Anyone Modified Their Charge?

K

Kennyroo

Joined
Nov 10, 2004
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I really like my Leatherman Charge Ti, with one exception. I need a 1/8" wide, long, slender screwdriver for terminal strips in electrical panels (same as the old Wave had). The bit driver is great for most applications, but it is too bulky and not long enough for some.

I looked a a Fuse and Kick in the store. I was thinking of buying one of them, and taking the 1/8" screw driver out of it and replacing the eye-glass screw driver in my charge.

Any thoughts?
 
Welcome to the forums!


Idk if they'll fit... Don't you need tamper-proof torx bits to do that? And It'll of course void warrenty. But most likely, nothing would go wrong if you do it correctly. But where are you going to get the bits for R&R?
 
Not sure what you mean... "But where are you going to get the bits for R&R?"?. I emailed Leatherman, but they won't sell the Fuse/Kick 1/8" flathead tool seperately. You can buy a Fuse or Kick (whichever the cheaper one is), for about $40 Canadian. Here in Ontario, we have a store called "Princess Auto" - you can buy the Torx bits there.

Initially I compared a Fuse in the store to my Charge and it looks like it will work. The only thing different is there seems to be a small tab on the Charge that sticks up just in front of the tools. It looks like that is what the pliers hit when you close. The Fuse/Blast/Kick don't have this. It may interfere with the longer tool from the Fuse and have to be cut off.
 
R&R is remove/replace.

I believe tamper-proof torx (torx heads with a prong looking thing in the middle of the hole, the driver will have a hole or recess in it and will accomodate the prong) are in place on the carge. You must buy a tamper-proof torx bit or driver. These can be hard to find, they are supposed to only be sold to professional mechanics (I think).
 
Kennyroo said:
I really like my Leatherman Charge Ti, with one exception. I need a 1/8" wide, long, slender screwdriver for terminal strips in electrical panels (same as the old Wave had). The bit driver is great for most applications, but it is too bulky and not long enough for some.

I looked a a Fuse and Kick in the store. I was thinking of buying one of them, and taking the 1/8" screw driver out of it and replacing the eye-glass screw driver in my charge.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...


Would the bits on the Leatherman Core work better for you?
 
That little tab inside the handle can be removed with the pliers from the Kick that you take the screwdriver bit from. I changed out the bit driver for the phillips from a Kick and that is what I had to do. The older model charges and waves used a five point tamper proof not easy to get but the newer ones and the surge have a six point which is easy to get. If you change the phillips you can always use the adaptor for the kick,fuse, and blast on this modification. Hope this helps.
 
Here is how I set-up my Charge.

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000_0404.jpg
 
Thanks ging! I really like it. I carry Victorinox Golfer also, so I didn't need the can opener.
 
I'm thinking about moding one of these as well but. I'm wondering about the thickness of the kick/fuse/blast driver though. Is it the same thickness as the eyeglass driver or is it more like the large driver?

kodiak, is there any room left after your mod or do the bits take up all the space?
 
Hi nathan. On one side of the Charge I left the large bit driver in, took out the can opener and then put the small screw driver from the Kick in the can openers place. On the other side I took the large bit driver and the small bit driver out, and replaced them with the Philips and the large screw driver from the Kick. Their is no room left in the tool. It all fits perfectly width wise. There are a few other minor things that need to be done to make it close nice. I hope this helps.
 
Thanks kodiak, that does helps a lot. I have been measuring all the bits trying to figure out which combinations will work. I’m assuming you had to remove one of the little tabs right? Do the pliers slide shut nicely on the bits?
 
kodiak said:
I bought a security torx that fits the charge and the surge at Sears.
Click to expand...

Thats odd. The Charge I previously owned had five lobes but the Surge that I have now has 6 lobes :confused:. When did they switch to using 6 instead of 5?
 
Bodieism said:
Thats odd. The Charge I previously owned had five lobes but the Surge that I have now has 6 lobes :confused:. When did they switch to using 6 instead of 5?
Click to expand...

That's funny you mention that because I recently bought an XTi and a Ti to merge together and the XTi had six lobe screws and the Ti had both five lobe and six lobe screws! :( I need to find the five lobe security bits somewhere.
 
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