I Bought A Pallet of Walmart Tool Returns for $2,217...... Mistake? 

Also, as someone who used to work Walmart customer service, using the tools for projects then returning is EXACTLY what they do lol

So, I work at Walmart and I bought that hart multi tool kit 2 years ago to have in case I needed to do small projects around the house. My wife wanted me to buy her a noodle board and I thought that I could make one myself. I’m now in the process of trying to start my own woodworking business and I still use those hart tools. They’re not awful for the price, and I get a discount on them and am able to keep an eye out for when they go on clearance. But that one kit and my wife’s project got me interested in woodworking and I’m going to be grateful for that brand forever.

Hey that's me, the UPS DRIVER! Haven't gotten to the drills yet to try them

Sometimes the batteries get really discharged. All you need to do is manually hook up some wires to get a little.charge into the bad pack from a good one. Then it will take the charge on the charger. Hopt that helps.

Re the batteries, they'll have LiPo cells inside them, that most chargers wont charge if the cells have dropped below a certain threshold. A hacky way to kickstart them back is to connect them to a charged battery, and it'll suck out some of the charge. Usually in minutes the "duff" battery will have enough to then be identified by the charger and allow it to get fully charged. That being said, you got a proper bonus pallet for once!

As a Walmart worker who has completed hundreds of returns, I can confirm that 90% of those tools are returned because of the batteries.

Which will happen first: -John learns his lesson and stops buying rip off pallets of tools -John runs out of stores he can think of that sell pallets of stuff

I can't wait to see the live edge, epoxy table that you make out of everything in that pallet.

Donnie Platt made out better than anyone. Got all that use out of those tool AND his money back? That's a win. Way to go Donnie! His wife is probably upset though...

I hope the delivery guy didn't end up with one of the bad drills haha, either way it was nice of you to give him some tools 👍

I'm only liking this video because I like your channel...but I'm REALLY hoping that we get to see some builds in the future. I feel like it's been forever since we seen a good build video.

I am surprised people even do return heavily used tools. I live in the UK and never thought of that even being a thing but finding out people just return anything and it gets accepted without any issues is just mind boggling

I'm new to wood working. Not asking for a thing but I think it's amazing that you're doing this. Tools are expensive. I'm currently buying 1ish per month amd taking hand-me-downs. I'll even invest in my brother so I can get his used ones. I'm loving the projects!

If you're looking for suggestions of what to do with all the drills; some place like Habitat for Humanity would be really grateful for them! You can buy the batteries for them.

You briefly mentioned Ryobi. They have a bad rep, probably from long ago. I was gifted mine about 10-12 years ago and use them almost daily, especially the impact driver. The circular saw bearing wore out after I built my tiny house on wheels, entirely with the Ryobi cordless kit. But the rest of the tools are still going strong. Love them!!! By the way, the batteries only gave out on me in the past couple years.

Before tossing those batteries out, I would try "resetting", or "jumping" the BMS. This sometimes works. I have never tried it on Hart but have had luck on other TTI branded batteries.

Whenever I get demotivated because of my lack of creativity, I come to John's channel and binge watch like 5 videos and then I get motivated again to create new things. And some day I'd like to purchase a bunch of mystery boxes and give some kick ass tools back to the community,. :)

Just my personal feedback: the first of these was ok, all the others were boring to me. I feel like there's nothing else in these videos that I haven't seen. I personally would be totally fine if that's the last one of that kind of video. But thats me. If others like it or you are having fun (or profit) from buying these - by all means, keep doing them. I'm not hating, just saying it's kinda 'meh' for me at this point. Also, I'd really love to see morebuilding projects. Even if it's just a "boring" table with some epoxy and no encased pizzas or bullets. I couldpretty much watch those forever. Not every video needs to be an insane superv-creative unique project IMO.

As my office's unofficial handyman I was tired of always having to bring my good tools to work to fix things, I picked up a Hart drill for $20 to just keep in the office. It's OK for what it is & will get the smaller jobs done around the place. I will say that it's loud and there's a noticeable delay when the trigger is pulled. Thought about getting an impact driver too but it wasn't on rollback!

That is cool you give them away to viewers or customers...I am new here so that is just awesome to see someone do that for their audience on youtube.. where it isnt just one item only given away. Thanks for the content am enjoying it!!! be well and much love and respect.

The batteries were more than likely ran down and stored cold. It is possible to revive them instead of throwing them out. Use a multimeter and find the positive and negative terminals. The middle terminals are balance contacts. Take a full working pack and hook them in parallel using a jump cable. You can make one using ring terminals. + to + and - to -. Or watch a tube video that explains the procedure.

you know those batteries can be stripped down and repaired, usually the faults are broken connections or a knackered small component that costs cents to repair

Oh John the way you said 'watch you stand in the background & have a good time with yourself' 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Bet all those drills that look OK had a bad batch of those batteries. Hart is made by TTI (Milwaukee, Ryobi) but doubt that there's much if any quality control. Someone gets one as a gift or buys it and then tries to charge the battery with no luck. One can still go online and buy a replacement battery so not a total loss. Thanks as always because I always wondered if those pallets were worth it or not. The percentage of junk is sometimes high but also I wouldn't want to end up with a bunch of the same type of tools I already have.

Ryobi tools are for those that work on the weekend and don't care if they break the tool doing what needs to get done. And there's a bunch of oddball tools they make that are useful for around the house work. I use Ryobi and haven't really had any issues with them and keep pace with people that have "more professional" tools(Milwaukee, DeWalt, Ridgid, Makita). I also throw my tools around because they're cheap enough to replace and they just keep going so I haven't had to replace many of them.

11:37 The Hart reciprocating saw… the preferred tool of catalytic converter thieves 😂

I worked at the returns desk at Lowe's for a while. People were constantly buying tools (lawn mowers were a common one), using them, then returning them because "they didn't work."

@JohnMalecki you should see if lee valley offers return pallets. They sell high quality stuff so depending how much a pallet would cost, you’ll definitely get quality items in it

I enjoy hart tool's, if the kids borrow them I'm not disappointed when they don't come back.

I’ve taken batteries apart and used a “repair” type AGM/Lithium charger to bring them back to life. Have to hook them up directly on the battery. Fresh from the store they are sometimes so drained they won’t even take a charge. Most of those batteries could probably be saved.

I love that you're buying pallets showing us the value and the risk in buying them thanks you so much!

Love the video. You guys make opening boxes funny somehow. 😂 I would love the computer All in one liquid cooler that has the RGB lights. And any computer accessories. 😬 Keep up the great work!

We’ve seen this. More than once. Do you still do woodworking projects on this channel?

Love the content John. You are a great inspiration, reminding me that despite only having 2 functioning braincells that are continuously fighting each other I can still become a woodworker.

I have that first kit you found. Honestly its decent for the price flashlight is bright af circ saw works well impact driver has done a good bit around the house sander works well havent used the drill yet

I really would like to get a tire inflator. That looked like a nice one. Great video 😉 👍🏼

First

So, you no longer put out serious build videos? Guess it's time to unsubscribe. You use to be enjoyable to watch.

I saw a decent computer water cooler in there! That's pretty cool. I didn't even know walmart sold those

Hi john love this channel always get a laugh out of all you guys. Maybe you could make a table out of all the drills.

I’m that homeowner that bought his first tools at Walmart. Got the drill/driver, recip, flashlight and a weed eater that all run off that 12v. Not the greatest, but they do what they need too. I’m doing basic repairs, not building houses. I will say that in the weed eater that battery overheats pretty quick when under constant load.

Lou might be the most unintentional funny person I’ve ever seen. Everything he did and said cracked me up!

Any time you want to unload any of those extra "First tool set vibe Ryobis" you just let me know. Particularly the new brushless line. Head-to-head they're competing quite nicely with the red and yellow tools you're paying 3x as much for.

I'm only 25 but I still remember it being far more cost effective and better for everyone involved to bring your old corded power tools to a shop or a buddy for repair. I have my GREAT grandfathers wood shop and 75% of the gear works to this day after two generations of use everyday. Now look at what our tools do, last two jobs and get tossed. We need to charge an environmental fee that cannot be passed onto the consumer for these wasteful things.

John stopping by the shop one day would be sweet. I wanted that pallet coffee table just so I could come meet the crew. Lol. I work for the rail road so if I come that way I'll for sure be stopping in. I love that u allow it.

Haart batteries are super easy to fix, unscrew them pop out the pack assembly and check each cell. If all are equal charge up with a 24V adapter through a brake light bulb till you get 3.4V or better per cell. Next reassemble and apply the 24V to the + and - output terminals briefly. Finally pop in the charger and charge the rest of the way. The batteries should not be stored in the tool if not used for a while as it will make them over discharge. ❤

The dishonesty of people who return an item after using it on a job is staggering. They would be the first to cry about getting ripped off, but will do it themselves. Based on the battery situation, I'm going to suspect they may also be keeping the batteries....... sigh

batteries might still be good! it could be the control circuit or just a single cell that went bad preventing the battery from being used. if you can open them up and take out the 18650s they can be used in other projects. handle them with care tho.

I’m new to woodworking and diy and I really like hart. It’s cheap but gets the jobs I need done

Hilarious! I’ll take a Hart tools set bag to keep in my truck! I like the Dallas kicker clip!

Dang I could use a drill/driver set for my camper…may have to go buy a shirt!

That clip from Jimmy Dickens auctioneering, 🤣 fits perfectly

Use the drills to power a diy go kart/ electric vehicle (I've seen people do with drills. The motors have decent torque for the size and the removable/swappable batteries take care of some of the most complicated/possibly dangerous part of electric vehicles with the battery charging and management. *Edit as I just finished video, of the tools work, you can buy individual batteries (also, the batteries might work but the charger doesn't, happens sometimes) You can use any power source to use the tools for electric vehicle. Or if you want to keep a few around to abuse, they make adapters that will take one brand of battery to a different brand. As the power is the same, the capacity and connectors are different. Just use the batteries charger not the tools. Ie: I made an adapter to use my Ridgid batteries with a few tools I bought of Ryobi tools that I didn't need as much but didn't buy the Ryobi batteries. I use the Ridgid charger to manage charge etc. The tools don't know the difference with power. (I also made an adapter to be able to plug a tool in instead of use a battery. Let's me use a tool that is always used in the same place without worrying about batteries. Also can be used if a battery does and you're almost done. Plus I just like to tinker and make things work the way I want to. Because I can.)

You can use all those tools to do a lot of practice on basic tasks, like charging the cells they come with. You can then call the process of completing those tasks "battery drills".

I miss the build videos lol these are still fun to watch

Hilarious video my guy! If that Nighthawk router works I'd be happy to take it off your hands LOL. Much love, much respect.

It's still crap but it's definitively not the worst return pallet you've buy 😆 Shoot the poop looks awesome...

Man I was drooling over the impacts. I could use one to work on my old chainsaws and such. I did get a Bauer from harbor freight so we will see how it does!

I think a good thing to do with these pallet tool's is either A.) make a charity that gives them to schools to teach shop classes. Or B.) auction them on your website and take the money that you get to refurbish a local schools workshop classes. Either way the tools go to ppl who need them and the school gets helped out. Tons of ppl who benefit for the initial purchase you made.

One thing I know people do it buy a new cordless drill, to swap the battery out with a dead one on the one they already have. Then return the drill. The store employees will usually look inside to ensure everything is there as well as making sure the product isn't an old broke one. But seldom do they look at the batteries.

There are services that get at risk folks setup for their first apartments. Kitchen supplies, linens etc. these drills and wireless speakers would be great for getting someone one setup for self reliance.

That CAT excavator most certainly counts! 😂

Sell the dud batteries- I guarantee there will be someone who buys them all and fixes/replaces the likely dead / low voltage cells and gets the working again. You can also very likely get a battery adapter that lets you use other brands of battery on the drills and drivers, so all of them still have value to the right person.

😂 love theese episodes 😅I need a drill tbh

1) make an rc project using all the motors from the drills. Could be ur new forklift or driftmonkey that you race with. 2) make an epic monumental sculpture with the leftover plastic. Try find different ways to form and melt it or smash it to peaces to fill the cracks and do an epoxy/resin tabletopart 3) give them to some school nearby. Sure those might be in better condition than the ones they had previously. Sure you could find replacement batteries for them or try ask help to being them back to life. If not schools, then some unemployment/education center where they teach adults to make stuff. Might even work for electric repairs, they would have to get them to work again...

OMG, I wish I could be so lucky. I’ve been slowly trying to buy some tools and you get more in one box then I have all together. LOL! I wish I lived closer.

Donnie here. I'm going to need that Torpedo back, please. Thank you.

These are so much fun to watch. 😁👍🏻

We like our Hart drill. Works great for putting our IKEA furniture together.

Great video as always.I have alot of hart tools and like them alot for the price.I use them around the house for projects as well as at work as a flooring installer.I have beat them up pretty well and havent had any problems with any of it this far.I recommend them myself,but to each his own.

Ahhhhh. Love hearing that Pittsburghese. Reminds me of home! Go Stillers!

PLEASE READ THIS: okay there is an eEZ fix for the error code of the hart brand battery. You need to use one of the chargeable batteries to jump one of the *error* batteries to get it to a point where the charger recognizes that the battery is within a certain threshold in order to charge. so basically the batteries are dead to a point where the charger isn't charging because they don't meet the default charging threshold. so if you get the battery up to a certain voltage before putting it on the charger. when you end up putting on the charger it will recognize and start charging. THis happened to me when i left my batteries in a truck for a few months in the winter.

Hey John , I’d really be interested in seeing you make a subwoofer box and using your craftsmanship skills to execute something like that.

Heart has amazing customer service, I bought some of there tools with dead batteries. I called and they sent out replacements with expedited shipping. Not a professional just a DIY’er.

This was a cool change up, great tools wish I could afford a pallet for myself lol

i could definitely use that aio cooler

Dude, you had me rolling. Not literally, due to watching this video while shooting the poop, butt I digress. "I don't even know where to stick this" was the first comment, then it was all down hill. Maybe it's the nyquil, not sure, but I was a fan. Buy another. Like quick!

loe your videos man and you have inspired me to start woodworking

I am a mechanic and I reguarly use Hyper Tough Sockets and other walmart tools. I also use Harbor Freight tools. People who buy snap on are suckers.... straight up suckers. Years ago it was the best option but today they are more or less irrelevant except for specialty tools.

Donnie Platt definitely brought those tools to a site and go flamed so hard he had to return them and buy a respected brand lmao also I love the letterkenny references

If the batteries still are around it would be cool to see a follow-up trying to revive them with internet hacks

My Wilson racket has served me very well over the years. I use it to swat at wood bees on my porch...now they go away when I pick it up...

Make a circular coffee table like a lake, use the stones on the outside, maybe a little bit of glued sand at the base, then coated blue epoxy as the water. 🐠

I heared that Hart tools are actually build on older generation Milwaukee plans that the company bought. Only i would guess that they probably cheap out on the components quality. So for what i hear, they are not complete crap, just not up to date with the newest quality tools technology, and they won't resist long in an industrial daily challenge, but are totally fine for the occasionnel homeowner use.

John you gotta do an Amazon one. If you fancy flinging one those kits over the other side the pond a can totally take one off your hands. Recip saw is something a could deffo use as pallet buater. Just got keys to my first proper shop trying kit it out. On that note got table saw 10" planer small power tools need no what next to get. Tracksaw or bandsaw going into chopping boards live edge tables and pallet work?? Your thoughts please!👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I will take the Donnie Platt set haha, wanted to switch to all Ryobi but will take a shot on the Donnie Platt one of a kind set!

Thank you for doing this so I know not too. It would be fun to see the mystery box but if you're just looking for tool deals there's better ways to get them

Coming all the way from Australia! Been a long time fan! Would love to see a box of drills being used down under "hint hint" 👌🤣

God I need that booster and air pump I have awful luck with flats my jeep and car both have a flat right now its crazy love this video fun to watch

This is always the best and funniest episodes 😂

Yo that Casey Jones and April O’Neill NECA action figure set is definitely worth hanging onto.

Those tools look familiar, when my store first got its line of drills under a different brand name, we got ALOT back, because people were using the lithium batteries to power random crap, and they would get drained below the safety cutoff voltage and no longer be able to be charged. if you don't mind extreme sketchyness with a side of possible flames and explosion, you can take a good battery, with some wires with blade terminals on them, connect the + of a good battery to a + of a bad battery and - good to - bad aswell for a few minutes, the quickly disconnect and slap in a charger and it will bring the bad batteries back to life. do it outside, with safety gear on and a stainless bucket nearby(and a C02 or powder fire safety thingy with ya)

I have two Hart tools. The two speed drill and the pact driver. They work pretty good for me.

I have a hart brushless 1/2" impact, brushless drill, and brushless impact driver and four 2ah batteries i got for $150 when my local Walmart was shutting down, they're pretty good for the price, i completely stripped an old 4runner with the 1/2"

If you fancy giving aeay some tools to a good cause then here is one. My cellar/workshop was broken into two months ago while i was in hospital and emptied of all its contents. They left me literally a set of odd screwdrivers and a hammer, all power tools, bench drill and grinder all gone. I'd give the 6 tool bag a damn good home. Greetings from germany!

Just a FYI those "BAD" batteries are likely just discharged too far for the charger to allow charging. They can be recovered by poping the cover and charging them to ~12v with a power supply (I do this all the time to recover batteries). At that point the charger will charge them. It appears that proper voltage cutoff was not done on one or more of the tools or there is a drain in the design somewhere. I would be interested in buying them from you if you don't want to go through the trouble. Better than sending them to a landfill.

I would love to get IO radiator and the nighthawk router. What was the model numbers for them?

for the bad batteries you maybe able to contact hart and they may replace them by the serial numbers. it's worth a try.

Love the Letterkenny insert!

You should make a pair of go carts that are powered by all the drill motors and then race them around the shop.