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Harbor Freight Salvage Strikes Again


Ulu

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I am 99% certain you can buy the same piece of junk at Walmart under the Campbell Hasfeld name and it is probably no better.

 

Anyhow I am sure that a lot of you own one of these tire inflators like the one that blew up in my face today.

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Fortunately it wasn’t pointing at me which is why I’m posting this. I want to remind you not to look down the muzzle!

 

There are a lot of threads on the cylinder for this little gauge. Unfortunately the plastic sleeve over it was considerably longer than it should’ve been.

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It appears that when you assemble it four threads are exposed, but two of those threads are so loose they do absolutely nothing.

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This means that I probably had about two threads engaged when it decided to shoot apart at 65psi.

 

I ground down the long sleeve and reassembled this with plenty of Loctite. I’ll see how it works after it’s all dry.

 

Anyhow, remember that these little gauges can blow up with some force, so best to treat this like a pistol when it’s pressurized.

Edited by Ulu
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I am going to have to closely examine mine for that defect.

 

The hose between the handle and the tire chuck failed on mine and I replaced it with some 600 psi rated tubing from the local hardware store.

 

At least on mine, the readings while putting air in are different than those from a static source (i.e. the tires) with the static value being closer to what my “gold standard” (1970s vintage US made) pressure gauge show. So I do a fill then check cycle when using that tool.

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This item is not very old and it has not many hours on it. I bought it recently because the hoses on the old one rotted away after 30 years.

 

I have a good pencil type gauge I use for checking tires but I remember buying it cheap one at a truckstop that blew up on me the first time I put it on a tire. The body on it was steel but the head was just chrome plated plastic and it split apart from my hand pressure pushing it against a valve stem.

 

 

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Chinese crap....

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5 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

but sadly lot of it carries the tried and true American name stamped on it.....'share the pain'

Yep, another example of American crap, made in China.  Because an American company chose to sully their good name in the chase for a higher profit margin.  Yes, I do understand the business side of it to a point.  But, when the purchaser discovers that one can no longer rely on a company's reputation in making purchase decisions, any profit margin gained will result in lost future sales.

 

More money today results in lower sales tomorrow.  Seems like the business schools should be teaching that instead of focusing on stock prices and bonuses.

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new consumers are born daily, new ones graduate into the purchasing arena daily as they leave the nest....companies could care less your (my) opinion....there are new fish to fillet and fry daily....they do not even care to reply to communications where you were given by them an avenue to contact them for 'so called' purpose of better business and service.   Service is only a word found in the dictionary these day.   We have already LIVED the good ole days my friend.    

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Years ago,(now many years ago, in my youth) I was complaining about the quality of something I had bought - the fellow who was listening to my complaint simply said,"when you buy junk, make sure you pay junk prices." I've  remembered his words to this day. ?

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Real problem is- where can you get some Real guarantee that what you paid more ( if you could locate some) for is good functioning quality product wherever it is made? Very few seem to be actually available nowadays. Almost all use some (used to be Good brand names) and cheaply made overseas-mostly China!

 

Most here would choose to pay more but with no assurances???

I believe this would be true with real life use experiences.

 

Nos for some products new or old rebuilt products made is the US is no longer any guarantee of long lasting parts. Old rebuilds with old rubber is a good example.

 

DJ

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I have said in the past and will say again the when you buy the cheapest thing you can find don’t be surprised when you get it home and it still is the cheapest thing you could find.  
And regarding companies worried about repeat customers I think some of them have a philosophy of milking the customer one time real good and not to worry whether he comes back or not.

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Here’s the thing, I bought the previous one from Harbor freight, and I’ve had it for 30 years and it worked fine.

 

Until the hose went bad. 30 year old hose…

 

This new one appears to be an improved model with better hose & a pressure release button on the side.

 

I think it will actually be fine now.

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I had an old mentor tell me to have a tool box full of cheap tools "to loan to your friends...."

....that way, you keep'em away from the good stuff, and still be friends.

 

I'm sure Dodgeb4ya has a wall of "special tools" in case I come around askin'.....you know, to keep me away from the good wall. lol

 

48D

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I thought that when you screwed it back a bit more you would have messed with the calibration  or at least what may have passed for calibration....you probably could alter the spring a bit and get your accuracy back or ball park for the average 34 lb tire service...to expect accuracy over the full spectrum...hardly likely.  

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I think one of the little parts shot out of it and I didn’t get it back together correctly. Anyhow a Milton is not that expensive and I will probably just order one.

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