Bahco Ratchet (Possibly Faulty) ???

[minos316]

Can anyone please tell me whether they receive the following behaviour with their Bahco ratchet? I talking about the 60 tooth one such as the one that comes in the s138 kit.

Specifically the 1/2 and 3/8 my 1/4 doesn't seem to do it, (or the bits are just to small to test).

After you put a socket on the ratchet, can you remove it without pressing the button with a half decent amount of force?

I've just bought this set and am trying to rule out if my ratchets are faulty or whether it is as designed, very strange.

I can also force the socket onto the ratchet without pressing the button.

Surely it isn't normal? I have a Halfords set and theres no getting the sockets off the ratchet without pressing the button.

Can anyone with this ratchet please test this with theirs if possible. I honestly cba sending it back to get it exchanged.

[Oldandslow]

Can't speak for the Bahco specifically but I've found the degree of retention varies across brands of ratchets and then when you are mixing and matching sockets from other kits it varies again.

Personally I've found the retention to be more of a pain that an aid. The simple sprung ball has always seemed adequate to me without a lock and it's an extra fiddly thing to mess with.

[minos316]

I don't get what your saying.

I exchanged this earlier today however now thw 1/2 drive doesnt do it but the 3/8 drive does do it.

arent Bahco supposed to be a pretty good brand for tools?

[Oldandslow]

How important is that feature?

Given that I have a couple of ratchets and breaker bars that only have a friction fit into the sockets and have never felt the lack of it I'd say, not very. In fact it gets in the way of changing sockets especially when wearing gloves.

[steveo3002]

does it fall off under normal use waving it around ? if no then good enough

[sedatepace]

Can happen with both my 1/2 and 3/8 drive ratchet in my S138 kit but requires quite a bit of force to pull off a socket without pressing the button.

Sockets don't just drop off.

[E-bmw]

It sounds like there is nothing wrong with it to me, these "detents" are frequently done using a spring loaded ball bearing, so either with some force it can be pulled off or with the push of the button they fall off.