Skill Cordless Ratchet dead

[737mechanic]

Bought three of these on clearance for 18 bucks each and after the first week one of them died, now after 6 months the second is dead. After doing some googling I find that many many people are having the same problem. From what I can tell the lithium batteries are either being drained by the charger or being overcharged by the charger and that in turn is killing the batteries. 3.6 volt Lithium ion batteries are not suppose to be drained below about 2.6 volts or charged above 4.2 or else they die premature deaths and in both cases the batteries are dead 0 volts and will not even take a little charge. The charging circuit is suppose to monitor. Anyway has anyone had this problem and if so have you been able to find a fix for it.

These cordless ratchets are kinda weak but they come in very handy in tight places.

Picture of what I am talking about.

 

[WVBrady]

Bad news! I bought one for me and one for my brother. Ours are still good; maybe we got good ones. The nice thing about them is that you can use them like a regualr ratchet to loosen fasteners and then spin them off with the battery. I knew that I hadn't seen them since I bought mine; I thought maybe it was because they were too good. :=)

 

[Danglerb]

I haven't used mine 5 min since I bought it, but I also don't leave it plugged in. I wonder if I did something smart like buy the extended warranty?

 

[DanCo]

I've had 2 of those, the first one lasted a year and change then developed a bad switch/trigger. Saw them on clearance @ lowes for $20 so I bought the second one have not had a problem since, after thinking about it for a week after purchase I decided to go back and buy a few more, but they were completely sold out. Skil has discontinued production. Try ebay or amazon, there might still be a few out there with little use. Or open the thing up and see if the battery cells can be replaced.

 

[737mechanic]

The first one I did open up and replaced the batteries and it worked but I then put it on the charger and after a couple days I needed it and when I went to use it it was dead again, the batteries are at 0 volts and will not take a charge. The batteries it uses are 18650 lithium ion 3.6 volts and it takes 2.

 

[Mr.Nutcase]

Mine still works...... after 3 years....
Good, but dont use to loosen real tight bolts... use regular ratchet, then spin them off with the skill..

 

[Professur]

Mine's dead after sitting on the charger too. Sad, I kinda like it ... the one time I used it.

 

[NJHandyGuy]

ditto for mine threw the damned thing out after getting tired of trying to bring it back to walmart for no dice

 

[kythri]

Wow. I bought one at Walmart a couple years ago, and another at Lowe's a few months later. Both are still working fantastically. Love them to death.

I wonder if there was a bad lot of LiIon cells or something...

 

[TCJ1981]

Have nothin but good things to say about mine also. sat out in the cold garage all winter, brought it in, charged it up and it works like a champ.

 

[padronanniversary]

just swap the batteries. Its easy to do.

 

[Professur]

The question is, is it the cells,or the charger that's causing the issue.

 

[kythri]

It's got a "smart" charger, so it shouldn't be that - when dead, I place them on the charger. Both of mine sit on the charger for days/weeks until I use them again. The light is red when charging, green when done and in "off" or "trickle" mode.

 

[Professur]

Smart chargers can screw up. This thing was pre charged when I got it. Used it once, stuck it on the stand, and it died there. If the battery held it's charge from the factory, to the store, to me .... had loads of charge to do the job ... then died within days ...

Actually,I think I'll pull the cells and try charging them on the cadex in the lab. see that tale that tells.

 

[Danglerb]

Might not be that hard to replace the charger, or its guts anyway. I'd say worth doing some tests on the charger before ruining more batteries.

I'm accumulating a box of battery doesn't work stuff, and plan to open them up, remove the batteries and put on some kind of generic connector for an external power source, maybe a battery pack, or just AC adapter.

 

[Rickochet]

To resurrect an old thread..... I am looking for a trigger switch for this ratchet. Do any of you guys have a good one that you would like to part with?

Thanks!

 

[kythri]

Both of my ratchets are still working great, so no parts here. Sorry!

 

[DHS]

I use on daily at work. A friend of mine gave it to me when he upgraded to a Ridgid one. I only use it set the set screw on the brass cts fitting that we use on poly tubing.

They seem to be pretty well built, IRC they are made or designed by Bosch.

 

[Humble Mechanic]

Mine quit working after a little over a year. I wish I would have bought 50 of those damn things. They work great, and for $20 you can't beat it.

I have tried to find them with no luck.

 

[Danglerb]

When it dies, buy a Milwaukee M12. I think mine is still good, but haven't worked it hard.

 

[bjw1]

Can anyone explain to me how to get the battery out. I've taken out all of the screws, but it won't come apart. Am I missing something?

Bryan

 

[skiingman]

When it dies, buy a Milwaukee M12. I think mine is still good, but haven't worked it hard.

Yeah. I loved my Skil but it died as many others here have. The Milwaukee is a little bulkier and a lot more expensive, but I love it. My air ratchet has been gathering dust for a few years now...

 

[bigugly78cj5]

Can anyone explain to me how to get the battery out. I've taken out all of the screws, but it won't come apart. Am I missing something?

Bryan

you have to pry off the metal sleeve, well pry it up, it kind of locks it all in...its a pain and ive yet to get one to go back properly... id reccomend getting a milwaukee m12 1/4 ratchet... its worth every penny and out performs the skil in almost everyway. with the exception of some ****** bolts/motor mounts, you can pretty much remove a crown vic engine with it...when i bought mine the tool has a 5 year warranty, 2 years on the battery.

 

[1951sms]

First off I can't believe the price now, I bought mine 6 yrs ago, give or take a year. Mine was less than $10.00 and couldn't believe it. Now it's around $90.00. Mine did go bad last year and put batteries in it but won't work after it goes back together?? It is gust the neatest tool, got to try again! Strange batteries? I'm dealing on EBay with another that timed out without a bid for $39.00.

 

[X1 Mike]

I bought three of them on Woot.com when they were $18.00 or something like that and gave two away and mine ended up dying. ***** because I really liked the thing and used the hell out of it. For small low torque applications it can't be beat.


If anyone has a decent one they want to part with feel free to shoot me a pm.

 

[WVBrady]

Mine still works...... after 3 years....
Good, but dont use to loosen real tight bolts... use regular ratchet, then spin them off with the skill..

I just ran across this: "One last thing I would like to mention is that replacement batteries can be found quite easily. They are 3.6 volt cells commonly found in Laptop computer batteries . Just buy a cheap laptop battery off ebay. Crack it open and remove the cells. Most laptop batteries have 6 cells or more in them. Just remember that lipo batteries have poor shelf life ! 4 years is about all you will get... "

http://www.toolsnob.com/archives/2007/11/skil_72volt_lithiumion_power_w_2.php

 

[Danglerb]

So the battery is an 18650?

Saw this in the toolsnob link, any further info? Is it still going, just contact Skil or what?

Posted by: monomial at November 11, 2011 6:37 PM
skil finally has a reengineered power assembly for this ratchet available.. its $38 from skil...new batteries and new electronic module...I love this thing!

 

[X1 Mike]

Now you tell me it's repairable, only about a year too late. I threw it away after the people at Batteries Plus told me it wasn't repairable.

 

[kctyphoon]

For anyone reading this thread from 2013 - Husky makes something comparable for $50 now that comes with sockets.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-1...rger-and-Carrying-Case-H38CPRAT34PC/305332588

 

[dalehsc]

For that kind of $,I'd buy one. I have the non fuel 1/4 & 3/8 Milwaukee at work,both work great.
I'd get one of these for home

 

[streetglider]

I have seen a number of the 18650 batteries on ebay and other sites. I was thinking of trying these. Any reason they wouldn't work?

Nuon 18650 Rechargeable Lithium Ion Flashlight Cell

 

[kctyphoon]

I have seen a number of the 18650 batteries on ebay and other sites. I was thinking of trying these. Any reason they wouldn't work?

Nuon 18650 Rechargeable Lithium Ion Flashlight Cell

I wouldn’t buy 18650 batteries off eBay. Buy them from a place online that sells them - if that makes any sense . 18650s are probably one of the most counterfeited items on there.. go look at the YouTube videos of people cracking some open.