Air vs electric

[ethan.jordon.3]

It seems to me like a lot of garages I see use air tools over electric, and I was curious as to what advantage there is in it. They use air impacts, grinders, die grinders, shears. Is there any advantage to air over electric? Or is it just that you usually have air hoses out anyway so there's no sense in stringing out extension cords?

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[TheEuronater]

Air tools tend to be more compact, and durable. Some are more powerful. Theres pros and cons to both

 

[General Geoff]

air tools never overheat, in fact they get colder the longer you use them.

they are typically lighter and more compact (can fit into tighter spaces) than corded or cordless electric tools.

they last longer because there are fewer moving parts, and no circuits or wires/insulation to fail.


Basically, if you have a sufficient air supply, and you have a hose drop to cover your work area, there's little reason to use anything else.

 

[bushmechanic]

They're smaller, simpler, cheaper, more standardized, and the batteries never run dry.

Unless you're always using them or have a shop, electric is going to be great; but with a shop environment, you'd be charging batteries constantly, and any issues would get expensive fast.

An air tool is not self-contained. The power comes from a single device that's invariably reliable. If something goes wrong with the tool, it's a cheap fix/replacement. Nothing is likely to go wrong with the compressor running all of it.

Something goes wrong with a self-contained electric tool, and now it's an issue.

Each has it's place. I think any sensible shop would primarily focus on air, but have a few electrics for quick stuff in the lot, on the road, or when all the hoses are occupied.

 

[Davefr]

The other side to the story is that some pneumatic tools consume huge amounts of air and are used at nearly 100% duty cycle.

For example a little 5" Sioux DA consumes >15 CFM at 90 PSI. That will cause a 5 HP compressor to run continuously. This is not only very noisy but very inefficient.

An electric DA can be a much better option in this case.

It all depends on the task. There's sweet spot for pneumatic, electric and battery.

 

[deberly12]

It really comes to your preference.... everyone likes to say air tools are cheaper. This is true if you look at the tool only. If you just need an impact wrench and have nothing buying a battery wrench will be much cheaper than buying a large compressor, hoses, the tool, possibly a special electric circuit if your compressor is really big. This is like saying buying a bare tool is cheaper than a cordless kit. It is cheaper but if you don't have batteries it is worthless. Most professionals I know have both. The guy who just wants to rotate his tires will probably be better served by electric.

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[Musicinabottle]

If you're creating dust, the air tools won't be sucking it in as verses electric tools which gobble down that dust in to just about every pore and orfice, despite having shields for the brushes.

 

[md21722]

In addition to what others have said,

1. Air tools with angle heads still have gear cases that can get hot, but generally they do tend to run cooler. The longer you run them the cooler they get, except for that gear case.

2. Air tools can be used in standing water with no fear of being electrocuted.

3. Air tools don't have electric motors that spark.

4. Because they are smaller and lighter, they tend to cause less operator fatigue.

Air is not terribly efficient in terms of power consumption because of the high amount of air they can consume. The lack of energy efficiency is captured other ways.

 

[crewchief888]

i have air, corded and cordless electric.

for the most part my "working" tools are air powered, every shop ive worked in,( as well as my service trucks), have plenty of air. i do use a cordless 3/8" dr impact, flashlight, compact 1/2" drill, and 4 1/2" grinder mainly for convienence in my service truck.
in the garage air mostly gets used for an impact, or occasional die grinder usage.
mainly use corded grinders and corded drills, and cordless drill/driver on occasion. corded drills get used a lot less now that i have a drill press

i dont have enough air compressor in the garage to keep up with air sander or grinder. if all else fails, i can back my service truck up in the driveway and run the compressor...

 

[Squddle]

...also, if you "hammer" on a fastener with an air tool, no big deal. If you do the same with battery power or electric, the motor will fry.

 

[pepi]

The biggest advantage I find with air power is the ability to control the tool speed on the fly.

As far as more power, I question that, example cut off wheel stalls easier than electric driven. When I say electric I do not mean battery powered.


To sum it up each has their own advantages, and have both types use as needed.

Greg

 

[Mr_B]

In auto shops air tools are super useful cheap and reliable and hard hitters.
No way I could be efficient and get same results if didn't use air tools .
Do use few elec corded tools such as an impact gun grinders etc. battery impact also useful but air stubby facom impact wrench and rivet hammer gun are 2 mainstay tools I could not live without .

 

[shop guy]

In a small home shop you can get by without air but with multiple workers all running tools at the same time it's nice to all be sharing the same power source with one line to each person instead of having multiple cords plugged in or constantly charging batteries.

At work some of our tools are battery powered only like drills, and when everyone is running them hard at the same time (which happens from time to time) we outrun the batteries and have to wait for charging. We need to get more batteries or a different power source.