Battery Impact Wrench - any reccomendations?

[s2sol]

I've picked up some work which involves bolting things onto other things very tightly. I've asked the customer how tight, and he's told me "as tight as possible". The majority of the work is carried out at my unit, which has a compressor - all good.

However, some of the work is carried out at customer premises. I need a quick way of refitting nuts or bolts "as tight as possible". I guess a battery impact wrench is the way ahead, but I don't know anything about them. Any suggestions or ideas would be appreciated.

[AndrewW-G]

I've got one of these (I got the variant without batteries as I already had some) however its a: a tad expensive and b: I only got the DeWalt 18v one as I already have a few other 18v devices of theirs.

If you've already got some cordless kit, makes sense to buy the same brand so you can use the same batteries and chargers

http://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-dw059k2-18v-impac...

[s2sol]

Thanks very much. You're right - it is a tad more than I was hoping to pay. I've got mostly old Ryobi 18v kit at the moment. They have/had a great gearbox in the 3 speed drill driver, that I couldn't break, despite my best efforts.

I don't know if my old batteries will work in the Ryobi 1+ stuff they have now.

[balls-out]

The mind boggles - I hope these items wont cause inujury if they fail. Over tighening is probably as dangerous as under-tightening.
I suggest you need check the max recommended torque for the bolt/nuts you are using.

[s2sol]

Aye, I know it sounds a bit vague. Once I've got the specifications of the bolts, I'll be able to make an informed estimate.

There's no potential for injury through them failing, otherwise I'd be a lot less blasé.

[freecar]

Just use a 1/2" power bar.

I used to torque bus wheel nuts up to 450ft/lbs and used a 1 metre bar to do it, you don't need an impact, a bar will get it tighter!

[pidsy]

another vote for the 18v dewalt. think i paid about £260 is for mine.

expensive but you cant beat a bit of yellow and black!

[seagrey]

pidsy said:

another vote for the 18v dewalt. think i paid about £260 is for mine.

expensive but you cant beat a bit of yellow and black!

Yes you can, a bit of black and red,Snap on.
Mine was £400 but easily worth the extra over my DeWalt,which wont undo a lot of stuff the snap on has no problem with.

[Rollcage]

seagrey said:

Yes you can, a bit of black and red,Snap on.
Mine was £400 but easliy worth the extra over my DeWalt,which wouldn`t undo a lot of stuff the snap on has no problem with.

The Snap On would also get my vote - a lot of their stuff is overpriced, but my 18v impact gun will undo pretty much anything. I've used it on hub nuts, crank pulley bolts and even head bolts, and it has never failed to undo anything.

Mine was over your budget at, from memory, £450, but I don't regret a penny of that outlay.

[seagrey]

Rollcage said:

Mine was over your budget at, from memory, £450, but I don't regret a penny of that outlay.

I didn`t get a carry case with mine,got £50 off instead though.

[jackal]

seagrey said:

Yes you can, a bit of black and red,Snap on.
Mine was £400 but easily worth the extra over my DeWalt,which wont undo a lot of stuff the snap on has no problem with.

Ive got the snap on 6850 and its incredible.

That said, and contarary to what I was advised, its trumped by my XT7100 1/2 inch air gun with a true 100psi which will rip your hand off. That thing is almost scary to use on full power.

Dont skimp on stuff like this is my advice. The 6850 is a gun for life... You may as well have one that can undo almost everything and is mad to last.

[s2sol]

Thanks very much. I should stress that this is a backup thing, to be used only when I'm on site. The majority of the assembly will be done before they go out. I'd imagine it will be used maybe 10 days a year. Anything over about £200 is a bit too much.

[thewhooshparrot]

Another for the snap on 18v here,as above nothing it cant do with a charged battery,and available 2nd hand on ebay!

[seagrey]

thewhooshparrot said:

Another for the snap on 18v here,as above nothing it cant do with a charged battery,and available 2nd hand on ebay!

It is good but hasnt got the torque/hammer power of a good air gun.
Mine is a very well thumbed Ingersoll Rand 1/2" whizz gun I`ve had for nearly 20 years,its never given an ounce of trouble and is constantly borrowed by others with inferior guns or feeble arms.
Its also more powerful than my 3/4 snap on gun that has a 1/2" hose running it.
I run all my tools at 110-150 p.s.i. 90 just dont cut it.

[ch427]

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/...

i dont rate their tools usually but this has won a couple of tests in various magazines for a reasonably priced tool. They do a high torque version too.

[s2sol]

Thanks very much. That's more the kind of thing I was after.

[Steve H]

Cheapish gun plus a power bar or torque wrench is the answer you are looking for. You can't rely on a good consistent level of tightening with a battery gun (or with a lot of air guns come to that.....) so if the setting needs to be FT then the gun is handy for speed but you'll still want to lean the bar on if afterwards.

[chevy-stu]

ch427 said:

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/...

i dont rate their tools usually but this has won a couple of tests in various magazines for a reasonably priced tool. They do a high torque version too.

I was thinking of getting a battery impact gun and saw that one too in a review a while back.... Seems good for the occasional user (ie. swapping wheels at Trackday, odd service job, etc.. . )

[Brite spark]

s2sol said:

I've got mostly old Ryobi 18v kit at the moment. They have/had a great gearbox in the 3 speed drill driver, that I couldn't break, despite my best efforts.

I don't know if my old batteries will work in the Ryobi 1+ stuff they have now.

If its the old ryobi 18v one+ you have (blue) the new stuff (green) will work with it, battery fittment is the same, lithium ion batteries (if used) need the new charger, but it will fast charge older batteries as well

ryobi impact wrench
http://www.ryobi-direct.com/acatalog/Ryobi_BIW180M...

or less power and cost, impact driver (powerfull enough?)

http://www.ryobi-direct.com/acatalog/18v__Impact_D...

[s2sol]

I got the Draper one in the end. Screwfix were out of the Ryobi, which is a PITA. The Draper's been good, and it's amazing what you use it for when you have one. Despite the extra weight, it often comes out rather than the air wrench.

I changed an exhaust on a van the other day, and it was far better than having an airline dragging about, for example.

Thanks for all the suggestions.