Impact Gun Ratings

Travis

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Sundie just posted about his impact gun being phenomenal http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?p=8774#post8774

Is it just me, or are all impact gun ratings way over rated?? Or maybe I should stop buying crappy impact guns or maybe I need to give them lots more air.. Or maybe both?

I have been able to remove nuts with all my weight on an 18" breaker bar that a 750 ft-lb impact couldn't remove even at 120 psi. And I sure as hell don't weigh (750/18)12 = 500lbs!!! I think the quick connects on both ends of the hose are a restricting point and might be part of the problem, but I'm pretty sure the impacts themselves are probably also way over rated. I feel like I'd need 1/2" id hose all the way to the gun and a compressor capable of twice the cfm required, to be able to make them perform at even half what the box says they'll do :mad:
 
Yeah, there's all that, plus they need to be properly lubed. If mine (cheap ass bodgey unit) is not performing as I need, I first clean it by running a bit of thinners through it. Man it spins up fast then, cleans all the crap out of it. Then just a couple of drops of oil (yep, the proper stuff for air tools). Of course waiting for the compressor to cut out before you pull the trigger helps too!
 
impact guns work better because they are intermittent, meanning, BLAT,BLAT,BLAT,, Stop/starts/stops suddenly, and repeatedly.
I think travis, it was you that posted a pic of your HF gun? Awhile ago?
Those central pnuematics are crap. I bought two, both no good. When I took them back, they said, whats wrong with them? They dont work-what do you mean by not working- they dont work -I dont under stand. Derrrrrrrrrr
I think I'll just pony up and get a big Ingersoll. it'll be worth it in the long run.
 
The blat-blat-blat is the hammer's that are mounted on the drum inside. The better impact's have a much better hammer system, with more weight on them, and alot less clearence's.
If you really want to 'wake up' your air tool's, there are fitting's that have almost a 3/8 opening in them.They work superb, and are no more than a regular fitting. I get mine from snap-on, but they are also available else where. I have several impact's from 3/8 up to 1" drive, and from cheap to very expensive. However, I have a very old, get this, Husky that is mainly used at home. And, with proper maintainence, as Yamaman stated, it work's very well. I use it mainly for, of course, lug nut's/bolt's. But it has always been enough, even with stubborn exhaust bolts.
Yes make's like Florida pneumatic and such are a waste of money, not even worth their weight in scrap. I didn't buy the Husky, found it in the road one day.
I have an Ingersol at the shop, & it is the less expensive model, for mainly tire work. What I really like about that one is it's got two different setting's on the same dial. In other word's, reverse is one torque, & forward is another. More in reverse than in forward.
 
the t1000c i mentioned is actually a dual clutch, rather than a dual hammer. I have a smaller 1500th that i usually use, that one is a dual hammer, rated for 600 working.

The summer after i got them, one of the local shops had a "test your impact" day. They basically got out a *huge* torque wrench, that could go up to 1500 ft lbs. And used 1.5" fine thread nuts bolted through a piece of .25" plate. I have no idea how accurate this test was/is, but my big gun could reliably do 800, and managed 950 once or twice. The little gun did 400 easily, and peaked around 550 iirc.

The interesting thing is that they converted us all to half inch fittings on a 50 foot hose and ran us at 110. Then they switched us to 3/8, then 1/4. The difference was phenomenal. I think my big gun topped out at 150 or 200 on the 1/4, and 500 on the 3/8.

The other thing they showed us is that because the impact is so momentary, if you have any kind of spring, your torque is basically lost. So, if you're trying to hold your sprocket by hand, for instance, you'll lose all your torque generated by the gun.
 
oh, and i forgot to mention the thing i like most about the aircats - they are *so* quiet. That was the craziest thing that day - some guys had brought these monster 1" drive things, that you couldn't hear yourself think while using, and here i am with my quiet little aircat, keeping up with most of them, and holding normal volume conversation. :)
 
I think travis, it was you that posted a pic of your HF gun?

Nope, wasn't me. The only "powered" thing I have from HF is a buffing wheel. I've had a couple of Craftsman impacts, one was real cheap and I think I threw the damn thing away. The other retailed for about $100. I always use air tool oil so that's not the problem. A friend bought one from Napa Auto Parts for about $160 that wasn't worth a shit either.

The interesting thing is that they converted us all to half inch fittings on a 50 foot hose and ran us at 110. Then they switched us to 3/8, then 1/4. The difference was phenomenal. I think my big gun topped out at 150 or 200 on the 1/4, and 500 on the 3/8.

I think this is the problem I've been having. Not enough air. You said your big gun topped out at 150 or 200 on the 1/4. That seems more like what I've been experiencing as far as performance. 1/2 fittings and hose are huge though!

The other thing they showed us is that because the impact is so momentary, if you have any kind of spring, your torque is basically lost. So, if you're trying to hold your sprocket by hand, for instance, you'll lose all your torque generated by the gun.

That's good to keep in mind, but wasn't the problem in my case. One time when the impact failed me and the breaker bar did the job was in removing the bed from a full-size Chevy to replace the fuel pump, and the another was removing the torsion bar on an S-10 to replace the bushings. Those things are pretty solid, unless you count the whole truck moving as being springy.

Thanks for the replies guys. I keep thinking I need to just spend the money on a better impact gun, but I think I'm going to up-size my hose and fittings and see what that does for me first.
 
I think this is the problem I've been having. Not enough air. You said your big gun topped out at 150 or 200 on the 1/4. That seems more like what I've been experiencing as far as performance. 1/2 fittings and hose are huge though!

Oh yeah, totally. You could try getting a 3/8 NPT fitting for your 3/8" hose. Most common fittings are actually 1/4" hole. But even then, when i use my big gun in the garage, when i stop, i can hear the hose refilling - but that's because i've got 3/8" on the dryer. If i did more heavy impact work, i'd upgrade.
 
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