Ratchet maintenance

[Crashman]

Hi there,

I having been lurking here and picking up some great hints - excellent guys. I just bought a Snap On F936 ratchet from Ebay. I opened it up to lube it and it is really grimy. I have taken the round bit out with the drive on it but don't know how to get the rest of it out to give it a good clean. It looks like the shift lever is just pressed in. If I drive it out with a puch will it be reusable? I dont think it needs a rebuild kit so just want some advice on how to get it properly clean and lubed.

Cheers

 

[trackwelder]

Spray it with some brake clean and lube it up.

 

[Bull]

The least invasive method for cleaning/lubing would be to soak the head in a jar of ATF, then remove it and work the mechanism, maybe clean the crevices with a brush, and put back in the fluid again.

I am not familiar with the ratchet you are working on, otherwise I'd try to help you with your disassembly questions.

 

[48548]

I think the levers on my 936 models just pushes out and pushes back in. Try it before you use a punch...

 

[Merkava_4]

It looks like the shift lever is just pressed in. If I drive it out with a punch will it be reusable?

The reverse lever is not pressed in - it's keyed to the pawl. Pull the pawl out with a telescoping magnet and everything will make sense.

Don't use brake cleaner on any of the seals. Disassemble the ratchet entirely before subjecting it to brake cleaner. There's an O-ring around the reverse lever, and another seal around the square drive of the gear; don't let brake cleaner come in contact with either one of those seals.

There's no need to take the O-ring off the reverse lever unless you're installing a rebuild kit.

After everything is clean and reassembled, flood it with Permatex 81950 before installing the cover plate.

 

[Crashman]

Thanks for your help guys - really appreciated.

 

[-B-]

Do not use that permatex **** it is assembly lube it only meant for short term service life. Use a good syn grease preferably something from a bicycle shop( Pedro's syn grease $6-8 a tube at any good shop) it will out last and not bleed out. You only need to make the palls and the teeth wet do not over lube as you are just asking for more maintenance and reliability issues. I deal with lubes and the effects of them on parts and metal every day, those who suggest wrong lubes have no experience in at all.

 

[ATTappman]

Do not use that permatex **** it is assembly lube it only meant for short term service life.

I'm not a tribologist, but the distinguishing characteristic of assembly lube is that it's tacky - it has additives that make it stick to surfaces. Permatex's technical data sheet doesn't say it's designed for a short life, it's designed to stick to engine components during assembly and start up, and then be washed away by motor oil. If you never started the engine, and instead just turned the crankshaft by hand every so often, I don't think assembly lube would evaporate or break down. I don't see why it would work any worse in a ratchet than any other lubricant with a similar viscosity. The neat thing about assembly lube is that the tackiness compensates for the low viscosity, so you get a lubricant that flow easily out of a bottle but still sticks to the mechanism. It's easier to apply to a ratchet mechanism than grease.

But after all it's just a ratchet.

 

[bmxr4life87]

hell i put red wheel bearing grease in my crafstman raised panel 1/2 and it made a big difference so ANYthing with lubricating properties would be better than putting nothing in there

 

[48548]

I use mobil 1 red synthetic grease in a tube in all of my ratchets from plomb/proto to snap on to you name it, but to much in my 60 teeth crafty models does cause them them to hang up so go lightly on them. I would use it again and again and again, works great and makes them smooth, maybe not as much as RLL but not bad and it should last forever in a ratchet.

 

[-B-]

I'm not a tribologist, but the distinguishing characteristic of assembly lube is that it's tacky - it has additives that make it stick to surfaces. Permatex's technical data sheet doesn't say it's designed for a short life, it's designed to stick to engine components during assembly and start up, and then be washed away by motor oil. If you never started the engine, and instead just turned the crankshaft by hand every so often, I don't think assembly lube would evaporate or break down. I don't see why it would work any worse in a ratchet than any other lubricant with a similar viscosity. The neat thing about assembly lube is that the tackiness compensates for the low viscosity, so you get a lubricant that flow easily out of a bottle but still sticks to the mechanism. It's easier to apply to a ratchet mechanism than grease.

But after all it's just a ratchet.

It is not a lube as you just stated it is a temporary buffer only. A properly lube ratchet will not need service or need to be cleaned for years of daily service. A proper lube will not bleed, an easy identifier of an inferior lube is bleeding , minor weeping is ok it happens to all grease less to synthetics. ( weep =1or two drops or wetl ook at a seal)

 

[Merkava_4]

Do not use that permatex **** it is assembly lube it only meant for short term service life.

There you go dissing my Permatex again when you haven't even tried it yourself.

 

[The Muffin Man]

I've been very pleased with these three fluids: Permatex engine assembly lube, Dow 33, and chain/sprocket lube.

Higher tooth count ratchets (72+) do favor the chain lube and I ussualy apply a Moly coating to the internals as well. Permatex also works magnificently with higher tooth count ratchets as well.

I save Dow 33 for ratchets which tend to bleed Permatex too much such as the Craftsman teardrop ratchets. Higher tooth count ratchets also seem to like the greater viscosity as well (Unless it is a Cornwell.)

 

[babzog]

I just cleaned and lubed all my ratchets this past weekend. Prior to joining this site, it never would have occurred to me that the reason for binding and jamming could be just crud and it certainly wouldn't have occurred to me to open 'em up and clean 'em. I guess I just thought they wore out and then you replaced 'em (or bought better ones that didn't wear out so quickly).

Anyway, I soaked them overnight in a tub of varsol, then disassembled a couple at a time. I had one Craftsman where the pin holding the pawl in place was stuck in place. It was only after opening up another identical Craftsman that I discovered the pin just slips out. So a few whacks on the workbench and it came out enough to grab it. A couple (that Craftsman and an ETC [Japanese, looks like a Craftsman knockoff]) were fairly packed with crud. All parts were scrubbed clean then reassembled with a liberal coating of 3 in 1 oil and they all work nicely now.

 

[sk farmer]

All parts were scrubbed clean then reassembled with a liberal coating of 3 in 1 oil and they all work nicely now.

oh the horror!!!!!! i used to use that but found out it quickly disapppeared leaving them dry. it just kind of runs away. i have been using rll in all my rats. even the fine tooth round heads when used sparingly. the pear heads love it from course to fine. i would try it before anyone knocks it.

 

[wrenchr]

The reverse lever is not pressed in - it's keyed to the pawl. Pull the pawl out with a telescoping magnet and everything will make sense.

Don't use brake cleaner on any of the seals. Disassemble the ratchet entirely before subjecting it to brake cleaner. There's an O-ring around the reverse lever, and another seal around the square drive of the gear; don't let brake cleaner come in contact with either one of those seals.

There's no need to take the O-ring off the reverse lever unless you're installing a rebuild kit.

After everything is clean and reassembled, flood it with Permatex 81950 before installing the cover plate.

I would not "FLOOD" it like Merk suggest's but get a good coverage of the gear and pawl with the lube of your choice.

 

[babzog]

oh the horror!!!!!! i used to use that but found out it quickly disapppeared leaving them dry. it just kind of runs away. i have been using rll in all my rats. even the fine tooth round heads when used sparingly. the pear heads love it from course to fine. i would try it before anyone knocks it.

What is "RLL"? And you weren't the first to mention it in this thread.

 

[Bull]

RLL= Red Lube of Love. It is the name given to the red Permatex assembly lube that Merk introduced a lot of folks here to.

 

[pjcforpres2020]

Here is what I do everytime I buy a new ratchet/ do my 6 month cleaning...

-Take it apart as much as possible...
-If used, I then put all the metal parts in a cup of brake fluid for a couple minutes...
-Then I put all the metal parts in a cup with WD-40 so they get totally submerged, and let them sit in that for 30 minutes...
-Then I put Lubriplate on the teeth of the head, just smear it on with a finger... FYI, every rebuild kit I ever got that came with lube was nothing more than Lubriplate repackaged...
-I do use RLL on my fine tooth ratchets in place of the Lubriplate, seems to be a lot smoother! For that, I smear it on the teeth of the head just like I would with the Lubriplate, then I dip the pawls in the RLL...

-For my SK Palm Controls, I just fill the head, then tighten the set screw down til it seats, but don't torque at all, then I back off a 1/4 turn so the palm control plate spins freely.

 

[babzog]

RLL= Red Lube of Love. It is the name given to the red Permatex assembly lube that Merk introduced a lot of folks here to.

Red Lube of Love? Has a slightly pornographic ring to it.

So what's the consensus on it (or other assembly lubes for that matter, such as Royal Purple) for ratchet use? Seems there's two camps at war here.

 

[pjcforpres2020]

Red Lube of Love? Has a slightly pornographic ring to it.

So what's the consensus on it (or other assembly lubes for that matter, such as Royal Purple) for ratchet use? Seems there's two camps at war here.

Likely there will be no consensus... I like the RLL, especially in my fine tooth ratchets, you just need to make sure not to overfill, but that is the same with any other lube. For lower tooth count ratchets, I prefer my Lubriplate, it is not as smooth as the RLL, but when I pull out my 36 tooth ratchet I am not looking for a smooth action, I am looking for a strong ratchet. And with the Lubriplate, it does not leak at all, period, where the RLL will leak a little bit to a lot, depending on how much you use.

The only real place one can make any legit arguement that one is better than another is wear and tear and general feel. A tacky lube, more like grease than oil, will have better wear because it will help cushion the ratcheting action, but at the same time will add drag, and might not do a better job than the RLL at forcing dirt to the surface, thus away from the actual contact point of the teeth. The less dirt getting compacted every time you use the ratchet, the less wear it will recieve.

In the end, any lube is better than no lube. Factory lube tends to be thicker than the RLL, and I am betting they use it for a couple reasons... It sticks to the teeth better, doesn't ooze out, has long effective use life span, and it is non corrosive. As long as you don't put something corrosive in there, and you like the results, then you have your personal consensus.

 

[paramudduck]

Heck I prefer the Sta Lube engine assembly lube. It won't weep forever like the Permatrex does.

Also I have ratchets I used it in three years ago that are still well lubed. But usually I just grab what ever is handy and smear some of it on lightly.

Too much seems to draw crud like a magnet.