What Impact Gun can I run on my Cman 33 gal compressor?

[chad s]

I have the dreaded, loud as hell, 33 gal oiless craftsman compressor. I want to replace it this summer, but space, and electrical requirements are more of the issue than the money to buy a better compressor (as I work on my cars at my Grandparents garage), so untill I wire, and make room for the better/bigger compressor, the craftsman 33gal will be used.

I want a good 1/2" impact gun, in the $150-200 range, but Im not sure if I have enough CFM to run such a gun, like an IR 2135. Any suggestions?

[chad s]

The Craftsman 33 gal does claim to have 6.4CFM at 90PSI by the way.

[kartracer55]

Id consider a 231C/HA. Good all around gun @ 4.2cfm ttw.net says, and my friend runs one on his 110 belt drive compressor. It has balls, but you just need to play catch up if your doing tons of work. You cant do lugs on all four wheels non stop like I could if I was at work or at home with a huge compressor. Thundergun is a pig on air, Snap Ons are definetly pigs on air as well. Not sure about the 1/2 Nitrocats though.

[ImportTuner]

Check out the AirCats; great impact gun at a great price .. :)
go to www.maxtools.com and do a search on aircat or nitrocat ...

[eschoendorff]

I am in a similar situation. The real answer is: any damn 1/2" gun you want. Now, that being said, some will perform better than others. If I were going to buy a new gun today, my $$$$$ would be on the aircat (based on all the warm fuzzies floating around this board).

[toolfreak]

That compressor will run any 1/2" airgun you want as long as your not trying to run for long periods of time. You can take the lugnuts off several wheels if they were torqued properly before the compressor even kicks on.

[Deafautotech]

important is buy air tools that use 5.0 or less cfm then no problems.... but compressor will still run to keep pressure high enough....

[kartracer55]

NitroCat 1/2's are 4.6cfm avg. 3/8's are 4.2... Thats actually ALOT of air for a 3/8 gun. Im surprised.

Anyway, your looking at...
18.4cfm for the Nitrocat
16.8cfm for the 231
23cfm for the tundergun
24cfm for the 2135Ti

[l_bilyk]

Any gun will run.. you don't use impact guns continuously

[ImportTuner]

Any gun will run.. you don't use impact guns continuously
But he wants something comparable to the IR 2135 and has a budget of $100~200 ... :)

[kartracer55]

But he wants something comparable to the IR 2135 and has a budget of $100~200 ... :)


I dont see why It matters, because he doesnt have the air required to squeeze the potential out of thr 2135. Id probably try to fidn the lowest CFM gun I possibly could

Jim

[toolfreak]

But he wants something comparable to the IR 2135 and has a budget of $100~200 ... :)

With that being said there is no doubt I would go with a nitrocat based on TNT's review.

[SteveU]

He should be able to run the Nitrocat on that compressor. It takes maybe 3-5 seconds if that to take all 4 or 5 lugnuts off a wheel & then it has time to pump back up while he takes the wheel off before going to the next one.

[chad s]

I think Im going to go with the IR 231. I work on older cars on the weekends and after work, so Im not using it all day long. I buy good tools though, regardless of how much use, I want tools that work right when I do use them.

What are the big differences between the 231 and the 2135. What the big advantage of a Nitrocat over the two IR models?

[SteveU]

Nitrocat is more powerful than the 231 & a lot quieter AND cheaper than the 2135. I have yet to find something the Nitrocat won't either take off or breakoff on a car. TNT has an excellent review comparing the 2135 to the nitrocat on this forum.

[kartracer55]

Nitrocat is more powerful than the 231 & a lot quieter AND cheaper than the 2135. I have yet to find something the Nitrocat won't either take off or breakoff on a car. TNT has an excellent review comparing the 2135 to the nitrocat on this forum.

231 is a workhorse of a gun which will unquestionably outlast both the nitrocat and the Ti guns. The 2135 is the Ir Composite/Titanium, whereas the 231 is all aluminum and steel. 231 is heavier and a bit less powerfull, but still adequate. The major advantage to the 231 is that for about 100$ you can get a great gun.

The 2135 uses a titanium hammercase and Composite body. The Nitrocat is aluminum with a composite body. They main drawback to composite bodied guns is that they will wear out much faster than a traditional steel/aluminum gun. I have heard that the average lifespan of a composite gun is about 2-3 years of deaily use, with a trigger rebuild every year or so. TNToy is the only person I know using a nitrocat daily, so I cant really comment on how these will hold up. Lots of people use the 2135's, as they have been around longer.


There is one shop-owned CP gun that floats around that the owner has been using for the last like 30-40 years. The anvil is aactually polished to a mirror like finish with a nice curvature on it....the gun is beat to hell but its a workhorse. If they still make CP guns like that, i wouldnt hesitate to buy one.

[toolfreak]

IMO CP's are weak compared to IR but they will last forever.

[chad s]

231 is a workhorse of a gun which will unquestionably outlast both the nitrocat and the Ti guns. The 2135 is the Ir Composite/Titanium, whereas the 231 is all aluminum and steel. 231 is heavier and a bit less powerfull, but still adequate. The major advantage to the 231 is that for about 100$ you can get a great gun.



You made my "most likely" choice a "definate" choice. I dont use an impact very much. I have one of the craftsman ones they give you with a compressor, and they suck. When I do use one, I want it to work.

Since Im not holding it my hand all day, weight/fatigue is not really an issue. I think the 231 is going to be perfect. Thanks everyone for your help.

[SteveU]

A gun that lasts a full time mechanic 3 yrs of all day everyday use will last me pretty much a lifetime given the amount of use I give it. I'd think that if he's using it as much as TNT that his oiless compressor would give up before the nitrocat would.

[TNToy]

I think Im going to go with the IR 231. I work on older cars on the weekends and after work, so Im not using it all day long. I buy good tools though, regardless of how much use, I want tools that work right when I do use them.
The 231 is an excellent heavy-use choice. They average 10+ years of life when beaten to hell daily. I've got an ancient one that used to belong to my grandfather that's got a damaged anvil (won't lock a socket on anymore, no snap-ring groove) and it still runs great.

What it boils down to, is that with a smaller compressor you'll deplete the tank using any airtool for more than 20 seconds or so. IMO, it's more important to have a good gun with a crappy comrpessor: When you can't count on having full flow & pressure from your air source, a stronger gun will still bust most things loose at 60 PSI instead of the designed-for 90PSI line pressure.

With a cheaper impact, you'll always be doing things like waiting for the compressor to fill the tank so you have full pressure, and you'll have to run the regulator wide-open (125PSI to the tool) in order to remove things a great gun will hardly bother to hammer on before it removes.

The thing is, a gun uses a TON of air at full load - most are 20-30 CFM. But when you're loading them lightly, they use very little air. That's where the 6ish CFM AVERAGE figure comes from. ;) ... So beating on something for 20 seconds with a cheap impact is more taxing for your compressor than blasting it right off in 3 seconds with a good one.

What are the big differences between the 231 and the 2135. What the big advantage of a Nitrocat over the two IR s?

231:
Cheapest ($100-150)
Weakest of the 3, but still a pretty powerful tool.
Loudest
Heaviest
Will last the longest
Awkward direction change and always-move-too-far power regulator

IR titanium composite gun (2135):
Most expensive (~$300)
Most powerful
Quieter
Lightest
Easiest-to-use regulator and direction reversal

Nitrocat:
Cheap ($150-160ish)
Quietest by a WIDE margin.
About as powerful as the almighty 2135. Maybe a hair less
Light, but a bit heaver than the TI
Power regulator/reverse in one knob, almost as handy as TI's buttons.
Smoothest: Doesn't beat your hand to . The dual pin-clutch design makes the gun run much smoother when removing a rusted-solid 3/4" bolt than the twin-hammer mechanism used in the IR tools.

The Titanium will last 1.5-2 years on average if you wrench 40 hours a week with it. That's assuming that, like most, you don't take care of it. Guy next to me has IR's kit to grease the forward-portion of the gun which almost NO ONE does, oils it regularly, etc. Lasted over 2 years easy so far. But they typically require a trigger rebuild after that amount of time.

The plastic guns won't wear as well as a steel-housed one. Duh. It's like having a motor with a plastic block. They're light and they've made them extremely powerful, but plastic wears faster than steel, and there's not much you can do about that. ;)

I plan to replace my Nitrocat every 2 years or so - whenever it breaks. The TI is too loud and too pricey for me to dump $300 on every so oftem... but the Nitrocat? I don't know how it'll wear.

A TI I know what happens: The trigger eventually stops working, you get that rebuilt a couple of times, and after LONG time of hard use, the forward/rev buttons wear the case enough that they continually fall out. That takes a LOOOONG time using it daily. Pretty much never if you're not a wrench-turner for a living.

I bout the Nitrocat, in part, to test it out and see how long it'll last. 6 months so far, and if it broke tomorrow I'd order another one while I sent this one in for repair. ;)

[chad s]

Just an update. I went to sears the other day (see snap on tool box thread), and they had both IR models there. The 231C is very heavy, when compared to the 2135. I thought it wouldnt be enough to really bother me, untill I actualy handled it.

I have decided to go with the Nitrocat. I think it has the best ratio of air consumption to weight, and everyone here seems to love it.

[chevy302dz]

If you wanted to go cheaper yet you could always get the regular AirCat. The big difference between it and the NitroCat is the Aircat uses a twin hammer like the IR and the Nitro uses a twin clutch.

[ImportTuner]

Just an update. I went to sears the other day (see snap on tool box thread), and they had both IR models there. The 231C is very heavy, when compared to the 2135. I thought it wouldnt be enough to really bother me, untill I actualy handled it.

I have decided to go with the Nitrocat. I think it has the best ratio of air consumption to weight, and everyone here seems to love it.
Good Choice .... :)

[kartracer55]

You guys are wimps =]