OPINION The New Model Of Harbor Freight Charger Is Garbage

It depends on the tool. A clicker torque wrench can be had there for $21.99 (1/2 inch, 30-150 pounds), and the identical spec at Lowe's for $42.99. For hand tools for a day of weekend warrior-ing, HF can be decent.

Power tools and such, again, if you don't mind completely tossing the tool when it breaks, go HF. If it costs too much to consider junking on the spot, hit a hardware store for a decent brand. It will cost more, but at usually what you will buy can be repaired, and will last longer.

As for generators, every so often, I see people buying the two-stroke ET800 clone that HF sometimes sells with a coupon for about $100. Of course, this generator is an identical copy of the Yamaha design they made in the early 1970s before sensitive electronics were an issue. If budget is an issue, then it is understandable, but one is better off paying a couple C-notes more and getting a Champion model that has voltage regulation. If space is an issue, one is better off with a 1000 watt inverter model that will provide clean power, but not fill up the storage bay.

Huntindog wrote:
What HF charger are we talking about? I have a few of the small maintainer ones. THey have a green LED on them that lights up when properly hooked up. I wish it didn't have that feature. If the power gets interrupted for some reason, then that LED becomes a battery drain.... Ask me how I know this.
I tried to just remove the LED, but nthen the charger wouldn't work at all.

The references to the HF charger were to the ones that had a switch on the front to choose between settings up to 50 amp, IIRC. The original one's Mex was using had a fairly good transformer in it and could be used with a variac for a tailored charge rate. These chargers were housed in a box about 10" x 8" x 6". I think this is the new red headed stepchild that won't take the dabbling.

Have quite a few HF tools and stuff here. Lots of it is pretty good, some not so much. I used to follow the belief that if it has a cord or a battery, or has a cutting edge, don't buy it at HF. BUT, that isn't always accurate. The large set of Silver & Deming drill bits has lasted me a long time, longer than Vermont American stuff. The medium sized metal lathe bits are pretty good. Almost all their hand tools are decent quality, especially considering the price.

And some stuff is simply junk, and you can usually tell at the store if its going to hold up or not.

HF is one mile from me thus I end up there too often. The prices have skyrocketed in the last year or two. I try to only buy items on sale & use the 25% discount coupon to keep from being robbed. Grease, solvents, handcleaners etc. are cheaper at Freightliner which is also nearby. Freightliner beats WalMart prices on those items also.

Once a year, I buy my replacement American Flags from Harbor Freight and they seem ok....:B:B.....Dennis

There is absolutely, positively, nothing, NADA different about risk between this charger and a standard battery charger that does not have an on-off switch like for example the original Harbor Fright 10-amp charger. It was MORE OF A RISK TO THE BATTERY because voltage, if left unattended like the clothes dryer could rise voltage to 17 volts. Like a human with a blood alcohol content of .050 it takes a modicum of brains to use this device. Learning to drive was harder, so was learning to ride a bicycle. Leaning to use a computer right is like 1,000,000,000 times harder than learning about this power supply.

Sorta like a clothes dryer.

Throw some clothes in there, turn it on for a month and then discover, ohshoot I ahould have set the temperature to the delicate fabrics setting.

I wish my ex would have been plug-n-play, but few things that work right outside the world of computers can make that claim honestly.

NinerBikes makes excellent points above.

But then someone SHOULD NOT BE THE LEAST AFRAID to purchase one of these things. Tweaking is SIMPLE. Buy one, come back to this forum and you will be led step by simple step. No soldering, nothing weird or exotic. Wind up spring timers like a 12 hour Intermatic, are so simple my 13-year old granddaughter installed her own 15-minute timer in their home bathroom.

These things are too good to pass up. Want THIRTY THREE AMPS worth of battery float ability? The pot can be twisted to anything you wish. 12.8 volts for stovepipe wells, or 15.0 volts float for Prudhoe Bay.

Buy one, follow directions here, point-by-point and this is the answer to stupid integrated circuit battery death. You need to purchase a twelve hour spring loaded INTERMATIC timer module online, then a plastic receptacle box. Wear Nitrile gloves if you decide to work around the unit when it's plugged in.

To simplify this. Buy timer and power supply. You can adjust the thing to render the same voltage as what your car alternator voltage regulator does for a living at a 33 amp charge rate. Maxx'ed out the timer will give 12 hours of charging the same as a car gives it's battery on a 12-hour trip.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
They couldn't resist. They had to take a perfectly viable design and screw it up. This thing couldn't charge a battery correctly if the President of Harbor Freight's life depended on it.

After opening it up and tweaking, it just is not worth playing with.

The 59.00 dollar adjustable MeanWell 33-amp power supply that NinerBikes is now enjoying makes the thought of blowing money on the new HF charger frightening.

Not to worry. I have found a PERFECT MeanWell 5-amp power supply with a 16.0 volt regulated output that merely needs a timer, power cord, cables and clamps for equalization.

22 Thumbs Down on the HF garbage. Sorry.

I would like to add a "caveat emptor" to Mexi's post above. If you do go the MeanWell 33 amp power supply route... please, please, please... you had better be very, very well versed on battery recharging procedures, voltage requirements for your particular battery set up, time requirements, and baby sitting techniques and timing. On the surface, it sounds good, but it is a Power Supply Device, first and foremost... it was never engineered as a charging device... which means that you HAVE to do the engineering on it for voltage and timing, for your particular application.... you can, and will roast batteries if you don't do the engineeering calcs, volts and timing setup.

I use mine for one thing... 50% to 80 or 90% state of charge on one Trojan T1275, first thing in the morning. Baby sitting it, until I get a manual mechanical 2 hour timer... for my application, Boondocking and dry camping only... no power pedestal, ever. The stock POS WFCO gets used for those rare occasions.

I can really drag down an Eu1000i with 33 amps at start up at 15.0V... so a minor drop in start up charging voltage to 14.4 to start for 15 minutes, then getting 15.0V out of it for the next 45 to 75 minutes, and shut things off... and let my 120W solar panel handle the rest of the top off duties.

You must do your homework, before you go this route, and have some serious experience with battery charging... I take zero responsibility for your applications and your results.

You need to know the amp hours out of your battery, and the state of charge % wise to set the timer for what you need to put back into your batteries, to set the timer properly... and possibly isolate your batteries while charging from the rest your your electrical system while charging...

This is not a "set it and forget it" package, unless your daily routine is consistent, day in and day out, with some seasonal variations taken into account, and temps also. Cold temps take more voltage, hot temps less, to the battery.

I have bought many disposable items from Harbor Freight, but the quality tools are purchased elsewhere. I like to use their drill bits and angle grinder blades. They seem to work as well as high dollar items and they last as long.

When it comes to jacks, HF has great prices, but I spent the extra and bought a US Jack. I don't want my trailer coming down on me when I'm on the road. It is a judgment call, but sometimes it pays to buy quality.