Author Topic: Harbor Freight End of an Era??? (Read 4759 times)

joeqsmith · « **on:** June 10, 2018, 01:34:19 am »

In the last several flyers I have received, there have been no coupons for the free meters. Actually, there haven't been any mention of the free meters. I went to their website about a month ago and when I searched, all I saw were the new higher end meters. When I just now searched, they show them again. Has anyone heard if they are planning to discontinue them? I thought the last ones I picked up still use lead. Maybe they are changing over the process.

https://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result/index/?dir=asc&order=EAScore%2Cf%2CEAFeatured+Weight%2Cf%2CSale+Rank%2Cf&q=meter

ataradov · « **Reply #1 on:** June 10, 2018, 01:57:29 am »

The quality of the next level meters went way up while prices dropped way down. This makes $3 meters unnecessary. There is basically no situation in which you need a meter, but can't afford to pay $20 for a 100 times better product.

So they probably see the trend and don't want to produce more e-waste, especially now that China does not want any of it back.

Also, their last couple sale emails have very few interesting items at actually good prices. So may be they just want to turn into more high-end establishment altogether.

buck converter · « **Reply #2 on:** June 10, 2018, 03:01:06 am »

THE KING HAS DIED, LONG LIVE THE KING (Of cheap oblivious crap)

bitseeker · « **Reply #3 on:** June 10, 2018, 03:45:14 am »

I only occasionally see the free DMM coupon. Sometimes it's many months without any. But, they still have lots of those meters available in the store for sale. So, it doesn't seem like they're getting rid of them. However, I wouldn't mind if they upgraded them a bit to something closer to everyone's favorite Aneng cheapies.

Gregg · « **Reply #4 on:** June 10, 2018, 04:46:43 am »

Joe,
Here is a website dedicated to Harbor Freight coupons: http://www.hfqpdb.com/browse
There is a scanned coupon posted good through 8/23/2018

6PTsocket · « **Reply #5 on:** August 25, 2018, 08:53:25 pm »

I saw one a few weeks ago. They are not as common as they used to be. I meant to pick up another one but didn't manage to get over there. They vary a lot on the innards. I have a yellow one that has a lot of leaded resistors and a shield on the back cover and says Mastech on the pc board. I have a red one with a separate power switch that seems to be a lot more cheaply made.

Quote from: joeqsmith on June 10, 2018, 01:34:19 am

In the last several flyers I have received, there have been no coupons for the free meters. Actually, there haven't been any mention of the free meters. I went to their website about a month ago and when I searched, all I saw were the new higher end meters. When I just now searched, they show them again. Has anyone heard if they are planning to discontinue them? I thought the last ones I picked up still use lead. Maybe they are changing over the process.

https://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result/index/?dir=asc&order=EAScore%2Cf%2CEAFeatured+Weight%2Cf%2CSale+Rank%2Cf&q=meter

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Jackson · « **Reply #6 on:** September 26, 2018, 02:45:46 am »

FYI, if you are still looking for them, the most recent flyer had a coupon for a free multimeter (item 63604, 63759/98025, 69096/63758, 90899) with any purchase, good thru 12/1/18. Coupon code 463172650010 if you can't find the actual coupon in your local flyer anywhere - seems to work fine online.

joeqsmith · « **Reply #7 on:** September 26, 2018, 10:33:23 am »

I suspect they stopped offering them while they made the change to the new version of the meter. The case is a bit different, there is no longer a trim pot to adjust it and it has different ratings and markings on it. When they offered it again, we looked through the local store and managed to find one of the last older version of the meter.

001 · « **Reply #8 on:** September 26, 2018, 01:09:17 pm »

Why this meter so popular?

input impedance only 1М
expensive 9V battery
halfwave rectifier for AC (no RMS too)

bitseeker · « **Reply #9 on:** September 26, 2018, 04:14:13 pm »

FREE!

joeqsmith · « **Reply #10 on:** September 26, 2018, 05:10:21 pm »

Quote from: bitseeker on September 26, 2018, 04:14:13 pm

FREE!

I second that!

SeanB · « **Reply #11 on:** September 26, 2018, 05:34:21 pm »

Good source of cheap and nasty ( but free) 9V batteries for other meters, or for smoke alarms where you can change the battery every year, as it starts to beep the lonesome song of a smoke detector in love.

Jackson · « **Reply #12 on:** September 26, 2018, 05:40:06 pm »

Quote from: joeqsmith on September 26, 2018, 10:33:23 am

I suspect they stopped offering them while they made the change to the new version of the meter. The case is a bit different, there is no longer a trim pot to adjust it and it has different ratings and markings on it. When they offered it again, we looked through the local store and managed to find one of the last older version of the meter.

Yeah. I just opened up my 63604 and as you said, there was no trim pot for adjustment. Measured within 0.02 V of my other multimeters (3456A w/ unknown cal date and cheap innova DMM) at 5V (~5%). I guess I can't complain for the price of free. I suppose if you really wanted to you could take a voltage reference to the store and hunt for a more accurate one, but its at least good enough for sanity checks on a low voltage circuit.

Edit: Added the quote to which I was responding.

jimdeane · « **Reply #13 on:** September 26, 2018, 07:48:05 pm »

As to "why anyone would buy these", I bought a bunch for my physics lab. All they usually measure is 0-6 volts. They're cheap enough we can use two or three per group. I think the last time I bought them I bought two dozen and spent under $100.

And when I want to measure something higher, like the secondary circuit of a Geiger counter (600-1000v), I can hook it up, turn it on, turn the circuit on, and not touch it...it measures the HV just fine. I haven't had one lose the magic smoke yet. I don't let the students do any HV work of course, not with these meters. But in a pinch, I find them useful for careful (but rough) measurements.

If we have the money, maybe I'll upgrade the lab set to the Aneng meters -- those are a bit nicer, but not so horribly expensive as to make the central office have a coronary.

Macbeth · « **Reply #14 on:** September 26, 2018, 07:59:43 pm »

What I can't get my head around is the 830B is so ludicrously cheap yet they are all counterfeits of some mythical yellow 830B that started it all decades ago. My last samples LCD was so poor its photoresist was clearly a copy of a copy of ad-infinitum. I wonder if there is an original out in some Chinese NIST lab to refer to as the definitive standard?

mtdoc · « **Reply #15 on:** September 26, 2018, 08:11:51 pm »

Quote from: jimdeane on September 26, 2018, 07:48:05 pm

As to "why anyone would buy these", I bought a bunch for my physics lab. All they usually measure is 0-6 volts. They're cheap enough we can use two or three per group. I think the last time I bought them I bought two dozen and spent under $100.

And when I want to measure something higher, like the secondary circuit of a Geiger counter (600-1000v), I can hook it up, turn it on, turn the circuit on, and not touch it...it measures the HV just fine. I haven't had one lose the magic smoke yet. I don't let the students do any HV work of course, not with these meters. But in a pinch, I find them useful for careful (but rough) measurements.

If we have the money, maybe I'll upgrade the lab set to the Aneng meters -- those are a bit nicer, but not so horribly expensive as to make the central office have a coronary.

Yeah, I had accumulated about 6 or 7 of the free ones and donated them to my kids school maker space (permanently marked with "for battery circuits only!"). Unfortunately due to the lack of a continuity buzzer and the very non-kid proof probes they were not ideal. I replaced them with 5 Aneng 8008s that I was able to get for $11 each on AliExpress. Much better meter and so far much more durable. (but not free!).

BTW - just yesterday I got a coupon in the mail for a free HF meter - so it's not dead yet.

james_s · « **Reply #16 on:** September 26, 2018, 08:57:58 pm »

I keep one in each of my cars, it's handy in case I have car issues and need to troubleshoot the electrical system, and also occasionally I'm out somewhere and have a need for a meter and the HF freebie is better than nothing. I don't have to worry about it getting lost, damaged or stolen. If someone wants one bad enough to steal it they could just ask and I'd give it to them.

Housedad · « **Reply #17 on:** October 01, 2018, 10:54:16 am »

Does anyone remember when Harbor freight gave away cheapo analog meters?

001 · « **Reply #18 on:** October 01, 2018, 11:33:54 am »

Quote from: Housedad on October 01, 2018, 10:54:16 am

Does anyone remember when Harbor freight gave away cheapo analog meters?

Analog meter needs expensive metals for arrow amortisation etc it can not be free anyway
Cheap digital electronics -- it is china marvel of last decades only

rsjsouza · « **Reply #19 on:** October 01, 2018, 03:16:46 pm »

I just received a catalog by mail with the free meter as well - they are still having those. However, I wouldn't be surprised to see their new AMES higher end meters to take over - maybe not as freebies but they already displaced Mastech from their line (they used to have a "higher end" Mastech advertised - IIRC it was the MS8228).

A small evolution of their meters over the years can be found at:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/harbor-freight-cen-tech-90899-small-teardown/


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Author Topic: Harbor Freight End of an Era??? (Read 4759 times)

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