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The Harbor Freight PASS/FAIL Thread...

bmdubya1198

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Does HF offer the high pressure set for HVAC and refrigeration work? I didn't see them. I'm planning to install two central heat and air units in my house and I need a set.
They only carry that one set meant for automotive. However I wouldn't be surprised if we saw another set soon, they've been expanding a lot of electrical tools and whatnot, so I wouldn't be surprised to see more HVAC tools.
 
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AffableCurmudgeon

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Solid Pass. 5 Gallon Oil Drain Dolly https://www.harborfreight.com/5-gallon-oil-drain-dolly-90582.html

Worked great for my home garage. I used it when changing fuel hoses on my 67 Bug. I had a full tank of gas. I knew that when I replaced the hose piece that goes from the gas tank to the metal tube in the tunnel, some gas would spew out no matter how quickly I pulled out the tank end of the hose and connected a new hose piece. I had this thing ready. Everything went right in the funnel and no gas spilled on the floor. No leaks in the dolly tank either. Rolls well and it pretty stable. I was able to use Labor Day 25% off coupon for a really good price as well.

Some reviewers complained on HF site about dolly tank leaks; I think they overtightened the wheeled ring on to which the tank sits. Tank is thin gauge metal and overtightening the ring around it likely deformed it and caused seams to open up, thereby causing a leak.
 

bmdubya1198

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Solid Pass. 5 Gallon Oil Drain Dolly https://www.harborfreight.com/5-gallon-oil-drain-dolly-90582.html

Worked great for my home garage. I used it when changing fuel hoses on my 67 Bug. I had a full tank of gas. I knew that when I replaced the hose piece that goes from the gas tank to the metal tube in the tunnel, some gas would spew out no matter how quickly I pulled out the tank end of the hose and connected a new hose piece. I had this thing ready. Everything went right in the funnel and no gas spilled on the floor. No leaks in the dolly tank either. Rolls well and it pretty stable. I was able to use Labor Day 25% off coupon for a really good price as well.

Some reviewers complained on HF site about dolly tank leaks; I think they overtightened the wheeled ring on to which the tank sits. Tank is thin gauge metal and overtightening the ring around it likely deformed it and caused seams to open up, thereby causing a leak.
Yeah, I have this too. It's obviously not the highest quality drain dolly at $60, but it's worked well for me so far.
 

Hohn

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I heard they had a batch back then with bad Chrome. It should be fixed now. I'd go warranty It out
Well, it's been more than 90 days. HF has a warranty about like garage sales, so I got what I paid for I guess. Too bad, I really like the sockets as the fit is nice and tight like a s/o and the overall finish is excellent. Just the chrome that *****.
 

JeepYJ

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Well, it's been more than 90 days. HF has a warranty about like garage sales, so I got what I paid for I guess. Too bad, I really like the sockets as the fit is nice and tight like a s/o and the overall finish is excellent. Just the chrome that *****.
Why won’t they exchange them for a new set under the lifetime warranty?
 

darkzero

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Anyone have this multimeter? I need one to keep in my race car trailer. All it will ever do is check DC voltage and continuity once in a while.

I don't & I'm sure it will work fine for your needs but I would look for something else. Just cause it's HF, doesn't mean there aren't cheaper options out there, just like ebay is no longer cheap like it once was.

I just started a new job. No way I'm gonna take my Fluke or other multimeters to leave at work. Same thing, all I need is DC voltage & continuity.

Look at the rotary switch on that HF. I hate multimeters like that. Look at how far you will need to rotate the dial to get to DC voltage or ohms, then back to off. I would look for an auto ranging multimter & I went a step further to find one where DC voltage & ohms were close to the off position.

I bought this one from Amazon for $10.40. One click to the left for voltage, 2 clicks to the right for continuity. Yeah the thing is cheap but that's what I wanted, I don't need Fluke accuracy & for such infrequent use. The thing has been working perfectly fine for me so far.


Edit: Here's another one that I was looking at for $20.
 
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darkzero

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Did you exchange the whole set? If not, I have a hunch others will start peeling as well
When I asked last weekend during the Labor Day sale they told me you could bring in just what you want to get exchanged or you can bring in the entire set for a full exchange. That's unheard of, to me anyway. I've never heard of anyone offering to exchange an entire set of tools if nothing was really wrong with the rest of it. That's pretty awesome. I think one day they might change that but I hope not.
 

BrandonV

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Anyone have this multimeter? I need one to keep in my race car trailer. All it will ever do is check DC voltage and continuity once in a while.


Not a bad deal. This is a Uni-T UT133B branded for HF. $30 meter anywhere else.

If you're just looking for something to throw around in the trailer it's fine. Uni-T is probably the only brand I'd recommend these days at that price point.

I have one basically new (minus the rubber holster) no joke I'd send to you if you just cover the $8 or so for shipping ;).
 

bmdubya1198

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I don't & I'm sure it will work fine for your needs but I would look for something else. Just cause it's HF, doesn't mean there aren't cheaper options out there, just like ebay is no longer cheap like it once was.

I just started a new job. No way I'm gonna take my Fluke or other multimeters to leave at work. Same thing, all I need is DC voltage & continuity.

Look at the rotary switch on that HF. I hate multimeters like that. Look at how far you will need to rotate the dial to get to DC voltage or ohms, then back to off. I would look for an auto ranging multimter & I went a step further to find one where DC voltage & ohms were close to the off position.

I bought this one from Amazon for $10.40. One click to the left for voltage, 2 clicks to the right for continuity. Yeah the thing is cheap but that's what I wanted, I don't need Fluke accuracy & for such infrequent use. The thing has been working perfectly fine for me so far.


Edit: Here's another one that I was looking at for $20.
Astro AI meters are pretty decent. I have a clamp meter from them that‘s been pretty good. Not sure about the accuracy of the amp clamp, but it works well otherwise.
For brick and mortar stores, I agree. But Tekton does an awesome job also.
Absolutely, Tekton is great.
When I asked last weekend during the Labor Day sale they told me you could bring in just what you want to get exchanged or you can bring in the entire set for a full exchange. That's unheard of, to me anyway. I've never heard of anyone offering to exchange an entire set of tools if nothing was really wrong with the rest of it. That's pretty awesome. I think one day they might change that but I hope not.
Lowe’s pretty much demands the entire set of anything they warranty. They refuse to break up a set of tools, and will only exchange single tools if they offer the tool separately from a set.
They are hands down the worst I’ve ever dealt with when it comes to warranty replacements. Regardless of the location.
 

darkzero

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Lowe’s pretty much demands the entire set of anything they warranty. They refuse to break up a set of tools, and will only exchange single tools if they offer the tool separately from a set.
They are hands down the worst I’ve ever dealt with when it comes to warranty replacements. Regardless of the location.
Yeah Lowes ***** when it comes to warranty except for some Craftsman stuff if they are sold individually but I wouldn't know, I'm not a fan of SBD Craftsman. I will never buy something from Lowes that I think might need to get warrantied someday.

But that's different, Lowes does that cause as you said they won't break up a set and they probably wouldn't know how to handle the process. HF gives the customer the choice of exchanging individual pieces or the entire set even though they don't sell individually at the store.
 

BrandonV

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Yeah Lowes ***** when it comes to warranty except for some Craftsman stuff if they are sold individually but I wouldn't know, I'm not a fan of SBD Craftsman. I will never buy something from Lowes that I think might need to get warrantied someday.

But that's different, Lowes does that cause as you said they won't break up a set and they probably wouldn't know how to handle the process. HF gives the customer the choice of exchanging individual pieces or the entire set even though they don't sell individually at the store.

The warranty process seems very dependent on the store and likely the training given to the employees.

One store just told me to grab the tool off the shelf and they did some magic at the register in customer service. Another store no joke told me they had to replace the broken ratchet with one with the same part number... (and this was an old ratchet). I ended up just going a few miles away to the first store.
 

darkzero

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The warranty process seems very dependent on the store and likely the training given to the employees.

One store just told me to grab the tool off the shelf and they did some magic at the register in customer service. Another store no joke told me they had to replace the broken ratchet with one with the same part number... (and this was an old ratchet). I ended up just going a few miles away to the first store.
Yeah that I get & can relate. But I'm talking about items that have "lifetime" warranty that come in a set that they don't actually sell individually. They won't take one out of a full set to exchange under warranty for you. They will tell you to bring in the entire set or contact the manufacturer.
 

BrandonV

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Yeah that I get & can relate. But I'm talking about items that have "lifetime" warranty that come in a set that they don't actually sell individually. They won't take one out of a full set to exchange under warranty for you. They will tell you to bring in the entire set or contact the manufacturer.

Interesting and good to know. I could have sworn you had to bring the whole set back to HF but maybe that is why they have all those sets in the clearance section missing a socket or wrench.
 

darkzero

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Interesting and good to know. I could have sworn you had to bring the whole set back to HF but maybe that is why they have all those sets in the clearance section missing a socket or wrench.
Yup same here. I started a new job a couple of weeks ago. I didn't want to bring in my good tools to leave at work so this past labor day sale I bought a bunch of stuff from HF. I swore I would never buy sockets, screwdrivers, wrenches, etc from HF (mainly cause I already have what I need).

I bought a bunch of Pittsburgh stuff which I had no idea had lifetime warranty too. And because I never bought such things from from HF & seeing they don't sell stuff from those sets individually I asked how the warranty worked. I even asked if I needed a receipt for warranty exchange & they told me no, but even though if you give them your phone number at the time of purchase they can just look it up in their system.

No wonder so many people buy stuff from them. Even their Hercules power tools have 5 yr warranty now, wtf! Not that I'm looking to buy any. So these days I'm not ashamed to say I like HF.... well for certain things. :lol:
 

iagsxr

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Not a bad deal. This is a Uni-T UT133B branded for HF. $30 meter anywhere else.

If you're just looking for something to throw around in the trailer it's fine. Uni-T is probably the only brand I'd recommend these days at that price point.

I have one basically new (minus the rubber holster) no joke I'd send to you if you just cover the $8 or so for shipping ;).

I appreciate the offer, but I have some HF Bucks they sent me for my birthday that I'm also looking to use up.
 

Loose Ctrl

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Dec 21, 2014
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Upstate SC
Anyone have this multimeter? I need one to keep in my race car trailer. All it will ever do is check DC voltage and continuity once in a while.

This is the new version of the one I have. It's doubled in price but it has been in all my vehicles, in my motorcycle luggage, and bouncing around on tractors with me. All I've done was change the battery once. I've had it about 5 years.

 

zendriver

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Looks like maybe the title of this thread should be change to "my cheap ****, is better than your cheap ****!"
 

BrandonV

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This is the new version of the one I have. It's doubled in price but it has been in all my vehicles, in my motorcycle luggage, and bouncing around on tractors with me. All I've done was change the battery once. I've had it about 5 years.


Yup. This is where HF sometimes confuses me with their new pricing. The Cen-Tech meter linked above is a great value for the equivalent Uni-T multimeter.

At almost $100 the meter you linked really doesn't make sense anymore. It's a UNI-T UT61C without True RMS which you can buy on Amazon for less than $50.
 

bmdubya1198

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Yeah Lowes ***** when it comes to warranty except for some Craftsman stuff if they are sold individually but I wouldn't know, I'm not a fan of SBD Craftsman. I will never buy something from Lowes that I think might need to get warrantied someday.

But that's different, Lowes does that cause as you said they won't break up a set and they probably wouldn't know how to handle the process. HF gives the customer the choice of exchanging individual pieces or the entire set even though they don't sell individually at the store.
They actually tried telling me one time they wouldn't warranty Craftsman anymore. Funny considering it literally says on the package to bring it back to the place of purchase.

They also once told me to contact the manufacturer... who redirected me back to Lowe's. This was with KOBALT!
The warranty process seems very dependent on the store and likely the training given to the employees.

One store just told me to grab the tool off the shelf and they did some magic at the register in customer service. Another store no joke told me they had to replace the broken ratchet with one with the same part number... (and this was an old ratchet). I ended up just going a few miles away to the first store.
Yup, they did that with me once. Interestingly enough, as I'm sure you know too, SBD changed most all the part numbers when they took over Craftsman. And of course if you're bringing back a tool that's older, it's a different number anyway... therefore they "can't warranty it".
Funny considering Craftsman/SBD was touting that you can still warranty your old Craftsman tools at Lowe's and other retailers.
I had one manager at a Lowe's who took care of a Craftsman screwdriver warranty like any decent store would, and I've had other employees that look at me like I have 3 heads when I tell them I want to warranty a broken tool. 17 employees/managers/how-to manuals later, they eventually got it straightened out.
 

zendriver

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4IUijt.gif
(funny how useful this one is around here...)
Maybe read post #1? I didn't start this thread (now almost 11,000 posts in), actually discussing user experiences with purchased HF tools.

User asked about experiences with one, the replies were anything but. :headscrat

Comparing me with a ****, nearing a self made billionaire, hurts my feelings. I'm telling Ryan.
 

seber

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Funny about Lowes. I take tools to the local Lowes that I got already broken. It always works the same. Take the broken tool to the service desk. Get told to find the closest match or have the tool guy find it for me. Bring it back and they work the paperwork. Generally ten minutes in and out.
 
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