After 30 years of old fashioned, backyard, knuckle bustin', I finally bought a compressor.
I bought a 6hp 33 gal. Craftsman that came with a 1/2" impact, a 3/8" ratchet and a hammer gun in a boxed set. $299.00 for the works.
I am not a big Craftsman fan (Almost all of my tools are Williams, Klein or Proto) but it seemed like a good deal at the time.
The tools came with no instructions whatsoever and I had to go on the Craftsman website just to figure out what the hell I had. Apparrently it is low end stuff. "Companion" line.
The impact wrench is rated at 250 ft/lbs and has a hard time breaking lug nuts free and other rusted fasteners.
Yesterday I was removing an old spare tire carrier from my wife's Jeep and I had to start things with a conventional ratchet or combination wrench and then use the impact. Kind of defeats the purpose of having air.
What is the highest rated impact wrench I can run?
The compressor output is 6.4 scfm at 90 psi.
Should I stay away from Craftsman?
Also the quick connect on the hose is Chinese junk and leaks like crazy when you move the tool around. Is there a higher quality brand of quick connect that I can buy?
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Scott

 

just got to napa or some other parts store. and buy some quik disconnects they usually dont carry cheap stuff.i got a set just like that for christams a few years agoi never have used it except for the air chisel and it wouldnt even work when i tried to use it. i use my craftsman air gun 1/2 inch top quality of chraftman and it works fine but i got snap on air tools for everything else.

 

To make sure your air tools work properly check out the in-line lubricator in my gallery. Do not use a central lubricator.

 

If you're not happy with the Companion stuff, instead of trying to 'upgrade' with other components, return the kit to Sears and get what you need.

I'm not a fan of Sears compressors. All of the ones that I've seen in the last several years have been 'oil-less' type pumps.

Give me 'conventional'. The 'oil-less' pumps are louder, too.

I bought the Campbell Housfeld VT-6196 compressor. It'll drive whatever I need to run. Air impact, air ratchet, air chisel, nail gun(s), etc.

I wanted the Quincy, but, no-one locally had it. I'm truly pleased with mine.

Seriously, IF you are not happy with your Sears, take it back!



My 2¢.

 

take a look at ingersol-rand tools. They should have the airflow ratings on their website. Get the beefiest impact gun you can afford. I have a 2131QT and love it.

 

Ingersoll Rand 2135Ti 700 ft.lbs. 1000ft.lbs nut busting torque.

 

A few tips, I have the same set. When you set your regulator to the MAX for the tool (90 psi for our tools), do it with the tool running. I have found that with the 1/2" impact set to 4, I have to set the regulator to 100 to 105 PSI. It's an inexpensive tool, crank it a little higher when needed, (just a suggestion, not a recommendation) The air hammer is fine and has a built in regulator, just used it to slice through a oil seal, and remove a tough vinyl sleeve from a drive shaft. Get some air tool oil and put a couple of drops in the tool input, at the end of the days use. Blow down your tank if you will not be using it for a while and leave the water drain valve open between uses. The compressor is fine (made in USA), sure it is a little loud, but we only paid $305 and got 100 bucks in tools too. Im happy, and have already dropped my front diff, shocks, cut and hammered things.

Tim the tool man!

 

Torque1st - what is your beef against central lubricator? I was just getting ready to install one until I saw your post. I thought it was a slick solution except for painting. What's the dilliyo?

 

I have the same set as you, but I ended up with the extended warranty plan so mine was a little more I agree, the 1/2" impact is a little disapointing, but it gets the job done (so far). Swapped rear ends in 3 hours with it. The 3/8" air ratchet is a waste, haven't used the hammer gun yet. The connectors are junk, and I didn't even bother hooking up the hose it came with

Cambell Huasfeld(?) has a compressor acessory pack that comes with disconnects, ball inflator, tire chucks, etc. Like $20 at AutoZone.

I've also had the PSI turned up too 140 to bust some bolts lose.

 

I bought a Craftsman rig like yours about 5 years ago. The impact wrench is rated at 400 ftlbs and has worked fine for all my needs so far. The connectors don't leak. I am just thinking that they must have cheapened the package considerably to maintain that same low price of 299.99

 

Thanks for the tremendous response.
I researched the Ingersoll 2131 a little online today at lunch and I found a link to a bunch of positive reviews on an amazon.com review site.
Here is the link http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...995091-0959052
You would swear the thing was blessed by the Pope after you read the reviews.
It sounds like a winner and I think I will drink cheap (or cheaper) beer for a week or two to save up the needed cash.($200 +/-)
I assume my 6.4 scfm output will be sufficient. Ingersoll's website didn't specify a minimum air output. Any comment?
For now, I may try cranking up the pressure a little and see how the Sears Ginsu Gun does.
I was glad to hear fairly positive comments from a few of you on the overall compressor and tool package and I still think it isn't all that bad for $299.00.
I only wrench for maintenance or repair and I will probably only use the setup 20-25 times a year.
It just ps'ed me off to have to break something free with a conventional wrench and then hit it with air.
Thanks again for all the input.
Scott

 

Ed- The central lubricator just gets your air lines messy. The oil drops out of suspension on the air line walls. To properly lube your air tools the oil should be in the form of a fine mist dispersed in the air. Using a central lubricator does not work over a distance. They are made for lubricating air cylinders etc in a machine of some sort.

Personally I don't think they should even sell central lubricators to the general public. They don't work for what the general public buys them for. Of course they $ell the lubricator$ and more air tool$ to replace the ones that break or wear out.

Dumping some air tool oil or any kind of oil directly into the tool does not lube the tool properly for use either. When I buy a new air tool I do drop a few drops of oil in it before I use it the first time tho. I also let it run under part throttle for a moment before loading it up and using it.

I plug the lubricator in my gallery back into itself for storage and grab it whenever I use an air tool.

 

All quick connect fittings leak to some extent. Generally speaking, the Milton products work better than the Chinese low-end stuff.

If you want a high-end impact wrench to really honk, use nice big fittings and short hoses. It takes both pressure and volume to drive an impact wrench. 1/4 inch fittings and 1/4 inch hose do not cut it, no matter what you have for an air compressor. There is too much pressure drop through the hose, at the air volume the tool uses.

Use 3/8ths quick connects throughout. For extra credit, you can go to an industrial supplier and get 3/8ths quck connects with a 3/8 NPT pipe threads on the end, which will reduce the slight restriction of necking down to the usual 1/4 NPT fittings. But even the 3/8ths x 1/4 NPT fittings at Home Depot are a huge improvement over the 1/4 inch stuff that came with your kit.

Treat yourself to a rubber (not vinyl) 1/2 inch diameter hose. Keep it down to 25 feet, or 50 feet at the most. Don't take the lazy way out and get 100 feet of 3/8 vinyl hose, just because you can buy it at Home Depot and reach around your whole shop with it. If you want a long hose for less demanding jobs, put a quick connect on the air compressor end, and use your short hose when you want to pull out the big cannon impact wrench.

No portable air compressor can keep up with one of these impact wrenches running continuously. But I suspect what you are more interested in is blasting loose some tough bolts, and maybe running off 5 or 8 lug nuts. If the compressor has a decent size tank, and you have a big hose and non-restrictive fittings, you can use the full capacity of the impact wrench, based on the stored energy in the tank. True, this will only last for the first couple of 10 second blasts, and then the compressor has to re-fill the tank, but you will be able the break the bolts loose even with a puny 1 HP compressor.

But the key to getting your "700 foot pounds" is a big hose and big fittings, not a bigger compressor or more air pressure.

(I'm personally guilty of the 100' of 3/8ths hose syndrom, even though I know better. When I finally replumbed the shop and got the proper 1/2 inch hose, I could not believe how much more "snap" the impact wrench had.)

 

Should I stay away from Craftsman?
Also the quick connect on the hose is Chinese junk and leaks like crazy when you move the tool around. Is there a higher quality brand of quick connect that I can buy?
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Scott[/QUOTE]

Craftsman makes great stuff!! First you may need a larger compressor! 90 psi is not a lot. When buyin kit products, it will almost always be low end equip.
You have to spend money for good quality or comprimise.

 

I probably have the same compressor and kit you are talking about - have had it a couple of years now.

Even though I don't use it alot, I'll verify some of the comments already posted:

1. This is one noisy compressor - find a place where the constant noise won't get to you. If you plan to run it alot, maybe putting it outside the garage door while you're working inside is a good idea.
2. I haven't had any problems with the compressor (which my wife bought me) or the tools - but you know when the tools come with the compressor at that price, they can't be "real good". For home use, not a problem though.
3. I use 3/8ths disconnects in several places in my system. I have the garage plumbed with air. Even with the disconnects in place and the compressor turned off it the system will keep air pressure for at least two weeks - I'm impressed with that as is mentioned before, disconnects just gotta lose some air (but in my case, apparently not very much). Why use really cheap disconnects when good ones are only a buck or two more? PS-like some others have mentioned, I'm guilty of buying cheap vinyl hoses - but they work fine for me. If I was driving over them all the time or using them consistently rubber hoses would definitely be better - and vinyl hoses can kink pretty easy if you pull on them without unwinding them.
4. Last weekend went outside the garage to pull the rear end out of my 1060 f100 (using a 100' 3/8ths hose and the impact wrench that came with the compressor). It had enough ummph to get the wheel nuts off, but almost none of the rear end u-bolt nuts or other nuts holding the leaf springs would budge, even after they were soaked with penetrating oil. So I broke them loose with my trusty 1/2" socket and a 2-foot long pipe for better leverage, then used the air wrench to finish the job. The most likely culprit: too long a hose and the loss of volume, not the cheapo impact wrench. I've seen a better buy on compressors now and then, but I've been real happy with my craftsman compressor (epecially contrasted against my former life with no compressor a'tall).