harbor frieght fuses

[mopar_monkey]

i have heard about the hf fuses not blowing like /when they should but i haven't seen any issues caused by it until recent, had a honda accord come in, the customer stated that his car started smoking from under the dash then his acc port wouldn't work. so i pulled the acc port out of the dash to inspect it and found the wires had completly melted to the point you could see bare wire, so i started tracking it back. once it go into the main harness it also melted all the wires making contact with the affected wire, this occured all the way down the harness and through the firewall to the under hood fuse block where i noticed one of these cheap hf fuses, so i found the rest of the fuses still in the package in the glove box, i took a 7.5a fuse and hooked directly up to a new battery via jumper cables, the fuse took about 15 seconds to blow under direct batt. voltage!
harbor frieght fuses

 

[Torino]

Harbor Freight fuses are NOT quality. Use OEM or scour the garage sales and/or flea markets. John.

 

[mopar_monkey]

the one thing i forgot to add is according to a gm tsb on this subject, they say to use no fuses that don't have paint on the numbers stamped on the fuse, the fuses that are affected are only stamped with no ink/paint.

 

[JimPghPA]

Wow.

 

[JustinH]

Every single item in that store is chinese junk. You get what you pay for.

I still shop there, when I need to get a few shovels or hammers that I don't mind breaking..

Also, one time only use tools.

Anything you plan on keeping, don't buy there.

I had a buffer burn up in a week and start smoking this is after buffing two cars..

 

[XS650]

Originally Posted By: JustinH
You get what you pay for.



You rarely get more than you pay for, often less.

There, fixed that for you.

 

[robshelton]

HF had a recall on some fuses a while back and I took mine in for credit. I bet the one that caused the problems was recalled but not returned to the store.

 

[rpn453]

About ten years ago, I bought a set containing ten of each of 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30A fuses from the Canadian equivalent to HF - Princess Auto - and they were all 20A fuses, despite the colors and markings. It was pretty obvious when I looked at them, since the 3A fuses normally have a very thin wire, and I confirmed by testing them with my car's air horns. I returned it.

Canadian Tire sells good fuses.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: XS650
Originally Posted By: JustinH
You get what you pay for.



You rarely get more than you pay for, often less.

There, fixed that for you.

I agree. Once in a blue moon you may get more than you pay for. Few years ago I got 2 cases of Valvoline Synpower not only it did not cost me anything, I actually profited few dollars by submitted 2 rebates, one rebate to Kragen and second rebate to Valvoline.

Back to the topic, I never bought anything from Habor Freight because of the low quality merchandises they carry.

 

[Steve S]

Originally Posted By: XS650
Originally Posted By: JustinH
You get what you pay for.



You rarely get more than you pay for, often less.

There, fixed that for you.

I can agree Harbor freight is where you go the buy cheap low quality stuff. Like Home Depot but the next level lower.

 

[mopar_monkey]

i think the problem is the metal that they used would not melt like it should, every different amp fuse had a different thickness, also how would you find out about recalled fuses from hf? i doubt they contacted all of their customers or even had a wide scale ad campaign addressing it so i'm sure that a lot of these fuses are still out there.

 

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: mopar_monkey
i think the problem is the metal that they used would not melt like it should, every different amp fuse had a different thickness, also how would you find out about recalled fuses from hf? i doubt they contacted all of their customers or even had a wide scale ad campaign addressing it so i'm sure that a lot of these fuses are still out there.


I'm glad that my problem was more obvious, though it still would have been easy to miss. If I hadn't looked closely at a low-amperage fuse, I might still be using them.

 

[jcwit]

So I assume everyone here uses Snap-On, and drives a high end imported car?


Harbor Freight has been my go to store for years with virtually no problems.


If Bussmann had a recall on their products would the replies be the same?

 

[Rick in PA]

Has Bussman, Littlefuse, etc. ever had a recall?

I know the price of some of their fuses can be a bit steep (buy some 630mA fuses for your Fluke). But, hey, they're "electricity's safey valve".

My bro's favorite saying (actually the Snap-on guy's saying) "You don't always get what you pay for, but you NEVER get what you don't pay for".

 

[jcwit]

Originally Posted By: Rick in PA
Has Bussman, Littlefuse, etc. ever had a recall?


My bro's favorite saying (actually the Snap-on guy's saying) "You don't always get what you pay for, but you NEVER get what you don't pay for".



Sorry to hear you never got a SUPER value!


Has H/F ever had a fuse recall before?

 

[mopar_monkey]

with hf it depends on what you buy and how much/how hard you will use it, i have some hf stuff in my tool box that i use everyday with no issues but i've also had hf stuff that didn't last more then a week, i think the issue is that it wasn't just a defective fuse it was down right dangerous and costly if you had an issue with one, i posted that the 7.5a that i tested took about 15 seconds to pop using direct battery power from a brand new batt. if they made them out of hardened steel it would have popped sooner.

 

[Rick in PA]

I remembered hearing about this problem some time ago, so I Googled it. I bet that fuse was installed some time ago. Here's a link from September 6, 2007: http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/05/autos/fuse_recall/index.htm The sales of those fuses went back to August 2005, so they were on the market for some time. Like little time-bombs just waiting to go off... I wonder how many other people missed the news 3 years ago? I doubt Harbor freight was able to distribute recall notices to everyone that bought those fuses.

 

[Chris142]

I remember the flyers were on the registers at HF and they were telling people to bring back their fuses for an exchange.

 

[jcwit]

It would be VERY hard to do a total round-up/recall of all the fuses as they do not keep track of who buys them.

 

[RacerE7773]

I have on my HF wish list the jackstand rubber pads and the pad for on my floor jack, plus a couple of the magnetic parts trays.