Impact gun - air or battery?

[Dave.]

Fellow DIYers,

I starting to do more and more of my own work, and helping out others.

Out of shear lazyness, I'm thinking of getting an impact gun.

I don't have a compressor, nor do I have room for anything really, without sacrificing workspace.

Cost isn't a massive issue, but I won't be using it every day, so don't need a SnapOn etc.

I can't see me needing two batteries, as I can just put the one on charge Friday which should last me enough to pop four wheels off and back on on the Saturday.

Any recommendations? I've been looking at sgs's starter kits, which would put me at about £110 for a 6l (5.7cfm) unit, hose etc, and a light duty gun, which would be semi-mobile, and be expandable should I need something else air powered if the future.

Could I get an equally good (bad?) battery gun with battery for the same price?

Or what about a 240v gun? Best of both worlds or worst?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Clarke-CEW1000-Electric-I...


This one has ni-cad batteries and kicks out 220nm as opposed the the mains powered 450nm!

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-cir220-24v-...


Argh, minefield!

[tight fart]

I'd go battery, most of my jobs now are in the garage where I have a compressor and 240v.
I recently got a Ryobi drill and driver that use the +one battery's.
They also do a 1/2" impact driver that's 400nm. Picked one up in the Black Friday madness for £75.

With air you have to wait for the tank to fill and 240v find the extension lead.

[PositronicRay]

Personally I go for a mains powered everything, I'm never far from a power supply but I do forget to charge things up!

[227bhp]

Dave. said:

I don't have a compressor, nor do I have room for anything really, without sacrificing workspace.

Kind of narrows it down from the title question a bit then.

[AdamIndy]

I have a Clarke 24v impact gun. It's great so long as the battery is FULLY charged. If it isn't fully charged then it's little more than an expensive paper weight with anything that is tight.

With a fully charged battery it made mincemeat of MX5 rear hub nuts. Wheelnuts are a doddle.

Take their torque ratings with a pinch of salt though.

If money is no object then a decent compressor and rattle gun is the way to go. If you are going battery powered then you may have to crack the tighter nuts/bolts first.

I can't comment on the mains powered ones as I have never used one.

[Dave.]

227bhp said:

Dave. said:

I don't have a compressor, nor do I have room for anything really, without sacrificing workspace.

Kind of narrows it down from the title question a bit then.

But if forking out £110 on a compressor/kit which is moveable is better than spending the same on a ste battery powered one, I'm willing to sacrifice a little storage space, so not entirely a stupid question.

[Dave.]

Currently it's a fight between the mains powered Clarke, or this Wolf 18v...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Impact-Wrenches/Wolf-Co...

[DuraAce]

I've got a 1/2" drive dewalt battery one, (helps that I have battery and charger from other tools). Cost less than £200 and it's very strong. So strong in fact that I don't use it on fasteners less than 15 mm for fear of breaking things. It whips wheel and axle nuts off no problem at all.
Bought a 3/8" less powerful one for smaller stuff.
Given the amount of use they get (not much as I'm, a DIYer) they are preferable over air tools as you don't have the hassle of a compressor. Of course they're much more portable as well.

[SamR380]

I have a Clarke AC powered impact driver and an air gun. I would recommend the Clarke on to anyone, it’s as good if not better than an air gun and a bargain at about £60 or whatever it was. It doesn’t go flat and I haven’t found anything it can’t undo. The only problem is the physical size of it is quite big.

Kielder battery guns come with a recommendation from a friend, though I haven’t used them personally. Much better than the Clarke 24v one he had before.

[Dave.]

SamR380 said:

I have a Clarke AC powered impact driver and an air gun. I would recommend the Clarke on to anyone, it’s as good if not better than an air gun and a bargain at about £60 or whatever it was. It doesn’t go flat and I haven’t found anything it can’t undo. The only problem is the physical size of it is quite big.

Kielder battery guns come with a recommendation from a friend, though I haven’t used them personally. Much better than the Clarke 24v one he had before.

Is that the CEW1000?

[feef]

I've got a compressor driven impact wrench. It's a good piece of kit but I'm considering adding a battery powered one to the toolbox as there are occasions where I can't get the air driven one into smaller spaces due to the hose. It would likely be similar for a mains powered one.

[Andy 308GTB]

For what it's worth I am currently removing the drive shafts on my car. I had removed/unbolted the outer CV joints last year when I rebuilt the suspension - and was forced into using an angle grinder on the nuts.

To remove the bolts from the inner CV joint (where I can't get an angle grinder to the nuts) I bought a Clarke CEW1000 impact gun for around £60 and a 2' extension. The gun is supposed to chuck out 450nm of torque - and it feels heavy enough and kicks back enough to make you think it does.
However, when I connected it all up and hit the trigger - the bolts didn't budge. Obviously I tried several times without success. Out of frustration I dragged out my 2' breaker bar, used some screwdrivers to align the extension with the bolt and with a firm pull freed the bolt up & the other 5 followed suit.

I suspect you get what you pay for and I am loathe to criticize Clarke tools as in general I am a fan but if you are serious about an impact gun you need either air or to spend a lot more.

Edited by Andy 308GTB on Wednesday 30th November 13:28

[SamR380]

Dave. said:

Is that the CEW1000?

Yep

Just to comment on the above, about using extensions, I found it hardly worked at all when I put an extension on it. I guess the 10 degrees slack or so you pick up by putting another element in the chain takes up most of the rotation from each strike... or is that me talking bks? I don't know but it works great if you just stick a socket on the end.

I am also looking at getting a smaller battery impact gun for 8-14mm type stuff around the car, just because I'm lazy. The Clarke is a bit cumbersome for that.

[227bhp]

Dave. said:

227bhp said:

Dave. said:

I don't have a compressor, nor do I have room for anything really, without sacrificing workspace.

Kind of narrows it down from the title question a bit then.

But if forking out £110 on a compressor/kit which is moveable is better than spending the same on a ste battery powered one, I'm willing to sacrifice a little storage space, so not entirely a stupid question.

You'll need more than that, a sizeable compressor is needed to power an impact wrench.

[227bhp]

Andy 308GTB said:

For what it's worth I am currently removing the drive shafts on my car. I had removed/unbolted the outer CV joints last year when I rebuilt the suspension - and was forced into using an angle grinder on the nuts.

To remove the bolts from the inner CV joint (where I can't get an angle grinder to the nuts) I bought a Clarke CEW1000 impact gun for around £60 and a 2' extension. The gun is supposed to chuck out 450nm of torque - and it feels heavy enough and kicks back enough to make you think it does.
However, when I connected it all up and hit the trigger - the bolts didn't budge. Obviously I tried several times without success. Out of frustration I dragged out my 2' breaker bar, used some screwdrivers to align the extension with the bolt and with a firm pull freed the bolt up & the other 5 followed suit.

I suspect you get what you pay for and I am loathe to criticize Clarke tools as in general I am a fan but if you are serious about an impact gun you need either air or to spend a lot more.

Edited by Andy 308GTB on Wednesday 30th November 13:28

The extension will have taken some of the torque out of it, they twist and have twice the 'play' in the joints.
Impact wrenches at this level are as much about speed than anything else, not all about undoing things which are very tight.

[MDMetal]

So are battery guns really on the same footing? I've been stuck trying to pull the nuts off a front suspension arm on one side and asked my dad who was a mechanic 30 odd years ago and he said don't bother with the electric guns, are they worth picking up then?

[Dave.]

227bhp said:

The extension will have taken some of the torque out of it, they twist and have twice the 'play' in the joints.
Impact wrenches at this level are as much about speed than anything else, not all about undoing things which are very tight.

This is more my needs to be honest, the front to rear swap of wheels and tyre on the two sheds is 36 nuts to take off and put back on.

I'm not going to be undoing many stuck solid bolts (I leave that to my every loving mechanic), more maintenance stuff, undoing undertrays etc.

I'm sure I saw a compressor and buzz gun starter set for £110 yesterday on sgs... Its actually £160... Plus vat...

[Andy 308GTB]

SamR380 said:

Just to comment on the above, about using extensions, I found it hardly worked at all when I put an extension on it. I guess the 10 degrees slack or so you pick up by putting another element in the chain takes up most of the rotation from each strike... or is that me talking bks? I don't know but it works great if you just stick a socket on the end.

Nope, you clearly weren't talking bks

227bhp said:

The extension will have taken some of the torque out of it, they twist and have twice the 'play' in the joints.
Impact wrenches at this level are as much about speed than anything else, not all about undoing things which are very tight.

This all makes sense. I have lived and I have learnt...
Thanks

I'm sure there will plenty more opportunities to use my new toy.

[Dave.]

Cheers for the input chaps, although I'm still undecided.

[one eyed mick]

A comment to all Buy a proper breaker bar [24 " +] and man up !!!