Clarke impact wrench
Discussion
Hi Chaps
I have briefly discussed impact wrenches on here before and I know others have also.
I would just like to share my experience with others and seek advice as to whether maybe I am asking to much.
Yesterday I purchased a Clarke Brushless 18V 4Ah 1/2 Impact Wrench with a max torque of 450Nm. It comes with 2 batteries and I charged both fully once I arrived home. It cost £180.
I just popped out to the garage and slackened a 17mm wheel nut and then re-tightened it using a 3/8 torque wrench to 103 Nm.
The Clarke wrench would not un-do it! It just tried and tried and I gave up after it impacting for about 5-10 seconds.
I plan on returning it for a refund.
Am I expecting to much from it??
Would I be best of looking for a second hand Milwaukee unit? If so, would one of these remove wheel bolts etc with no effort at all?
I do not see the point in having one if you first need to loosen. the nut with a bar.
Cheers
I have briefly discussed impact wrenches on here before and I know others have also.
I would just like to share my experience with others and seek advice as to whether maybe I am asking to much.
Yesterday I purchased a Clarke Brushless 18V 4Ah 1/2 Impact Wrench with a max torque of 450Nm. It comes with 2 batteries and I charged both fully once I arrived home. It cost £180.
I just popped out to the garage and slackened a 17mm wheel nut and then re-tightened it using a 3/8 torque wrench to 103 Nm.
The Clarke wrench would not un-do it! It just tried and tried and I gave up after it impacting for about 5-10 seconds.
I plan on returning it for a refund.
Am I expecting to much from it??
Would I be best of looking for a second hand Milwaukee unit? If so, would one of these remove wheel bolts etc with no effort at all?
I do not see the point in having one if you first need to loosen. the nut with a bar.
Cheers
I think it's fairly common to find that the lesser brands (Clarke for example) over-egg their torque claims. It's measured over a period of time, so I assume if it takes X number of minutes to remove a bolt/nut then it's still considered fair game to list the torque potential as Y?
I would return it.
As far as alternatives, I use a Milwaukee stubby 12v (3/8) that's insanely good for the size (340nm) and can and has done crank bolts and hub nuts, as well as wheels, obviously. Expensive for home use probably - I use it at work.
A colleague has one of the big Milwaukees (18v - 600nm+) and that is a monster. Overkill for cars possibly. I received a car with wheels lugs on hard enough to warrant 2m cheater bar on one side, and the Milwaukee buzzed them off in seconds.
I also use (at home) a Kielder 700nm/1/2", 18v gun that is very strong (although whether it can muster 700nm, who knows?) and is quite good value although doesn't have the build quality of Milwaukee.
Also have a £50 Silverline corded one that's ok for occasional use and will do wheels.
Milwaukee warranty is solid and 3 years.
Keilder is 2 or 3 years (I forget), and I've used it for a battery failure and been very impressed by the turn-around.
Silverline who knows?
I would return it.
As far as alternatives, I use a Milwaukee stubby 12v (3/8) that's insanely good for the size (340nm) and can and has done crank bolts and hub nuts, as well as wheels, obviously. Expensive for home use probably - I use it at work.
A colleague has one of the big Milwaukees (18v - 600nm+) and that is a monster. Overkill for cars possibly. I received a car with wheels lugs on hard enough to warrant 2m cheater bar on one side, and the Milwaukee buzzed them off in seconds.
I also use (at home) a Kielder 700nm/1/2", 18v gun that is very strong (although whether it can muster 700nm, who knows?) and is quite good value although doesn't have the build quality of Milwaukee.
Also have a £50 Silverline corded one that's ok for occasional use and will do wheels.
Milwaukee warranty is solid and 3 years.
Keilder is 2 or 3 years (I forget), and I've used it for a battery failure and been very impressed by the turn-around.
Silverline who knows?
Thank for the great informative replies.
I will return it.
Would this be a great unit:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Old-Stock-Milwaukee...
I will return it.
Would this be a great unit:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Old-Stock-Milwaukee...
TROOPER88 said:
Thank for the great informative replies.
I will return it.
Would this be a great unit:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Old-Stock-Milwaukee...
That Milwaukee is going to undo anything, but probably a bit bigger and heavier than necessary for cars.I will return it.
Would this be a great unit:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Old-Stock-Milwaukee...
TROOPER88 said:
Hi Chaps
I have briefly discussed impact wrenches on here before and I know others have also.
I would just like to share my experience with others and seek advice as to whether maybe I am asking to much.
Yesterday I purchased a Clarke Brushless 18V 4Ah 1/2 Impact Wrench with a max torque of 450Nm. It comes with 2 batteries and I charged both fully once I arrived home. It cost £180.
I just popped out to the garage and slackened a 17mm wheel nut and then re-tightened it using a 3/8 torque wrench to 103 Nm.
The Clarke wrench would not un-do it! It just tried and tried and I gave up after it impacting for about 5-10 seconds.
I plan on returning it for a refund.
Am I expecting to much from it??
Would I be best of looking for a second hand Milwaukee unit? If so, would one of these remove wheel bolts etc with no effort at all?
I do not see the point in having one if you first need to loosen. the nut with a bar.
Cheers
I've just bought a Dewalt DCF899HN. Claims 950nm. This seller is selling them for £110 bare regularly - https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/kaminc-13I have briefly discussed impact wrenches on here before and I know others have also.
I would just like to share my experience with others and seek advice as to whether maybe I am asking to much.
Yesterday I purchased a Clarke Brushless 18V 4Ah 1/2 Impact Wrench with a max torque of 450Nm. It comes with 2 batteries and I charged both fully once I arrived home. It cost £180.
I just popped out to the garage and slackened a 17mm wheel nut and then re-tightened it using a 3/8 torque wrench to 103 Nm.
The Clarke wrench would not un-do it! It just tried and tried and I gave up after it impacting for about 5-10 seconds.
I plan on returning it for a refund.
Am I expecting to much from it??
Would I be best of looking for a second hand Milwaukee unit? If so, would one of these remove wheel bolts etc with no effort at all?
I do not see the point in having one if you first need to loosen. the nut with a bar.
Cheers
I've only got to use it on a couple of wheel bolts so far, and it undid them without any effort whatsoever - two impacts and they buzz off.
I only really wanted something more powerful than my 160nm impact driver (that can't loosen a wheel nut) but figured if I saved £50 I'd regret it when I came to something really, really stuck.
bungz said:
Had a wired clarke impact.
Was useless.
Was useless.
Andy 308GTB said:
Matches my experience (Clarke CEW1000)
I'm surprised by this - I have a cheap (£30?) Parkside (Lidl) mains impact wrench rated at 300-ish nm. It gets the hub nuts (280nm) off my Megane without *too* much fuss.The problem for me though is twofold - mains is a pain, despite having power on the driveway it's never long enough and I never have an extension handy - and also it's very big which precludes it being used in a lot of situations.
I recently bought a Makita 18v brushless impact wrench. Must admit I wish I'd bought one of these years ago. They do seem to make removal of rusty old bolts a breeze compared to a breaker bar and spanner. I guess the impact and vibrations must just clear so much more crap from the threads as once it's loosened the nut they just whizz off, also haven't had a nut or bolt either jam or snap yet.
The Makita I bought won't do wheel nuts that have been tightened with my 3 foot breaker bar
, but has been a godsend for loosening suspension odds and sods and makes life so much easier if I can get it in to use it.
The Makita I bought won't do wheel nuts that have been tightened with my 3 foot breaker bar
, but has been a godsend for loosening suspension odds and sods and makes life so much easier if I can get it in to use it.Piersman2 said:
I recently bought a Makita 18v brushless impact wrench. Must admit I wish I'd bought one of these years ago. They do seem to make removal of rusty old bolts a breeze compared to a breaker bar and spanner. I guess the impact and vibrations must just clear so much more crap from the threads as once it's loosened the nut they just whizz off, also haven't had a nut or bolt either jam or snap yet.
The Makita I bought won't do wheel nuts that have been tightened with my 3 foot breaker bar, but has been a godsend for loosening suspension odds and sods and makes life so much easier if I can get it in to use it.
I am looking for one powerful enough to do the same plus wheel bolts The Makita I bought won't do wheel nuts that have been tightened with my 3 foot breaker bar
, but has been a godsend for loosening suspension odds and sods and makes life so much easier if I can get it in to use it.
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