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Air Impact Wrench


reb78

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I'm looking for a decent air impact wrench. You can spend silly money on these which is what has always stopped me splashing out.

What do you think of this one?

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/clarke-cat131-professional-heavy-duty-12-air

I currently have a cheapo Aldi thing that wont pull the skin off of a rice pudding - i have to crack each nut before i can use the tool!

My compressor is this one:

http://www.ukhs.tv/Workshop/Air-Compressors/Dakota-14-CFM-Air-Compressor

at 14CFM will it be enough? The wrench above states 18CFM but its not like the wrench will be whirring away continuously. I also have a little 2HP 50 litre compressor that i could link into the airline in tandem if that made any difference.

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I know it's not an air gun but I've got a Snap On 6850 impact gun and this will undo more or less anything on a car. They are a lot of money, but they are well worth it.

You can pick up the Snap On 3850's reasonably cheaply and that is just as good as most entry level compressors and air guns. Better in fact I would say. And I have my old one for sale...

But second hand air guns and compressors are usually a good purchase in my opinion. You get more for your money than buying new.

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I imagine your compressor will be man enough for most stuff, where you lose it is if you have something stubborn, the pump cant keep up so you lose pressure and therefore power at the tool so it's still hammering away and getting weaker and weaker, so you have to stop wait until it's nearly up to pressure then start again so that the pump keeps running. If you let the pump trip out your back down to 6bar before it comes back in.

I would recommend decent bore pipe (3/8) and check the fittings, pressure regulator etc are rated at sufficient flow as some of them can be quite restrictive. It's the pressure at the tool thats important.

I have a mid range pneumatic that I hardly ever use as I have to set up the compressor, run pipes, the pipes get in the way when your working etc etc. Recently I bought a battery one, neilson I think, I use it all the time! It couldn't undo the towball on my car, but neither could the pneumatic, infact I had to jump on a meter long breaker so maybe not fair. The Rusty M12 nylocs holding the actual towbar on it did no problem. The only thing I have against it is the weight.

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I know it's not an air gun but I've got a Snap On 6850 impact gun and this will undo more or less anything on a car. They are a lot of money, but they are well worth it.

You can pick up the Snap On 3850's reasonably cheaply and that is just as good as most entry level compressors and air guns. Better in fact I would say. And I have my old one for sale...

But second hand air guns and compressors are usually a good purchase in my opinion. You get more for your money than buying new.

we got 2 ct7850's and a ct8810. altho there useful and quick. i still have to get the breaker bar out to many times as some stuff, like over tightened wheelbolts it just wont touch them. there more of a nut runner imho.

nothing better than a 3ft bar and some muscles. ;) ;)

my compressor is 3hp 25L and it barely spins it, let alone undoes anything! so you will need a more powerful compressor.

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I've got two Machine Mart ones, at home and at work. Both are great value for the money. I also have the Machine Mart compressors.

The tool I use as well is the air powered version of the ratchet in my socket set. Again cheapo from Machine Mart and a brilliant bit of kit.

I would suggest you go with your idea and best wishes!

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Ingersol Rand 2135 TiMax. Look for a decent name and compare loosening torque.

The Ingersol Rand tools are fantastic, the earlier variant of the above (the 2135QTI) can be found cheaply on ebay. I have both the 2135 1/2" and 2115 3/8" guns

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I've always liked my ingersoll rand wrenches but when my last one wore out, the lastest replacement rand gun felt a little cluncky and unbalanced compared to the latest generation of mac tools ones

I opted to buy 2 different 1/2 wrenches from mac to cover the range of tasks i carry out day to day, my general use wrench is the AWP050C this is a compact 1/2 wrench its very short (about the same length as a 3/8) very fast, light and unless something it FT it doesn't struggle to undo it. My other 1/2 wrench is the Mac AWP050 this is very powerful, nicely balanced a touch heavier than my previous 2135 Rand wrench but a lot faster and quieter.

The AWC050C is a really really nice tool to use, its compact size (with marginally less power than a Rand 2135) is a huge bonus.

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we got 2 ct7850's and a ct8810. altho there useful and quick. i still have to get the breaker bar out to many times as some stuff, like over tightened wheelbolts it just wont touch them. there more of a nut runner imho.

What do these folks have that undo crank bolts with these impact wrenches? What you say above is my general experience of them so far too.

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These are mine old school Chicago Pneumatic.

WP_20140210_001.jpg

CP734 - 1/2" Torque rating 576Nm (425ft.lbs)

CP772 - 3/4" Torque rating 1356Nm (1000.lbs)

An air chisel/hammer, and an air drill. My spray stuff and die grinders live in a different drawer.

The air compressor I run now is a SIP jobbie 14CFM and tbh I'm yet to have it struggle.
WP_20140320_001.jpg

I did have an Atlas Copco TE22E but the conrod seized due to the oil screw on the pump getting broken.
WP_20140322_003.jpg

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I have the cp 734h which is the one I use the most as it's man enough for most things.

I also have an ingersoll rand 2135ti which is just awesome, but noisy.

Save your money and buy some thing decent, and don't tiddle about with anything with clarke written on it. The first one I had wouldn't even undo car wheel nuts that I'd torqued with a torque wrench to 50ftlbs only seconds before!

Jon

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I have a bit of inside knowledge to share on this matter. Seeing as my job these days is servicing and repairing Air tools, and especially impact wrenches.

First and foremost the power to break a heavy bolt loose is almost solely in the impact wrench, only marginally in the compressor. With my AC compressor on the 80" running just at high idle I can break loose a crank bolt no problem with either my Ingersoll-Rand 1/2" or my KS-Tools Monster 1/2". However with a small compressor you obviously only have maximum torque for a couple of rotations, where as a big compressor will let you keep hammering without having to let the compressor air up.

The different designs of hammer systems is sort of a matter of taste. Each have their merits so I don't really have any specific favorites there although I will say that generally the Twin Hammer design seems to have a bit more breaking power without having to spin as fast which is kind of nice if your not in a rush and like to see your nuts and bolts flying around the workshop like little Frisbee's :D Though this is also one of the systems that I most often see failures is if the material being used is not of top quality. The only systems that really suffers from wear with the result of gradual power loss is the Pin Clutch system.

Hope this is of some help

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Also have a 2135qtiMax. Excellent tool if you've got the air.

average air consumption 5cfm, most compressors will easily do that, max air consumption @load is 24cfm.

The figures on the clarke gun i have are similar, except with 1/3 if not less of the max torque. as a result you are hammering for longer and use much more air than the IR gun which will instantly whiz it off most of the time without kicking the compressor in.

90% of the time you are either doing wheelnuts, or that one stubborn bolt.

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Anyone any opinions on the IR 2130 XP?

http://www.ingersollrandproducts.com/eu-en/products/tools/impactools/maintenance-automotive-impactools/1-2-drive/2130xp

These are a little cheaper than the 2135 qti, but they still seem to have good torque figures?

Edit: answered it myself. I guess max torque in reverse 816nm vs 1054nm and working range 34-474nm vs 64-746nm answers the question.

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