Air compressor / impact wrench ?

[Insanity]

Hey guys I'm sure someone has some answers / ideas.
I've got a 2 hp Bostitch pancake compressor. That I ran into a 28 gallon air tank so I could run a 1/2 impact gun atleast for a few seconds. The gun I have says it needs 6 cfpm of air at 90 pounds.
Well with my set up running 120 pounds of air and a 3/8 ths air hose. I still can't breack lug nutts loose.
The regulator is on the Bostitch infront of the 28 gallon tank.
Any ideas what the problem might be?

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

One trick I learned was to hold a finger on the socket as you pull the trigger.
How or why it works I don't know but it does work.

 

[Loggerhead Mike]

Same household compressor, my Ingersoll will break lugs where my napa won't budge um.

 

[KMixson]

How many foot pounds of torque is the gun rated? Not all guns are created equal. There are 1/2" guns out there that are rated around 300 foot pounds and there are guns that are rated above 1000 foot pounds.

 

[Johnny]

I have a 28cfm 80 gal tank with a piggy-back 60 gal tank in line
@ 120 psi. All my tools are Porter Cable and some times I must break
stubborn nuts with a pipe bar. They are just so tight.
I also have the 6 gallon home compressor and the impact gun works the same.
It is probably not your air supply but the configuration of your impact tool.
My brother told me about holding the socket while you apply the torque.
So I have heard that before also. Just keep eliminating the possible problems
until you figure it out. Your setup should work as is.

I just checked my air wrench but the tag is gone so I don't know the torque to it.
It weighs 6 pounds, 2 ounces if that helps any.

If you can, borrow a friends impact wrench (of a different model) and run it on
your setup then compare the results.


I am NOT a mechanic by any means !!! I just like older Porter Cable tools.
And the reason I have so much air is that I used to do a lot (a LOT) of
sandblasted redwood signs "back in the day".

 

[S&MFISH]

Most guns have a torque adjustment on them. I have 2 Ingersoll-Rand, the older one has the adjustment on the direction button; the newer one has a dial on the back. Check the gun to see if yours has an adjuster on it. Then, "Crank It Up!"

 

[JMichael]

And then there are some of those Chinese knock off impact wrenches that don't have enough torque to break lug nuts loose with twice that much air. So it's possible you just need a better quality impact.

 

[lovedr79]

my ingersoll has scared me a couple times, hit the trigger and it barely moves. only to find out that the adjustment knob on the side is in between settings. have you oiled the gun? are the hammers inside free and not stuck? try a friends gun.

 

[S&MFISH]

my ingersoll has scared me a couple times, hit the trigger and it barely moves. only to find out that the adjustment knob on the side is in between setting.

I've had that same thing with both of my IR's

 

[Insanity]

Up date! I took of the pressure regulator off and turned the compressor up to 145 pounds. And still the gun want break a lug nut loose. Sounds good just no serious toque.
The gun is a 1/2 inch twin hammer 350 lb kobault piece of blanky blank blank. Lol.
I only gave like 35 dollars for it at Lowes. But It had good user reviews. With folks breaking axle nutts loose on pancake compressors. :mrgreen:
I was going to take it to a buddies shop to try it on his compressor. But I'm not gonna waste the trip there has to be something wrong with it. I'm taking it back and get the $100 dollar one i should have got in the first place. I didn't notice at the time but it a 700 lb gun. That's sounds more like it anyway. If It want come off it will breack it! :twisted:

I'd love to buy something like IRs but I can't justify it. No more then I use them now. Plus my dad is leaving me his tools when he passes away. Two Snap On boxes full to the gills + some. He Was a mecanic for over 20years. It's a set anyone would drull over. My son gets my craftsmen stuff when I get the bad boy toys. :mrgreen:

 

[Insanity]

I have a 28cfm 80 gal tank with a piggy-back 60 gal tank in line
@ 120 psi. All my tools are Porter Cable and some times I must break
stubborn nuts with a pipe bar. They are just so tight.
I also have the 6 gallon home compressor and the impact gun works the same.
It is probably not your air supply but the configuration of your impact tool.
My brother told me about holding the socket while you apply the torque.
So I have heard that before also. Just keep eliminating the possible problems
until you figure it out. Your setup should work as is.

I just checked my air wrench but the tag is gone so I don't know the torque to it.
It weighs 6 pounds, 2 ounces if that helps any.

If you can, borrow a friends impact wrench (of a different model) and run it on
your setup then compare the results.


I am NOT a mechanic by any means !!! I just like older Porter Cable tools.
And the reason I have so much air is that I used to do a lot (a LOT) of
sandblasted redwood signs "back in the day".

I here you on the older porter cable tools!
Redwood signs, i bet they where cool. Seen a guy sandblast wood lap siding on a house one time with walnut hulls. ( I'm a painter ) Ever since then I've wanted to get into sandblasting of all kinds. Maybe one day il have more time and money. Lol.

 

[Insanity]

Well I took back the piece of crap gun today. And bought a Dewalt. ( had to be on Lowes charge account) I sure didn't exspect much from it. As I'm not a big fan. But it sure knocks off big 3/4 inch lug nuts. By the secound hammer lick it's moving. I'm impressed, as I sure got them toqued on there. I'm hoping it will knock off the 34 mm hub nuts. Kinda thinking it will.

Never thought I'd be so happy to see a nut spin off. I'm so tired of hand cranking on them suckers. :|

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

Don't over torque those lugs.

 

[Johnny]

Don't over torque those lugs.

Or you will be on the side of the road with a flat and you can't break the lugs loose !!!!

 

[KMixson]

Don't over torque those lugs.

I agree. Your old gun would not break the lug loose. If your new gun is much more powerful there may be a chance that you can break a lug especially if it is a small lug. I have even seen lug nuts strip the threads on the lugs and then you have to take a torch to get them off.

 

[JMichael]

Here's a tip I learned a few years back. If you're using an extension on your impact wrench and you can't break a nut loose, get rid of the extension or if you have to have to have an extension to reach the nut, make it as short as possible. Believe it or not the extension will flex enough to take away the some of the "impact" force and actually make the wrench weaker. A longer socket works better than an extension. I never would have thought of it as a possibility, but I had it literally proven to me.

 

[WaterWaif]

About the time the gun hammers back when tightening it's time to get off the trigger.
Depends on guns torque of course. Easy enough to check with a torque wrench or four way to confirm they are on properly to learn guns power if not noted elsewhere.
It is a pain when some one hammered the lug nuts on and your along the road with no breaker bar/pipe/extension.
(Side note.)
I learned about reverse threads when rocking a motor home back and forth with about a four foot bar once upon a time. #-o

 

[Insanity]

I here yall on the lug nuts. I Had to breack a couple of studs off on old ford once to get the wheel off.

I got to use it today. It knocked off the 36 mm hub nuts pretty easy. And when putting lugs nutts back on three good wakes was about where I like them torqued. I lost a wheel one time. So I run them as tight as I dare and carry a breaker bar. There alumnuim wheels so they don't stick like they do in steel rims.