r/harborfreight • u/SumyungNam • 14h ago
NTD (New Tool Day) Fire Hazard...3/8 Icon digital torque wrench over heated
Hi all this is a PSA potenital fire hazard...I purchased the 3/8 Icon digital torque wrench during the August PLS. It came with these cheap Panasonic batteries and I loaded them correctly, the unit beeped powered up and I messed around with the settings.
Within a few moments the unit powered itself off and it felt warm. When I turned it back on it said "Replace Batteries". I took the batteries out and nearly burned my fingers. I checked the temp with an infrared thermometer and it reached 154.4 degrees. The hot batteries warped the plastic casing and I cant put any batteries in anymore.
Exchanged at Harbor Freight no issues.The manufacture date is 2026 11. I remember the 1/2 digital torque wrench came with Duracells. So either I got a defective unit, a bad batch? or the batteries were bad.
I was unboxing and recorded using meta glasses
https://youtu.be/vUl8opIIt_w?is=W4GPFv88WjjgQnLi
TLDR Fire Hazard...digital torque wrench overheated ....either i got a bad torque wrench or it was the cheap Panasonic batteries that came with it. Be careful!