Eric’s Air Tool Video

[John B Kobberstad]

Watched it yesterday and found it very interesting. When it was done I went out and emptied my air tank (blew out all the water irrigation lines and hoses with the air that was in the tank) and then drained out the water from the tank so it wouldn’t freeze this winter out in the garage. Thanks for the reminder to empty the tank. I might have forgotten about that.

Topic

[EricTheCarGuy]

This will be the first forum post for ETCG videos. I think from here on out I’ll post the videos here and we can talk about them, starting with ETCG’s Air Tools and Compressor. As I say in the video one of the biggest requests I get is about my air tools and compressor. What kind of compressor do you have? What kind of compressor should I get? What kind of impact do you have? What kind of impact should I get for what I do? The list goes on. My idea was to show you what I DO have and how well it works for me and allow you to decide what tools will be right for you. Enjoy the video

[dreamer2355]

Great video Eric.

Nice to see you using the same brand air tools as me 🙂

[EricTheCarGuy]

They’re good tools, they’ve served me well for many years.

[Eric]

hey eric whats your take on cordless impacts? i know theyre more expensive than airtools but are they worth it? i dont really have room for a compressor and wanted to know b4 investing.

PS thanks for all you do man
i’m in my last semester of auto tech school and ive learned more from you than my instructor. so thanks again for sharing your knowledge, all the vids and the site. very helpful!

[Michele Pensotti]

About cordless impacts: I was recently considering an electric impact wrench so I read a lot of reviews, and found out that there are a few very good , both corded and cordless, but also cost a fortune!

I also read about some other very cheap ones , but there are just too many contrastating reviews, some people say they had trouble removing wheel nuts, others said it even removed lugs that an air impact wrench could not remove (!!!).

Also I’ve discovered that there is no regulation on how to measure the maximum torque such a tool produces, so a lot of huge numbers reported by the various brands shoudl be taken with a grain of salt. 😉

In fact, and also because of Eric’s video on his air tools (and lots and lots of his other videos where he actually *uses* those tools!!) I just did what I always (before) excluded.
I’ve actually gone out and bought my first “serious” air compressor and my first air impact wrench.

Of course they are small (25 liters / 6 gallons) and cheap, and I had to get a new shelf where to put all of my tool boxes to free enough floor space where to put the compressor (my garage is 5,5m x 3m, no I’m not joking!!) , but it’s better than nothing! 😛

At least here our standard voltage is 230volts so it’s enough to run it ( 1,5KW@230volts = 6,5 amps ) and I finally have something for all those rusty bolts/nuts/fasteners I just know are there waiting to ambush me 😆

Live long and prosper (and stay dirty!)

10nico

[EricTheCarGuy]

One of my biggest pet peeves is my air hose. For some reason it’s always trying to trip me. That said cordless tools do have a place but they don’t replace air tools. The main reason is consistency and power. When batteries wear down they produce less power, air is constant (if you have a good compressor). So, there are some good cordless tools out there that are very useful but they don’t fully replace air tools yet.

[Michele Pensotti]

I have to say one thing about air tools, they really are worth their money!

I mean, I’ve played for some days with my cheapo “made in prc” impact wrench and it could not even remove some lugs I did previously torque with a breaker bar I normally use.
Very disappointed!

I tried raising the pressure at the compressor by tweaking the regulator to its maximum, then I bypassed it altogether , then tried tweaking up the pressure switch and it came up to about 130 psi, and still nothing.

Then I put the blame on the air hose (cheap spiral 5mm internal diameter), so I got one a little bigger ( 6mm straight ); but still not enough power.
So I tried cutting it down to about 3 meters since the pressure loss is directly proportional to the hose’s lenght, but still nothing.

I then got the biggest air hose I could find, an 8mm internal diameter , I added an 1/4 to 3/8 adapter to the compressor outlet and connected to it a new 3/8 coupler hoping to increase the flow, but the impact wrench doesn’t make it.

To explain the lack of torque I was getting, I could hold the socket in my right hand and pull the trigger and I was actually able to stop it with my hand!!!!! :angry:

Talking with a huge number of shopkeepers almost everyone tried to convince me into buying a new bigger compressor since mine is so small (a little more than 6 gallons – 25 liters).

I even tried to change the impact with another, thinking it was damaged, but no change.

So I told myself: the hell with that, I’m gonna get a better one.

What an odyssey! NO-ONE around here has any impact so I traveled a lot (and I mean A LOT!) and finally, when I was starting to despair, I found *the* impact, same brand as Eric’s, an Ingersoll Rand 231GXP.
A bit overpriced but I was desperate, and…well what I can say?

IT JUST WORKS! :woohoo:

And I have to say, it works even with a small compressor.

Oh yes of course the compressor starts often, but I must add it starts less often with the IR impact than with the other weakish one.
The IR just needs a second to do its magic, the other seems to blow blow blow and does almost nothing.

About oiling: there is really a lot of mis-informed people out there selling this tools.
I asked “what oil should I put in it?”
The general answer was: “the same one you put on the air compressor” (which is very very thick)

And instead I remembered Eric’s oil can in the video and it contained a very thin oil, and the most similar I could get around here is ATF, I really hope it works! :blink:

Anyway , not it works, I wonder how I was able to do without it for so long!
Very very useful! 🙂

Thanks for the inspiration Eric! 😉

Live long and prosper (and stay dirty!)

10nico

[Paul]

I am planning to get a Snap-On Air Compressor from Costco with the following spec.
– 20 gallon
– 5.1 CFM @ 40PSI, 4.1 CFM @ 90PSI
– 125 PSI MAX
– 2HP

I found a Stanley FatMax air tool kit with the following tools
– 500 ft-lb 1/2″ air impact wrench
– Air Hammer
– Die Grinder
– 3/8″ air rachet

Is the 500 ft-lb air impact wrench good enough to take the crank pulley nut off my 91 Civic?

I will be changing the timing belt on my 91 Civic in mid April.

I like to hear your comments on the air compressor and the air tools.

[EricTheCarGuy]

The Civic crank bolts aren’t nearly as bad as the Accords so you should be fine. Good luck.

[steven jacobsen]

Best impact I have is from mac tools (ingersol) 4400 , it has had the hell beat out of it but will still take of a rig wheel after about 10 years, regular oil is the key, I take all my air tools once a year and jam ATF in them and run them unloaded, I find that takes any moisture and dirt out, then new air oil.

[Author]

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