After using them at work I went with the red brand's 18v Fuel impacts (3), drill, and 4" griinder. I will be going after some of the 12v stuff as well.
After using them at work I went with the red brand's 18v Fuel impacts (3), drill, and 4" griinder. I will be going after some of the 12v stuff as well.
ShawnG said:You guys turn your compressors off?
Mine just sits in the shop, ready whenever it's needed. It rarely cycles if it's not being used.
Turning on my compressor one morning, it stalled, humming and getting really hot really fast. Unplugged it, gave the motor a spin and tried again, and it was okay after that. (This was a near-new unit.) I would not trust any compressor to always run perfectly when I'm not around.
I started wrenching professionally when Makita had 7.2V stuff.
I have the full compliment of air tools. Not sure why I would sell what works and doesn't require batteries and chargers when my 80 gallon air tank fits everything.
I did think about going battery powered years ago, but then you have to pick a battery family that offers all the tools you need, and hope they never stop making your batteries. Seeming as how I can't buy that 7.2V Makita battery anymore, it's only a matter of time before the [insert brand here] batteries are NLA.
On top of that, my IR impact is a beast and it's light. Then there's the die grinder, angle grinder, air hammers, etc that I just don't see working well in electric.
I only have a 30 gallon compressor but it lives under the garage stairs and was planned that way when I spec'd my garage 3 years ago. I love it. I'm younger so I started out with battery tools and I went to air to get the power.
I have m12 3/8 (sort of useless luxury tool) and the stubby 1/2 which is handy for lug nuts. It won't touch suspension bolts and the problem with the mid torque or hi torque 1/2" stuff, it costs a fortune here in Canada. Like $300 for the tool and $100 for the proper battery to run it. They're long and heavy, the batteries don't like the cold, and the failure rate is shockingly high. We buy them by the dozens for oil field work and a lot of them die within a few months. I'm not willing to risk that for my own dime.
My son asked me about buying a compressor and tools for it for his shop. I told him to buy electric and a smaller compressor for air duty.
A lot of people are ignoring the cost of a decent compressor and airlines.
I use both still.
Keith Tanner said:Air tools. You can't beat the power of a hundred psi backed up by a utility scale power plant, and they don't run out of battery at inopportune times. The key is hose reels.
QFT.
The only battery tools I regularly use are my 3/8 stubby impact and my drill.
The rest of them really can't be replaced with battery tools because of their size and weight. That goes for ratchets, grinders, drills, chisels, cutoff tools, sanders, and on and on. Add to that the tire machine and blast cabinet and my compressor pretty much stays on and up to pressure. Some type of air tool gets used just about every time I'm in the shop.
I had bought an air impact a while back when I first got my house (For Christmas that year I was given a small air compressor - larger than a pancake size, but not huge). I used it some and it was alright.
But later I decided to expand my ryobi collection and bought a 1/2 impact...the air tool has gotten zero use since then.
Im also considering a battery powered brad nailer to eliminate the craftsman air unit I have now, but it's low on the list for things to buy.
It's nice to not be tethered (literally) and it opens up more freedom of movement when working on things
ShawnG said:You guys turn your compressors off?
Mine just sits in the shop, ready whenever it's needed. It rarely cycles if it's not being used.
Mine has been on pretty much continuously for 11 years now. I've shut it down and drained it for a couple of oil changes and to tighten the belts. Other than that, it stays at 125 psi. It's not a home-duty compressor though. It started life running a Western Auto tire shop in 1971.
Personally, with a modest investment and paying attention to sales I'm in the "why not both?" camp if you're not doing it professionally. Used compressors + sales tools (battery/tool combos)
My 3/8 stubby ridgid impact + my 3/8 huskey battery ratchet do 80% of the work in my garage. I've recently added a 1/2" ridgid midtorque because my inlaws are lovely people.
Cutting/grinding/sanding tools seem superior in the air department, but electric is catching up for some facets. Tire machine, obviously requires air.
Battery powered pros/Funny story:
I have a little Go-Box that can pretty much disassemble most euro/japanese cars. It's a 3/8 8-19mm long sockets, a 3/8 6-19mm super stubby (and with the added feature a 17mm wrench fits on them) sockets, basic hand tools, my 3/8 husky, my 3/8 subcompact impact.
I went to my first Lemons race w/ a team and was jumping in/helping with maintenance, I brought my go box and was helping where I could. The second morning I hear someone ask to be passed "Hercules" - I was like "What now?" They responded, "you know - that little orange gun?" Apparently the maintenance squad had taken a loving to the little go box.
One 4ah battery and that box was passed around so much it was laughable by the end of the weekend - I probably made a few sales for them. The husky wrench put in a bunch of work too.
Most of us have to wrench track side as well, which is where battery powered REALLY shines.
The Go-Box in question
I still use air once in awhile. Still using the oil-less, loud AF Craftsman compressor I bought when I moved into this house almost 32 years ago. Eventually I'll pipe up the hose reel I bought 10 years ago and then I would probably use the impact gun even more. The air tank is usually full and tops up quickly vs. batteries that I have to remember to keep charged - and make sure I remove from a tool or it'll be dead the next time I need it. When it does work, the electric impact is definitely more convenient. Plus the IR 2135Ti air gun is a lot more powerful than the older DeWalt 18V 1/2" impact gun I have. And since I already have the air gun, I don't have much incentive to spend a lot of money on a better battery gun just for the sake of slightly more convenience. Not to mention I have little desire to add yet another tool and battery charger I'd need to keep track of in my already-too-cramped garage.
If I were doing more track-side work or went to u-pull-it yards more often (like ever...), I'm sure my opinion would change.
I have 8 mechanics in the shop. Not one of them has an air impact or pneumatic ratchet. I see Dewalt and Milwaukee everywhere.
As a matter of fact, I think I am the only one who still has air impacts and that is just because I am a cheapskate who is just now transitioning to the Yellow 20V line. It is only a matter of time.... aka the next big sale before I switch.
Now the 6 body guys on the other hand...... they couldn't do their jobs without the air
accordionfolder said:A lot of people are ignoring the cost of a decent compressor and airlines.
I use both still.
I bought an Ingersoll Rand compressor 26 years ago. I want to say it was $800. I have one air hose. Done. I change the oil every year for a buck or two. One day I'll change the belts.
None of the batteries out now will work and be supported a quarter century down the road. Trust me, I am not forgetting about the one-time purchase.
In reply to DrBoost :
I'm not really on either side of the fence, but they're not free and a lot of the big tools require a big compressor - I have a 30 gallon and it's not enough to keep up w/ my big impact - my midtorque electric (from a prosumer level) outguns my air impact in 8 out of 10 battles because of that. But I don't do this professionally, etc, etc.
DrBoost said:accordionfolder said:A lot of people are ignoring the cost of a decent compressor and airlines.
I use both still.
I bought an Ingersoll Rand compressor 26 years ago. I want to say it was $800. I have one air hose. Done. I change the oil every year for a buck or two. One day I'll change the belts.
None of the batteries out now will work and be supported a quarter century down the road. Trust me, I am not forgetting about the one-time purchase.
I'm about $700 into my 53-year-old Quincy. It's rated to 200 psi and continuous duty so running it at 125 psi, I'm not stressing it at all. As a bonus, at 125 psi, it will make just shy of 20 cubic feet of air per minute. At 53 years old, it still builds 20 psi of oil pressure and turning 600 rpm it's as quiet enough you can hold a conversation standing next to it. A new QR-325 compressor would set me back about $3800. As it is, my kids will still be using this one when it turns 100.
In reply to Toyman! :
Agreed - I wish I'd hunted more for a bigger, used compressor - I got mine on a tighter deadline because I needed it for a project. I was just saying the cost/space/etc isn't free - they also aren't great for taking to the track ;) - personally I think the best option is a bit of column A, a bit of column B.
I've always hated the noisy, expensive and bulky nature of air compressors and I was lucky enough to work for Big Red for a number of years and got tools at a hefty discount so I'm pretty biased. However, I can't bring a 60 gallon air tank with me when I drive from WI to AL a couple times a year but I sure as hell can bring my M18 high torque. Lord willing it will zing lugnuts off on the side of I65 just the same as my garage at home.
The trick with buying good power tools is buy them the first year they come out, you pay full retail price and don't have the discounts as often. But with the launch schedules the tool companies are on you are getting the absolutely best quality parts in the early tools because they absolutely have to be successful on launch and they will improve their margins later on. When they are out for awhile they start cost cutting (value engineering) and you often see a loss of quality pop up. This happened recently on the Gen2 M18 HTIW (2767) and was covered pretty thoroughly by Torque Test Channel to the point where Milwaukee had to acknowledge it and put out a statement on the matter admitting to the design error.
In reply to accordionfolder :
Don't get me wrong, my Milwaukee M12 Stubby 3/8 impact is probably my favorite tool. When I pull a car up to the shop and start getting out tools, it is what I put my hands on first. If I'm doing a repair, the compressor may not be used at all.
The air tools really come into play when I'm trying to make a piece of steel something new. That's when the plasma cutter, angle, and die grinders come into play. That's where air tools rule.
The only air I've ever used is blow gun, some crappy paint sprayer, and tire fills. I still like it better than my battery inflators.
I love my DeWalt 1/2 impact, and also my 1/4 12V impact. As someone who pulls batteries out of recycling bins and fixes them up to give the friends or strips the cells to make Ebike batteries, I will say Dewalt and Ego are by far the best. Rigid and Milwaukee are pretty good too. Ryobi break the most, but are the easiest to fix. If any of you have a broken Ryobi Battery, a multimeter, and a T10security bit they are pretty easy to fix!
In reply to kb58 :
I always wire my compressors to a relay/contactor that I turn off with the lights. That way when I leave the shop and the lights go off, so does power to the compressor. It is a significant hazard to have a compressor powered and unattended.
preach said:After using them at work I went with the red brand's 18v Fuel impacts (3), drill, and 4" griinder. I will be going after some of the 12v stuff as well.
Really the 12v stuff isn't bad at all. The one handed sawzall is great and the drills are decent too. I'm probably gonna add an offset drill to my collection soon because somehow I've needed one half a dozen times recently.
My wife also bought the stapler, which I laughed at because why waste money on a power stapler right??? Life changing on big jobs, literally life changing
Antihero said: My wife also bought the stapler, which I laughed at because why waste money on a power stapler right??? Life changing on big jobs, literally life changing
QFT, my M12 stapler has gotten a ton more use than I had anticipated, and I love it!
Oh yeah the other air tool that has saved my bacon a few times is my crappy harbor freight right angle drill. It is just SO small compared to its battery counterpart, even with the hose.
My big dumb van has onboard air (twin head ARB and a 2.5 gallon tank), I have actually been looking for a cheap used rattle gun to keep in the toolbox. The logic being a battery tool will likely be dead when I need it, and with an air connection front and rear on the van I can easily get to any of the main service areas with ease for zipping off lugnuts and whatnot. I already have inflator, deflator, and a blow nozzle in it. Those come in handy more than you would think on the side of the road.
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