1/4" Torque Wrench help please

[furbyj1]

Hello to my fellow brethren of the tool and shop realm,

Heed these words, for a fellow brother needs your assistance.

Alright everyone, here's the situation. I purchased a 1/4" torque wrench on eBay. After receiving it I realized the ratcheting mechanism in the head needs to be replaced. I was wondering if anyone could help me locate the repair kit or any repair kit that will fit for this torque wrench.

 

[RichWolfson]

Are you sure the mechanism is bad or not just dirty? Have you opened it? Torque wrenches don't get much ratcheting use so I would drop the internals in an Ultrasonic cleaner and then lubricate with Super Lube before I tried to find the parts.

///Rich

 

[dnschmidt]

Agreed, That's a high quality torque wrench. I have the same one labeled as AC/Delco.

 

[Zewnten]

Pretty sure you're out of luck if you need parts, sorry. Might find a donor on eBay.

 

[3baygarage]

Just saw one branded OTC as well.

 

[jayemm]

Looks like the head on my SK torque wrench. Which is the same JS Technologies torque wrench made for the KD, ATD, Craftsman and other (probably including this one)brands.

 

[CGarage]

Are you truly sure the head is bad?

 

[jayemm]

Are you truly sure the head is bad?

I'm with you there. All it takes is the removal of one little screw to find out.

 

[furbyj1]

I will open it up tonight when i get home and report back to you guys with what I find.

 

[furbyj1]

All right, so i opened the head and seem to have found the problem during re-assembly.

cleaned up all the parts and re-assembled only to find the exact same problem from before, head/anvil just free spins, and there is also a decent amount of play.

I have taken more pics, the last pic shows that the pawl is not making contact with the teeth on the ratchet head, maybe a 1mm gap. Am i possibly missing a part?

 

[DemoFly]

That is one of the simplest and strongest ratchet designs. That's a block and pawl. Some call them a wedge pawl. Some call them a heartspring ratchet. The pawl spring bent or something. Just adjust it so the pawl wedges between the housing and the anvil block. Don't overtighten the bolt or it won't ratchet.

The play is inherent to the design. It's literally just wedging a block between two pieces of metal.

 

[furbyj1]

I did exactly what you said, made a minor bend adjustment to that spring so it wedges a little more, and I am very happy to report that she is functioning beautifully!!!! Clicks so smooth now!!

I can’t thank you guys enough! I’m super happy with this purchase. I picked this up on eBay for $56 shipped. I dont know if thats a good deal or not for a 1/4” torque wrench but i love this thing!

 

[CGarage]

Nice fix and nice score….good price for a quality tool.

 

[dnschmidt]

Not an uncommon design. TOPTUL (Well actually William Tool) uses this on their round head ratchets. It's simple and it works. I sold an absolute boatload of these in 1/4" flex head and never had a complaint. Well, that's not true a lot of people complain that I can't sell them more of them.

Here's a link: https://www.toptul.com/en/product-520577/Super-Long-Flex-Head-Ratchet-Handle.html

 

[RichWolfson]

...I am very happy to report that she is functioning beautifully!!!! Clicks so smooth now!!

I can’t thank you guys enough!...

I assume you cleaned it the best you could and lubed it with SuperLube? I will last forever if you do.

///Rich

 

[furbyj1]

I sure did!!