"Bob Engelhardt" wrote in message
...
On 11/17/2014 12:36 PM, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
...
I've emailed HF Customer Service for the part and even if it has to
ship
from China, I'll be glad for it. But I'm not optimistic about it
being
available.

HF: "Part not available"

But a guy on eBay parts out "freight damaged" HF engines.
Crankshaft is $42 shipped.

I have 3 alternatives:

1. A new crank: $42 delivered. Several hours to R&R. It's still
HF.

2. A used Honda engine: $70, 2 hrs to pick up. May require some
fitting to the vac. It's _used_.

3. A new HF engine: $114 delivered. Bolt on. I'd have the old for
spare parts. It's _HF_.

What to do, what to do?

Bob

Does #3 give you useful warranty protection?

-jsw

On 11/18/2014 1:01 PM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
Does #3 give you useful warranty protection?

90 days. I only run the vac for 3-4 hours a year, so the warranty will
almost certainly expire before there's a problem.

I'd forget #1 since you have no idea what other damage you might find when
you tear it down (unless you tear it down first :-), before buying the
crank, and are positive nothing else got hurt). Any chance you can see the
Honda run before you buy? If so, and it doesn't blow blue smoke that's what
I would do, otherwise flip a coin between the Honda and the new drop-in HF.
I'd probably go with the new HF, and try to put as many hours on it as you
can during the warranty period to get past all the infant mortality
possibilities. My two cents worth, anyway.

-----
Regards,
Carl Ijames

"Bob Engelhardt" wrote in message ...

On 11/17/2014 12:36 PM, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
...
I've emailed HF Customer Service for the part and even if it has to ship
from China, I'll be glad for it. But I'm not optimistic about it being
available.

HF: "Part not available"

But a guy on eBay parts out "freight damaged" HF engines. Crankshaft is
$42 shipped.

I have 3 alternatives:

1. A new crank: $42 delivered. Several hours to R&R. It's still HF.

2. A used Honda engine: $70, 2 hrs to pick up. May require some fitting
to the vac. It's _used_.

3. A new HF engine: $114 delivered. Bolt on. I'd have the old for
spare parts. It's _HF_.

What to do, what to do?

Bob

On 2014-11-18, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
On 11/17/2014 12:36 PM, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
...
I've emailed HF Customer Service for the part and even if it has to ship
from China, I'll be glad for it. But I'm not optimistic about it being
available.

HF: "Part not available"

But a guy on eBay parts out "freight damaged" HF engines. Crankshaft is
$42 shipped.

I have 3 alternatives:

1. A new crank: $42 delivered. Several hours to R&R. It's still HF.

2. A used Honda engine: $70, 2 hrs to pick up. May require some fitting
to the vac. It's _used_.

3. A new HF engine: $114 delivered. Bolt on. I'd have the old for
spare parts. It's _HF_.

What to do, what to do?

Bob

buy a new honda

On Tue, 18 Nov 2014 13:01:39 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Bob Engelhardt" wrote in message
...
On 11/17/2014 12:36 PM, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
...
I've emailed HF Customer Service for the part and even if it has to
ship
from China, I'll be glad for it. But I'm not optimistic about it
being
available.

HF: "Part not available"

But a guy on eBay parts out "freight damaged" HF engines.
Crankshaft is $42 shipped.

I have 3 alternatives:

1. A new crank: $42 delivered. Several hours to R&R. It's still
HF.

2. A used Honda engine: $70, 2 hrs to pick up. May require some
fitting to the vac. It's _used_.

3. A new HF engine: $114 delivered. Bolt on. I'd have the old for
spare parts. It's _HF_.

What to do, what to do?

Bob, it sounds like you want the Honda. Go for it.
The HF is a Honda clone, believe it or not.

Alternatively, buy both. There's always a new use for an engine.
I've been eyeing the 6.5hp horizontal HF for use running an HF
compressor head. If you have a HF locally, it's $99 or less on sale
with 20% discount coupon, found everywhere, every month.
I, too, haven't yet tried a Predator.


Does #3 give you useful warranty protection?

It is a whopping 90 days!

--
I started out with nothing and
I still have most of it left!
--anon

On Tue, 18 Nov 2014 15:24:07 -0600, Ignoramus29079
wrote:

On 2014-11-18, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
On 11/17/2014 12:36 PM, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
...
I've emailed HF Customer Service for the part and even if it has to ship
from China, I'll be glad for it. But I'm not optimistic about it being
available.

HF: "Part not available"

But a guy on eBay parts out "freight damaged" HF engines. Crankshaft is
$42 shipped.

I have 3 alternatives:

1. A new crank: $42 delivered. Several hours to R&R. It's still HF.

2. A used Honda engine: $70, 2 hrs to pick up. May require some fitting
to the vac. It's _used_.

3. A new HF engine: $114 delivered. Bolt on. I'd have the old for
spare parts. It's _HF_.

What to do, what to do?

Bob

buy a new honda

At near 4x the price? Granted, they're much better. Depends on the
budget. $329.99 + $39.99 shipping @ Amazon vs. $99 at HF.

--
I started out with nothing and
I still have most of it left!
--anon

On Tue, 18 Nov 2014 15:24:07 -0600, Ignoramus29079
wrote:

On 2014-11-18, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
On 11/17/2014 12:36 PM, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
...
I've emailed HF Customer Service for the part and even if it has to ship
from China, I'll be glad for it. But I'm not optimistic about it being
available.

HF: "Part not available"

But a guy on eBay parts out "freight damaged" HF engines. Crankshaft is
$42 shipped.

I have 3 alternatives:

1. A new crank: $42 delivered. Several hours to R&R. It's still HF.

2. A used Honda engine: $70, 2 hrs to pick up. May require some fitting
to the vac. It's _used_.

3. A new HF engine: $114 delivered. Bolt on. I'd have the old for
spare parts. It's _HF_.

What to do, what to do?

Bob

buy a new honda
A total waste of money if the design of the unit is bad and that
caused the damage to the original engine. The honda would likely fail
a few hours later than the original in that case.

What caused the break? If the impeller isn't ballanced it will break
the crank again.

On 11/18/2014 11:39 AM, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
On 11/17/2014 12:36 PM, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
...
I've emailed HF Customer Service for the part and even if it has to ship
from China, I'll be glad for it. But I'm not optimistic about it being
available.

HF: "Part not available"

But a guy on eBay parts out "freight damaged" HF engines. Crankshaft is
$42 shipped.

I have 3 alternatives:

1. A new crank: $42 delivered. Several hours to R&R. It's still HF.

2. A used Honda engine: $70, 2 hrs to pick up. May require some fitting
to the vac. It's _used_.

3. A new HF engine: $114 delivered. Bolt on. I'd have the old for
spare parts. It's _HF_.

What to do, what to do?

Bob

Buy a rake.

David

On 11/18/2014 6:20 PM, wrote:
On Tue, 18 Nov 2014 15:24:07 -0600, Ignoramus29079
buy a new honda

A total waste of money if the design of the unit is bad and that
caused the damage to the original engine. The honda would likely fail
a few hours later than the original in that case.

What caused the break? If the impeller isn't ballanced it will break
the crank again.


Good point about the balancing. I did a static balance (fan on arbor on
2 level rails) & it was off by about 10 grams (on 20" diameter).

Then I got to thinking: an unbalanced fan would not cause a vibrating
load on the shaft. On the shaft bearing, yes, but a constant radial
load on the shaft itself; in the direction of the heavy spot on the fan.
A pulley & belt presents an oscillating radial load on a shaft and
that's a common use. So I don't think the design is a problem. Just a
POS crankshaft.

I hadn't thought about that before & it's interestingly the opposite of
casual thought.

Bob

On Sat, 29 Nov 2014 11:35:16 -0500, Bob Engelhardt
wrote:

On 11/18/2014 6:20 PM, wrote:
On Tue, 18 Nov 2014 15:24:07 -0600, Ignoramus29079
buy a new honda

A total waste of money if the design of the unit is bad and that
caused the damage to the original engine. The honda would likely fail
a few hours later than the original in that case.

What caused the break? If the impeller isn't ballanced it will break
the crank again.


Good point about the balancing. I did a static balance (fan on arbor on
2 level rails) & it was off by about 10 grams (on 20" diameter).

Then I got to thinking: an unbalanced fan would not cause a vibrating
load on the shaft. On the shaft bearing, yes, but a constant radial
load on the shaft itself; in the direction of the heavy spot on the fan.
A pulley & belt presents an oscillating radial load on a shaft and
that's a common use. So I don't think the design is a problem. Just a
POS crankshaft.

I hadn't thought about that before & it's interestingly the opposite of
casual thought.

Bob
10 gramms unballance on a 10 inch radius can cause a significant
oscillating force that WILL break a crankshaft. PARTICULATLY if it is
dynamically unballanced as well as statically. (not only acting
radially to the shaft, but having a component working back and forth
at the "end of the lever" as well. Static inballance is only a very
small part of the problem on something like this. You get a resonance
that, at the right speed, will re-enforce itself, amplifying the force
and acting tangentially to the crank centerline. Torsional vibration
is a different animal, and being belt driven it is self limitting.
Belt slip and belt stretch work to limit the amplitude of the torque
excursions. You will burn off the belt before you will torsionally
fail the crank.