Air tools

[JohnE]

After years wanting a compressor but not being able to justify one, I bought a cheapo one from ALDI. Bought a disc cutter and air wrench at the same time. The wrench is weedy as you like - less torque than my hand socket wrench - which makes it a bit pointless. The compressor specs are below:

2.5HP motor
Air displacement: 270l/min, 9.5CFM
24 litre tank
Maximum pressure: 8bar

Is the problem that the compressor's too weedy? or the air wrench faulty? Just wondering if anyone else has experience - I am considering buying a more expensive air wrench but there's no point if the compressor's not up to it.

[suffolkpete]

That looks quite a good spec to me. It is the pressure that will determine the power of your air wrench, and provided that the free air delivery of the compressor is up to maintaining this pressure then you should be ok. The rate of air delivery is not generally a problem with tools that are only used intermittently such as wrenches anyway unless they are very greedy, the issue is with tools that are used continuously, such as sanders and angle grinders. I have a 1.5HP compressor and it is fine with my Clarke air ratchet and SIP impact wrench, but tends to run out of puff with the air hacksaw so I have to stop now and again to enable it to catch up. If your compressor has a variable pressure setting, check that this is set to the maximum. You need the full 8 bar for tools, it only needs to be turned down to 3.5 - 4 bar for spraying.

[Wicksy]

I concur with Suffolk Pete - also check if your wrench has a flow adjuster and if so crank it up to the high setting.
I had the same problem with my impact wrench, wouldn't shift wheel nuts, untill I discoverd it was on the lowest setting
Of course it was all explained in the operating instructions but who reads those when you are an "expert"

[gentil79]

I concur with Suffolk Pete - also check if your wrench has a flow adjuster and if so crank it up to the high setting.
I had the same problem with my impact wrench, wouldn't shift wheel nuts, untill I discoverd it was on the lowest setting
Of course it was all explained in the operating instructions but who reads those when you are an "expert"

we're men... we don't need instructions

i had the same problem and the cause was the air valve adjusted to a very low pressure.

[JohnE]

Thanks all - will I get told off for admitting I've read the instructions? And looked at the ratchet from every angle - no apparent adjustments but I will double check and then if atill stuck; shell out for a better one.

[pryantcc]

I have a Clarke one which I got from machine mart. I don't use it a lot, so ongevity wasn't a factor in purchasing it. However, when I need it, it is an absolute treasure! Sometimes for a particularly stubborn nut, I need to wait til my compressor gets up to a full 110 PSI and shuts off.

[trevt]

A suggestion....

I had a similar problem with a 50 litre 3 HP compressor not quite running some tools well enough. Until someone suggested I run the airline from the tank (with a pressure gauge/water trap/oiler added). This allowed me to use a bigger hose on the 1/2" outlet. Worked wonders with impact wrench, drill and chisel working superbly. Can even get half decent output on blast gun (for a very short time until it runs out of air).

The 1/4" outlet on the tank just didn't allow the best airflow, but is good enough for blowing up tyres and blow gun.

For mine it was simply a case of undoing the blanking nut on one end of the tank and replacing with a valve.

[Drumtochty]

I got both the air ratchet and air impact wrench from Aldi.

The air impact wrench works with 10mm air hose and is OK ish. Smaller diameter hose is a waste of time.

The air ratchet is a waste of time but you do get the impact sockets with them which is worth the cost.

that is with a 50 litre tank compressor.

eddie

[Minxy]

As most of the others have covered your compressor would appear up to the job, make sure the pressure is turned up, thin coiled hoses are useless swap to a rubber one. In my opinion air ratchets are absolutely useless – any make, remember they are not meant to undo nuts/bolts the air ratchet needs to be used in a conventional manner to break the nut/bolt it then used merely as a means to run the nut/bolt in and or out – it is not an impact machine like an impact wrench which of course has a hammer effect to loosen the fixings.
If you do intend replacing air tools by far the best is CP. I spent many years in a workshop environment and purchased almost exclusively Snap-On tools but when it comes to air tools nothing even comes close to CP.

[Young Farmer]

I had a problem with my compressor not driving air tools properly. I had turned down the air regulator to spray some panels and when I turned it back up the regulator broke internally only allowing 30psi to be delivered. I replaced the regulator and the same thing happened when I turned it down and then back up to full pressure. I took the regulator off, fitted a steel T piece to the compressor tank with a quick release valve on the horizontal tee and screwed the pressure regulator on the top tee. I now have 2 takeoff points, 1 with full air pressure and 1 with low pressure for spraying. Air ratchets are not meant for cracking tight nuts,they are handy if you have to take off a lot of inaccessible nuts. If they were high torque they would probably trap your hands as they are fairly short and once the nut being tightened stopped turning the ratchet would kick fairly viciously.