5 minute read
3/8-inch wrench
by EndeavorBusinessMedia-VehicleRepairGroup
Mac Tools cordless 3/8-inch wrench
Size, balance and weight prove handy for working in tight areas
By Mike Mavrigian
The range of high-quality cordless electric power tools is quickly expanding. Torque and battery life is increasing, and the toughness and durability demanded by pro technicians is increasingly being met. To provide insight into a new offering, here we’ll review one of the latest Mac Tools cordless impact wrenches.
The Mac Tools BWP038-S2 kit includes the BWP038 a 3/8-inch-drive cordless impact wrench, a pair of MB120 12V Max rechargeable lithium ion batteries, an MCB101 battery charger and an MTB001 tool bag.
The wrench is extremely well-balanced and feels great in your hand. The handy forward/reverse button is easily operated with the fore-f nger or thumb without the need to re-position the wrench in your hand. The body is made of glassf lled nylon for toughness and chemical resistance, and the grip’s coating is The 3/8-inch-drive Mac Tools cordless wrench is relatively compact, at 7.1 inches tall by 6.7 inches long oh-so-comfy. and a mere 2.5 inches wide.
Since this impact wrench is just handsdown-pretty with its ergonomic design and to six feet. The thick-skinned little bugger eye-catching red/black/silver color scheme, I just kept on tickin’ and never missed a beat. really had to force myself to abuse this little Naturally, if you whack any exposed battery tough guy. With a whopping 725 ft.-lbs. of pack around hard enough, you’re eventually available grunt and its nifty compact size, going to break it, but during my on and off it’s def nitely a workhorse and ideal when testing over a period of almost a week, she you don’t wish to (or can’t) drag an air hose never argued with me and just kept on slamaround. But it’s so darned curvy and cute, I min’ (even though on two of the drops, the felt that it would break my heart to intenbattery pack popped off, but after snapping tionally scratch it or get it dirty. In the end, it back on, she kept operating like new). For I sucked it up and put it through its paces, any cordless tool, that’s a good enough proof intentionally dropping it onto my shop’s conof durability to suit me. NOTE: After testcrete f oor several times from heights of two ing, I carefully wiped her clean and felt like
This cordless wrench, as with all of Mac’s new cordless lineup, shares commonly available DeWalt lithium ion battery technology.
The intelligent charger (which is based on DeWalt technology) will handle any DeWalt lithium ion rechargeable battery.
The charger features a bright red indicator light that provides charging status, hot/cold delay alert, and notif es the user if there’s a problem with the battery or power source. I needed to apologize before slipping the wrench into its storage bag. Impact wrench specif cations:
Anvil size 3/8-inch (square drive w/hog ring)
Breakaway torque 725 ft.-lbs.
Blow rate 1,900 bpm
Free speed 1,700 rpm
Weight 2.6 lbs.
Height 7.1 inches
Length 6.7 inches
Width 2.5 inches
Battery interchange
A very cool, considerate and user-friendly feature of this kit’s batteries (and for Mac’s entire line of new cordless electric tools) is a direct interchange for DeWalt batteries. Since Mac and DeWalt are business partners, design engineers decided to do what makes sense — to build all of Mac Tools’ cordless tools using the already-established DeWalt battery technology.
As a result, if a battery is damaged or worn out, there’s no need to special order a proprietary Mac battery. You can simply pop over
The kit includes the wrench, battery charger, two batteries and a sturdy zippered carrying case.
to your nearest discount hardware store and grab a DeWalt battery.
The battery charger
The MCB101 battery charger is designed to charge Mac Tools and Dewalt 12V and 20V Max lithium ion battery packs. The charger also serves as a battery analyzer, designed to detect potential battery problems. Any problems are indicated by the red charging light f ashing at a fast rate.
The charger features a hot/cold delay operation. If the charger detects a battery that is hot, it automatically starts a delay, suspending charging until the battery has cooled, at which time it automatically starts the charging process. The red light f ashes long, then short while in the hot/cold delay mode. If the battery is faulty, the charger won’t attempt to charge and the red indicator will either refuse to light or it will display a warning for problem battery.
The tool bag (which was a surprise for me, as I didn’t know this would be included) is a very nice touch. The zippered heavy-duty nylon bag features twin carry handles, a reinforced f at bottom beefed up with a pair
At an astoundingly light 2.6 pounds, the compact wrench proved light enough for extended use in arm-reach locations.
of footprint support rails, and a very roomy approximately 12 x 7.5 x 7.5-inches of storage space that will accommodate much more than the wrench, charger and batteries. Unlike some tools that include cases or bags that will barely f t the tool alone, this bag is pleasingly huge (with enough room left over to easily stash your lunch). Side pockets are also featured at each end of the bag.
Manufacturer’s list price for the BWP038-S2 kit at the time of this writing is $299.99. ●
MANUFACTURER INFORMATION
MAC Tools 505 N. Cleveland Ave.
Westerville, OH 43082 800-MAC-TOOLS (622-8665) www.mactools.com
Torque is more than adequate, providing a whopping 725 ft.-lbs. when needed.
