Comments on: Hot or Not? Harbor Freight Micro Torch

By: tinfoilsoldier

tinfoilsoldier — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:45:04 +0000

I love mine. I broke the electric start on the first one but I still keep it around because it works fine if I light it with another lighter.

I use it mostly for candles, it works great to get down in deep.

Definitely worth the money, I originally bought the pencil style one from HF but it broke; this style is much more solid.

Everyone should have at least one!

By: TC

TC — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:05:31 +0000

Buddy of mine had one and his worked great for awhile and mine leaked out the gas after the second time using it….get what you pay for

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:50:45 +0000

Not so hot! I got mine for $5 and it worked O.K. ONCE. The replacement works fine for what I use it for, I guess. But for $5 buck- what can you expect. I treat a lot of HF tools as ’starter’ sets. It’s a good way to try one for a low cost and they’ll typically last long enough for me to decide if I want to spend the money on a real one.

By: MKram

MKram — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 02:07:34 +0000

Works OK, had to fiddle with the air intake (black knurled ring in the photo) to get it to light and stay lit. Took a dab of white paint and made a line across that knob and the flat part on top when I finally got it adjusted properly so I wouldn’t have to waste 5 minutes trying to get it going again after a refill.

By: Joey

Joey — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:21:35 +0000

Got one for $5 a few years back, works great. I use it quite often, and have only had to refill it twice. Definitely one of my better bang-for-the-buck purchases from HF.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:33:39 +0000

- Hot -
Got mine for about $5 too. Works great.

By: John

John — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:47:25 +0000

Until they make one of these that can cut through a bulkhead door so I can escape the man-eating aliens, I’ll pass.

By: diluded000

diluded000 — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 04:39:01 +0000

Mine won’t hold butane more than an hour. I just give it a squirt every time before I use it. Got ’bout what I paid for.

By: Fabian

Fabian — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 03:26:53 +0000

I have one, got it for 5 bucks from HF.. works fine..

By: DISCO-STU

DISCO-STU — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 01:15:51 +0000

I bought one and it broke only two years after buying it. I rarely used it and the trigger mechanism blew apart and then the gas slowly leaked out of the nozzle.

By: Kurt

Kurt — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 22:19:56 +0000

I have had a couple of these. The reason I like them is the lack of safety interlocks - you need to be a three handed monkey to light most of these nowadays. I had one for years that I bought from Micromark, and it was great - flip the lever, light it and go. When it died I tried to replace it, and hated the one they sent - so childproof even I couldn’t use it easily.

That HF unit worked for a few months, than began a rather disconcerting habit of shooting out a foot long stream of fiery liquid when lit. It’s replacement has been working fine for about a year, and at the price, I don’t mind treating them as quasi-disposables -worth it for the convenience. I have a section of my workbench set up for soldering, complete with firebrick background, so the occasional flamethrower effect is more alarming than dangerous.

By: ToolGuyd

ToolGuyd — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 22:03:40 +0000

Question to self: Would I ever trust a Harbor Freight tool to supply butane to a flame, or to reliably contain the fuel when idle? Nope!

While I’ve had problems with Bernzomatic micro-torches before, they’re pretty reliable. I don’t want to be anywhere near one of these HF jobs if/when they fail.

Micro-torches: hot
HF micro-torch: NOT

By: lee

lee — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 21:17:07 +0000

Works great as a torch lighter for cigars. At 1/10th the cost.

By: Bitt Faulk

Bitt Faulk — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:51:15 +0000

This looks an awful lot like the torches they sell at cooking stores as creme brulee torches. That said, this is cheaper. But what’s wrong with a regular old BernzOmatic?

By: Old Donn

Old Donn — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:34:14 +0000

Had a part time job in a self-storage yard a while back. One of these is the quickest, easiest way to de-ice frozen padlocks. That might not be exactly the kind of use you were talking about, but for my particular application? HOT.

By: KMR

KMR — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:19:40 +0000

Does not seem to get anywhere near as hot as advertised…

By: beano_t

beano_t — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:53:22 +0000

I also have had mine for years, and I still use it… works good.

By: Mike P.

Mike P. — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:49:02 +0000

The seal in mine has deteriorated — won’t hold gas overnight.

By: Ed Mahaffey

Ed Mahaffey — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:47:03 +0000

I’ve had one for a couple of years - still works fine. I use it for electrical soldering and shrinking tubing. No complaints at all.

By: Thomas

Thomas — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:19:20 +0000

Used a charcoal lighter w/ a torch tip for doing soldering on my car the other day. Worked better than my soldering iron. Got it to do the heat shrink n’ said you know I bet this would solder. Was made by diamond. Don’t remember what it cost.