[oldred]

Originally Posted by jcclark

Food for thought.

I switched my air fittings to larger 3/8" ones for my spray equipment
and just to keep everything the same, I also switched them on my
Sears impact wrench too.
I couldn't believe the difference it made, I have much more torque now.
The female disconnect of a std 1/4" fitting has a hole inside about
half the size of the fitting inlet, that's the bottleneck.
A bigger hose didn't make a difference but the new fittings sure did.
So if you're not getting the torque you think you should,
try the bigger fittings.
Home Depot has a 3/8" kit for about $10.00,
it connects to the std 1/4" air hose ends.

That's a darn good point and more than once I have seen even 3/4" drive impact wrenches coupled with 1/4" hose fittings and the owner complaining because the impact did not have the torque it was supposed to.

While on the subject of fittings NEVER attach the male quick coupling fitting on the impact! ALWAYS use a short piece of hose between the impact and the fitting or a ready made "whip" if you can find one large enough, I usually just make up my own because it can be hard to find a ready made whip bigger than 1/4". If the fitting is attached directly to the tool , as is done all too often, then the vibration from the impact will destroy the coupling in short order, both the male and female parts!

[oldschoolrods]

Originally Posted by oldred

While on the subject of fittings NEVER attach the male quick coupling fitting on the impact! ALWAYS use a short piece of hose between the impact and the fitting or a ready made "whip" if you can find one large enough, I usually just make up my own because it can be hard to find a ready made whip bigger than 1/4". If the fitting is attached directly to the tool , as is done all too often, then the vibration from the impact will destroy the coupling in short order, both the male and female parts!

Thanks for that tip oldred i may end up making one of those up here before long.

[SteveU]

Originally Posted by oldred

That's a darn good point and more than once I have seen even 3/4" drive impact wrenches coupled with 1/4" hose fittings and the owner complaining because the impact did not have the torque it was supposed to.

While on the subject of fittings NEVER attach the male quick coupling fitting on the impact! ALWAYS use a short piece of hose between the impact and the fitting or a ready made "whip" if you can find one large enough, I usually just make up my own because it can be hard to find a ready made whip bigger than 1/4". If the fitting is attached directly to the tool , as is done all too often, then the vibration from the impact will destroy the coupling in short order, both the male and female parts!

Has anyone experimented with different lengths to find one that works the best and doesn't get in the way or drag the coupler over the paint when you are working on something? I will make my own up as I can't see using the HVLP fittings & couplers up to that point then bottlenecking it down at the tool with a tiny hose/orifice.

[oldred]

I think it has been mentioned before but don't be tempted by those $2.99 swivel whips from HF, those things have the very nasty habit of coming apart at the swivel and when they do it gets exciting in a hurry! No joke that thing is just plain dangerous when it starts flying around with whats left of the brass fitting still attached and it could cause a serious injury, plus the hose itself will swell up about three times it's normal size if it is left in a sunny spot with pressure on it!

[GypsyR]

"the vibration from the impact will destroy the coupling in short order..."
Interesting, I've been using 1/2" and smaller impacts for 25 years and have never seen or heard of such a coupling failure. In that time I'd guess I've used a 3/4" impact maybe 10 times. Is that something 3/4 and bigger impacts are more prone to doing? Or perhaps cheap couplers or something?

[oldred]

The coupling failure is common knowledge and I have seen it happen many times even on 1/2" impact wrenches. I don't mean the coupling will blow apart but what usually happens is they start leaking because the male part will form a slight lip around the retainer ring that the spring loaded balls rest in when the coupling is attached. This lip will then damage the O-ring when the coupling is pulled apart causing the female part to leak, the damaged male half can then damage any female half it is used with. This is far more common on brass fittings than the hardened steel ones but even the steel will eventually do the same thing as the hardened steel retainer balls (just small ball bearings) hammer against it from the vibration. If you read the booklets that come with new impact wrenches there is a very clear warning in them to use a whip and never attach the fitting directly to the tool. On other impact tools such as air chisels/hammers I have seen the fitting become so badly damaged that it would not even come apart but on impact wrenches a leak is what usually happens.

[perrib]

My $25 repoed IR 231 has worked great for 11 years. It takes off lug nuts new $400.00 Snap On ones can't. I get my lunch paid for by every new rookie who gets rooked by the Snap On man. I bought a 3/8 Air Cat that rocks and is whisper quiet. The larger hose and fittings also make a big difference. I could see the HF swivel hoses fail. The ones Snap On sold held up well.

[jcclark]

Originally Posted by oldred

I think it has been mentioned before but don't be tempted by those $2.99 swivel whips from HF, those things have the very nasty habit of coming apart at the swivel

Mine did, while painting. Luckily I didn't destroy anything.