RAZR 40V Lithium Ion Ice Auger 8 .... pictures at the bottom.
This is not a how many holes it can drill review and there is no video. This is my observations after using the auger on several outings over several weeks. Also I purchased this auger myself from Sportsman's Guide.
As I said in this thread I would be the guinea pig and I ordered the RAZR 8 auger. The very first thing I noticed was there was no documentation at all in the box. No manual and no warranty card. On the outside of the box it says Made in China. The battery arrived with 1 bar or Ό charged. When I went to top off the charge that night I noticed the bottom of the charger was extremely hot. Not warm or a little hot but very hot. The only thing I can compare this charger with is my 40V Ryobi charger and batteries for the yard equipment. The Ryobi appears to have many more vent areas and does run much cooler.
The first outing there were just 2 of us and we drilled roughly 30 holes in 4 of ice with no problems. The battery gauge read 4 bars or full. I topped off the battery and the charger seemed to run cooler but it only took about 15 minutes.
I contacted Shawn at RAZR and they agreed to send out a manual, warranty card and replacement charger and included a return label to return the old charger. He had asked if I had the charger on a carpet. I replied yes to start with but after seeing how hot it was I moved it to a hard floor and even raised it slightly with a piece of scrap plywood for more air circulation.
The second outing there were 6 of us and we drilled roughly 70 holes in 5 of ice and the battery read full. I started to notice the holes were noticeably smaller then my Nils 8 auger. I also tried the Ice Well Live Well in both holes. The well fit fine in the Nils hole but stood about 4 - 5 out of the RAZR hole. Just below the lip the diameter of the Live Well is 7.8 to accommodate 8 holes. I measured the Nils and RAZR holes and took pictures. The Nils was 7 15/16. The RAZR was 7 1/2.
When I got home I checked the length of the Nils blade .. tip to tip .. and it was 7 3/4. I'll assume shaft play/wobble made it a true or very close to true 8 hole. I then checked the RAZR blades .. tip to tip .. and they measured 7 3/8. I then went to charge the battery with the replacement charger and it was just as hot and on a hard floor.
I e-mailed Shawn about the cutting diameter and my measurements on Tuesday morning ,1-9, and he replied I forwarded your email regarding the diameter to our engineering team and am waiting for a reply. I sent a follow up e-mail on the morning of 1-11 with no reply. I sent another on 1-12 in the morning. I received a reply on 1-15 (6 days later). It read :
Hello Doug, We apologize for not being intimately familiar with Nils and could not comment how the size of the holes our augers drill compared to theirs. We do believe however that StrikeMaster set the industry standard in terms of the size of ice augers, especially power ice augers with curved blades. I am not sure if you are aware, we were the manufacturer for StrikeMaster ice augers for years and years until recently. Our auger size is exactly the same as StrikeMaster's.
Please let us know if there is anything we can do for you.
My reply was :
Shawn that was a lawyers reply if I ever heard one. The point is either your auger drills an advertised 8" hole or it doesn't. I really don't care what size hole Strikemasters 8" auger drills .. I didn't buy theirs I bought yours .. RAZR.
So that was the reply from your engineering department ?
To this date I still haven't heard back.
Pro's :
The price point is the biggest pro for this auger.
The underside light is a nice feature for night drilling.
I had no mechanical problems while using the auger for the time used and the ice thickness/conditions I used the auger under.
Con's :
Auger came with no documentation.
Battery charger(s) got very hot in the indent on the underside.
The advertising is 8 hole diameter and it is actually not. It is 7 1/2.
The battery retainer is a sliding plastic tab that could have been better thought out. The battery actually fell out once.
The start/stop button could have been designed better ergonomically.
The customer service communication in the beginning was fine but when I brought actual hole diameter vs advertised it seems communication lagged.
These were my findings and I am sure others will chime in with their findings. I am by no means saying buy it or don't. I'm hoping this gives our members some insight prior to a decision or purchase.
As for the videos posted on YouTube I would not call it fair. First the auger race. If the others are cutting true 8" holes and the RAZR is cutting a 7 1/2" hole (claiming it's 8") it's not apples to apples. The same goes for the other video on how many holes it can cut. It's cutting how many holes (120) but not at 8" but at 7 1/2". If it were a true 8" it might have been 100 holes or whatever. You see what I mean.
Anyhow I returned mine to SG explaining it didn't meet my expectations and it was false advertising to state 8 auger on the box. Also on the SG website it stated hole size 8.
RAZR and hole, hole with tape, close up tape measure and RAZR with Ice Well sticking out 4-5" from RAZR hole.
Nils and hole, hole with tape, close up tape measure and Nils with Ice Well fitting properly.
