5 Harbor Freight Finds That Will Come In Handy When Working On Smartphones And Tablets
Harbor Freight started as a small company, but has since grown into a massive business with a reputation for offering quality tools at discount prices. It's most well known for it's auto maintenance products, but the company has built out its inventory to include woodworking, plumbing, and all kinds of other general home maintenance supplies as well. Still, it might not be the first place you think of when it comes time to buy tools for working on your tablet and smartphone.
Harbor Freight actually sells a lot more tech-specific items than you'd think. It has wall chargers, car chargers, USB cables, and power packs, but it also sells a lot of items that can be really helpful when it comes to taking apart your devices. Many of these are products that any tech repair person would be happy to have in their workshop.
Some of these items were designed specifically for working with electronics, while others were made for other, often more heavy-duty tasks, but that might work even better. Here are five items that you can find at Harbor Freight that will definitely come in handy the next time you're working on your smartphone or tablet.
Electronics Repair Kit
You might be surprised to learn that Harbor Freight actually sells a full Electronics Repair Kit, made by Quinn, that includes most of the tools you need to take apart and repair smartphones and tablets. This kit comes with no less than 87 different tools and attachments that are specifically designed for repairing home electronics.
The kit includes six opening picks, three opening tools, an oval drive, a drive adapter, a suction handle, three tweezers, three spudgers, a pry tool, a magnetic pad, an anti-static wrist wrap and a tool roll. Then there is the magnetic, rotating, precision screwdriver. This comes with dozens of different bits, including everything from the more standard Phillips and flathead bits, to ones with really specific use cases like the iPhone standoff bit or the Oval Drive bit. Even the case itself is magnetized and includes a built-in storage tray and flex extension.
In a rare turn for Harbor Freight, this kit is actually a little more expensive than many home electronics tool sets, coming in at just under $40. That doesn't mean it isn't a good deal, though. It's a much bigger set than most, and should include just about everything you might need to work on your smartphone or tablet in a single, neat package. If you only buy one thing at Harbor Freight to work on your smart devices, this could be it.
Multi-Bit Precision Screwdriver Set
Those who need a good electronics screwdriver set, but aren't looking to spend a bunch of money on a full electronics kit are in luck as well. Harbor Freight sells a pretty wide range of precision screwdriver kits that come in prices starting at just $5. There are three sets from Harbor Freight's main discount store brand, Pittsburgh, that are particularly noteworthy.
The first is a simple six-piece set that includes three precision Phillips heads, and four sizes of precision flat heads. This set is extremely affordable if you just need a few basic small-head screwdrivers, but it won't help with any of the more unique fasteners that are commonly used on smartphones and tablets.
For that, you either need Pittsburgh's 32-piece precision screwdriver set, which comes with tweezers, or its 34-piece set, which comes with both a ridged extension shaft and an 8-inch flexible extension shaft. Both of these kits provide a variety of Hex, PH, TORX, and T bits in addition to the basic Phillips and flathead variations. The Electronics Repair Kit has more variety and includes several other useful tools, but these screwdriver sets are roughly a quarter of the price and include a majority of the bits most people will need for smartphone and table disassembly.
Microfiber Cleaning Cloth Set
Never underestimate the value of a good set of microfiber cleaning clothes. You might not need one in order to repair your smartphone or tablet, but they're the only fabric that is recommended for cleaning electronics screens, and you'll nearly always regret it if you don't have at least one or two of them lying around.
You can find them in just about any big box store in the country, but Harbor Freight sells a nice set of 12 Grant's microfiber cleaning clothes for just $6.99. These aren't just the little dinky squares of silk-like cloth for cleaning glasses either. These are the large, 12" x 12" microfiber towels that are primarily designed for buffing cars. Their size and fibrous texture make them much nicer for cleaning off smudgy screens quickly and efficiently.
These towels make a good surface for setting your screens when you're not using them, they're perfect for cleaning any dust or fingerprints that might have gotten on the underside of the screen while you have your device opened up, and they're also good for giving your devices that final polish once they're all reassembled and ready to go back to back to working (and looking) like new. You might not think it's worth making a special trip just for some cleaning cloths, but they're definitely worth picking up if you're already making a trip to Harbor Freight for repair supplies.
2-1/4 Suction Cup Lifter
Sometimes removing the screen from a smartphone or tablet requires the use of a suction cup to pull the almost-seamless components apart. Kits like the Electronics Repair Kit sold at Harbor Freight usually come with a very small, light-duty suction cup for this exact purpose.
These are great for smartphones and they're usually the best option for tablets, too, but they only give you a grip point on one side of the device — and many of them aren't particularly strong. Removing the glass from a bigger iPad or Galaxy Tab can be challenging, especially if the only tool you have to dislodge an old screen is a suction cup the size of a silver dollar, with no way to grip the back.
Luckily there are much larger and stronger suction cups that are designed for heavy-duty work like pulling out small dents and even lifting entire windows. Pittsburgh makes a 2-1/4-inch suction cup that is rated to lift up to 15 lbs. This only costs a few dollars, and it's very useful for giving you a grip point on the back of the device while you use the smaller, more delicate suction cup on the screen.
If the screen is really stuck, you might even try using the stronger suction cup on the front. However, that should be left as a last resort, as the Pittsburgh suction cup was not specifically designed for electronics, meaning it could possibly damage the screen when removing.
Magnetic Flexible Pickup Tool
Taking apart tablets and smartphones often involves the removal of tiny fasteners that are hard to grip and easy to loose. It's a good rule of thumb to keep these components together in a parts tray as you work so that you don't lose them, but accidents do happen, and you wouldn't be the first person to loose a tiny screw under your couch as you sought to repair your devices.
One of the best things to have at the ready when this happens is a magnetic pickup tool. Harbor Freight sells an excellent product made by Gordon that is really useful to have when working with the miniscule precision fasteners found in electronics.
The Magnetic Flexible Pickup Tool has a flexible shaft with a magnet built into the end which can snake into the most narrow crevices in order to retrieve your lost metal parts. Best of all, it has an LED built into the end which can help you see into the gaps where the parts have fallen so that you can more easily fish them out of the dark abyss. You might even find some loose change and your long-lost left sock while you're at it.