Electric Impact Wrench??

[Airedale]

I am considering a good quality electric impact wrench, looking for advice from those that have messed with one and put it through it's paces.

I would be using it mostly for loosening those large nuts and bolts on machinery-equipment and wheel lugs.

The manufacturers of the name brands seem to have decent torque but they are sure pricey. Are these things capable of doing a decent job for such chores or a waste of money?

Al

 

[k0ua]

I am considering a good quality electric impact wrench, looking for advice from those that have messed with one and put it through it's paces.

I would be using it mostly for loosening those large nuts and bolts on machinery-equipment and wheel lugs.

The manufacturers of the name brands seem to have decent torque but they are sure pricey. Are these things capable of doing a decent job for such chores or a waste of money?

Al

I have never owned one, but I have seen them used by garage door installers to install lag bolts quickly. They seem to like them. Of course they are a little bigger than air powered units, but have the advantage of not needing any air source. I have a DC powered one (18 volt battery) it works well, but not in the power class like you are talking about. I like it.

James K0UA

 

[Rio_Grande]

Well yes and no,,,,

I had a milwakee brand that was good but at half inch air impacts go it didnt do as good in my opinion.

I burnt mine up later on and to this day I got a 18v dewalt 1/2 impact. Still not as good as air in my opinion but I can take it anywhere and it was rated to 100 fp tighten and I think 150fp loosen. It will take most lug nuts off with a fresh battery. I often have to hit them with a breaker bar first.

I know the milwakee I had beat it's self to death, but the dewalt is still going strong.

Course my Campbell Housefeld 231 TI has been with me for almost 12 years without one issue. But ya need a hose for it.

 

[kennyd]

I have an older DeWalt 1/2" model, it has served me well for many years.

 

[bakerg]

I have a Craftsmen 1/2 that I have used for over 25yrs. Use it mainly to rotate tires. Have never had a problem with it. My father would borrow it to change shovels on his culivators. Have a cordless Dewalt 18 volt at work and the Maintenance staff justs love it. Make thing a whole lot easier.:thumbsup:

 

[mullins87]

We have both Milwaukee and DeWalt brands at work, and in both corded and cordless models. They get used pretty hard removing and installing rings on drum lids. The corded models hammer away, day and day out, with no issues. The cordless ones are all 28 volt, I think. The only drawback seems to be the limited battery life. YMMV :thumbsup:

 

[AKwelder]

We use them at work on a regular basis, when you don't have air they are great. Or if you would need to run air just for the impact.

They are good, but the air impacts CAN be better. I like them so much that i bought one myself, got a cordless Milwaukee, and a corded Dewalt.

On a welding rig they are great, since we don't have air.

 

[Qapla]

Not sure how often you are going to need yours. I do not use mine on a daily basis.

I have one from HF - their brand - cost me $29 when I bought it about 6-7 years ago. Have used it on many tires, vehicle and tractor, without any problems.

We also used it when we replaced the clutch in the tractor.

I used to have a Dodge van that had a bad spindle on the right front. It would go through wheel bearings quite often. Since the van was on it's last legs and I was in the process of looking for a new truck, I just kept bearings, a service jack and the impact and a 1500 watt inverter with me.

Several times I had to change the bearings on the side of the road or in a parking lot. I just jacked up the van, used the impact to remove the tire and replaced the bearings. Put it back together and used the impact to put the tire back on and was on my way in about 15 minutes.

Over the years we have used the impact for several jobs when called for. Still have the same impact and it still works when I need it. (I also now drive a Nissan Titan)

 

[BHD]

I my self do not like an electric impact, I think there wimpy, for the most part,
and bulky (these are cored units) have not used a cordless,
but they have there place,

my SIL builds grain bins, and have used many and destroyed many impacts on a grain bins they normally do not shut them off bolting them together until they run out of bolts, or some other reason, on a ring,

he runs them until the socket glows red, and the machine gets so hot he has to use gloves and a rag to hold on to it, (this is truth), and the only electric impact that will hold up to his abuse that he has found is the Jepson, 6204
6204 IMPACT WRENCH

when he worked for his former boss he said he destroyed Dewalts and any other brand of electric, the air units would freeze up with moisture, on the continuous use,

I own one of the jepsons as well, and have used it to change wheel lug nuts and to disassemble a old Lockwood irrigation sprinkler all the towers and pipe on it, it did it, most were rusted 1/2" bolts on the sprinkler, (the old nongalvanzed unit), it did OK, (think there was a full 5 gallon bucket of short 1/2 bolts and nuts removed),

but in the shop I like the air tools (now my old 1/2 air impact is nearly wore out), but it has much more control and power and lighter,

my son bought a HF electric impact and it would change tires, but was not a great tool but did what he wanted at that time, and the price was low, his wife could change a tire if need when he was gone. (at the time he did not have air),

 

[jbooth]

I have a Dewalt 1/2. I thought mine was a bit wimpy until I tried to loosen the lug nuts on my skid steer by hand after hammering them up with the Dewalt. For sure the electrics are not as strong as the air but will sure get a lot of work done for you if you have power available and no air. Sure better than the armstrong method.

 

[Bird]

I've owned both Craftsman and Black & Decker corded electric half-inch impacts. Never had a problem with either one, but the torque was in the 210-250 range while my IR 231 pneumatic is about 425. And of course both of the electric ones were very big and heavy compared to the pneumatic impacts. But if you don't have a compressor handy, they are well worth the cost. My last electric was when we were full time RVers, so it was used for changing tires, and in one case, to change a complete set of springs under a tandem axle fifth-wheel.

 

[Sockwell]

I bought a 1/2" reconditioned CRaftsman at half price from their ebay store. It is a stout unit.

 

[crazyal]

I have two, one was from Chuck Homier and it's junk that broke and a Sears (DeWalt). The Sears works fine but it's not equal to a good quality air powered impact. But it's nice for rotating tires and other things where you just don't want to fire up an air compressor. But it has struggled taking things like the bolt on the end of a crankshaft.

 

[David_Kb7uns]

Got lucky one time and picked up pre DeWalt Black and Decker 12v impact wrench, has a long cable and battery clips, beats a lug wrench on trailer tires.

David Kb7uns

 

[Airedale]

Thanks Guys,
Sounds like an electric impact wrench is in my future, I poked around on Amazon last night and the reviews pretty much echoed what was said here. The Milwaukee half inch drive seems to be about what I am looking for and it got great reviews.

Al

 

[moship]

I have an older 1/2" Milwalkee that is 20+ years old and going strong. Also purchased a cordless 3/8" Snap-On that works great and has amazing torque given its size. I'd purchase both again in a heart beat to suppliment my other air driven tiools (including other air driven impact guns in 3/8", 1/2" and 3/4").

 

[enew]

I haveowned a Craftsman which did pretty good, wore out after about 5 years of pretty tough use. Replaced it with a DeWalt which is ok. My cordless Snap On does a great job but cost alot. And like everybody else has said my air impacts do the best, IR thunderbolt with 650 ft lbs, cant beat it.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

I've got this 3/8" 18V Milwaukee:

Power Tools - M18™ Cordless LITHIUM-ION System - M18™ Cordless LITHIUM-ION 3/8" Compact Impact Wrench w/Ring

LOVE It, got it on sale...didnt know at first if I was gonna like it...But I do. To make a long story short, she or IMO any electric impact is no replacement for a good air impact. BUT The sheer versatility & portability of it makes it SOOO handy that I use it all the time and probably wouldnt want to be without it.