air compressor unable to remove lug nuts?

[MrWrencher823]

A brake line? Hmm, haven't run into that. If it doesn't have normal 1/4" NTP threads, it could be more complicated than it's worth (unless it really is the problem, of course).

Edit again: I looked it up on HF's site, I see what you mean. It may require a flare to NTP fitting to make it work.

Yeah I edited the post. I'm not home to see the compressor so I was going off pictures I have from today. I apologize. Tomorrow I'm going to get a T valve and try some measurements and remove the regulator and see what all happens. I will report back. thank you everyone.

I just wish harbor freight wasn't a half hour drive from me. Haha

 

[rcjoy]

You need to measure the air pressure under load. That is, while holding the trigger on your impact wrench. That's the pressure that matters, not the no-load pressure.

 

[redmondjp]

You need to measure the air pressure under load. That is, while holding the trigger on your impact wrench. That's the pressure that matters, not the no-load pressure.

Exactly - the pressure right at the gun when the gun is running is what is important.

And I disagree with the above poster that you don't need high-flow fittings with this size of compressor - you still have the volume in the tank, and you want the lowest restriction between that volume of compressed air and the gun when you pull the trigger.

I had the same experience as the OP with a Craftsman gun at home - it couldn't even loosen lug nuts so I gave it away. I have an IR 235 now and couldn't be happier. I'm going to add high-flow fittings to my system this year (at least for that tool and the hose that feeds it) to amp it up even more.

 

[stikman56]

Exactly - the pressure right at the gun when the gun is running is what is important.

And I disagree with the above poster that you don't need high-flow fittings with this size of compressor - you still have the volume in the tank, and you want the lowest restriction between that volume of compressed air and the gun when you pull the trigger.

I had the same experience as the OP with a Craftsman gun at home - it couldn't even loosen lug nuts so I gave it away. I have an IR 235 now and couldn't be happier. I'm going to add high-flow fittings to my system this year (at least for that tool and the hose that feeds it) to amp it up even more.

Craftsman has a lot of 1/2" guns. Many are strong like the 19905 (aka IR 2131), the 19865, the 19986, the 19984, 198641 which are all Florida Pneumatics and all have good torque, lowest is 500 ft.lbs. and it's a tiny gun, and still very capable. A few are turds, but he didn't state the model.

 

[MrWrencher823]

Hello everyone. About to run off to get the fittings. This is the impact I'm using.



It works fine at the shop but here it's just all struggle and no show.

 

[trippintl0]

Lose the quick connects at the compressor. Just screw the hose straight onto the outlet. That's what I did to make my harbor freight rig work. I only have quick connects at the tool end of the hose.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MrWrencher823]

okay, got the tfitting and got it all hooked up. It is reading 90PSI directly from the compressor with this crazy fitting contraption and 60 from the end of the hose. I am going to order a goodyear hose as others have mentioned from amazon this week and hopefully that will solve my issue. i may also dump the regulator as someone else mentioned and just screw the hose right in that way. hopefully this will work. I will report back after I get the hose and I will also report with what the readings are at work too. thanks everyone. I really appreciate it.

 

[redmondjp]

Well there's the problem right there!

 

[Scimmia]

Yeah, 60 PSI at the tool is *way* too low. A 25 PSI drop on the output of the regulator doesn't bode well, and a 30 PSI drop through a 30 ft hose and two quick connects is excessive. You've got some serious restrictions in there somewhere.

 

[volleyball]

Glad you got the T and now you can see the problem.

 

[MrWrencher823]

Yeah I'm pretty bummed about the hose reel not working out. But hopefully the Goodyear hose with 3/8 fittings will end all of the problems! Thanks again for all the help everyone!

 

[Sticks McGee]

Those 1/4 fittings are chocking off your airflow . Replace with 3/8 or larger.

This x10...

My craftsman compressor I got is a 33gal. With 150 psi and a good IR gun it was very weak. I found the closest place to the tank I could find and put a T in there and put a hi flow coupler on it. I run hi flo on all my hoses and tools at work and it makes a big difference..going thru all the tiny plumbing of the original set up was choking my air volume down..now no issues at all.

 

[Sticks McGee]

Here are a couple pics. One shows the hi flo fitting versus the standard and the other shows where I put a T in closest to the tank output..

 

[wild cowboy]

Do you have any recommendations for hoses to get? I am new to air compressors.

Sure! - why not get the best hoses money can buy, they aren't that much more expensive and light as a feather and flexible on the coldest day of the year!

Flexilla

1/4 inch shown below but I would get at least 3/8", if not 1/2"

air hose and electrical wiring can never really be "too big"!

 

[rodster_67]

Here are a couple pics. One shows the hi flo fitting versus the standard and the other shows where I put a T in closest to the tank output..

Never knew there was a hi flow fitting, might explain why my impact wrench struggles sometimes.

Great info!

Where did you purchase the fittings?

 

[Sticks McGee]

I got mine thru a tool supplier for my work..let me do some digging. My Mac tool guy turned me on to these about 10 years ago..they DO make a difference especially with 1/2 drive or 3/4" impacts
.

 

[Sticks McGee]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10pc-HI-FLO...576?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53e516be70

 

[rodster_67]

Thanks!

 

[cheechi]

I have the cman 33 gal compressor, all HF fittings, HF Goodyear hose, HF gages and with either my HF or IR impacts I have no issue with lugs torqued to that spec.

Even with the MI winter attacking them I have confidence that my setup could do it no problem. My setup is 85% the same as yours when it gets down to it. I am advising your situation it sounds like it's more the hose/reel than the fittings. Yes you can get Milton fittings and it would be a good investment, but it is not the most necessary thing in your setup.

 

[MrWrencher823]

I found them on Amazon for $8.99 with prime shipping and they're 1/4. Would standard 3/8 be as high flowing as these?

 

[MrWrencher823]

I have the cman 33 gal compressor, all HF fittings, HF Goodyear hose, HF gages and with either my HF or IR impacts I have no issue with lugs torqued to that spec.

Even with the MI winter attacking them I have confidence that my setup could do it no problem. My setup is 85% the same as yours when it gets down to it. I am advising your situation it sounds like it's more the hose/reel than the fittings. Yes you can get Milton fittings and it would be a good investment, but it is not the most necessary thing in your setup.

Thanks. I will try the air hose first. I believe I still have the receipt for the air hose so we will see if I can return it. I'm going to try and remove the regulator too and use the HF 3/8 air fittings I got yesterday. Hopefully that will work.
I'm in Michigan too.

 

[Wildfire]

HF hoses are pretty bad. I bought one of their hose reels for work. Had to replace the hose immediately because NOTHING would flow through it.

The reel is fine for the price, the hose is pathetic.

 

[Sticks McGee]

I found them on Amazon for $8.99 with prime shipping and they're 1/4. Would standard 3/8 be as high flowing as these?

Standard inlet for a 1/2" drive impact is 1/4" npt. The thread size is not where the restriction is. The fitting end is where the hi flo excels. If you use a 3/8" npt it will have to be reduced down to fit into the tool. As was stated here too that hose reel can be suspect. If you have 100 psi and a good gun you should not have a problem loosening lugs (within reason)

 

[Sticks McGee]

I run an ingersol 3/4" drive impact at work with 3/8" hose going thru 1/4" hi flo fittings with no problem at all..

 

[Sticks McGee]

Sorry guys...I am just now seeing this on an actual computer vs my phone last night..

Looks like you found the culprit and are going to get it straightened out..

When I first got my compressor I had several guys from another forum tell me that the compressor I have is junk and I needed a better one. My wife bought it for me for Christmas and I had originally wanted a 220v stand up 60 gallon compressor. So the first task I really tried with the compressor was removing the lugs off of my dad's F150 pick up truck. The impact would not remove them and I ended up removing them with a breaker bar. I started thinking that these guys were right and started looking closer at the problem. Since I use Hi Flo fittings at work I swapped the couplers on the compressor at home already so that wasn't the issue. The impact was one I had that was known good. Although it is not as beefy as my Ingersol Titanium I use at work all the time, but still should pull these lugs on and off.

When I looked closely at several other compressors and my compressor at work, I found that my current compressor had way too many fittings, regulators and a manifold all in the path of the airflow prior to the hose to the gun. I wanted a more direct path with the largest fittings I could get. My shop compressor at work comes right off the tank with a 3/4" NPT. Going to the first connection it steps down to 1/2" NPT. All the lines that make the runs from the compressor to the quick connects are 1/2" black iron pipe. It is stepped down there to 1/4" NPT for the connects. My air hoses are 3/8" hose and all the quick couplers are 1/4" NPT..I figured at home I had 150 PSI and 33 gallons on tap so I should have no problem running a 1/2" drive impact. My fitting directly out of the compressor at home is a 1/4" NPT so idecided to T off of that and put a coupler there. When I did this the compressor worked just as it should. I still have the other two couplers that run thru the manifold and the regulator if I ever need to run something that requires a lower constant pressure feed.

Sticks

 

[volleyball]

Sure! - why not get the best hoses money can buy, they aren't that much more expensive and light as a feather and flexible on the coldest day of the year!

Flexilla

1/4 inch shown below but I would get at least 3/8", if not 1/2"

air hose and electrical wiring can never really be "too big"!

He bought the best he could afford.

HF hoses work fine. There are better but there is ZERO need for them for what he does.
For years, I painted cars, sandblasted, ran a tire machine and multiple different air tools with a 1/2 hp compressor and 1/4" hoses that started life in the 60's

 

[sberry]

Where did some of you learn to do this work and size equipment? 30 ft of 3/8 should work well, not saying there couldn't be something wrong with it or a fitting but I would suspect pressure drop to be the problem here from the unit. It should shut off at 125 or better and how did you adjust the reg? You shouldn't need pliers, did you loosen the lock nut first?

 

[ikk]

I got one of the retractable HF 50 ft hoses it lasted just over a year. I started noticing it cracking everywhere. then it would start to leak just above the connection of the fitting where I plugged in my tools. Every time I would remove that part of the hose and refit the fitting it would leak again. I had a better quality 50 ft hose I had loose that I used as an extension if I needed to do work in the house without moving my compressor. its over 8 years old with no issues. I use my compressor maybe a dozen times a month so it not an abuse thing. Now I removed the hose from the retractable mechanism and attached the new hose. So far after a year I have not seen any cracks or had any leaks.

 

[kingnba6]

My HF retractable hose is starting to leak at the fitting and its only 2 years old. I will replace it when it is needed

 

[cheechi]

Where did some of you learn to do this work and size equipment?

Many probably from GJ. Not many places to learn pipe sizing if you are not in an industry that requires design. Often you get the pipe/hose/line that is already selected for your application. 'designing' the air system in your home isn't in the instruction book for anything; it's kind of a trial and error process without a site like this.

He bought the best he could afford.

HF hoses work fine

Not to disagree with you outright, but I don't have any experience personally with the new PVC HF hoses, only the Goodyear rubber ones before. Have heard some here say they are not that good but in either case, he is using the India or China rubber hose that comes with their reel and that is according to our thread here not consistently considered very good.

 

[Scimmia]

Where did some of you learn to do this work and size equipment? 30 ft of 3/8 should work well, not saying there couldn't be something wrong with it or a fitting but I would suspect pressure drop to be the problem here from the unit. It should shut off at 125 or better and how did you adjust the reg? You shouldn't need pliers, did you loosen the lock nut first?

I agree that 30' of 3/8" hose should be fine. One of the problems, though, is that he's getting 30 PSI drop through that hose, which is not fine. There is definitely something wrong with either the hose or the fittings. 20 I would believe, but 30 is a lot.

 

[MrWrencher823]

Well, harbor freight took the hose reel back, even without the box. I also got the regulator off. Air hose should be in this week sometime. Hopefully this thing will work properly now!

 

[taumac]

That's good to know I would try with reg first and see the drop in pressure if a issue you could always remove it

 

[wild cowboy]

I like 90-110 psi at the tool.

if you use big hose and big hi-flo fittings, you will have nearly identical pressure at the compressor and at the tool!

 

[MrWrencher823]

I apologize for the long delay. it has been subzero temperatures for what feels like 6 months straight.

I got the hose hooked up today with 3/8's fittings and ran the impact with the gauge hooked up and no regulator. it was at 120PSI at idle and would flutter between 85-95 with the trigger full blast! it sounds so much healthier and can remove a wheel without starving to death! thank you everyone on here! you guys saved me so much time with this. i cannot thank you enough.