Harbor Freight Tools

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

And when I turn it off, I always set it to the highest AC Range. < Hint, there.


lol  i know what you mean there   

[Grandpa Shooter]

I have two of their blue 900 watt generators.  It will run any of my electric hand tools, or the batteries for my battery op tools.  It will also power my motor home, the travel trailer on the remote property, or the 5th wheel in Montana.  If we have an outage at home I just turn off the main and plug a double ended cord into the generator and one of the house outlets.  Works fine, just remember to turn of your main before plugging into a house circuit.

[go_bang]

Anyone ever get their folding cargo trailers?

[mtnbkr]

Maybe some examples work better than others. Tell you what - try the aluminum foil test at a couple of places in the tank - center, sides, edges, corners - and let us know if the machine "passes."

And what exactly is a pass for fail with this test?

Chris

[230RN]

If we have an outage at home I just turn off the main and plug a double ended cord into the generator and one of the house outlets.

AKA: "Suicide Cord."  Just remember the male prongs are hot.  Like a mother saying to a small boy using a knife, "Don't cut yourself," I felt it necessary to say that.

(Bill Cosby's reply to that was "Aw, gee, Mom.  I was just going to cut myself.  Now you spoiled all my fun!")

Mom, 230RN

ETA
This is obviously a risky operation, and I would presume that anyone attempting it knows what s/he's doing.  In most homes, it only powers up 1/2 the house.

[Grandpa Shooter]

I have only done it three or four times in the past and it only powered up the circuit I chose to plug into.  I plug the cord into the circuit I want to energize and then plug it into the generator.  It will keep the lights on or run the blower for the propane heater.

AKA: "Suicide Cord."  Just remember the male prongs are hot.  Like a mother saying to a small boy using a knife, "Don't cut yourself," I felt it necessary to say that.

(Bill Cosby's reply to that was "Aw, gee, Mom.  I was just going to cut myself.  Now you spoiled all my fun!")

Mom, 230RN

ETA in most homes,that only powers up 1/2 the house... that is, only one side of the 220V split.

[AJ Dual]

Most everything has been said above, the cost/benefit ratio, cheaper than renting some tools and if it works for two jobs, it's gravy.

And some tools and supplies are so simple, even the Chinese trying to scam their distributors, can't mess them up. 

Although I won't buy my radioactives there anymore.

[Nick1911]

Although I won't buy my radioactives there anymore.

Yours too, huh?

Damn thing was mostly Pb-207 by the time it got here. 









 

[AJ Dual]

Yah, or the Polonium you bought turning out to be a bunch of Americium from smoke detectors...

[zahc]

They have a coupon for a $19.99 reciprocating saw (sawzall) in the latest Rifleman. I've been keeping my eye out for a good reciprocating saw at garage sales and so on but I'm thinking, for $19.99, how can you really go wrong? Unless it's like, absolutely worthless or dangerous.

[Hawkmoon]

I have only done it three or four times in the past and it only powered up the circuit I chose to plug into.  I plug the cord into the circuit I want to energize and then plug it into the generator.  It will keep the lights on or run the blower for the propane heater.

If the only breaker you opened was the main disconnect, it powered half the circuits in the house. There's no way it can power only one (unless your house only has two).

[brimic]

Best deal I got at HF was for a Motorcycle jack, $89 or so. Very happy with it.

[HankB]

And what exactly is a pass for fail with this test?

Chris

If you're testing an ultrasonic cleaner, you suspend a piece of ordinary household aluminum foil in the water. After anywhere from 10 to 30 seconds, when you pull out the foil and hold it up to the light, you should see pinholes in the foil - that's an indication that the cleaner is working. No pinholes, no ultrasonic cleaning action.

A good cleaner will "pass" this test just about anywhere in the tank. Underpowered or single-transducer cleaners generally have very localized effects, and won't pass it anywhere except in the immediate vicinity of the transducer.

http://www.soniclean.com.au/ulc/foiltest.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_7271340_test-ultrasonic-jewelry-cleaner.html

http://www.coleparmer.com/techinfo/techinfo.asp?htmlfile=ultrasoniccleaner_faq.htm&ID=792#anchor13   (this link says ten MINUTES - which I think is incorrect)

[mtnbkr]

If you're testing an ultrasonic cleaner, you suspend a piece of ordinary household aluminum foil in the water. After anywhere from 10 to 30 seconds, when you pull out the foil and hold it up to the light, you should see pinholes in the foil - that's an indication that the cleaner is working. No pinholes, no ultrasonic cleaning action.

A good cleaner will "pass" this test just about anywhere in the tank. Underpowered or single-transducer cleaners generally have very localized effects, and won't pass it anywhere except in the immediate vicinity of the transducer.

http://www.soniclean.com.au/ulc/foiltest.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_7271340_test-ultrasonic-jewelry-cleaner.html

http://www.coleparmer.com/techinfo/techinfo.asp?htmlfile=ultrasoniccleaner_faq.htm&ID=792#anchor13   (this link says ten MINUTES - which I think is incorrect)

I've never owned or used an US cleaner.

That's very good to know, thanks!

Chris

[Grandpa Shooter]

If the only breaker you opened was the main disconnect, it powered half the circuits in the house. There's no way it can power only one (unless your house only has two).

You are correct.  You throw the main to prevent a problem if the power comes back on unexpectedly and all the others EXCEPT the one you are plugging into.  I am amazed at how many people feel the need to correct what I do, or refer to.  Despite what it might seem, I am not incompetent. 

[230RN]

You are correct.  You throw the main to prevent a problem if the power comes back on unexpectedly and all the others EXCEPT the one you are plugging into.  I am amazed at how many people feel the need to correct what I do, or refer to.  Despite what it might seem, I am not incompetent.

 

Don't feel resentful about that.  It's sort of like the safety boiler plate lawyers have to write for all products.  You buy a 6" crescent wrench nowadays, you'll find a "do not eat" notice on it.

I only mentioned it as an afterthought, like I said, like a Mom telling her kid, "Don't cut yourself."

I will often add things to my posts that are not directed specifically for any previous poster, but for the world-wide audience we {supposedly) have.

Mom, 230RN

[Perd Hapley]

Don't feel resentful about that.  It's sort of like the safety boiler plate lawyers have to write for all products.  You buy a 6" crescent wrench nowadays, you'll find a "do not eat" notice on it.

You can't eat them?

[GigaBuist]

Well, after seeing this thread I had to try the place out.  Turns out there's one not too far from here.

1 Wire stripper
2 digital multi-meters
7 rolls of electrical tape
150pcs misc electrical connectors

$24.  Not bad.

[roo_ster]

You can't eat them?

Well, you can eat the dogleg wrenches.  Most of HF's tools are from China, you know....   

[erictank]

You can't eat them?

Me, I'd say, "If you *CAN* eat it, then go ahead.  But you'd better be right, and I'm not paying for the dental work if you're wrong."

But that's just me...

[Balog]

I really do want a small US cleaner, although more for fountain pens than gun parts. About all I ever use my meter for at home is checking if a circuit is dead, and if it has continuity. Had no idea HF sold them so cheap, I've always just used the Flukes.

[French G.]

Well, after seeing this thread I had to try the place out.  Turns out there's one not too far from here.

1 Wire stripper
2 digital multi-meters
7 rolls of electrical tape
150pcs misc electrical connectors

$24.  Not bad.

You found the one chinamart item I cannot abide by. Tape. Electrical tape in particular had better be made by 3M.

[sanglant]

You can't eat them?

you can, they're just a little hard to pass.









 

[RevDisk]

I have a Harbor Freight approximately 400m away from my place.  If there wasn't busy four lane street in the way, I could easily walk there.  I generally buy cheap consumables, mold injection plastic or cheap semi-disposable tools from them.  Nothing that requires accuracy or reliability. 

They did have a large stack of "Pocket Ref" books, which is excellent.  They'd make great gifts this holiday season. 

[Hamilton Felix]

Yesterday, Kathleen stopped at Harbor Freight to get a silver tarp we needed.  Believe it or not, she found something made in U.S.A.!  OK, it was some cream for "working hands," but it was American and she likes it.

If I was a contractor, I'd buy a good cement mixer.  But for occasional use, the Harbor Freight mixer works OK. 

I use a fair bit of the simpler stuff, even some sockets.  Don't really trust their wrenches very far.  But if it's at home where you have others...   

To carry in a truck, and maybe make the difference between driving or walking 20 miles home, I want GOOD tools, not soft Chinese tools.  But most of us can't afford Snap-On unless we find a deal in a second hand store. 

No, their battery drill will not equal a Milwaukee or even a Ryobi.  But it's cheap enough to be a gift for a kid.  Of course one of the boys has already  knocked his off the kitchen counter and the battery case broke. 

You get what you pay for, seldom more.