Impact Wrench: Electric or Pneumatic

Harbor Freight just opened three doors down today and my boss went shopping. He bought me an electric impact wrench, but I'm wondering - as is he - whether pneumatic would be better. What do y'all think?

 

They both are good for different things.
What type of work will you be using it for.

 

I prefer the electric for around the home. Sufficient electric power is usually available and most of what I have does not need that much force.

 

if you have a compressed air source, generally a pnuematic gun would be preferred by most. They typically have more torque and are smaller than an electric gun. A pnuematic also generally delivers more BPM than electric.

pnuematic can be "feathered" when using when desired while electric is generally either on or off as well.

 

I recently bought a Dewalt 18V impact gun. Works great for garage door installations, which is why I bought it. Removes any cord or hose, which is always getting tangled, and no hauling the compressor. Good for something like 1200 " pounds of torque.

 

I agree with nap on the feathering of the air. BUT, if you are like me, on a jobsite, all you have is a double hotdog compressor designed for nail guns, and it just doesn't have the volume to handle the impact wrench. The electric ones do seem to have their advantages, especially when installing lag bolts or installing the nuts on carriage bolts for deck rim joists.

 

Hard to answer the question about how it will be used, since I've never had one available to me prior to now. Other than lug nuts on the car, I'm not sure. My compressor is rated at 6.0 scfm @ 40 psi and 4.2 scfm @ 115 psi, so I believe I have sufficient volume of air available.

 

Mitch

Will y'all be able to get any work done with the "candy" store so close ?

I don't know for sure but would think that pnuematic tools would outlast electric. I do agree that electric would be handy when compressed air is not.

 

As to which would be better it still would depend on what you will be doing with it and where.
If it were in a shop setting where you would have air available then the pneumatic is far better IMO.
You get quite a bit more torque in a tool that is much smaller and lighter than the electric one.
I have an electric and several different impact impact guns and only use the electric away from an air source.
My next impact purchase will be an electric 3/8" drive one.
I had a chance to try one that some fixture installers were using and for a gun about the size of a smaller 3/8" electric drill it had almost as much torque as the much larger 1/2" electric.


You said your boss bought you one so did he buy it as a gift to take home or to use on the job?

 

I think I'd never make it home after work

I didn't really read what came after "today"

 

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Why worry about which one's better? At Harbor Freights prices, get one of each, try 'em both out, and let us know.

Don't buy stuff at full price there, though. Wait for the sale, usually 1/2 price (which is 25% of where you can find it elsewhere). SIGN UP FOR THE MAILER. They cycle through the same sales every 3-4 months, so, if you can't snag it this time, get it next time around. Personally, I stay away from the generic small power tools (I've tried a couple), but for hand tools, that's the place.

I know I wouldn't get any work done with one down the street. I'd have more tools than I knew what to do with (if that's possible) and I'd spend all my money there before I got to the lumber yard. Good thing ours is accross town.

 

The boss bought it for me to use at home - can't think of any use for it at the office. I didn't get the 10% off coupon in the mail like he did, so he was going to pick up the compressor I wanted for me. When he got back to the office, he wouldn't let me pay for it and gave me the impact wrench and a set of sockets with it. Including my stuff, the sale and the 10% off coupon, he still wrote a check for $745. We're in trouble.

The gist of what I'm reading here is that pneumatic would be better if air is always available. I'll have to stop on the way in tomorrow and see how the pneumatic is priced (not on sale now).

 

I bought one of HF's central pneumatic impacts about 25 yr ago and it still works well but it hasn't always had enough torque for stubborn bolts/nuts. If I was to replace it I'd consider their 'earthquake' model, costs more but has more power.

 

I've had a harbour frieght electric impact wrench for about 8-10 years. Which works well enough that I got rid of my pneumatic one. I think it is a knockoff of the dewault electric impact wrench.

The only trouble I had with it was that one of the solder joints in the back of the plastic housing vibrated apart one time. It began starting and stopping intermittently - I had to pull the brush cavity off the back and resolder it. Has worked great since then.

 

I work in a locomotive shop and we use impacts up to 1.5" drives. We have one electric and no one uses it. It doesn't have anywhere near the power of just a good 1/2" pneumatic. It's bulkier, heavier and has more to go wrong with it. My favourite 1/2" is my IR and I use it everyday, for about 5 yrs. now. Regular oiling and grease and it keeps goin'......IMHO

 

I'd say working in a locomotive shop is hardly DIY usage.

That's got to be the toughest mechanical work in the world. Taking an electric impact into there would be like taking a bb gun to Iraq.

Still, for occasional use, like I have - on motorcycle engines and lawn mower engines, and sometimes cars - the electic impact works good.