Stupid Harbor Freight sand blaster cabinet!!!!

[Toolhorder]

So I have the bigger HF sand blaster and it's never really worked awesome from the get go. The gun tip clogs, the hose constantly pops off the gun and is too short and I've worked around or lived with it so far. The light broke awhile back which makes it hard to see what's going on.

I tried fixing it before and something happened I can't remember and to the corner of the garage it went> I'm cleaning the garage today so I check it out again. Has power when plugged in from the power supply, no output after the button switch. Check continuity on the button itself and nothing. They rigged the circuit with the light in series so when the light blows you're effed.
Okay I bypass it and the light still no go.
Took it out of the cabinet and one end will come off but you can't get the other end off to replace the bulb. POS.
Now what?
I'm thinking about buying a second one and taking it back and placing the old one in the box since I hate HF and this thing has pissed me off to no end.

 

[tonydanzah]

i 2nd the swap

 

[Toolhorder]

i 2nd the swap

It's at least a couple years old but I really don't care. HF ***** the big weenie. Everything I've bought there is crapola

 

[tonydanzah]

and if its 2 different i would swap the guts and return as defective

 

[Toolhorder]

and if its 2 different i would swap the guts and return as defective

http://www.harborfreight.com/40-lb-capacity-floor-blast-cabinet-93608.html

The above is the current model. Mine looks the same except it doesn't have the top metal part above the window. Will they be able to tell? Doubt they'll notice.

 

[djjsr]

I also have that cabinet. I haven't had any problems with clogging or performance (be sure air is dry) but my light just stopped working yesterday. I was hoping it would be an easy fix.

btw, 40 lbs is not enough sand. Try 100.

 

[swaterbenny]

I have had the same one for over a year with no problems. The air is ran through 2 filters with drains before going into the machine.

What kind of media are you using?

 

[Toolhorder]

I also have that cabinet. I haven't had any problems with clogging or performance (be sure air is dry) but my light just stopped working yesterday. I was hoping it would be an easy fix.

btw, 40 lbs is not enough sand. Try 100.

Yeah it's like not made to replace the light. I yanked the whole thing out and still I can't replace the bulb. The rubber ends are glued together. I can see the ****** bulb, Hsong bulb company

 

[Toolhorder]

I have had the same one for over a year with no problems. The air is ran through 2 filters with drains before going into the machine.

What kind of media are you using?

The material is from them, it's not wet it's just **** in the material. I tried the sand first then walnut shells. ***** I have a bitchin motorcycle project I'm starting and I need this POS to work. Headed to HF now eff it.

 

[jmauld]

I'm thinking about buying a second one and taking it back and placing the old one in the box since I hate HF and this thing has pissed me off to no end.

Don't give them any more money. Just take that one back and demand a new one.

 

[2oolhound]

It's at least a couple years old but I really don't care. HF ***** the big weenie. Everything I've bought there is crapola

Whoa there, from what I've been reading on these threads is they have some decent stuff. Sure are a lot of people buying there so it can't be all that bad, at least when you compare prices to the quality stuff they're an option for you. I've been envious because we don't have them in Canada.

The biggest issues with SB's is not enough air and air is too moist. There was another thread on here where a guy filed down the jet in his HF gun and it made all the difference in the world. As far as the light, just wire in a separate one and be done with it.

Any one remember that HF blaster thread?

 

[Zeke]

I never thought the light was powerful enough to begin with. The cabinet leaks almost no matter what so it's a mess to have inside. I put it outside and let the sun light it up.

OK, you have no sun. Put a 500W halogen above you. The worst part of the whole deal is the light. I end up going out back, putting on an old welding helmet, coveralls and rubber sleeve length gloves and blasting in free air. I can see and it gets done. I don't care so much about recovering the medium. It wears out pretty fast anyway.

 

[GoBlue]

My experience with HF is almost always bad with electronics or power tools. Every once in a while they surprise me, but its just that. Good equipment fro hf is a rarity...failure is the norm. Not a hater though...their air ratchets and air hammers, impact sockets are far and away the best bang for the buck around.

 

[buildmyown]

First off ditch that light and replace it with 1 or 2 cheap flood light setups the type you put on the outside of you house and wire them in. Take the gun and throw it in the trash go to Home Depot and buy one of the blast from a bucket kits and use that. It comes with a gun and media hose and pickup tube its much better then the one that comes with that cabinet. Dont use the metal tube that is in the cabinet use the one that comes with the kit. While at home depot pick up a few tubes of cheap caulk clean the cabinet out and seal all the seams. For the clogging go to a dollar store and pickup a pasta strainer the kind that has holes not slots and use this to screen your media to get large junk out or you buy a real screen from a supplier. Now you will have a half way decent cabinet for about $50 bucks.

 

[Shadowdog500]

You could have the best blast cabinet in the world, but it would still clog and blow the hose off as you described if you don't have dry air being supplied from the compressor. The compressor puts moisture in the lines and that moisture causes the media to stick together in the gun and clog.

Do you have any sort of line dryer on your air system?

The media even clogs on sticky summer days at a PRO metal shop that I have access to. You just put your hand over the nozzle and pull the trigger to clear the media hose. You may have to hold the air hose while doing this because it may blow off.

Chris

 

[Lotek]

First off ditch that light and replace it with 1 or 2 cheap flood light setups the type you put on the outside of you house and wire them in. Take the gun and throw it in the trash go to Home Depot and buy one of the blast from a bucket kits and use that. It comes with a gun and media hose and pickup tube its much better then the one that comes with that cabinet. Dont use the metal tube that is in the cabinet use the one that comes with the kit. While at home depot pick up a few tubes of cheap caulk clean the cabinet out and seal all the seams. For the clogging go to a dollar store and pickup a pasta strainer the kind that has holes not slots and use this to screen your media to get large junk out or you buy a real screen from a supplier. Now you will have a half way decent cabinet for about $50 bucks.

This^^
I treat anything from HF as a one shot disposable tool or a kit of parts that needs to be modified and assembled, if you don't expect too much, you won't be disappointed.

Trying to scam them by returning the old unit in the new box isn't right, no matter how you want to rationalize it.

 

[Toolhorder]

Not sure why everyone assumes the clogs are from water in my supply line. Just to clear this up I have a dryer inline with the air coming from the compressor and it's dry coming in. It's the media. It's not well strained/filtered and bigger chunks of **** are in the media that clog the ceramic nozzle. The gun just ***** IMO. I'm thinking about getting the gun off my C-man sand blaster and trying that.

I ended up getting another one but the light is different (mounted outside on top of the cabinet) so at this point I'm either taking back the old unit or wiring in new light.

 

[therealwormey]

i wouldnt worry bout shitting HF,,they probly only have 2 bowls of rice invested in it so theyr still makin money

 

[dieselmike]

hahaha dont buy made in Chinna! live and learn

 

[Lotek]

hahaha dont buy made in Chinna! live and learn

Actually, for most of us who don't need an industrial blast cabinet, just something to clean the occasional part, the HF ones will suffice, as long as you accept that you are going to have to modify/finish it to get reasonable performance. I'd rather put the extra $900 into the car or the boat myself.

Mindless China-bashing gets old after a while...

That might make more sense to you after you have been around here for a bit, live and learn.

 

[terabyte]

get the TP tools upgrade. I did and now a few people that did the same and love it now.
http://www.tptools.com/p/2320,18_USA-Cabinet-Gun-Upgrade-Kit.html

 

[Toolhorder]

Mindless China-bashing gets old after a while...

That might make more sense to you after you have been around here for a bit, live and learn.

It's not mindless, it's based on reality. The stuff is junk and it doesn't last. Not hard to figure out when it's marked Made in China beware.

At least it's based upon something unlike the forum's Snap-on bashers.

 

[Toolhorder]

get the TP tools upgrade. I did and now a few people that did the same and love it now.
http://www.tptools.com/p/2320,18_USA-Cabinet-Gun-Upgrade-Kit.html

What do you notice about the function once you replaced it with the TP kit?

 

[Lotek]

It's not mindless, it's based on reality. The stuff is junk and it doesn't last. Not hard to figure out when it's marked Made in China beware.

At least it's based upon something unlike the forum's Snap-on bashers.

I dunno, what's the definition of someone who does the same thing repeatedly expecting a different result?

But your complaint wasn't what I was talking about, it's the one trick ponys living in their mom's basements that pop up in these threads, be it China, Snap On, dealerships, or Dodge.

 

[Shadowdog500]

Not sure why everyone assumes the clogs are from water in my supply line. Just to clear this up I have a dryer inline with the air coming from the compressor and it's dry coming in.

I assumed it because I know from experience that it will happen unless you have a line dryer. Didnt know you had a dryer until now.

Chris

 

[shoot summ]

It's not mindless, it's based on reality. The stuff is junk and it doesn't last. Not hard to figure out when it's marked Made in China beware.

At least it's based upon something unlike the forum's Snap-on bashers.

China is just building to the specs they've been given(cheap). People have bashed foreign manufacturing for decades, I remember when "made in Japan" was the equivalent of todays 'made in China". Then it was Taiwan, and Korea. You can blame them all you want but they are just building to a spec made by a US company. Grizzly tools is a great example, they realized they control the spec, and have provided high quality import tools for decades.

Everyone wants cheap, then when they get cheap and it doesn't work or last they want to screw the retailer. When the retailer get's screwed their margins go down and they push the manufacturer to build even cheaper. So you really shouldn't ***** about something you are contributing to.

 

[terabyte]

What do you notice about the function once you replaced it with the TP kit?

before it would clog and now the thing just plain works. i use aluminum oxide btw.

 

[CD1]

I assumed it because I know from experience that it will happen unless you have a line dryer. Didnt know you had a dryer until now.

Chris

Dry Media and an air line dryer will go a long way to solve your problem.

I use fine sand media in an open blasting area and have never had clogging problems, even in our recent heavy rains this spring or when I lived in humidity-riden Houston.

 

[Tom2]

I had the stand up blast cabinet. Got for $170 on sale. Sold on Craigslist for the same price a year later because I stopped using it after several months and don't have the garage space.

That being said - it worked excellent. For those complaining about it - you are either expecting WAY too much for a cabinet under $200 - Or it is user error. Considering how much can go wrong with using a blast cabinet, I expect most of it is the latter.

I used mine a ton in that period though. Mostly with glass bead. For dirtier/larger items I used the large pressure pot outdoors with sand. Worked excellent as well with just a few minor changes.

The only moisture filter I had was just a cheap water catch before the air entered the cabinet. It only really accumulated much on hot humid days. I don't think my media ever got really moist to the point of clogging.

 

[ZRX61]

I had one of their smaller ones. When I got my TP960, I gave the HF one away.