Tool repair parts source

[Schurkey]

Thought I'd let you know about Power Tool Repair Ohio dot com.

I have a Mac Tools AW160 3/8 drive air impact wrench. Worked splendidly for me for maybe twenty years. I bought it used from either the Mac or the Snap-On man; I don't know when it was originally sold.

So one day, I hand it to a friend so he can zip the lug-nuts off of his car to change brake pads. He tells me it doesn't work. Sure enough, Ol' Trusty has issues; the air motor is hissing but not rotating and it won't impact.

I pulled it apart earlier today, found a broken "Pilot" (I'd have maybe called it a bearing race) at the bottom of the impact mechanism, which provides guidance for a single ball-bearing that bounces against a tapered cam. All this magic somehow causes impact action. Having broken the Pilot, the impact mechanism jammed, locking-up the air motor.

I go online looking for replacement parts, I find the www.powertoolrepairohio.com web site, not only do they have a listing for that model, they have an exploded view of the tool, and a parts list. I buy a "Pilot", the ball-bearing, and a rubber guard. The total is $5.34 in parts. Add another very reasonable $3.64 in shipping, and for under nine dollars,my labor, and some fresh grease, I should have my good ol' Mac impact wrench back in working order.

While I was on that web site, I looked up my Mac air drills (Yup, listed) my Mac die grinder (Yup, listed) my Snap-On die grinder (Yup, listed) Snap-On impact (Yup, listed) and my Milwaukee (3/4" chuck) electric drill to fit a magnetic base (They had a .pdf download exploded view and parts list for it, but no click-and-add-to-cart parts list--so they may have access to the parts. I'll have to call them and find out for sure.)

At any rate, I'm impressed with the range of air and electric tools they seem to have parts for; along with rational shipping charges and--at least in my case--downright inexpensive replacement parts.

I'll update this thread when the parts show up, and the impact is working again.






In the meantime, I bought a pawn-shop Snap-On MG325 that absolutely kicks ***!

 

[gdocktor3]

Thanks good to know. ereplacementparts.com is another good site for power tools. I've purchased parts for my Ryobi and Dewalt miter saws, air compressors, drills, etc.

 

[Schurkey]

Parts showed-up in the mail today. Tremendous service from both the vendor (and USPS, given that major highways have been closed due to winter weather.)

Impact should be fixed tomorrow.

 

[B_Bimmer]

That sounds great, I hate it when reasonable parts are ruined by exorbitant shipping. They sound like a great source.

 

[Indexmill]

Thank you very much. I fix all of my tools myself and am always looking for some pert or another. Often, shipping on one small part is a real killer.

 

[XxToolAholicxX]

Thanks for the info.. I have an older Chicago Punmatic that reverse don't work well on it don't want to take it apart because I found little to none info on it online...

 

[Schurkey]

Minor screw-up on my part. I should have looked more closely at the other parts in the impact mechanism. I would have ordered the two "dogs", and I'd have set-aside time to weld and re-machine the anvil. The two dogs and the anvil have wear at their corners from 20+ years of impacting. OTOH, I installed the new "Pilot" and the new ball-bearing; I just got it together before being called away. I had time to pop a socket onto it, and hold the socket in my hand while I pulled the trigger.

Rattles like it always did. I'll have time tomorrow to do some torque-testing to compare to my Snappy MG325; but my initial impression is that Little Mac is now as good as it ever was. (i.e., it never was as powerful as a '325, but still better than many other 3/8 impacts, especially 20+ years ago.) This was my "go to" for spinning lug nuts. As lug nuts are not all that challenging for a decent 3/8 impact, I'm set.

Not bad for a measly nine dollars, labor, and some grease. Very pleased.

[Later Edit] In digging through the http://www.powertoolrepairohio.com/ web site, I have discovered that my Mac AW160 seems to be an SP Air 5135 in disguise. I own several other Mac-branded SP Air tools, and I've been impressed with every one of them.