Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[shovelmike]

I picked up the Chicago Electric carbon pile battery load tester, $54.95, used 20 percent off coupon to save $11.
I have so many batteries around here to maintain, including a few out in the shed where there isn't electricity. Those, admittedly, don't get charged often enough. At least I can evaluate them myself rather than haul them down to Auto Zone where the counter attendant may or may not know how to do it properly. I trained on Sun VAT 28's back in automotive school and never could justify the cost of one of those.
It seems to be a decent unit. time will tell, I will let you know.

 

[5030]

I find that irritating about HF. Back in the day, their 20 off coupons were good for everything. Now, you have to read the fine (very fine) small print because all the higher lines aren't discounted at all unless there is a specific coupon in the flyer.

I will say, contrary to some opinions (on here) that the Inside Track Club membership has paid off for me and I don't buy in quantity except maybe cut off wheels. last fall bought a Zurich SRT8 code reader that was an Inside Track sales item, regularly $199.00, got it for $139.00 and a Badland 5000 RTV winch, $179.00, Inside Track coupon, $130.00. Those 2 items paid my membership for 3 years.

Both are excellent buys. The winch went on my wife's Kubota GS850 Sidekick UTV and was 100% plug and play and The code reader works flawlessly on our vehicles plus it has the fix assist and does ABS brakes and traction control codes and it upgrades online.

 

[5030]

I picked up the Chicago Electric carbon pile battery load tester, $54.95, used 20 percent off coupon to save $11.
I have so many batteries around here to maintain, including a few out in the shed where there isn't electricity. Those, admittedly, don't get charged often enough. At least I can evaluate them myself rather than haul them down to Auto Zone where the counter attendant may or may not know how to do it properly. I trained on Sun VAT 28's back in automotive school and never could justify the cost of one of those.
It seems to be a decent unit. time will tell, I will let you know.

Please do as I want to get one.

 

[Travelover]

Okay, I have a technical question. When you run down a Li-Ion pack (like a Bauer 20 volt) for instance, I read somewhere that when it runs out of power it's not like a Ni-Cad pack where the tool slows down, looses torque, I read it just quits. Is that true? I don't know because when my Bauer packs show 2 lights on the backside, I put them on the charger and fill them back up.

I'm curious. Anyone run a Li-Ion pack all the way to zip?

Can't speak to the HF tools but all my Li-Ion battery operated tools stop abruptly when near dead. I think the batteries have a controller build into them to prevent them from being damaged by overcharging, over discharging or being charged when too cold.

 

[Wasmeneh]

That is true about lithium ion batteries. Some people are using them in bass boats for trolling motors. With traditional lead acid you have plenty of warning that your trolling motor is about to quit, with Lipo you go normal speed until they just quit. The good is they are much lighter and they go full speed until they don't.

 

[jwstewar]

That is true about lithium ion batteries. Some people are using them in bass boats for trolling motors. With traditional lead acid you have plenty of warning that your trolling motor is about to quit, with Lipo you go normal speed until they just quit. The good is they are much lighter and they go full speed until they don't.

I have a Snap-On flashlight that I found at the end of our driveway - gotta love when you find Snap-On tools Anyway, I love the light it puts out, but it is annoying in one way. Unlike a traditional flashlight that starts growing dim, it just turns off. Can leave you in kind of a predicament at times.

 

[California]

Can't speak to the HF tools but all my Li-Ion battery operated tools stop abruptly when near dead. I think the batteries have a controller build into them to prevent them from being damaged by overcharging, over discharging or being charged when too cold.

That's my experience with the Ryobi 18v Li-Ion tools. A moment of slowing - maybe enough to yank the chainsaw out of a cut - then dead.

I don't have any HF battery tools because in past years HF had an amazing number of incompatible and discontinued battery systems. Maybe its better now. Have they gotten down to only 2~3 different systems?

 

[rangerfredbob]

Lithium batteries get unstable below a certain voltage per cell so everything that uses them (for the most part, especially high amperage items) use a low voltage cutoff whether it be in the tool or the battery they are sensing the voltage out of the whole pack or sometimes over each cell (around 3.7V per cell if memory serves) where some chargers will "balance" the cells in the pack to prevent over or under charging for best performance. If the voltage drops too low there's a possibility of the cell just crashing and being dead I believe.

At least lithium batteries are more stable than the NiMh batteries that were around for a while, I don't think I ever had one that survived long, all the packs I had seemed to drop a cell or reverse voltage or something dumb...

 

[Oaktree]

I have the Ryobi 18v chainsaw. Its great for my application, mostly dismantling trees that rotted and fell down in my apple orchard, and occasionally getting up in a tree to top it, reaching out one-handed. Abandoning use of 2-cycle fuel entirely, has made my life better.

I don't think the Ryobi 18v is anywhere near the power of the Lynx. Its proper use is casual pruning, not firewood prep.

Here's the hardest I've ever worked the Ryobi, cutting green Eucalyptus that fell blocking an orchard terrace. It felt like I was working it pretty hard. I wouldn't recommend one if you have to do projects like this very often. Its mostly a light, easy to handle pruning saw.

Thanks for the review. What you say is more or less what I was looking for...something quick to use to shorten that occasional piece of firewood I cut too long to fit the stove, or clearing brush, etc. too thick to use loppers but not really worth dragging out the gas saw for. Wouldn't even consider a battery chainsaw to do any "real" work.

I'm a bit hesitant to put too much money into battery HF (or any store brand) tools because as someone else noted finding replacement batteries a few years down the road might be difficult, unlike a name brand.

The Lynxx 40 volts tools are on sale often.

I've got the chainsaw, pole saw, and blower.

I've seen the pole saw and blower on sale, but never noticed the chainsaw. Can't think of any reason I'd want/need a blower, and already have a polesaw.

That's my experience with the Ryobi 18v Li-Ion tools. A moment of slowing - maybe enough to yank the chainsaw out of a cut - then dead.

Yeah, I've noticed that with my Ryobi drill and reciprocal saw. Sometimes if you wait a minute or two the battery will recover enough to finish a cut, but just barely. Always keep several charged spares on hand.

 

[Threepoint]

I picked up the Chicago Electric carbon pile battery load tester, $54.95, used 20 percent off coupon to save $11.
I have so many batteries around here to maintain, including a few out in the shed where there isn't electricity. Those, admittedly, don't get charged often enough. At least I can evaluate them myself rather than haul them down to Auto Zone where the counter attendant may or may not know how to do it properly. I trained on Sun VAT 28's back in automotive school and never could justify the cost of one of those.
It seems to be a decent unit. time will tell, I will let you know.

I've had one for maybe as long as 15 years, and it's been fine for me. I've only had to use it every few months, but I don't see anything about the design that would be particularly prone to wear out. It will also quickly check the alternator or generator output while the battery is in place. Although you can do that with a freebie volt/ohm meter. Also don't know, of course, how the model currently sold may have changed. It looks the same, and generally I think HF quality has improved even on their basic house brands over the years.