As you may have read already, I went and purchased a Harbor Freight Central Machinery #97869 2HP (yeah right) dust collector yesterday on sale at the Pasadena Texas location.
The sale was $179.99 and Harbor Freight was kind enough to have an active 20% off coupon this weekend... I simply could NOT pass this deal up.
Well, typical of all things Harbor Freight, some assembly required was an understatement, however, unlike the Band Saw it wasn't horrid...
In True Harbor Freight instructions fashion, the instructions were wrong, however UNLIKE most Harbor Freight manuals I have had to deal with so far, this was only SLIGHTLY off... But it was driving me buggy, and it was the FIRST ITEM IN THE ISNTRUCTION SHEET...
On page 8 of the manual (PDF) they state to use the M6 x 10mm hex screws, washers, and nuts are used to attach the casters. Now there are 4 per caster, and 4 casters meaning I am looking for 16 M6 x 10mm HEX screws right?
After trying to figure out why I couldn't figure out why I wasn't finding the hex screws (I don't want to admit how long THAT took), I discovered that there WERE 16 PHILLIPS head M6 x 10mm screws....
You guessed it, another Chinglish typo..., OR they made a production change that the documentation does NOT cover...
I powered it on, and did the incense test, and found no blowby on the seam that other posters are complaining about at the impeller housing. Nor did I notice any blowby at either of the bag seams...
The upper felt bag is VERY different from the last floor model of these machines I saw at HF, MUCH thicker. And while I am NOT saying 5 micron is even close to adequate, if I were in a setup with an exterior closet that the DC was housed in, well, I might just consider leaving the bag off it if weren't for the motor!
Overall, not a bad setup, certainly a good buy, but the filter bag begs for improvement.
The sale was $179.99 and Harbor Freight was kind enough to have an active 20% off coupon this weekend... I simply could NOT pass this deal up.
Well, typical of all things Harbor Freight, some assembly required was an understatement, however, unlike the Band Saw it wasn't horrid...
In True Harbor Freight instructions fashion, the instructions were wrong, however UNLIKE most Harbor Freight manuals I have had to deal with so far, this was only SLIGHTLY off... But it was driving me buggy, and it was the FIRST ITEM IN THE ISNTRUCTION SHEET...
On page 8 of the manual (PDF) they state to use the M6 x 10mm hex screws, washers, and nuts are used to attach the casters. Now there are 4 per caster, and 4 casters meaning I am looking for 16 M6 x 10mm HEX screws right?
After trying to figure out why I couldn't figure out why I wasn't finding the hex screws (I don't want to admit how long THAT took), I discovered that there WERE 16 PHILLIPS head M6 x 10mm screws....
You guessed it, another Chinglish typo..., OR they made a production change that the documentation does NOT cover...
I powered it on, and did the incense test, and found no blowby on the seam that other posters are complaining about at the impeller housing. Nor did I notice any blowby at either of the bag seams...
The upper felt bag is VERY different from the last floor model of these machines I saw at HF, MUCH thicker. And while I am NOT saying 5 micron is even close to adequate, if I were in a setup with an exterior closet that the DC was housed in, well, I might just consider leaving the bag off it if weren't for the motor!
Overall, not a bad setup, certainly a good buy, but the filter bag begs for improvement.
LCHIEN
Loring in Katy, TX USA
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