Bolt buster or Mini ductor II: Anyone using; what do you recommend?

[Tarheelgarage]

Bossman asked me to look into getting an inductive heat tool for those stubborn rusted fasteners that are too close to flammable material to safely heat with with the blue wrench.

I haven't done a lot of research yet but seems like the two biggest players are the Bolt Buster or Mini Ductor II.

Anyone using one in the shop and can recommend one over the other? They appear quite bulky which might prevent them from being used in tight spots.

Thoughts/comments/suggestions appreciated.

Tarheelgarage
Still spin'in wrenches in Dixieland

 

[Kracin]

bulky is a relative term for something like those, why would anyone not be able to just bend the coil any which way to get it where you want it?

 

[greasemonkey44]

I have a minductor 2; it's the bees knees
I like to use it to bend wrenches and free up insanely tight fittings
Super handy

 

[Tarheelgarage]

bulky is a relative term for something like those, why would anyone not be able to just bend the coil any which way to get it where you want it?

yeah, is was wondering if the coils could be bent to get access into tight spots.

 

[stearn786]

I haven't used a bolt buster, but Chrysler just sent us a miniductor as part of the jeep trailer hitch recall at work. I've used it a couple of times already for bolts where I didn't want the area around the bolt heated. Seems to work good so far.

The coils can be bent pretty much any way you want; the problem is bending them and still being able to get the coils close enough to the fastener to be effective. It's much more "enclosed space" friendly than the torches though for sure.

I'm looking forward to the next exhaust manifold I have to do. That's where these things really shine!

 

[Mohawk Dave]

I think this really says it all....

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[jimindm]

I can not compare the two, but I do have the mini ductor 2.

You will find many more uses for it than just heating stuck bolts.

The attachments that cam with it are OK and give a baseline of what you will want to buy later. You can buy short, medium and long. You can bend them in all kinds of ways and they still work. They also have a rope type that just kind of wraps around what you need to heat, and they have a paddle that heats up too. Not real sure what it is used for.

As with most tools there is place for it to be used. It works really well for what it was designed for. I have used it for many other things. The first time I used it was on a JD garden tractor. My small frame neighbor lady could not reach the pedals and when she moved the seat forward the adjuster hit her in the back of the leg. The rod was about one inch from the seat cover. Within seconds of pushing the button I could bend that where ever she wanted.

 

[csargents1546]

The mini inductor is awesome. At work we used it to heat and remove cad bolts on ford super duty when we pulled the cab. Can't go wrong with the inductor

 

[xj31]

I have the bolt buster, a co worker has the original mini-doctor. I believe they are identical. I also work at a Chrysler dealer and we just got a new mini-ductor for the trailer hitch recall. I haven't used the new one yet but I would have to say its 6 of one, half a dozen of the other. I bought the bolt buster because of the price. I believe they are both 1000 watts.

 

[DodgeMech]

I have the bolt buster, a co worker has the original mini-doctor. I believe they are identical. I also work at a Chrysler dealer and we just got a new mini-ductor for the trailer hitch recall. I haven't used the new one yet but I would have to say its 6 of one, half a dozen of the other. I bought the bolt buster because of the price. I believe they are both 1000 watts.

damn, so i guess chryco is shorting us the cool stuff again...i'm gonna talk with my parts manager on monday about the mini ductor thing...

 

[toolmuchtool]

Any one have used both ,and can say one is a lot better than the other? Are the extra coils interchangeable with each other? Thanks I would like to get one, and if price is not a concern is one way better?

 

[Tarheelgarage]

Bossman ordered one Monday and it arrived today.
I fired it up and heated up a test bolt; that sucker was cherry red in 30 seconds.....

 

[MattPersman]

Mini ductor 2 works well

 

[JoeMA]

Any one have used both ,and can say one is a lot better than the other? Are the extra coils interchangeable with each other? Thanks I would like to get one, and if price is not a concern is one way better?

I will be purchasing an induction heater and have some of the same questions that were never answered.

The Bolt Buster is priced a little under the Mini-Ductor II and includes more coils. Is there any significant difference between the two and are the coils interchangeable?

 

[JoeMA]

Guess I'll go with the Bolt Buster and report back on how it works.

 

[Professur]

And???

 

[JoeMA]

and it kicks ***. Used it to rebuild a front end on a 15 year old rusty car. All bolts/nuts came of with ease after several seconds on the BB. No pre-soaking in penetrating fluid or dealing with broken bolts. Well worth the investment.

I chose the BB over MD because it is priced lower, includes more accessories and is said to have improvements over the MD II. I emailed the following questions to BB and received the answers below.

Is there any difference between the Bolt Buster II and Min-Ductor II?

Bolt Buster is working with the original inventor and patent owner who founded Induction Innovations, Inc. We have a license agreement which gives us rights to Manufacture, Market and sell in the USA. By working with the original designer we have made significant improvements to the internal circuitry to make it more efficient which in-turn helps heat parts faster. We have also improved the reliability by making manufacturing improvements. We offer 1 year warranty and an extended warranty for year 2 and 3 for $75.00.

Cosmetically the housing is different, our housing is a custom 1 piece cylindrical design and in our experience is more preferred as it is easier to hold and maneuver into hard to reach spots. The Mini-ductor is a 2 piece black housing which is slightly thicker (10mm thicker in Diameter), it does have an LED light as well. Though it is also a nice custom housing it is slightly thicker and field findings have shown the top of the housing will melt if overheated.

I see the Bolt Buster II kit (SKU: BB2-acc.) is listed for $469. In 2014, the Bolt Buster had a list price of $369---is there any difference between the current model and the 2014 version at the lower price?

The $369.99 was a Trade show special. Our unit comes with a Coil Kit (Value = $150.00). If you compare apples to apples our unit is about 20% less than the competitor.

 

[Jbullfrog]

I have an extra MD II if anyone is interested. I managed to buy two the same day by mistake. Ebay from an IPad is not recommended. $400 shipped.