Battery Ratchet?

[Deyomatic]

Several years ago, my local hardware store was having a special on Skil cordless ratchets, battery powered. It quickly became my favorite tool. I hated air ratchets because they are so damn noisy- this thing worked as long as it was charged- which never ran out on me, and has been my go-to for probably 6 years or so.
Today it died. I found a thread here that told me it was discontinued in 2010.

There was a recommendation here for a Milwaukee branded product that was $160 with charger...that Skil was $20.

Are there any other alternatives? Should I pony up for the Milwaukee or spend the $160 on hearing protection and use the air ratchet?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

that skil was surprisingly good for $20, although the trigger has been wierd from day 1.

Looking at what fools pay for them now on ebay, I might have to wash mine up and sell it.

take yours apart and try to fix it, nothing to lose.

this one is pretty cool.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Skil-3-8-Drive-Power-Wrench-Ratchet-Cordless-and-Rechargeable-/152152430939

 

[wssix99]

Mine was a great tool. I loved that thing, but I haven't seen one since the '90's. lol

I ditched my tool before I figured out that the batteries for these tools were replaceable. You should be able to take the ratchet apart and replace the NiCd batteries inside for just a few bucks.

 

[wssix99]

I don't miss the ratchet too much today, though. I just use a socket adapter on my cordless impact screw driver and that covers most of the same bases.

 

[CSRPenFab]

Get the Milwaukee m12 3/8 ratchet and you won't be disappointed. I use mine all the time for small engine work.etc and it's a great tool. Not all that cheap, but very well built.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

I don't miss the ratchet too much today, though. I just use a socket adapter on my cordless impact screw driver and that covers most of the same bases.

It hits a lot of timing cover and core support bolts a screwdriver has no chance at, and is Li batts.

 

[theoldwizard1]

My all time favorite cordless screwdriver is an old Black & Decker VersaPak. Slow as hell, but because it was geared down a lot, it actually had some torque. Best of all, because it is straight (like a REAL screwdriver) you can get into spaces without an extension and you can manually give it that little bit of extra torque to crack the nut loose on inch it down.

!/4 hex drive but I have a hex to 1/4" square adapter that I use a lot with it.

 

[Corndoggeh]

In the words of AvE, its already f*cked, you can't f*ck it any worse. If its as good as you say it is, I would attempt to fix it first before sinking cash into a new one.

 

[wssix99]

and is Li batts.

Not the one the OP linked to on eBay. That's the first generation 3.6 NiCd. (It came out before God invented Lithium or fire.) The battery is pure ****.

The OP probably had the 7.2V second generation model. It must have been a LOT better!

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

The OP didn't link anything, I linked the old one because it looked beefier the.
I have the 7.2, as Ii suspect the OP does. Its not very strong, but very handy in a tight spot or if you have to run a ton of 10MMs in and out.

 

[wssix99]

Ah.

The OP didn't link anything, I linked the old one because it looked beefier the.

It was certainly heavy. Back in the day, the older one would do great for 2 or three bolts and then slow down to a snail's pace. But, it was beefier - and it was all we had - and we liked it.

 

[RobSmith]

Simple .....Pull it apart and replace the battery...

 

[WVBrady]

Simple .....Pull it apart and replace the battery...

Good luck with that. You may be better than I was, but I couldn't cram everything back into place, and when I tried I managed to short out the battery.

 

[WVBrady]

If you got it for $20, you must have got it on a very good sale. I replaced the lower section with battery for about $75 a couple of years ago. Supposedly they had made some improvements in it. Works fine.

 

[Deyomatic]

You are correct...it was probably the clearance sale that I got it on. Wish I'd bought a few but I didn't know they were being discontinued.

I will take a closer look at home, but mine looks exactly like this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Skil-1-4-Dr...d343959&pid=100011&rk=1&rkt=2&sd=152152430939

Anyone know a part number on the battery, or where I'd find one? Maybe I need to call up Skil.

Thanks again.

 

[RPH]

Look for an old Ingersoll-rand Readi-ratchet. I have two, just bought a working one off cl for twenty five dollars. Buddy has one and has updated to li-ion batteries. These things torque to twenty foot pounds and are about 20" long. Makes for a great ratchet.

 

[MichaelG79]

I recently purchased the Ingersoll rand iqv12 ratchet and wish I'd bought it sooner! It manually torques to 80ftlbs and is very compact.

 

[GMBBS]

If you have a local Batteries Plus, they can replace batteries in a lot of these type of tools. I had a cordless Makita drill without the replacement battery, they replaced the battery in it pretty reasonable.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

Anyone know a part number on the battery, or where I'd find one? Maybe I need to call up Skil.

Thanks again.

that's what I have too. www.ereplacementparts.com should have a diagram with a part number, but you will be $ ahead to just get new cells for your existing plastic housing.

 

[OldNeons]

I have had the m12 ratchet for a few years. It's pretty weak as far as loosening or tightening anything. I realize it's not supposed to be an impact, but to me most of the time it feels like it can't get out of its own way if you kow what I mean. I doubt I'd buy it again or recommend to a friend, unless you just need to spin nuts down some long bolts or something.....

 

[Deyomatic]

Would a right angle drill be a suitable alternative, with the appropriate 3/8 adapter? It seems like, assuming using it spin nuts and bolts doesn't harm it, it would be a good 2 in 1 solution.

 

[scooz14]

ive got he Milwaukee m12 1/4 and 3/8 ratchets. i love them.

 

[jcthorne]

I use my Milwaukee 1/4 and 3/8 drive ratchets every day. Those and my 1/4 drive impact driver are the most used tools I own. I also purchased the 1/4 and 3/8 right angle impact drivers thinking they would be stronger than the ratchets. Turns out they are a bit stronger but you cannot manually loosen or tighten with them so they are nearly useless day to day. If they just had a locking button they would be considerably better than the ratchets.

 

[cnttxmdc]

I picked up a used Matco ("powered by DeWalt") ratchet with a couple batteries. That thing is awesome, and well worth the price I paid for it. If I had to do over again, I would. I cant see going back to using a regular ratchet or an air ratchet while laying across an engine or working on something with more than a few fasteners.