🫵🏻Your New Icon Ratchet Is Broken! Fix It Before It Explodes! 

First discovered this issue on a 3/8 Capri ratchet a few years ago.too much slack inside. I worked at place we made washers and spacers. So I found from scrap barrel some round flat .0005-.00010 round shims that would fit under the back side of anvil. It did exactly what I suspected and the ratchet never had another issue. Was very quiet and smooth and never locked up again. I actually called Capri and told them what I did and they were very good kind people and thanked me. They were concerned and said will have product development check thar out. So basically too much slack in tolerance will cause to grab and bind on the edges instead of the middle.

The fix is order the tekton repair kits. You can also order the tekton 3/8" kit and put into the icon 1/4" body

Only thing I own from HF is the Pittsburgh wrench set I got from Christmas in 2018 lol.

I didn't get to the sale. Unfortunately, it would have been great to have picked up some of them. I hope Harbor Fright steps up and at lest offers the washers to whoever needs them. Great information thank you for your expertise

Picked up an extra 3/8 flex head rachet to remove the head and install it on the Pittsburgh 18" racheting breaker bar. Worked great removing a serpentine belt so far 👌

I bought a flex head 3/8" comfort grip about 18 months ago. No washer, but well greased. Turns smooth and feels ok to me, but I'm not an expert. Honestly it was the first time I ever took a ratchet apart to look at these things. This one is dedicated to my garage for lawn mower repair, so it's fine for my needs. I will always have the warranty if it fails. Very interesting and interesting comments already coming in.

i had the 3/8 long soft handle for 2/3 years for home use and it snapped on a caliper bolt i went in to replace it and the new one felt like crap would bind up would switch postions off to on ext i have not brought it back but my new one did not have the washer inside very disappointed wont be getting any more icon ratchets for me

i bought an icon 1/4" drive solid ratchet about a year ago and ive had this exact problem with it! Thanks for the diagnosis

I bought the 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2" flex head. None of them have the washer. None of them bind or grind and all have quite a bit of grease. Hopefully they will last if not I'll just use the warranty.

Thanks for the video. I bought several of these on sale and concluded the fixed heads were garbage, so I got my money back. I kept the flex-heads since they didn't have any issues. What a shame. Keep up the good work!

Got 2 1/4 inch, 2 3/8s in the past 2 weeks from 2 diff stores. 1/4” had wave springs, 3/8” didn’t. The regular 3/8 locked up the first time i used it (tightening my bike pedals). Flex head 3/8ths is working fine but wanna try adding a wave washer The screws in my 1/4” are T6, that’s prob why u snapped your T5

Something from Horror Fright broken? Say it isn't so... 🤣🤣

I went in and clipped a couple coils out of my pawl spring. Took a bit of the drag out. Mine didn’t have it either.

My 3/8 Icon flex has a washer and it's pretty much butter smooth. I wish you looked in the 1/2" , my 1/2" does not and it's "OKAY", But not nearly as smooth as the 3/8th. You can find washers at any nut and bolt 🔩 store, possibly home depot if you just get the paper style ones, (they'll hold up) it's like a fiberglass or something. So I guess you're saying it's better WITH a washer ??

Ever since I bought one without it, I always check when I immediately disassemble, clean, and re-lube the head with WD-40 spray gel lube. It always makes a difference in smoothness for me. They did a recall on their ratchets a few years ago, and that's one of the things they added to all of them. They will exchange them with no issue. But ever since then, I always spin the anvil to check for smoothness, and if it's a flex-head, I check for excessive play at the hinge. Every now and then, a few will get past quality control without it. Other than that, they're great, I haven't had any issues with Icon ratchets. I currently have 4 flex-head, one swivel head (they don't have the wavy washer because it's a different design), and one fixed-head. But again, they exchanged them for me with no questions asked. Just tell them it's binding under pressure.

I checked my long handle Comfort grip Flex head 3/8 and it works just fine. However I did notice it didn't have an O-ring or the flex washer. I wonder if it is the ones with o-ring that make use of the washer or is mine missing both. Lol My 1/4" stubby Icon that i worked the spring on has both o-ring and spring washer

No icon ratchet I have bought has had grease in it and I fix the horrible back drag by cutting and stretching the spring out you will be surprised.

purchased a 3/8 fixed head yesterday (8/16), no washer and it has the binding problem. I really want to like it, especially because of the easy warranty, but considering just returning it and buying something else. Even when it doesn't bind the resistance noticeably changes on the ratcheting mechanism with different force applied. Even at the sale price its pretty unacceptable, the cheap pittsburgh ratchets on the rack feel better than this. Let us know if you find a suitable washer. It's definitely interesting that despite almost identical design, the flex heads don't seem to have this problem.

Just use a shim, it's the tolerance that can cause performance issues The wave washer may feel nicer in the hand under no force as it will take up the clearance, but under even slight pressure it will simply deform into a shim.

i went and check mine after watching your vid and two of my 3/8 ratchets definitely have this issue. please let us know if you find the correct spring washers! thanks man

What size washer should I buy??? Mine is missing also HELP!!

Oh no everyone panic!

I'm a field service tech in the automation industry. I bought an icon 3/8 rachet around the time they first came out, and I have had to warranty it twice since then. Gets used every day. Face plate screws eventually walk out and if I'm not paying attention the whole thing will fall apart and springs and the detent goes flying. I have a backup Pittsburg one and it's survived 8 ish years.

I purchased two 1/2" drive flex heads and a 3/8" fixed head. The flex heads are great. The fixed head had this problem. I thought about fixing it myself for a minute... I just returned it. Im gonna replace it with a Tekton and never look back.

My 1/2 Icon flex was bone dry just like yours. Every ratchet I opened up got a dose of Superlube.

Doesn't tampering, void the lifetime warranty??

Hey, I have that same exact silicone mat! . . . Do you order from Handheld Legend too?

Excellent video. After purchasing a total of 6 of these over the last few days with the sale, I have a ton of work to do now. I was using the 3/8” long flex, I did notice some binding yesterday, so sounds like I need to inspect them all. What’s your recommendation on ratchet lube? Lots of folks using that superlube stuff, but curious to see your thoughts. Also, it would be killer if someone could post an Amazon link to a set of plug and plug wave washers for those that need them…

I hate the noise my ICONs are making. It feels like I’m missing shifts on a tractor trailer.

I bought the 1/4" stubby and standard straight handle ratchets yesterday (last day of sale). I opened them up and they do have the wave springs inside. No locking up but they seem to have varying amounts of backdrag from ratchet to ratchet. I'm guessing the factory may have had supply chain issues and was feeling the pressure from HF to push product out the door.

I have the 3/8 comfort grip and im having this problem,no washer

I had a paul on an icon ratchet snap in half on me before.

Does it reverse when being used upside down?

If you have to repair your own tools that defeats the whole purpose of buying any harbor freight junk

This is very Poor Quality Control❗ Harbor Freight needs to have another recall

🫡

What size wave washer is that you used?

If your ICON ratchet breaks, you can get it replaced with the new line they might be coming out with.

Come on now, just buy a snap on and you won’t have these issues 😉