Home › Forums › Stay Dirty Lounge › Tool Talk › Harbor freight tools?
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July 13, 2012 at 11:00 am #461679
Harbor Freight tools are hit or miss for me.
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September 7, 2013 at 7:28 am #547402
LOL. 😆
September 9, 2013 at 4:53 am #543261This is a good thread concerning HF tools from a board I used to go to, but don’t really visit much anymore…
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27192
-Karl
September 9, 2013 at 4:53 am #547891This is a good thread concerning HF tools from a board I used to go to, but don’t really visit much anymore…
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27192
-Karl
May 23, 2014 at 11:42 am #594940Not certain if this will be of any use to anyone here with the inclination, but:
Chicago Electric battery charger starter Item 66783
I purchased this on a whim, and wasn’t let down when it crapped out and smoked the rectifier diodes after just a second use. A bit of electronics knowledge with these knock-offs can usually pay off into something far better than what you can purchase outright in most cases.
The stock rectifiers are AR50D‘s(2 of them). If you wanted to go back to stock, then you’d need to get 200v 50amp replacement rectifiers. I didn’t like how under-powered the unit was in addition to the crappy heat rating of the originals, so I went with 85amp bolt-ons (stud mount) that are rated to 180C.
In addition I also replaced the crappy auto resetting circuit breaker that came with it (12v 20amp), with a 12v 25amp littelfuse version. This was to not only handle the extra power, but the OEM was so bad it auto reset randomly, clicking it on and off even with only a 10A draw.
You will need to drill out the rivets holding in the plastic rectifier casing, as well as the breaker(if you replace it). For the breaker I just used cutting dikes to cut down the blob of solder holding it on. If you replace the button-type rectifiers with bolt-ins like I did you will also need to drill out the holes in the plate. Easily done as the entire plate is removable.
Finished product, new heat transfer paste used along with a few self-adhering heat-sinks to try to dissipate a bit more, I almost hooked up a fan, but with the newer heat rating decided it was overkill:
[IMG]http://i58.tinypic.com/x20uvp.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i57.tinypic.com/2w5owms.jpg[/IMG]
“trickle” ain’t exactly trickle anymore, if you go the same route as I, the 2amp mode is actually 13amp. If you want this to be stock, but reliable, I’d just go with quality stud mount ones, but at the same voltage and amperage ratings as stock. Plate is the cathode, so avoid any at mouser with an “R” at the end, this indicates the 2 (cathode and anode)are reversed.This should cost about $30US with shipping by the time you’re done. Likely cheaper if you go with just better quality stock rated components.
May 23, 2014 at 11:42 am #602979Not certain if this will be of any use to anyone here with the inclination, but:
Chicago Electric battery charger starter Item 66783
I purchased this on a whim, and wasn’t let down when it crapped out and smoked the rectifier diodes after just a second use. A bit of electronics knowledge with these knock-offs can usually pay off into something far better than what you can purchase outright in most cases.
The stock rectifiers are AR50D‘s(2 of them). If you wanted to go back to stock, then you’d need to get 200v 50amp replacement rectifiers. I didn’t like how under-powered the unit was in addition to the crappy heat rating of the originals, so I went with 85amp bolt-ons (stud mount) that are rated to 180C.
In addition I also replaced the crappy auto resetting circuit breaker that came with it (12v 20amp), with a 12v 25amp littelfuse version. This was to not only handle the extra power, but the OEM was so bad it auto reset randomly, clicking it on and off even with only a 10A draw.
You will need to drill out the rivets holding in the plastic rectifier casing, as well as the breaker(if you replace it). For the breaker I just used cutting dikes to cut down the blob of solder holding it on. If you replace the button-type rectifiers with bolt-ins like I did you will also need to drill out the holes in the plate. Easily done as the entire plate is removable.
Finished product, new heat transfer paste used along with a few self-adhering heat-sinks to try to dissipate a bit more, I almost hooked up a fan, but with the newer heat rating decided it was overkill:
[IMG]http://i58.tinypic.com/x20uvp.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i57.tinypic.com/2w5owms.jpg[/IMG]
“trickle” ain’t exactly trickle anymore, if you go the same route as I, the 2amp mode is actually 13amp. If you want this to be stock, but reliable, I’d just go with quality stud mount ones, but at the same voltage and amperage ratings as stock. Plate is the cathode, so avoid any at mouser with an “R” at the end, this indicates the 2 (cathode and anode)are reversed.This should cost about $30US with shipping by the time you’re done. Likely cheaper if you go with just better quality stock rated components.
May 24, 2014 at 2:49 am #595107bought a lot of tools and equipment from Harbor Freight, 20 ton press works great, Ball joint press works good but like OTC better, 6 ton jack stands same as Torin just different color, had to rework a couple of tools to getting to work as designed, but all in all had more good luck then bad with Harbor Freight banana:
May 24, 2014 at 2:49 am #603172bought a lot of tools and equipment from Harbor Freight, 20 ton press works great, Ball joint press works good but like OTC better, 6 ton jack stands same as Torin just different color, had to rework a couple of tools to getting to work as designed, but all in all had more good luck then bad with Harbor Freight banana:
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