WHATS A GOOD IMPACT WRENCH?

[k0ua]

Because when you weld it with your MIG, there will be gaps to trap moisture on the inside, and it will rust faster, Just my opinion but I would not do that. Remember the pipe will have a lot of water and air in it.. so the smoother and less places to trap water the better. Just my 2 cents. What did you think about the PEX or other pressure rated plastic? (not PVC). was it too high. or did you find any? if you are going to have a lot of joints. you could check out a harbor freight pipe theading set?. Might be worth it. not sure. I managed to do my gas piping using black iron, all from Lowes. a lot of carefull measuring, and fittings. but I got 'er' done.
James K0UA

 

[escavader]

Because when you weld it with your MIG, there will be gaps to trap moisture on the inside, and it will rust faster, Just my opinion but I would not do that. Remember the pipe will have a lot of water and air in it.. so the smoother and less places to trap water the better. Just my 2 cents. What did you think about the PEX or other pressure rated plastic? (not PVC). was it too high. or did you find any? if you are going to have a lot of joints. you could check out a harbor freight pipe theading set?. Might be worth it. not sure. I managed to do my gas piping using black iron, all from Lowes. a lot of carefull measuring, and fittings. but I got 'er' done.
James K0UA

Ididnt see any PEX at hd ,i even went to the air section to see if they sold the RAPID AIR system.Is that hose the same as PEX ? COPPER is definately out ill buy the Rapid air before ill shell out that much and have to sweat it togeather-same money or less
ALAN

 

[kevinj]

AT HOMEDEPOT tonight; a 10 length of 3/4 about 11 bucks .COPPER WAS 24
Let me ask you guys this ,ill put this togeather with fittings when possible,but when i need a short peice WHY CANT I WELD IT TOGEATHER WITH MY MIG to save fitting and or threading costs? If i need an elbow ,why cant i heat it up with my rosebud and bend it?Less chance for leaks ,better flow etc im thinking.
One thing i noticed at HD looking at hose,the biggest they had was 3/8,THEY DIDNT EVEN HAVE A SPOT FOR 1/2
alan

They make short pieces up to 12" called nipples. No need to weld.

Also find a plumbing supply house and get 20' lengths for you long runs, saves fittings.

Also check a rental store for a pipe vise and power threader rental.

You can pipe a small shop in a day.

 

[PoorMansCat]

try a Harbor Freight EARTHQUAKE 1/2" drive...for commercial use, there are much better impacts out there, BUT, for home use the Earthquake is a fairly stout impact. The Ingersol-Rand composite impacts are NOT worth the money, they are very frail and the air motor gives up quickly..

 

[k0ua]

They make short pieces up to 12" called nipples. No need to weld.

Also find a plumbing supply house and get 20' lengths for you long runs, saves fittings.

That is what I did with my gas piping project. besides the 20 foot sections are cheaper per foot than the box store 10 foot sections.
I didn't think about the rental, good idea.
James K0UA

 

[tommaple]

If you are using 1/2" iron pipe (approximately 5/8" inside) you can bend it without heat using a 3/4" EMT conduit bender. This gives a nice broad sweep with no joints to leak. I did this with a 21' piece of 1/2" pipe, starting after the flexible hose at the compressor, and going up the wall where it turned 90 degrees and went along the ceiling. It's easy to add another length or two to get to the opposite end of the building. Be sure it has some slope so water drains the same direction as the air flows.

After saying this, I am building a new shop and will be using copper instead of iron. ( I am also going to look at the Pex type air pipe.) Even with a slope in the pipe I have had significant rust build up in the line. My compressor doesn't run that often, so that may have added to the rust problem. I can go for a month at a time without using an air tool.

HD or Lowes is not where I'd go for pipe. Contact a plumbing supply house for full lengths of black iron or L copper.

Good luck, this is quite a project just to get a couple nuts loosened!

 

[dcyrilc]

I didn't think about the rental, good idea.
James K0UA

Definately a good idea... I should have thought of it.:laughing:

I have all the threading gear for everything from 1/4" up to 2". Don't use it much any more though.

 

[KubotainNH]

Air tools 101...lots of good info here. I will add to the too much rubber hose thought. I can twist almost anything off near my compressor but add 100' of hose and the power drops like a rock. Forget using the small curly hose, it's useless for that task. Out of all the air tools I have the impact wrench is the pickiest. Seems every time the hammer spins and hits, the rubber hoses expand and you lose some power. Going metal should be a huge help but also watch other things that can restrict like older regulators that stick. One other thing I've noticed on mine is that if I find it getting weak it's sometimes crudded up inside. I pull it apart and clean/lubricate the air fins then it's back to normal. I used to have a cheapo CH, it was close to useless. I now have a twin hammer Northern Tool unit they say is rated for 900ft/lbs, bought it on sale and it's pulled off almost everything I needed except for one crank bolt that needed lots of heat and a really long breaker bar. This is my unit, not too loud or heavy: Northern Industrial Heavy-Duty Composite Impact Wrench 1/2in. Drive | 1/2in. Drive | Northern Tool + Equipment

 

[dex3361]

I have a Campbell Hausfield 1/2 impact and it is weak at best. So I thought I would try the 1/2 inch Earthquake from HF and it has proven to be a fine impact wrench. It took the large bolts on the rotary cutter loose without a hitch. I have to be careful that I don't twist bolts off with it though.

 

[k0ua]

Ididnt see any PEX at hd ,i even went to the air section to see if they sold the RAPID AIR system.Is that hose the same as PEX ? COPPER is definately out ill buy the Rapid air before ill shell out that much and have to sweat it togeather-same money or less
ALAN

I went to the HD today at lunch, and they had the 3/4 PEX for $44 per roll of 100 foot, and 10 foot sticks for $5 per stick. the 1/2 was $25 per roll of 100 and the 10 foot sticks were 2.98 each. they also had all the "sharkbite" fittings and adaptors and crimp rings and tools.
I think I might try it for ease of install and price. It is only rated at 160 lbs at 73 degrees. and derated to 100 lbs at 180 degrees. but it might be a cheap solution. It has some plus points (cheap, easy, supposedly safe) and some negatives. (not as durable as iron or copper, sags, not as high pressure) but all in all I might give it a try.
James K0UA

 

[kevinj]

Definately a good idea... I should have thought of it.:laughing:

I have all the threading gear for everything from 1/4" up to 2". Don't use it much any more though.[/QUOTE


I don't use mine much either but I bought it cheap and over the last 30 years I think it has more than paid for itself

I picked the 300 machine up a couple years back, now I almost look forward to threading pipe !!!!!:thumbsup:

 

[Ford tractor]

It should be , since it's 3 X the COST
LOL

You only BUY a quality tool one time, but you PAY for a cheap one every time you use it.

I've saved heaps of time and piles of frustration getting nuts and bolts off the first time effortlessly where the weaker units just use air and increase blood pressure.

 

[SPYDERLK]

I went to the HD today at lunch, and they had the 3/4 PEX for $44 per roll of 100 foot, and 10 foot sticks for $5 per stick. the 1/2 was $25 per roll of 100 and the 10 foot sticks were 2.98 each. they also had all the "sharkbite" fittings and adaptors and crimp rings and tools.
I think I might try it for ease of install and price. It is only rated at 160 lbs at 73 degrees. and derated to 100 lbs at 180 degrees. but it might be a cheap solution. It has some plus points (cheap, easy, supposedly safe) and some negatives. (not as durable as iron or copper, sags, not as high pressure) but all in all I might give it a try.
James K0UA

Yeah, the metals expensive and a lot more work getting it right with steel. You might consider doing mostly steel, but keeping everything a little short. Then as you fit it up splice in 3/4copper in each run to give you fine tuning of length and ability to split any leg on a run just by desweating a copper joint.
larry

 

[PoorMansCat]

Air tools 101...lots of good info here.

Let me add in one more thing...

I watch people oil their air tools every mornng before getting to work for the day..... when it would be much more beneficial to oil your air tools at the END of every day!

 

[Bird]

Let me add in one more thing...

I watch people oil their air tools every mornng before getting to work for the day..... when it would be much more beneficial to oil your air tools at the END of every day!

You're exactly right.

 

[FredH]

I have been Super Happy with this 1 I got from Northern Tool over a year ago .

Klutch Heavy-Duty Air Impact Wrench — 1/2in. Drive | 1/2in. Drive | Northern Tool + Equipment


I have used it to work on my Semi many a time .

Fred H.

 

[automech]

I'm old school with my 1/2 inch impacts. My daily use gun is a IR231h, which is basically a 231 with handle exhaust. I like it because it hits hard and the handle exhaust keeps me from getting a face full of brake dust when I take a wheel lug off. And at 125 bucks it has good value. Theres nothing wrong with an IR244 at all. It was top of the line 20 years ago, and is still a great heavy duty gun. I used CP734's 25 years ago and still have a couple of them. They don't hit as hard, and never did. I don't care what the torque rating is on them. I retired them after they started breaking and now they are spares. Guys are now buying the lightweight powerhouse guns like the 2135timax or the snap on MG gun. But they are double and triple the cost of the workhorse IR's.

 

[boxygen]

Good discussion. I'll have to put in a vote for AirCat. That is what is in my garage. 1/2" is rated at 1000 lbs/ft and is quiet and comfortable to use. I think around $125 or $150 without looking it up.
Perhaps you all can help me with a question that has recently come up. My younger brother lives with me and he is claiming that the impact gun doesnt have as much power as it used to. He is claiming that it is because that I use it above the rated 90 psi sometimes. I do turn it up to 110 or 120 if I have a stubborn bolt once and a while and was assuming this was an acceptable thing to do. His argument is that when you do that it spins too fast and wears things out and the seals arent rated fo anything much above 90 PSI. In theory I would somewhat agree that it is feasible, but in all practicality I dont think Im doing any harm. What do you all think, especially you BIRD since you have a lot of experience with these types of tools.

 

[Bird]

As I've mentioned before, every one of the impact wrenches I know of is "rated" at 90 psi. Running higher air pressure will increase power, and almost certainly increase wear to some extent, but how much is open to question, and depends on some other factors, such as how much more air pressure, how tight are the nuts and bolts you're trying to loosen, do they loosen quickly or do you let the impact keep hammering for an extended period of time, how well lubricated is the tool, does it have any dirt or debris that's gotten into the air intake, does it have any corrosion internally. I know that many (probably most) of my customers routinely ran 175 psi. I've repaired tools that twisted the spline off the rotor in the air motor. Perhaps one of the most common excessive wear is rounding the square tip of the anvil (the anvil is what you put the socket on). Now a professional mechanic who uses his impact wrench every day may figure the time he saves by having a more powerful tool is worth the repair costs. But the hobby mechanic who uses his infrquently may never have enough extra wear with the higher pressure to notice it. My current compressor runs 125-150 psi and I never bother with turning the regulator down for anything but the paint spray gun. But I don't use my impact wrench and air ratchet often enough or long enough at a time to worry about it. They'll probably both outlast me.

But I doubt that your brother is right in saying the higher pressure has caused the gun to lose power. If he was accustomed to higher pressure, then reduced the pressure, naturally it'll seem the gun has less power, and it does. But the kind of wear you get with extra pressure is not the kind that reduces power when you're using the same air pressure. Loss of power can be any restriction in the air flow through the tool, it can be a lack of lubrication, it can be internal corrosion, or it can be worn vanes or blades in the air motor (and corrosion, lack of lubrication, and dirt and debris are what wears them down).