Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[5030]

I did forget to post a while back that the Braun foldable LED light my wife got me for my birthday has a very high quality Toshiba Li-Ion cell in it and it's replaceable as well.

 

[newbury]

HF email April 9 said all recent coupons are extended.

Extending Existing Coupons / No Price Increases
All Harbor Freight Product Coupons and 20% OFF Coupons that expire in April or May 2020 are now valid until June 30, 2020.

Any update on this?

 

[California]

Any update on this?

Looks like the coupon extensions to 6/30 ended. A recent email linked to this set of coupons expiring 7/31.

Harbor Freight Coupons – Get New Coupon Codes on Generators, Air Compressors, Tool Storage, and More at Harbor Freight Tools

 

[5030]

Looks like the coupon extensions to 6/30 ended. A recent email linked to this set of coupons expiring 7/31.

Harbor Freight Coupons – Get New Coupon Codes on Generators, Air Compressors, Tool Storage, and More at Harbor Freight Tools

Got the same thing today in the mail and had to update my email address. No big deal. I wonder if the paper 'deals' flyer is ending?

 

[5030]

DeWalt, Milwaukee and Ryobi will all do the same.

Aaron Z

Good to know. Interestingly, my wife's Barun Li-Ion spot light petered out today. Was working fine and flat quit. Plugged it into a USB cable until the light turned green and all is good again. Must be anything Li-Ion does that.

 

[California]

...Li-Ion spot light petered out today. Was working fine and flat quit. Must be anything Li-Ion does that.

I've read that anything Li-Ion, has protective circuitry to shut down before damaging the cells.

 

[hunt4570]

Yes, Li-Ion will just shut off and not slowly go dim..

 

[Ford850]

Does that reduce the life of Li-Ion batteries by draining them to the shut off point? Are they better off maintained with a mid to upper charge range, occasionally topping them off rather than fully draining them?

 

[5030]

Does that reduce the life of Li-Ion batteries by draining them to the shut off point? Are they better off maintained with a mid to upper charge range, occasionally topping them off rather than fully draining them?

Not sure. I've read (elsewhere) that Li-Ion batteries have no 'memory' but don't like to be drawn down to no power. So far so good with mine. Certainly better than my Ni-Cad Dewalt packs that peter out and need replacement because they won't charge. I have not replaced a HF Li-Ion pack yet and I have quite a few. Have the full assortment of Bauer 20 volt tools and use them constantly.

Especially the 'tool only' 4.5" angle grinder. It gets used daily, a year old now and zero issues. It has removable intake air screens so I clean them regularly. With angle grinders the death part is the grinding dust that gets in and eats the motors up. Do a lot of grinding on the parts I make for my bike website. Just ran off 10 units yesterday. The Hobart Handler 190 got a workout.

 

[hunt4570]

Does that reduce the life of Li-Ion batteries by draining them to the shut off point? Are they better off maintained with a mid to upper charge range, occasionally topping them off rather than fully draining them?

They go off because they have protection built in so that they do not drain all the way.. I normally run them till they shut off and swap batteries. If I finish a job and there is juice left in them , then I just top them off to be ready for next time.

 

[John_Mc]

Does that reduce the life of Li-Ion batteries by draining them to the shut off point? Are they better off maintained with a mid to upper charge range, occasionally topping them off rather than fully draining them?

Lithium-Ion batteries "like" to be in the (roughly) 20%-80% range (and good lithium-based equipment will have a protection mechanism built in to shut down - usually to protect from over-heating, but it may also protect from too deep a discharge). Running them outside that 20-80% range is not a huge problem, but you don't want to leave them that way for extended periods. Standard flood lead-acid and AGM batteries like to be kept full. Lithium batteries are a bit different: for long term storage, it's best to leave them somewhere around half full. My Milwaukee M18 batteries have a 4-light charge indicator. If I'm putting them away and won't be using them for a while, I try to leave them with either 2 or 3 lights showing. Storing this way is supposed to maximize the years of life you get out of the battery.

 

[rScotty]

I believe that Li ion batts that are in storage a long time are like any other ion-rich battery regardless of the chemistry.
They last best & with least aging if stored at about half charge. And if they are stored with a full charge they will probably drop to the half way point anyway.

 

[California]

That protective shutdown should save Li-Ion batteries from damage but I lost one on a Ryobi jigsaw. I discovered the laser light for aiming the cut, had been bumped on. Apparently when I set another tool on top of it in storage. Don't do that.

 

[hunt4570]

That protective shutdown should save Li-Ion batteries from damage but I lost one on a Ryobi jigsaw. I discovered the laser light for aiming the cut, had been bumped on. Apparently when I set another tool on top of it in storage. Don't do that.

Two things.. It needs a hard case to sit in... and a different name!:laughing:

 

[5030]

I believe that Li ion batts that are in storage a long time are like any other ion-rich battery regardless of the chemistry.
They last best & with least aging if stored at about half charge. And if they are stored with a full charge they will probably drop to the half way point anyway.

Sort of like my drone. The Li-Ion batteries for it, if you full charge them, will drop to half charge over a period of days without being in the drone.

 

[hunt4570]

Sort of like my drone. The Li-Ion batteries for it, if you full charge them, will drop to half charge over a period of days without being in the drone.

So speaking of your drone and Li-Ion batteries.. Do they just turn off when they start to get low like all the ones I've seen? And if so does your drone just drop from the sky!?

 

[Grumpycat]

All the Li-Ion tools (I use and own numerous Bauer cordless ones) will cut off flat at a pre-determined voltage, part of the circuitry that protects the battery pack. My Bauer tools do exactly the same. I can be tooling along (pun intended) and wham, it's done. Don't slow down, just expires and if I wait a few minutes, I too can get a tad bit more run time, but not much.

Yes, you absolutely have to do that with lithium because one deep discharge will destroy the cells. Cheap R/C cars & trucks do not include this protection. The cheap ones still use NiMH but a lithium battery is a common user upgrade. Really really needs an add-on discharge safety circuit. The better systems have this built into the radio receiver to shut everything down on low voltage.

 

[5030]

So speaking of your drone and Li-Ion batteries.. Do they just turn off when they start to get low like all the ones I've seen? And if so does your drone just drop from the sky!?

No drop. The internal artificial intelligence monitors the battery charge and output voltage and when it drops top a certain level, the drone returns home to the also pre-determined landing spot. The drone has on board GPS and GLONASS reckoning. You can over ride it but if you do the drone will land beyond your control and then you have to go find it...lol

Called 'return to home'. I think the cheap drones do't have that. Mine wasn't cheap. Wasn't the most expensive either. My wife would shorten my lifespan if I dropped 5 or 6 grand on one. She did a bit of bellyaching at 1200 bucks.

It's an Autel Evo btw. Another member on here has one as well. It's Kubota Orange of all colors.....

 

[hunt4570]

No drop. The internal artificial intelligence monitors the battery charge and output voltage and when it drops top a certain level, the drone returns home to the also pre-determined landing spot. The drone has on board GPS and GLONASS reckoning. You can over ride it but if you do the drone will land beyond your control and then you have to go find it...lol

Called 'return to home'. I think the cheap drones do't have that. Mine wasn't cheap. Wasn't the most expensive either. My wife would shorten my lifespan if I dropped 5 or 6 grand on one. She did a bit of bellyaching at 1200 bucks.

It's an Autel Evo btw. Another member on here has one as well. It's Kubota Orange of all colors.....

Some day I'd like to get a drone, my son in law to be has a nice one (no idea what brand) took some pics when he was here last time.. pretty cool what that thing would do.

 

[5030]

The visual perspective aloft is entirely different than on the ground. I bought mine for crop monitoring and I'll need the FAA commercial drone pilot's license as well because I'll use it for commercial purposes. I've already been approached by a commercial grower than wants me to film their planting and harvesting for their website.

I didn't get a DJI because of the built in Geofencing. Geofencing is a program in the computer memory that excludes drone flight around any airport, from the little farm strip to the big commercial one. So long as it's an FAA registered air strip, the done won't operate within a set distance. The Autel drones don't have that and leave safe and legal operation to the user. I have enough regulations to follow without more, so I passed on it.