Does anyone know if an electric plug-in impact (120v AC, NOT battery operated) that actually has some *****?

Milwaukee has a plug-in 3/4" that only does 380ft-lbs. Whereas their 3/4" battery M18 does 1500ft-lbs.

Is there such a thing as a plug-in impact that is up in that kind of torque range - at least over 1000ft-lbs? 1/2" or 3/4"?

 

Although I am not a HF fan per sey, you might give that bauer impact gun of theirs a try....

8.5 Amp 1/2 in. Variable Speed Impact Wrench with Rocker Switch (harborfreight.com)

 

Thanks for the thought. I admit, I have a lot of HF tools. However, on something like this I am with you - not too much of a fan. I had a reciprocating saw of theirs (still have it) that the variable speed trigger switch gave out in. It still runs full speed, but that makes it hard to use. I've burned up a couple of their angle grinders also. I suppose some things like that are cheap enough to buy a few and toss as they quit. However, I'd like to get a better quality impact if such a thing exists.

I haven't entirely wrapped my mind around the battery powered tool craze. They do have their place, yes. It is nice technology has improved to where it is now so you can get some good powered tools that are cordless. However, you have the charging of batteries to contend with. And when the batteries are well over $200 each and you need 3 of them to keep up with hard use (2 on the charger, 1 running the tool) that is a lot of money. Granted, I won't be running the tool that hard all the time but it does illustrate the point - plug-in you don't have to mess with charging and swapping batteries, period.

Personally, I prefer pneumatic tools. I'm just in a scenario at the moment where I can't run an air compressor where I will need to do some work. And a corded tool is no loss (if it still has some guts) over a pneumatic tool as they are both attached (one to a hose and one to a cord).

 

I have a Dewalt 1/2"electric impact gun. I've run everything from long 1/2 lag blots when building decks to taking off and installing lug nuts on my F-250.It hasn't failed me yet.

 

I checked out Dewalt's product listing on their website and it doesn't appear they make one anymore. The only power option in the filters for impact drivers and wrenches is cordless. I checked around the site in a few other places digging without any luck, either.

 

Another idea is to take an old battery, say for a Milwaukee M18 set, and take the battery out and replace it with an outboard power supply and cabling. That would take a bit of work to do. In the radio circles we call that type of plug-in "battery case" a "battery eliminator". They make those for all kinds of hand held radios so when you are operating them in your vehicle you can plug them in to the 12v power instead of run off the radio's normal battery.

 

I use an M18 Fuel Milwaukee ½" impact at work all day long and only have to recharge the battery about once a week or so. It's a beast but yeah the batteries are expensive. I've completely moved away from air tools at home as well with all Milwaukee battery power tools. No regrets at all.

 

I was at Rural King earlier today and looked at the Milwaukee tool section. They have a whole wall of nothing but Milwaukee. It is tempting to go that route. I do find a cordless drill pretty darn handy at times. With universal batteries between all the tools that does somewhat make sense. The batteries and chargers are still pretty expensive, though.

My theory with the batteries - if I went that route - is to have no less than 3. That way 2 can be on charge and one in a tool. Those that have fairly recent experience in the M18 Milwaukee set up, for example - how does this correlate? Or does it really depend on the size of the battery - 6Ah vs 1.5Ah or other sizes in between?

 

Although I am not in "The Trades" anymore, I have had a Milwaukee 3/8" variable speed drill with the 18v battery for about 10 years IIRR (might be a little less) and when I use it, I really put it to work. I will say this, i got it with 2 batteries and in the heaviest of demand I can suck a battery down in about 1 hour, normal use (like a typical carpenter) I could go all day+. The batteries recharge in about 10 minutes (consistently) so I can say safely that I would consider 3 batteries a bit excessive but the batteries are still going strong as is the drill.

 

One reason cordless is pretty much "taking over" powered hand tools is their features have begun to eclipse some of the more powerful pneumatic and the corded tools as well---often times by huge margins. The relative convenience of NOT having a cord or hose tether a user to a location IMHO is a huge and major reason to go cordless.

It seems the corded impacts etc never gained a following big enough to sustain their manufacture. I've never used one so can't say yea or nay on how effective they were in real-world use.

I've said and will continue to hype Milwaukee brand which is why I use them exclusively. I do have a few older Milwaukee corded tools that are nearly 20+ years old, in too good of condition with a ton of life left so those won't be going away anytime soon.

 

Steven, For the heck of it I looked on Ebay for the Dewalt impact gun. There were 2 1/2 guns, both are buy it now. One was 35.00 plus 15.00 shipping. The other one is just under 50.00 with 17.00 shipping. There were a couple 3/4" drives, but I didn't look at them.
Now back to the Milwaukie hi jacking.

 

^^^With both brands you get what you pay for!

DeWalt these days have become throw-away tools, cannot find or trust any tool repair outfit including DeWalt's only facilities when they were still open. Once upon a time they were top notch tools, right up among the top brands of 30-40 years ago. Not so much these days, in my experience any way.

I don't think we're hi-jacking this thread talking about a tool proven to highly effective and known to have quite a long life even under demanding professional use.

 

Why would you want to use a tool with a cord or hose? I'm a carpenter, all my tools have been switched to the Milwaukee system now except my skill saw only because I don't use it much. Once you start with there M18 system you will be amazed at how many other tools you will buy. If only the impact, 2 battery's is lots. I use the 5.0 amp/hour batteries. they charge in about 1 hour. I even use some of there yard stuff now on the same batteries.

 

Have any of you that use the Milwaukee M18 system had batteries go dead? As in totally dead where they will not take a charge/show as defective with a drop in charger not reading/accepting them? How long does it take to get to that point? And what do you do with your dead batteries?

I can see a small/light battery for a cordless drill, but other than that the bigger the better - and they do get heavier but that is a decent trade-off for more juice.

Lots to think about.

 

I've heard, read, been told the Li-Ion batteries are good for about 2,000 recharges after which an embedded "chip" disables them or the charger is locked out from recharging them again. How you charge them probably affects their longevity as well. Milwaukee has a schedule of battery part numbers and their warranty coverage: Milwaukee Battery Warranty

I myself use a battery until its down to it's "last bar" on the tool's "fuel gauge" before re-charging it. I tend to check the state of charge as I grab a tool to use, keep plenty of fresh charged ones ready to go, even carry the car chargers just in case.

I recycle failed batteries through places that specialize in that process. I do keep some around for parts in the event a dropped battery case is damaged but the cells are still working.

I also have a number of the older NiCd in 12.0 & 14.4 volt used to power a single powered caulking gun from that era---those are regularly re-freshed by quite a few outlets these days. (The Li-ion batteries cannot currently be re-freshed that I'm aware.) I keep those batteries too in case I want to have a few re-freshed with new cells. I'd bet I have 15 or so waiting for that action.