps and not china junk. Decent quality and made in S. Korea (not US but at least our ally). I shop it on a site called PublicSquare.com. It's a good site and tries to maintain conservative values.

 

[5030]

I have a Fill Rite as well and I use it with my pickup truck transfer tank when I need to fuel in the field. I try to limit that as much as possible however. My truck tank also has a Fill Rite manual diaphragm pump on it as well. On road diesel in the truck, off road diesel in the tank. EPA gas cans today are the pits. Even the yellow diesel cans suck, just not as bad.

 

[5030]

I'll keep on buying the HF 6 buck cheapy pumps. Hard to beat 6 bucks when on sale. I just keep a couple at all times, just in case.

 

[Jaygyver]

As @USN2TN mentioned I have two of those.
Gas and Diesel compatible, AC/DC, DC has battery alligator clips so you can fuel up when the wife runs out of gas mowing. I had four or five 5 gal tanks but the stick only fit a couple of the openings. I've had mine for 2 years and probably put 200+ gal thru each one.
They have a pretty long AC cord and the hose is pretty long also. Not the strongest looking hose but haven't had any issues yet. I do treat them with a little care just in case. Manual trigger so no auto off. I originally thought the diesel residue might contaminate the small gas tank on the gas pressure washers, etc, if I just used the one but I ended up keeping my 2 gal can for those and the hose's do drain out really good so moot point, but I do have a backup in case one dies.
Do not leave them out in the rain as the electrical plugin will corrode. I have one for the wife to use for watering her outdoor plants and she left it out and there is slight corrosion but still works after a year.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MT94QA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8
I ended up buying 4 of these tanks, two for diesel and two for gas, my thinking was as one gets empty I can fill the other one the next time we go into town. I do use gas/diesel treatment.
The down side of using this setup is you have to lay the tanks on their backs to use these stick pumps. The tanks have wheels and the wife has no problem using them. If the wife fills the tank she just slides them in the tractor bucket to put them in the shop. She's in her mid 60's so she does pretty good.
The tanks do come with a fairly long hose and nozzle, BUT, the nozzle handle is also a hand pump, think "Popeye" arms, or you can throw it in your bucket for a gravity drain. I took them off and have them for spares.

 

[deserteagle71]

I have the worst experience with these things. I've probably had 6 or 8 in the last 4 years. I never even have to change the batteries in them before they fail.
Is there a more reliable option?

Mine isn't the Harbor Freight brand - got it off Amazon - but it looks identical to the ones in your pic. But...mine is 4 years old now and has never failed me. Works great.

 

[mike5511]

I've had one for several years and it is still working.......probably quit tomorrow now that I posted this! HF brand.

 

[2515R Dude]

More than a year ago, ( I want to say two but don't remember exactly), i bought one at HF. It stopped working after the first run. HF would not accept the returns, they said to call HQ. I called them and they returned my money without need to ship it back.

So, now i had a free toy to play with:
1. I opened it up, the red tube unscrews from the motor and i could access the contacts.
2. I figured that when i connect 3V power directly to the motor it works just fine.
3. Soldered 2 wires( one red and one black) red to the motor ->switch
4. Drilled a little hole in the red tube and put two wires - The black from the motor and the red from the switch out after screwing the tube back to the body of the pump
5. Glued a 2AA battery holder to the outside of the red tube
6 Connected the wires to the holder.
7 Installed 2 rechargeable AA batteries
8 Enjoy free gas pump for over a year.

If i could do it, you definitely can

 

[5030]

For 6 bucks, I can landfill it and not get excited. Next one fails, I'll have to dissect it as well.