Need help with air compressor/air tool set up

[jrylander1]

Hi everyone. Sorry if this subject has been covered already but I couldn't find the answers I was looking for. I am a DIYer mainly working on my motorcycles and cars and living in MN we see a lot of rusty bolts/nuts. I wont be using air tools all the time so I didn't want to drop a ton of money on this set up.
I decided to buy the Harbor freight 21 gal CP air compressor along with the 1/2 earthquake impact wrench. (I'm on a budget) I have a 3/8 50' hose with 1/4 fittings (not high flow). I set the regulator that is connected to the tank at 90 PSI like the gun says and when I pull the trigger I can hold the socket in my hand without it spinning (its hard but I can hold it still). This Impact wrench is rated for 700 Ft LBS so why can I hold the socket in my hand? What am I doing wrong. I am new to air tools so any help would be appreciated.

I need to get an axle nut off and already broke 2 breaker bars using a cheater pipe. Please help.

Is this compressor not powerful enough to use this impact wrench?

Would high flow fittings help that much? Should I get a shorter hose and maybe switch to a 1/2 hose instead of 3/8?

 

[jallyn]

Probably have a bad impact wrench. I do the same setup except with a 25' long 3/8" rubber hose. I'm able to do lug nuts just fine. So first try it with a shorter hose and if that doesn't work exchange your impact wrench at Harbor Freight.

 

[Roberts210]

What happens when you put the impact wrench on the axle nut and reverse the trigger to loosen the nut? Anything? When loosening stuck nuts I generally have to let the impact work for 3-10 seconds, banging away, before the nut loosens. And I would consider the "develops 700 foot lbs" highly suspicious advertising.

 

[Showkey]

When your on a budget.........sometimes the cheapest .........is not the least expensive.

It's Harbor Freight...........

As for the nut problem......... Borrow a known good impact......or just take the HF gun back its not like they don't see returns every day.

 

[mfewtrail]

Shorten the hose(if HF is nearby, grab one of those 8ft remnant hoses that are cheap) and crank the regulator up until you have 90psi while the tool is running wide open. This will make a big difference as long as your impact gun is working properly.

 

[xtremek]

Two things jump out at me. Is there a torque setting on the gun? Most of them have one and maybe you're set on low. I use compressor pressure. On the last one, that was 125-130psi and on the "new" one, 175-180psi. 1/4" fittings shouldn't affect the torque output of a 1/2" gun. 3/4" or 1" yes, 1/2" no. Also, most impact guns produce more torque in reverse than they do in forward, so I'm told.

 

[jrylander1]

Thanks guys. I do have a local harbor freight nearby. Ill try a shorter hose and raise the pressure and see if that helps. Does anyone use a regulator between the hose and the air gun? Would that be helpful in any way?

When I put the gun on the nut in reverse it just bangs away but wont turn the nut at all. I tried it a few times with about 10 second bursts. There are settings on the gun but there is only 1 setting for reverse.

I too doubted the 700 ft lbs of torque but I also didn't think I would be able to stop a socket with my hand.

xtremex- what do you mean on the last one 125-130 and new one 175-180??

showkey- I know harbor freight has some junk and some gems. I heard great reviews about the 21 gal compressor and the 1/2 earthquake. What set up would you get in the same price point.

I just bought the compressor and impact so I could take them back if needed.

Thanks again

 

[jrylander1]

This nut is really on there and I'm not sure what else to try. I've drenched it in PB blaster put a propane torch to in and still broke 2 breaker bars using a cheater pipe. What else can I try?? And yes I'm turning the nut the correct way.

 

[CJM8515]

Friend has same compressor, high flow fittings and large diameter hose. Trying to use it with his mac impact gun, it only works when at full pressure. Too little CFM from the tank to the gun. My OLD ni-cad snap on cordless 1/2 impact blows the thing away.

 

[ihateminimumwage]

This nut is really on there and I'm not sure what else to try. I've drenched it in PB blaster put a propane torch to in and still broke 2 breaker bars using a cheater pipe. What else can I try?? And yes I'm turning the nut the correct way.

A good old trick is to heat the stud with a torch until glowing (propane torch will work, just takes longer) and use wax on it (I have a small box of birthday candles). Wax will liquefy and follow the heat down the threads. It works better when the work is vertical, but even horizontal you can usually get some in there. I've have some NASTY road rusted stuff that PB and an impact wouldn't touch. Used the wax trick and it spun off like new hardware.

Crank the regulator at your compressor up to 120ish, and exchange that impact for a good one. Don't expect any miracles out of that gun if you're snapping off breaker bars, but if you can get it to start to move, work the nut back and forth so the rust doesn't bind it up worse in the threads.

 

[jrylander1]

Thanks for the help guys. I never heard of the wax trick ill have to try that. Even if the gun only works at full pressure you would think it would spin a socket in my hand. Should I just bring this compressor back and go with one that has more CFM or should this be enough?

Might just have to buy a bigger breaker bar and use the muscles on this one.

getting pretty frustrated and I would hate to have to bring my car into a shop. Especially after buying the tools that should do the job.

 

[sberry]

Put it on a bolt and try, in your hand isn't going to tell you a thing. 2nd, that is 90 at the tool not at the comp. To get that it takes about 130 on a 50 ft hose for a heavy 1/2, a 25 ft hose will help a lot.

 

[jallyn]

Since it doesn't spin in your hand you must have gotten a bad impact wrench. I have the same one and it works fine for lug nuts. Go ahead and take it back to Harbor Freight to be exchanged with another one.

 

[larry_g]

I would suggest that you bypass the regulator all together. A lot of those cheap regulators can be a real choke point. That gun will be ok at 130-150 psi for the short time that compressor can deliver it. I run my shop system at 150 psi and do not regulate anything unless the 'process' requires it.

lg
no neat sigline

 

[jrylander1]

I would suggest that you bypass the regulator all together. A lot of those cheap regulators can be a real choke point. That gun will be ok at 130-150 psi for the short time that compressor can deliver it. I run my shop system at 150 psi and do not regulate anything unless the 'process' requires it.

lg
no neat sigline

How would I go about bypassing the regulator. Does it just unscrew? would I have to plug it with something or does another coupler go there. Sorry pretty new to the compressor stuff.

 

[maxpower_hd]

You may have a bottleneck someplace or a bad hose too. I have spare parts so it's easy for me. I installed a hose real and ran some new lines to run it. I had a HUGE pressure drop and my tools were acting similar to yours in these were known good tools.

First I would do as already mentioned and regulate the pressure so it is 90-100 when the gun is running. Then I would either try to use your gun at a friends house to see if it works there or make up a gauge and see what your pressure is before the gun so you can compare the two. In my situation the hose was pinched inside the reel where it connects to it. You still may have a bad gun though.

You might want to invest in a good quality breaker bar too. I have snapped off lugs with my breaker bar and a pipe.

As far as the frozen lug nut heat should do the trick. Another thing to try is heating the nut until red, then hitting it with a cold wet rag. Repeat three or four times and then try to remove it with the breaker bar while it is hot. Worst case it might break off and you need to replace the stud.

 

[ratdoggy]

Heat and PB blaster might help too...
Hit it with a propane torch and then soak it with PB blaster.....
Not WD40 in a pinch you can try some paraffin

 

[Loscaldazar]

Your working pressure is too low. The 90 PSI rating is the WORKING pressure of the gun, not the static pressure. What that means is that when the gun is running wide open, it should be getting 90 PSI to it.

If you set your regulator to 90 PSI, then when the gun is running, is probably only getting 50-60 PSI depending on your set up (with a 50 ft hose and non hi flow fittings, you might only be getting 50 PSI to that gun). It's hardly going to produce any power at that PSI.

Turn the regulator up until it reads 90 PSI when the trigger on the gun is depressed. If it is a 125 PSI compressor, that probably means it needs to be turned up all the way.

The earthquake guns are good. I bought one to hold me over until I had enough to buy an IR2135, and just never got the IR2135 as the earthquake hasn't failed me yet on removing anything.

 

[Major Ramifications]

What do you have the big dial on the back of the impact set to?

 

[larry_g]

How would I go about bypassing the regulator. Does it just unscrew? would I have to plug it with something or does another coupler go there. Sorry pretty new to the compressor stuff.

What I would do is unscrew the regulator, add a Tee coming out of the tank, replace the regulator and add a quick connect in the other port of the Tee. That way you have a way to connect to the regulated air or directly to the tank. Or cheaper is to just remove the regulator and reinstall the QD in the tank. This assumes that this is possible. Some of these compressors have some weird regulators that are integral with other functions. Show us a picture.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[ovrrdrive]

You don't have the gun in low speed do you?

I can almost stop mine when it's in low. In high it is plenty strong. I took off a spindle nut with it once and it wouldn't turn it in reverse at 90psi so I cranked it up to about 130 and it buzzed it right off. I bet both the gun and the compressor are fine but you have a restriction in between somewhere. I like screwing a short hose directly into the tank and the gun and trying it then. I bet its fine.

It's nothing special but the gun does what I need it to do. I do feed it a lot of air with high flow connectors and hoses. Usually I run it around 100psi at the tank.

 

[anndel]

Hi everyone. Sorry if this subject has been covered already but I couldn't find the answers I was looking for. I am a DIYer mainly working on my motorcycles and cars and living in MN we see a lot of rusty bolts/nuts. I wont be using air tools all the time so I didn't want to drop a ton of money on this set up.
I decided to buy the Harbor freight 21 gal CP air compressor along with the 1/2 earthquake impact wrench. (I'm on a budget) I have a 3/8 50' hose with 1/4 fittings (not high flow). I set the regulator that is connected to the tank at 90 PSI like the gun says and when I pull the trigger I can hold the socket in my hand without it spinning (its hard but I can hold it still). This Impact wrench is rated for 700 Ft LBS so why can I hold the socket in my hand? What am I doing wrong. I am new to air tools so any help would be appreciated.

I need to get an axle nut off and already broke 2 breaker bars using a cheater pipe. Please help.

Is this compressor not powerful enough to use this impact wrench?

Would high flow fittings help that much? Should I get a shorter hose and maybe switch to a 1/2 hose instead of 3/8?

Using Teflon tape on your fittings? It could be the tape is covering the hose opening. I saw this at my friend's house some years back. He was trying to rotate his tires but the $150 compressor and $40 Husky impact wrench wasn't spinning. When I looked into the fitting then took it apart the tape was covering the hole.

 

[jrylander1]

Thanks everyone. I bought a 3/4" breaker bar and an impact adapter (3/4" to 1/2") and the adapter started twisting. Raising the pressure to the gun did help, the gun feels more powerful now but not enough to move that nut. I even tried my dads 1/2" corded Dewalt impact wrench and that did nothing. I think my next move is to buy the 36mm socket in the 3/4" drive and give it hell with the breaker bar and pipe.

I tried heating with a propane torch, the tall skinny ones you get at O'reilly auto parts and heated the nut for awhile (maybe 5-7 mins) and couldn't get the nut to glow red. Being outside in MN when its 15 degrees probably don't help though. Ill show some pictures when I get home today of my set up.

The Gun only has one setting for reverse.