New Victorinox Hercules with a weak spring?

[Idlewild294]

I just received a new Victorinox Hercules, and the standard size Phillips screwdriver doesn't snap back to it's folded position. It does appear to have a strong spring and it snaps open forcefully, but there isn't enough return force to stow it, and I have to manually close it after the spring tension is released. The long smaller Phillips screwdriver seems to have a much stronger spring, and it snaps and returns to the folded position. A few months ago I purchased a new Victorinox Climber that has a cap lifter that will not snap back either, but I haven't sent it in for repair yet. Should the screwdriver snap back into place, or is it behaving normally? I hate to send this great knife in for repairs if it's not necessary. I did oil the screwdriver as well, and it didn't help any. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[mykel m]

Welcome to BF Idlewild.
I just checked my Herc. & both phillips do the same thing,not a biggie IMO as long as they snap open & there is plenty of spring tension to keep them open.

I wouldn't bother returning it unless the spring tension isn't strong enough to keep the phillips open.

 

[GIRLYmann]

doesn't sound like a weak spring,
could just be a case of the pivot being tightly riveted.
if that's true,
natural frictional wear on the liners will ease
the resistance in time to come....

 

[Syph007]

Thats by design so its not to hard to dig out. It only snaps open and not closed so that there is no tension on the driver and it can be dug out easily. Both the scissor and pliers layer work this way.

Cheers!

 

[Miao]

Thats by design so its not to hard to dig out. It only snaps open and not closed so that there is no tension on the driver and it can be dug out easily. Both the scissor and pliers layer work this way.

Cheers!

Yep. Because you open the drivers with the nubbin close to the handle, there's no shut spring with tension that would be hard to overcome. Also, since tools fold over the drivers, they won't emerge on their own so no spring tension is required to keep them shut.

 

[mykel m]

Thats by design so its not to hard to dig out. It only snaps open and not closed so that there is no tension on the driver and it can be dug out easily. Both the scissor and pliers layer work this way.

Cheers!

Yep. Because you open the drivers with the nubbin close to the handle, there's no shut spring with tension that would be hard to overcome. Also, since tools fold over the drivers, they won't emerge on their own so no spring tension is required to keep them shut.

Great info guys!