Tool review: Induction Innovations Mini-Ductor II and Coil Kit

Induction Innovations' Mini-Ductor II uses high-frequency magnetic fields to heat metal objects without an open flame. This helps in the removal or installation of metal hardware or parts without having to use a torch, or worry about melting plastic. The Mini-Ductor Coil Kit, No. MD99-650, comes with eight pre-formed coils, with an I.D. ranging from 3/4" to 1-3/4".

The review

Lou Fort, a PTEN review panelist, Lead Tech at K.A.R.S. in Huntingburg, Ind., and 26-year ASE-certified Master Tech w/ L1, is unsure how he got along before having the Mini-Ductor II in his toolbox.

"The Mini-Ductor II is a definite time- and cost-of-use-saver over conventional heating tools such as a torch/heat gun/heat lamp. On average, I was able to loosen whatever was needed in less then half the time it would have taken with a torch, and without having to worry about residual damage," Lou said. "The Mini-Ductor II even loosened bolts from the steel sleeve in a rubber bushing that a torch would have set on fire.

"Since the Mini-Ductor II is only heating what is needed, my downtime due to residual heat is nonexistent. When used to loosen the lock nuts on toe adjusters, I don’t have to wait 15 minutes for everything to cool off enough to have an accurate reading ... with just a few seconds of Mini-Ductor II heating, I make the adjustment and go! That alone saves me about an hour or two a week easy.

"I go for the Mini-Ductor II over the torch now every time. As the price of gases needed for the torch keep going up, it is easy to see how a Mini-Ductor II will save money."

Lou also liked the LED added on the Mini-Ductor II, and the optional coil kit (though he felt the coil kit is a necesary part of the tool and should be part of the basic kit).

"It is fast; I used it to loosen things I never would have attempted using a torch to do," Lous said. As an example, he mentioned using the Mini-Ductor II on transmission cooler lines on a plastic tank radiator where a torch would have melted the tank and about anything else around the nuts. "Without the Mini-Ductor II, we would have had to cut and splice the lines adding both time and cost to the job.

"If you are using a torch daily to loosen up bolts, shafts, nuts, lines, etc., then a Mini-Ductor II will pay for itself in a very short time. It wouldn’t be a far stretch to say that once you have a Mini-Ductor II, you may actually end up owning two or more ... they are that handy!"