Proto 5249 ratchet question

[henry29]

I picked up this ratchet a few months ago from a friend, but never could get it to work right.

In the off position it works fine, but when it's switched over it just locks up.
The left side seems to be hanging on the gear.

Any ideas? Is it assembled right?


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[Ponchoguy]

Replace it with a RP Craftsman (j/k). Did you try to get a rebuild kit for it? I'd try there first, looks (unless it's just your photo) a little rough inside.

 

[DSLTRK]

What usually happens with those old Protos is the reversing cam that pushes the pawl away from the gear wears down, and eventually the pawl doesn't completely release the gear.

I've fixed that issue in a pinch by soldering the cam to build it back up to at least get it working again.

Not the best fix, but it did work.

 

[zkling]

The selector cam lobe might be worn down to far on that side, not allowing the non used paw to swing completly out of the way.

 

[kwoswalt99]

Looks like the lever isn't far enough over. Maybe clean it out and lube it.

 

[henry29]

The pictures are to dark and the camera batteries are dead now.

It was supposed to have just been rebuilt.

The shadow on the cam looks like its worn, but it actually doesn't look worn at all.

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[henry29]

Here's a better pic, it looks like lever is going to far and it's going past the point on the cam.

View media item 54586

 

[AmishFury]

opened mine up to see how mine looked... turns out i must have been drunk when i put it back together... explains why the switch always felt like there was a slight hang in the middle... and it worked quite well with them backwards

 

[ganymede]

I picked up this ratchet a few months ago from a friend, but never could get it to work right.

In the off position it works fine, but when it's switched over it just locks up.
The left side seems to be hanging on the gear.

Any ideas? Is it assembled right?
]

Yes it's assembled the right way. As you suspected and others have said, the cam isn't moving the idle pawl far enough from the gear.
It doesn't surprise me that your friend said the ratchet was just rebuilt . The couple of rebuild kits I've gotten from Proto had cams that left the idle pawl less than 1/32 from the edge of the gear.
I have now a war era Plomb that had the same problem and it wasn't even used much. No rebuild kits for it so I had to take a ball pein and mash the cam till it was oversize, and file little bits off until it worked good. Kind of a pain to re- assemble, check diss-assemble, file and check again and again but I guess it was worth it.
Don't know if I'd try it with a modern ratchet though because the cam may be made of metal that will break apart instead of bend.

 

[defektes]

Try the soldering idea posted above, that may be your best bet. As others have said it appears the center lobe is not engaging correctly. The gears look really good.

 

[henry29]

I took a punch and flattened the left side of the cam.
It works both directions now, but it hangs a little every once in a while.

 

[henry29]

The pin on the bottom of the left pawl is smaller than the right one causing it to move around and hang on the gear.

I ended up filing the top of the left pawl, greased it, and now it works perfect.

I think this was just a really bad rebuild kit, I hope all the kits aren't this bad.

 

[nutsnbolts]

I was wondering how old these ratchets are (what era?) and if you can get rebuild kits for them. I found what looks to be a decent deal on a handful of them on Ebay that need rebuilding. Is it worth my time and energy?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/141881145772?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

[B_Bimmer]

I was wondering how old these ratchets are (what era?) and if you can get rebuild kits for them. I found what looks to be a decent deal on a handful of them on Ebay that need rebuilding. Is it worth my time and energy?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/141881145772?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Those are very recent, I saw that when he first posted it and thought about it pretty hard, but I have a personal problem with warranting tools I didn't buy or use and break, not knowing how they were used, or abused. Not saying it's right or wrong... just me. They are very nice ratchets and well worth the price, plus I can't help but wonder if they are really broken, or just need to be cleaned and lubed.

 

[nutsnbolts]

Those are very recent, I saw that when he first posted it and thought about it pretty hard, but I have a personal problem with warranting tools I didn't buy or use and break, not knowing how they were used, or abused. Not saying it's right or wrong... just me. They are very nice ratchets and well worth the price, plus I can't help but wonder if they are really broken, or just need to be cleaned and lubed.

Someone read this and bought them...they are gone now

 

[decableguy2000]

As far as I know the kits will work 60+ year old Plombs. I did this with a 1/4" that belonged to my Grandfather.

Jeremy

 

[methomas70]

I called Proto last year, they were easy to deal with and sent me out a couple of rebuild kits.

Free.