The Harbor Freight PASS/FAIL Thread...

[paris_tj]

Looking for welding helmet coupon, anyone got a scan of it?

 

[MNRZR]

Looking for welding helmet coupon, anyone got a scan of it?

The coupon code is 43749621 and it expires 9/3/11

 

[diggerrick]

Agree!! I use them for cleaning my engine to wipe the oil off the dipstick they really come in handy I did not know they had 50 for $8 I have to go and pick them up next time.

From the current issue of Hot Rod magazine (I think October 2011):

 

[allinon72]

the lint on those towels drives me nuts. plus they are paper thin

 

[Tom2]

the lint on those towels drives me nuts. plus they are paper thin

Yep.. A better deal are the blue shop paper towels at Walmart. They're pretty darn durable. Before I discovered those I just bought the cheap packs of washcloths at Walmart.

 

[subarub4]

Yeah that's the only downfall with them.. That's why I use it for stuff I don't mind if they get dirty because I really use them as single use.

 

[soob]

Red 5 drawer cart:

So I got the red 5-drawer cart, put it together. Left all the fasteners finger tight. So I get to the very last corner at the top and it's kind of tough to get all the bolts through. I wiggle it some and they're in. So I start tightening them with a ratcheting wrench and I find that the top isn't quite square at one of the corners. I check the lid and it's crooked. So I figured maybe it'd be okay after tightening. Do all of them and now I've got a gap at one corner between the three pieces of sheet metal at the top, and the lid's worse.

Did I screw it up? Ugh. I don't see how. Putting the thing together isn't rocket science. Back to the store with it for another one, I guess.

 

[soob]

LOL, I'm an idiot. I guess when I was putting the bolts in, I caught one of the hinge rivets on a leg. The rivet is supposed to be outside the leg and it was inside. Bad place for them, I guess, but it's all good now.

Good thing I had at least some sense and didn't tighten the nuts too much and bend the whole thing out of shape.

 

[Bill P]

That five drawer cart is a truly amazing piece of equipment, especially given the price. they're a bit fiddly to put together, but a freaking tank when they're done. I love mine, but I'm out of space, may have to get the 13 drawer chest.

 

[kyleo.]

Does anyone have/know were to find a good coupon for the 41" top chest?

 

[smogtech]

if you follow the instructions on the 5 drawer cart it should come together perfectly. Alot of people put the legs in upside down.

 

[markw365]

I was replacing ball joints on a Chevy P-U, using the OTC ball joint press of the guy that worked next to me. Then the guy upped & quit! Naturally he took his BJ kit with him. The customer didn't need his truck till the next day, so, since snappy & Mr. Matco were probably eating dinner by then, I cruised to HF near where I live & found what looked like an imitation OTC ball joint press kit, but with many spacers/receiver cups. US General. 78 bills. It did the job fine, even though the ball joint had to be pressed into a forged steel control arm. Later, I lent it to a guy at work who put 4 ball joints on a Ford F350 SuperDuty P-U with it. I wouldn't let him use an impact gun on the kit, though.

Definitely PASS

We've broken one of these and bent another. IMHO it's a fail when you can get the OTC for around the same price if you shop on the net.

 

[tenorplayer23]

From looking a long while, the chest rarely is...if ever, discounted like the base. In every ad I have seen, except for one from May, 2011, it is $299. In this particular flyer, it was $249. I'd like to find it cheaper some day like the discounts offered on the base piece (which, BTW, I see at many different prices.....the lowest I believe was $349/maybe once quite a while ago at $339. Most of the time it rotates between $359, 369 and list at 399.....depending on the flyer, magazine, Inside Club, etc.).

If there is better info out there, I'd be interested, as well. Thanks for asking the question again.

See ya,

Does anyone have/know were to find a good coupon for the 41" top chest?

 

[kyleo.]

From looking a long while, the chest rarely is...if ever, discounted like the base. In every ad I have seen, except for one from May, 2011, it is $299. In this particular flyer, it was $249. I'd like to find it cheaper some day like the discounts offered on the base piece (which, BTW, I see at many different prices.....the lowest I believe was $349/maybe once quite a while ago at $339. Most of the time it rotates between $359, 369 and list at 399.....depending on the flyer, magazine, Inside Club, etc.).

If there is better info out there, I'd be interested, as well. Thanks for asking the question again.

See ya,

Thanks, dont mean to be annoying, as i know there is already a ton of discussion on them. Hence the reason i returned my old top box for the HF one. I have the 349 coupon for the cabinet, i was just curious if there were any of the 249 top chest coupons floating around

 

[Nick_Escalante]

Thanks, dont mean to be annoying, as i know there is already a ton of discussion on them. Hence the reason i returned my old top box for the HF one. I have the 349 coupon for the cabinet, i was just curious if there were any of the 249 top chest coupons floating around

The $249 ITC coupon for the top chest was a few months ago. I'm not sure about it returning anytime soon. I've never seen that unit on sale otherwise.

 

[subarub4]

man I should of brought 2 of those generators..

 

[diggerrick]

Ooooh - east coaster.

Maybe a bigger one - you're gonna need it.

Good luck.

 

[rlitman]

man I should of brought 2 of those generators..

I already own two generators, so I looked right past them, but I've seen the 800W ones that went on sale for $69 on black Friday, listed for $200 on CraigsList.

 

[subarub4]

I got the 800w for small stuff but maybe something for next time

 

[SQ is the SQUAD]

i am thinking about putting on of thos generators on my junk car trailer. will it supply enough power to operate an eletric sawsall?

 

[Virgil Cain]

The good thing about the 800W HF generators is that they are fairly fuel efficient, especially when compared to a 4kW or larger generator. Of course, there's only so much you can do with 800W. We run the big generators to cool down the refrigerator/freezer for several hours a day and for cooking but then we run the little HF 800W guy to run lights and TV, etc. in the evening. In the last outage we had back in April the power was out for 6 days and getting fuel was an issue for at least 3 of those days. Having a small generator is an asset when fuel is tight.

If you get one of those 800W jobs you ought to replace the Chinese sparkplug with a good NGK plug as people have had issues with the Chinese plug.

 

[Lkdelta]

Fail ....again

Got a trailer hitch carrier, that aluminum one.

The box was brought up front, all nicely sealed

Take it home, open it up and it looked like the carrier was used to carry a load across the country

a bunch of the bolts had the phillips head stripped out
It's going to be out in the weather, behind the jeep,..
but I paid for a new one.

I'll check stuff extra close next time.

 

[MNRZR]

Does anyone have/know were to find a good coupon for the 41" top chest?

From looking a long while, the chest rarely is...if ever, discounted like the base. In every ad I have seen, except for one from May, 2011, it is $299. In this particular flyer, it was $249. I'd like to find it cheaper some day like the discounts offered on the base piece (which, BTW, I see at many different prices.....the lowest I believe was $349/maybe once quite a while ago at $339. Most of the time it rotates between $359, 369 and list at 399.....depending on the flyer, magazine, Inside Club, etc.).

If there is better info out there, I'd be interested, as well. Thanks for asking the question again.

See ya,

Thanks, dont mean to be annoying, as i know there is already a ton of discussion on them. Hence the reason i returned my old top box for the HF one. I have the 349 coupon for the cabinet, i was just curious if there were any of the 249 top chest coupons floating around

The $249 ITC coupon for the top chest was a few months ago. I'm not sure about it returning anytime soon. I've never seen that unit on sale otherwise.

There is a coupon for the top chest in September's ITC coupons:

http://images.harborfreight.com/hftusa/itc/7811/7811.html?hftref=cj

 

[six-T-seven]

The good thing about the 800W HF generators is that they are fairly fuel efficient, especially when compared to a 4kW or larger generator. Of course, there's only so much you can do with 800W. We run the big generators to cool down the refrigerator/freezer for several hours a day and for cooking but then we run the little HF 800W guy to run lights and TV, etc. in the evening. In the last outage we had back in April the power was out for 6 days and getting fuel was an issue for at least 3 of those days. Having a small generator is an asset when fuel is tight.

If you get one of those 800W jobs you ought to replace the Chinese sparkplug with a good NGK plug as people have had issues with the Chinese plug.

would you happen to be in the North Alabama area? the weeks following APril 27th were a *****.

 

[kyleo.]

There is a coupon for the top chest in September's ITC coupons:

http://images.harborfreight.com/hftusa/itc/7811/7811.html?hftref=cj

Thanks a ton man! appreciate it.

 

[MNRZR]

Thanks a ton man! appreciate it.

You're welcome! I'm just glad I could finally contribute something on here

 

[Virgil Cain]

would you happen to be in the North Alabama area? the weeks following APril 27th were a *****.

I would sir! Madison County. That F5 that went though the Anderson Hills subdivision (and all the way to the border into Tennessee) was within a few miles of my house. Helluva storm. Worst I've ever seen. That little 800W HF generator was a life saver. As you're probably aware, getting gasoline was a bit of an issue for several days, until the gas stations had generators trucked in so they could pump fuel. I had about 5 gallons in a plastic can and about 12~15 gallons between two cars, but of course I didn't want to drain those dry because we had to make it to a station and be prepared to sit in line for a while. We did ok, but I'm glad fuel started to become available on day 3. Like I said, we had a 4000W generator that would run the microwave and refrigerator/freezer, but you really didn't want to run that 24/7 if you could help it due to fuel consumption. We ran the big generator enough to keep the food frozen and run the microwave on occasion, then in the evenings we ran the little HF 800W to run lights (fluorescent) and a TV getting over the air broadcasts (cable was down due to no power). That HF 800W generator ran at least 4 hrs a day for 6 days. I'd call that a big PASS for $89.99. I believe that the HF 800W would actually run my refrigerator/freezer but I didn't try it. If gas had not become available when it did I was getting close to finding out.

Where were you on April 27th?

 

[subarub4]

I went around trying to figure out some of the wattage draw around the house.. the fridge is only like 529W which is surprising..

I should be ok

 

[tenorplayer23]

Thanks for posting the ITC coupons for the tool box. Maybe these fliers are regional. I'm pretty sure mine didn't have that page in September. Good thing you put it up. BTW, where are you so I can get an idea of where the coupons are from?

Now, all I need is one less than $349 for the bottom rolling chest!!

Thanks. See ya,

There is a coupon for the top chest in September's ITC coupons:

http://images.harborfreight.com/hftusa/itc/7811/7811.html?hftref=cj

 

[Virgil Cain]

I went around trying to figure out some of the wattage draw around the house.. the fridge is only like 529W which is surprising..

I should be ok

The only thing that might give you an issue is the starting current when the compressor engages. I highly suspect that it will not be a problem on most refrigerators.

 

[Twiggss]

There is a coupon for the top chest in September's ITC coupons:

http://images.harborfreight.com/hftusa/itc/7811/7811.html?hftref=cj

I wish they would make a 2-3 drawer intermediate chest in that line up.

I bought the 4 drawer cart a few months back and ran out of space quickly. Well Sears is/was closing out some "ball bearing" boxes in the $40 range. So i figured it would be decent to place below the main box. Yeah wishful thinking on my part. I can't belive how cheaply made this POS is. Oh well it's just a little extra storage for larger items i don't use as offten.

 

[subarub4]

The only thing that might give you an issue is the starting current when the compressor engages. I highly suspect that it will not be a problem on most refrigerators.

I think I should be good.. push come to shove i can use the mini fridge upstairs.

 

[787B]

Got a trailer hitch carrier, that aluminum one.
The box was brought up front, all nicely sealed

Take it home, open it up and it looked like the carrier was used to carry a load across the country
[...]
I'll check stuff extra close next time.

Anytime I buy anything from HF (which is often) or really any store, I always check the stuff in the store or at least before I leave the lot. Their failure rate isn't that high, but it's a hasle to get it home and see it's banged-up.

 

[six-T-seven]

I would sir! Madison County. That F5 that went though the Anderson Hills subdivision (and all the way to the border into Tennessee) was within a few miles of my house. Helluva storm. Worst I've ever seen. That little 800W HF generator was a life saver. As you're probably aware, getting gasoline was a bit of an issue for several days, until the gas stations had generators trucked in so they could pump fuel. I had about 5 gallons in a plastic can and about 12~15 gallons between two cars, but of course I didn't want to drain those dry because we had to make it to a station and be prepared to sit in line for a while. We did ok, but I'm glad fuel started to become available on day 3. Like I said, we had a 4000W generator that would run the microwave and refrigerator/freezer, but you really didn't want to run that 24/7 if you could help it due to fuel consumption. We ran the big generator enough to keep the food frozen and run the microwave on occasion, then in the evenings we ran the little HF 800W to run lights (fluorescent) and a TV getting over the air broadcasts (cable was down due to no power). That HF 800W generator ran at least 4 hrs a day for 6 days. I'd call that a big PASS for $89.99. I believe that the HF 800W would actually run my refrigerator/freezer but I didn't try it. If gas had not become available when it did I was getting close to finding out.

Where were you on April 27th?

Athens, AL / East Limestone area ... the F5 came within a mile of my house. We were lucky and sustained no damage other than hail & wind damage to a few shingles (new roof! yah!)

 

[subarub4]

This is the first time I've left my generator out in the rain.. hope it starts when I need it

speaking of that first time I decide to ground the generator and the ground screw strips..

 

[Virgil Cain]

Athens, AL / East Limestone area ... the F5 came within a mile of my house. We were lucky and sustained no damage other than hail & wind damage to a few shingles (new roof! yah!)

We're practically neighbors. I live to the east in Madison county. We had no damage to the home, and in fact had just replaced a roof with some lifetime shingles rated to some god awful windspeed (I think 115 to 120mph) and we didn't loose a shingle. My neighbors weren't so lucky, many lost shingles, several had trees come down on their house, and one had a tree broken off about half way up (which was unusual, most went over at the root ball), and this tree came down vertically in the center of their house, spearing through the roof, second floor, first floor, and into their crawlspace. Had to get a crane to pull it out. I had five decent sized trees blown over at the root ball but none hit the house. This all happened about 11:45 am, hours before the F5 that went through around 4:30~:500 that you're talking about. They think a F1 or F2 went behind my neighborhood (basically in our backyard) but was only on the ground for a short time. Nothing compared to that F5 than was on the ground forever. We were lucky as the people in the path of that F5 were completely devastated.

I've lived in Alabama my entire life, and North Alabama for over 20 years and that was a storm to remember. Much worse than the '89 outbreak.

We were prepared. We had generators, flashlights, lots of batteries, radios, a concrete saferoom, and non-perishable foodstocks. I was amazed at the number of people that didn't even have flashlights, much less any real preparation. The Target on University Drive sold out of scented candles after they sold out of flashlights. Target had a generator and was the only store operating and was inundated. They actually managed to keep mostly regular store throughout the ordeal, apparently only closing during the midst of the storm.

Just to get back on topic - Once again, thumbs up and complete PASS on the HF 800W generator. I'm sure there are some duds rolling out of the factory, so don't wait to test it until you need it, but once you get one and it checks out good I think it is a reliable unit if you take care of it. Good as a backup generator or as a fuel efficient generator to power a few lights and minimal essentials. Very good adjunct to my 4kW generator.

 

[subarub4]

I wonder what happens as far as the tent sale? it ends Sunday right?

 

[dodge610]

Thanks a ton man! appreciate it.

That is a pretty decent chest for the price. I looked it over while I was at my HF but momma would kill me if i came home with another tool chest. She thinks I have way to many allready. She can have49 pairs of shoes but I dont need another box. she just does not understand go figure.

 

[Perry H]

From personal experience I can tell you that (at least my set of) the Harbor Freight gauges and hoses are not worth owning if you are planning on pulling a vacuum on them.

Maybe they work under pressure, but under a vacuum they are terrible.

I was using one of the hoses as a part of my set up for pulling a vacuum on my home AC unit. I had a yellow jacket hose from my yellow jacket manifold to my vacuum gauge (Fieldpiece SVG2) and the HF hose from the vacuum gauge to the pump.

After about 3 hours I could only get the vacuum down to 1200 microns.... so I started looking for the problem...starting with the hose connections. The first thing I did was to connect the HF hose directly from my pump to my gauge. It look about 30 minutes to pull down to 450 microns and that was as far as it was going. I hooked up the yellow jacket hose in its place and that pulled down to 200 microns in about 30-45 seconds and kept pulling lower (less than 180) before I disconnected it. Then I put the harbor freight manifold in the circuit and tried to use it to seal off the vacuum pump from the gauge to see if the manifold + hose could maintain a vacuum. Within 10 seconds the vacuum was lost and off the scale of my vacuum gauge.

They will hold some sort of vacuum because you can feel it let go when you pull off a hose ... but not one down into the sub 1000 micron level so if that is what you are planning on doing, look elsewhere.

 

[Danglerb]

I wonder what was leaking on the AC set? I've heard of bad valves.