Seriously?

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

It says delivery by 14 Jan - but I suspect it will be here sooner than that. When it arrives I'll send you a report. I was looking for one that would have a battery interchangeable with my Hitachi drill, but that doesn't seem to be sold in the UK. Makita batteries are widely available though, so that is good news (in my experience the only part that ever fails is the battery).

PS. This seems to be a review of more or less the same tool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gELE7Ijg6oo

Thanks Alan, got halfway through the vid and found it heavy going, i'll have another go later.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Thanks Alan, saved in my Watch List for now.

It appears the battery is interchangeable with Makita batteries which might be useful for some. Would be intersted in knowing how to alter the torque setting on it, the listing says it's adjustable but i don't see any facility for it.

The cordless impact wrench arrived in the mail today Dave. It comes in a nice box with the battery, charger and a few sockets in common metric car wheel nut sizes:



... it was slightly disappointing that the battery could not be left fitted for stowage in the box, but there again that is probably a good solution for safety. The battery probably took an hour or so for its first charge.

It is quite light and easy to handle.



The booklet claims it produces a maximum torque of 520 N.m- I somehow doubt that, just from its weight and construction. I did try it out on my Skoda Superb's wheel nuts, which had been done up (by me) to 120 N.m and after a bit of hammering away (about 5 seconds I should think) it did undo the nut:



The torque output isn't adjustable as such - but the harder one pushes the trigger the more impacts there will be.

If I'd been a professional mechanic I would not have bought this item - I'd have bought a DeWalt at £330 - but I'm not and so I think for £42 this is a pretty handy addition to my home mechanic's workshop. This will be really useful for undoing difficult nuts - but would always use a torque wrench to tightening.

[Laird Scooby]

Thanks for an honest review on that Alan, also the explanation of the torque "adjustment" by varying the input power via the trigger.

I will keep it in my Watch List but might also look round for something similar, won't be a B&D aka De Walt at that price!

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Thanks for an honest review on that Alan, also the explanation of the torque "adjustment" by varying the input power via the trigger.

I will keep it in my Watch List but might also look round for something similar, won't be a B&D aka De Walt at that price!

If you wanted a serious workshop impact wrench it would not be this one, or any of the similarly priced Chinese ones. If you want something that is good for wheel nuts and getting most troublesome nuts undone I think this would be fine - I would not want to guarantee it would undo (say) the hub nut on a FWD half-shaft (it might, I have not tried).

If you do want something that will remove hub nuts, crank bolts and the like I don't think any of the mainstream (DeWalt, Makita etc) 12v tools will do either. They mostly cost in the £120-£200 range, but only produce about the same torque as this Chinese one (although they will have more features like an adjustable torque chuck). In that case you need a 18v to 36v tool - I have not seen those under £300 (with a battery and charger - unless you already have those from a drill or whatever).

You pays your money, and you takes your pick - I did think of buying a 18v DeWalt, a mechanic mate of mine has one and it is excellent, but I just couldn't imagine I'd have used it enough to make a purchase worthwhile (it is about £330).

Just my thoughts Dave. I'm quite pleased with the Chinese tool that arrived today, I'll probably use it at least once or twice a month, and will save enough time and skinned knuckles to pay for itself pretty soon, but then it was only £42.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

If you wanted a serious workshop impact wrench it would not be this one, or any of the similarly priced Chinese ones. If you want something that is good for wheel nuts and getting most troublesome nuts undone I think this would be fine - I would not want to guarantee it would undo (say) the hub nut on a FWD half-shaft (it might, I have not tried).

If you do want something that will remove hub nuts, crank bolts and the like I don't think any of the mainstream (DeWalt, Makita etc) 12v tools will do either. They mostly cost in the £120-£200 range, but only produce about the same torque as this Chinese one (although they will have more features like an adjustable torque chuck). In that case you need a 18v to 36v tool - I have not seen those under £300 (with a battery and charger - unless you already have those from a drill or whatever).

You pays your money, and you takes your pick - I did think of buying a 18v DeWalt, a mechanic mate of mine has one and it is excellent, but I just couldn't imagine I'd have used it enough to make a purchase worthwhile (it is about £330).

Just my thoughts Dave. I'm quite pleased with the Chinese tool that arrived today, I'll probably use it at least once or twice a month, and will save enough time and skinned knuckles to pay for itself pretty soon, but then it was only £42.

From that perspective Alan it sounds an excellent purchase. My last one was one of these :

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0036YHBMM

I think using it while changing the back axle in mine was what killed it though.
I had one before and lent it to someone one to find their cig lighter was wired back to front. Result - one set of fried chips on the control board!

Rewired it as direct control but it halves its usefulness in that i have to use a torque wrench to do the fasteners up again. Unlike the pneumatic ones, it is a rotary hammer (sounds like yours is the same) so doesn't hammer the nut along the bolt but round it following the thread rather than against the side of the thread.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

From that perspective Alan it sounds an excellent purchase. My last one was one of these :

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0036YHBMM

I think using it while changing the back axle in mine was what killed it though.
I had one before and lent it to someone one to find their cig lighter was wired back to front. Result - one set of fried chips on the control board!

Rewired it as direct control but it halves its usefulness in that i have to use a torque wrench to do the fasteners up again. Unlike the pneumatic ones, it is a rotary hammer (sounds like yours is the same) so doesn't hammer the nut along the bolt but round it following the thread rather than against the side of the thread.

Hi Dave,
I did consider the type that attaches to a car battery - but then thought that (for me) the whole point was the ability to get to difficult to access nuts, and hence went for the battery powered type. The difference is cost was hardly anything.
The Chinese tool I bought does seem to be fairly well put together, but it will be interesting to see if it stands up to a bit of use. I'm thinking it might be really useful for the AW71 project. I suspect that in the longer term the issue might well be the longevity (or otherwise) of the battery. It is a 20v lithium ion item (good) and there is a charge meter (voltmeter I suspect) on the tool. I'll find a reason to give it a good test in the next few weeks and we'll see how well it lasts.
I think you are right about this not being an impact driver - which is generally a good thing for what I want it for. I have a pneumatic tool with an impact driver function, but on the whole it is too aggressive for car and bike work so I mostly use the manual type with a hefty hammer.
Alan

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

It's already up to £520 Alan - starting price £500 but i wonder how many of the bids are shill bids to push the price up? It's only been listed for ~10 hours and it's unusual to get bids that quick unless people are looking for it to place a bid.....................


....................... not that i'm a cynical old git or anything but the reserve isn't met yet.

I just had a look at the auction for the brown 1980 244DL Dave - it is standing at £1040 with just over a day to go; it still has not reached its reserve. I'll keep an eye on it - I suppose it could go either way: either fizzle out out take off if there are two or more people who really want a rusty, low specification, uncared for car with dubious mileage and in a crappy colour :-)

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

I just had a look at the auction for the brown 1980 244DL Dave - it is standing at £1040 with just over a day to go; it still has not reached its reserve. I'll keep an eye on it - I suppose it could go either way: either fizzle out out take off if there are two or more people who really want a rusty, low specification, uncared for car with dubious mileage and in a crappy colour :-)

I think it's going to fizzle out Alan, maybe a few more bids to £11-1200 but doubt it'll get any higher. I may be wrong, it might go silly this time tomorrow or perhaps in the last half-hour but i doubt it.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

I think it's going to fizzle out Alan, maybe a few more bids to £11-1200 but doubt it'll get any higher. I may be wrong, it might go silly this time tomorrow or perhaps in the last half-hour but i doubt it.

As we discussed last week Dave, I think it will make somewhere between £1250 and £2000 (although I think that would be the op end for a rusty, low spec car). I’m interested because it gives me an idea of the RB’s value (not that it is for sale, or ever likely to be, but so I know how much is sensible to invest in it).

I’ll keep an eye on the brown car and report back tomorrow.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

As we discussed last week Dave, I think it will make somewhere between £1250 and £2000 (although I think that would be the op end for a rusty, low spec car). I’m interested because it gives me an idea of the RB’s value (not that it is for sale, or ever likely to be, but so I know how much is sensible to invest in it).

I’ll keep an eye on the brown car and report back tomorrow.

I was just look at the sellers screen name - i wonder if he owns a Panther Deville?