OT update on HF cordless impact

[Ross]

I purchased the 19.2 v cordless impact from Harbor Freight for $70 and tried it yesterday.
It refused to budge 4 of 5 lug nuts on my Jeep. Manually removing the remaining ones required a torque wrench to be set at 130 lb/ft to avoid it's click first. HF claims 220 lb/ft, certainly not with this one. It sounds bad on a "free rev",sort of a high pitched whine, so perhaps this one is NG.
I actually bought two,one for a friend who builds weight training machines who thinks it will suffice for his purposes, so I'm thinking of opening the other to see if same.
Maybe I will cut the motor brushes to match the profile of the commutator in hopes this thing will produce more torque.
The good part is it comes with a nice case, four sockets and TWO sets of extra brushes.
The jury is still out on this one.
Sometimes you get lucky on this cheapo stuff but usually not. The trouble is even if a good product comes around it's usually a one time occurance as these importers will change vendors for a half cent price improvement.

[Tiger]

Was the battery fully charged?

[Dave M]

Ross, thanks for the update. I'll be watching to see if this puppy is worth it.

Dave M

[mikell]

Me too.

[Ross]

According to the indicator on the charger , yes.

[632 Regal]

yep mine just finished charging but I cant test it now, will try tomorrow and tell you what my experiences are.

[Tiger]

I am going to try DeWalt as I have a bunch of 18V Dewalt tools....

[Ross]

DeWalt has one rated at 300 lb/ft, about $300 w/2 batteries.

[Tiger]

Yeah I know... I don't need batteries as I have those already. I can just buy the impact gun for about half that price delivered.

[632 Regal]

well guys, this thing is total crap! it rattles and stuff but wont loosen any of my properly torqued lug nuts. junk junk junk. Bill R got lucky, dont see anything decent like his much under 300 bux.

[Bill R.]

at least 2 of them since harbor freight doesn't carry it anymore... I keep watching the milwaukee 28v on ebay but they are still going for more than i want to pay right now.




well guys, this thing is total crap! it rattles and stuff but wont loosen any of my properly torqued lug nuts. junk junk junk. Bill R got lucky, dont see anything decent like his much under 300 bux.

[mikell]

Ouch - we paid a bit more than 300 for our Makita, if memory serves, and we like it.

[632 Regal]

Ebay has some 24 volt jobs that claim 300 foot lb but if it's BS theres no returns...

[Ross]

Yep, truely junk. I'm going to try the motor brush thinkg but don't expect good results. BillR got the last good one, save your dough.
I saw the Milwaukee one today in the flesh, it's not the same as the HF one as I suspected from photos. Didn't have an opportunity to test but it appeared to be good quality.

[Dave M]

Oh well, thanks for saving me the time and $$. Maybe I'll go corded.

Dave M

[Tiger]

Not so fast too... I used a Snap-On Electric Impact Gun... couldn't budge any lugnuts either... I ended up just using my Breaker bars. Just make sure you can return it.

[Ross]

Or rob BillR.

[Ross]

Okay I bought the $70 job from Harbor Frt. and it was NFG. For 70 clams I wasn't surprised.
Today I shelled out for the Milwaukee 18 v rated for 240 lb/ft. This ****er lists for $350 and the brand is generally well regarded. Anyway I caught a closeout for 1/2 price at a builders supply that had recently changed hands and wasn't going to carry these any longer. Such a deal, right?
I'll be dipped in ****, this thing rattled away at my lug nuts just like the bogus imported one did. I let it rattle on until you couldn't touch the socket it was so hot! The lugs aren't overtightened and were installed with anti-seize.
How much does one need to spend for a decent tool these days?
Because of the cicumstances of the sale I'm stuck with this thing now too.
The moral of this little rant is save your money if you are thinking of buying one of these type tools. Ostensibly I would have paid $350 bucks for this *#%#@ thing and its no better than the $70 chunk of **** I had before.
I'm so pissed I can't see straight!

[Bill R.]

just bought a nitrocat based on its claim to be the quietest air impact you can buy. It puts out 1000 ft.lbs of torque for loosening up those really tight bolts but i haven't had an opportunity to test it out other than shearing off some 3/4 inch bolts tightening them down with it just to see how it worked.Its still louder than i like but its much quieter than my old air tools. So for most of my work i'll use the cordless but for the really tight bolts i'll use the nitrocat.






Okay I bought the $70 job from Harbor Frt. and it was NFG. For 70 clams I wasn't surprised.
Today I shelled out for the Milwaukee 18 v rated for 240 lb/ft. This ****er lists for $350 and the brand is generally well regarded. Anyway I caught a closeout for 1/2 price at a builders supply that had recently changed hands and wasn't going to carry these any longer. Such a deal, right?
I'll be dipped in ****, this thing rattled away at my lug nuts just like the bogus imported one did. I let it rattle on until you couldn't touch the socket it was so hot! The lugs aren't overtightened and were installed with anti-seize.
How much does one need to spend for a decent tool these days?
Because of the cicumstances of the sale I'm stuck with this thing now too.
The moral of this little rant is save your money if you are thinking of buying one of these type tools. Ostensibly I would have paid $350 bucks for this *#%#@ thing and its no better than the $70 chunk of **** I had before.
I'm so pissed I can't see straight!

[Ross]

Okay, my ongoing quest for a decent cordless impact.
The Milwaukee unit I purchased had no balls either and having bought it at a closeout the sale was final.
A call to Milwaukee complaining got me an exchange.
The new unit has arrived, been charged and will actually remove lug nuts!
So if you don't mind spending~ $300 the 18 v Milwaukee will do for that purpose.

[Dave M]

Hmmmm,

I lost faith and found a 1/2 price deal at Canadian Tire for a 240 ft/lb CORDED. Thing only cost $70 so I don't mind the cord ;)

And it does remove lug nuts!

Dave M

[Jon K]

When I worked at jaguar 3 or 4 techs bought new air tools from the snap on merchant. I think they spent like $1,000 for "silent" air tools. They were about as silent as my car.

[632 Regal]

I give up on the quest for electric impacts to remove lug nuts. thats about all id use it for so either bustin a nut manually or air aided it isnt worth the investment to me.


Hmmmm,

I lost faith and found a 1/2 price deal at Canadian Tire for a 240 ft/lb CORDED. Thing only cost $70 so I don't mind the cord ;)

And it does remove lug nuts!

Dave M

[shogun]

I just got my one from Harborfreight.
Bought by a friend in USA, shipped cheapest way by seaparcel on Nov. 8.2006 and arrived some days ago in Japan
http://8810.teacup.com/750hiline/img/bbs/0000572.jpg
It has US spec 120V 60 Hz, here we have 100V 50 Hz in this area, we have another area where we have 100V 60 Hz. :D
Reason is that when electricity was introduced in Japan, one power station was from Europe and the other one from USA.
That is why all Japanese electric works on 50 and 60 Hz.:)
Let's see how it works, I knew that it would not fit 100% the local condition, but at that price I give it a try.

[Bill R.]

cordless impact that supposedly now claims the title of most powerful cordless impact www.motherofallcordlessimpactwrenches.com
(http://www.motherofallcordlessimpactwrenches.com/)





I just got my one from Harborfreight.


Bought by a friend in USA, shipped cheapest way by seaparcel on Nov. 8.2006 and arrived some days ago in Japan
http://8810.teacup.com/750hiline/img/bbs/0000572.jpg
It has US spec 120V 60 Hz, here we have 100V 50 Hz in this area, we have another area where we have 100V 60 Hz. :D
Reason is that when electricity was introduced in Japan, one power station was from Europe and the other one from USA.
That is why all Japanese electric works on 50 and 60 Hz.:)
Let's see how it works, I knew that it would not fot 100% the local condition, but at that price I give it a try.

[fkong777]

since I dont work on cars outside of my garage much. At the end it was cheaper to get a air compressor and air impact than to find a good electric or coreless impact.

[acidfire52]

My uncle has the Snap-On Cordless Impact.. works really nice.

He uses it to take off truck tires.

[ryan roopnarine]

the opening video for the snap on is simultaneously the most fruity and the most awesome commercial i've seen for a professional business on the internet in a while. personally, i like my Binford 6100 cordless impact wrench, though they haven't made them since 1999.

[Bill R.]

especially liked the taps playing in the background while the other impacts gave out their last gasp's




the opening video for the snap on is simultaneously the most fruity and the most awesome commercial i've seen for a professional business on the internet in a while. personally, i like my Binford 6100 cordless impact wrench, though they haven't made them since 1999.

[Ross]

What do the good folks from Kenosha charge for it?

[Bill R.]

a number of them on ebay for less. I haven't talked to the local snap on guy to see what he'll sell one for.



What do the good folks from Kenosha charge for it?