IR 2132G impact wrench

[Alan L.]

I just bought one of these along with my new compressor (separate thread). The compressor puts out 10.2 cfm at 90psi. I read on a Campbell Hausfeld website that you should size the compressor output at 1.5 times the rating of the tool, and that most 1/2" impacts are about 5 cfm. So the 10.2 would seem to be fine for the impact, especially since I will never be using it constantly at all, but will need to loosen some tough nuts sometimes. I am pretty sure that is what these things are for??

Bird kindly gave me some links to operating instructions for this new tool, one link led to another and I found myself reading that my compressor is in reality too small to power this tool to the rated fps of 500/600 tightening/loosening. Says it really takes up to 22cfm under load, which would seem to be a problem.

I was under the impression that the rating is for about 4 cfm but the box the tool came in says something like "average cfm 4.5" but "under load 20 cfm".

I am using 3/8" air hose and 1/4" npt fittings, I read where some use bigger.

What gives?

 

[Bird]

:laughing::laughing:Alan, the 4.5 CFM is plenty. Now if you go into the tire business and are changing all 4 wheels on a 2 ton truck with 8 or more lugs per wheel and you're in a hurry and all the lugs are very tight, so you're going to let that impact wrench run almost continuously, hammering hard and long on each nut, you might wish you had more air.:laughing: But in the meantime you've got twice as much as you need. To change mower blades, or one wheel at a time on your car, truck, or tractor, you'll be in fine shape.

My little 30 gallon compressor is only 5.7 CFM at 90 psi, and I have the old IR231 impact. Even with 100' of 3/8" hose, no problem, wait, or hesitation in removing both front wheels on my brother's one ton Ford truck when we did a brake job on it. Of course we knew there'd be no problem so we didn't even think about it.

As you said, the "average" is 4.5 CFM. That's cubic feet per minute. Time it sometime to see how many seconds it takes to remove a nut; 6 seconds would be one-tenth of that 4.5 and I'll bet nearly every nut you remove is going to come off in 6 seconds or less.

 

[Bird]

I am using 3/8" air hose and 1/4" npt fittings, I read where some use bigger.

That's what I use, too, as do most people, and it's all we need. But if you ever buy yourself a 3/4" or 1" impact wrench, you'll never get the rated power until you move up to 1/2" air hose and fittings. When I was working on them, I could run a 3/4" impact even on quarter inch hose to see if it was running right, but it wouldn't have even close to its normal power; just can't get enough air volume through a smaller hose fast enough.

 

[Alan L.]

Thanks, Bird. Glad to know I'm good to go. Could be I'll wish I had a 3/4" wrench and bigger air line for the nuts on my brush hog blades, but I only take it off once a year or so. Used a 4 x 4 steel post as a cheater bar last time and thought I was going to break the Chinese breakover bar before I got it loose (3/4" drive).

 

[Bird]

With my Bush Hog, I couldn't find a 1/2" drive socket big enough so I got a 3/4" drive socket and a 3/4" to 1/2" reducer or adapter so I could use my half inch impact on it and that worked just fine.