SnapOn Impact Wrench Repair Needed

[BryanM]

Just my 2 cents: Iwork with snap-on tools daily to make a living with. I think they are over priced YES! But to tell you the truth they hold up better and have better design all around then other brands mentioned, Although I think some of the brands make for snap-on.

Back too your air wrench find a snap on driver(rep) walk on his truck tell him you would like it repaired and he will send it out for repair probably wont be under $100-option 1. option 2 ask how much he will give for a trade in on it and pick out something else. Option 3 try your own repair get rebuild parts from snap-on. or simply use it the way it is, although an impact that wont take lug nuts off is worthless in my eyes! Just my 2 cents

 

[Bird]

Dargo, my biggest complaint with Snap-On air tools was the fact that the parts are so expensive and are not interchangeable with anything else. In general, the Snap-On air tools are no better, no worse than tools made by IR and CP. But Ingersoll-Rand and Chicago Pneumatic make most of the MAC, Matco, and Cornwell air tools, so the parts are interchangeable and cheaper. There are lots of 3/8" ratchets and quite a few 1/4" ratchets, and not many 1/2" ratchets out there. Of course in some cases, 3/8" and 1/2" ratchets are identical except for the anvil in the head (or as Snap-On calls theirs, the "final drive"). I'm not familiar with the particular model you bought, but the specs look very good, and I'd sure be surprised if it's not a good tool that you're going to like for many years.

 

[Dargo]

Thanks Bird. Sorry for the brief foray off the subject. I have experience with a lot of equipment and a lot of different tools but air tools certainly are something I really know nothing about. Well, except that the Buffalo impact wrench I bought right out of college was pretty weak. I had to break all the wheel lug nuts loose by hand and then could finish removing them with the impact. Thanks again for the reply and now back to the guys who know a thing or two about air tools...

 

[Workstead]

After seeing some of the work done by idiots at tire stores, there may be nothing wrong with your new gun. I ruined studs and nuts trying to remove the wheels from an '04 Chevy 3/4 ton that had been recently installed by a tire shop. They paid for new hardware. Try the PB stuff, and get some other experience with the impact before condemning it.

Disclaimer: Not all tire stores employ idiots exclusively.

Rick,

I did as you suggested, except I haven't run any witches brew through it yet.

I did check the Snap-on against the Campbell-Hausfeld. Before I did that I broke the lug nuts loose with an eye popping wrestling match with a manual lug wrench. (Maybe I should go back to the tire store and see what impact wrench they used to mount the tires and get one of them. )

I completely loosened all of the lug nuts and then tightened with the CH wrench. I had to wait a bit for that wrench to loosen the nuts it tightened, but it did. I then used the Snap-On to loosen the CH tightened nuts and it did. I then tightened all of the loosened nuts with SO wrench and it easily loosened the nuts it had tightened. I then tried the CH gun to see if it would loosen the SO tightened nuts and it did loosen them even more easily than the SO wrench loosened the CH tightened nuts.

Bottom line - I now have two equal guns, one a Snap-On and one a capmbell-Hausfeld. And it only cost me $10 to do it!

My secretary once had a quote on her typewriter that said "experience is what you get when you thought you were getting something else."

This has been an experience.

Clem

 

[DieselPower]

I'll throw my two cents in on this also since I have owned and used many Snap On impact guns over the years. Back when I was a professional full time mechanic they were and still are the only impact gun's I own and use. I recently got one of their new MG series guns, magnesium housing in 3/8 inch drive, the thing has the power of a full size 1/2 inch gun, no bull. I have used IR's, Mac's, Matco's and a couple of other brands and I was alway's more pleased with the Snap On guns performance and durability especially when you run 175 PSI through them on a daily basis. The whole key to making any air tool last is lubrication, lubrication, lubrication. Oil your air tools often and before you put them away for the day and they will last the average home do it yourselfer for years if not their lifetime.

The IM5100 is a excellent gun, I have 3 of them and have only had to rebuild one of them years ago. As far as repairing it, it isn't that expensive and isn't difficult. Just go to the Snap On website, type in your gun model number and then the parts list. You can purchase all the repair parts online, I often do. Probably all you need is a new set of vanes for it and a new rear housing gasket. As long as it's working mechanically ok then the hammer mechanism should be just fine. I recently rebuilt a Snap On air angle grinder and a set of vanes, couple of seals with shipping only cost a couple of bucks.

 

[Workstead]

I'll throw my two cents in on this also since I have owned and used many Snap On impact guns over the years....I was alway's more pleased with the Snap On guns performance and durability especially when you run 175 PSI through them on a daily basis. The whole key to making any air tool last is lubrication, lubrication, lubrication. Oil your air tools often and before you put them away for the day and they will last the average home do it yourselfer for years if not their lifetime.

The IM5100 is a excellent gun, I have 3 of them and have only had to rebuild one of them years ago. As far as repairing it, it isn't that expensive and isn't difficult. Just go to the Snap On website, type in your gun model number and then the parts list. You can purchase all the repair parts online, I often do. Probably all you need is a new set of vanes for it and a new rear housing gasket. As long as it's working mechanically ok then the hammer mechanism should be just fine. I recently rebuilt a Snap On air angle grinder and a set of vanes, couple of seals with shipping only cost a couple of bucks.

DieselPower,

Thanks for your 2 cents worth of input. What you say is encouraging and I went to the Snap-On website to check for parts, and it appears that they are down for maintenance. I'll check back later.

I've never worked on air tools so this will be an "experience" for me. One of my problems is that I don't understand how they work so to fix something that may or may not be broken can be perplexing. Obviously broken parts are one thing but worn or missing parts are another. I'm sure the parts breakdown will be invaluable and trial and error will probably help me to get it apart. I know enough to arrange the parts in order as I remove them.

Maybe I can find a website that explains how air tools work. I'll look around, but if anyone knows of a site please let me know. I also have a Bostitch coil nailer that needs some TLC.

Tell me about the 175 PSi that you use. The specs for the IM5100 call for 90 PSI. I don't have 175 PSI but I can get a few cfm's of 135 PSI. Is the tool torque directly proportional to the PSI or does it only operate within a certain range?

Thanks for your help.

Clem

 

[TDVT]

Thanks for the reply, Bird. I'll check with Air Tech Tool as I am in the boonies. It would be nice to have that gun working.

 

[Bird]

Is the tool torque directly proportional to the PSI or does it only operate within a certain range?

Clem, every one of the impact wrenches that I know of, as well as most other air tools, are rated for 90 psi, but yes, higher pressure will give you more power. Now it may decrease the tool's lifespan by increasing wear and possibly causing something to break, but it's quite common for mechanics to run 175 psi. If it does hurt the tool, well, that's just part of the cost of doing business. But like DieselPower said, if you keep the moisture out and keep the tool lubricated like he said, it'll probably last a long time. And if you keep it down to 90 psi and keep moisture out and keep it lubricated, it'll probably last a lifetime or more.

As for how they work . . . I don't know that I could explain that without pictures. Most tools come with a manual that includes an exploded view of the parts, as well as the parts list. The air motors have a great deal in common, and all the impact wrenches I ever worked on had 6 vanes (or rotor blades as some manufacturers call them), but other air tools may have 4, 5, or 6 vanes. But there's two entirely different impact designs with a number of variations in each of those two. For instance, the IR231 has an impact mechanism that is lubricated with grease inserted with a needle nosed grease gun through the very back of the tool, while the CP734 is lubricated with non-detergent motor oil applied to one the side of the housing by removing an "oil" plug with a hex wrench.

The manuals are usually pretty good, but they don't tell you everything you sometimes need to know. I got several tools in for repair after the mechanics who owned them tried to repair them themselves. As with most repair jobs, it's pretty simple after you've done it awhile; not so simple if you have not. For example: The IR231 manual, with exploded view, tells you to pull the air motor out of the housing or handle. It doesn't mention the fact that on about three-fourths of them you will have to heat that housing with a torch before the air motor will come out. I got one of those in where the mechanic had gotten so frustrated that he had beaten and pried on it until he had damaged it so badly that it wasn't worth fixing. Anyone in that business has a propane torch handy for that purpose. The CP734 has a number of oil seals, much like miniature versions of wheel bearing oil or grease seals. When putting new ones in, they must go in exactly straight or you ruin them. Easiest fastest way to do that is with an arbor press. A 3 ton arbor press is standard equipment in an air tool repair shop.

Air ratchets have one of 3 different kinds of ways to keep tension on the head or final drive. I got some of those, especially Snap-Ons, where the mechanic had replaced the final drive and then it didn't work. They used 2 concave washers and they had to be put in in the proper order and orientation and then it's very difficult to put enough pressure on them to get the snap ring in place unless you have a press and the proper tools.

 

[DieselPower]

Like Bird said, all of the air tool manufacturers (except some industrial tools I have seen) are rated in their manual at 90 PSI. Think of a air operated tool as a engine. Engines make more power with more air and fuel, air tools use only air so the more you can pass through it the more power. It's one of the big problems I see with people using 1 inch and 1 1/2 inch drive impact guns, they have them hooked up to a little 3/8 inch air hose. The bare minimum for these guns is 1/2 inch and with a 1 1/2 inch gun a 3/4 hose is even better. Again as Bird said, it's hard on the tool over it's life. It increases wear on rotating parts and increases the chance of braking mechanical parts like anvils or gear mechanism's. It's part of the game you play as a mechanic especially a truck or equipment mechanic. You need as much power as possible so you run your tools at the compressors max PSI limit.

Most all air tools operate basically the same. There are vanes inside the tool that operate basically like a fan blade. They are free to move and centrifical force slings them out in the housing to make a good seal. As air is allowed into the vane/rotor section it forces the air motor to spin and this rotating shaft supplies the power to whatever tool is attached to it be it a drill, impact gun, ratchet, die grinder, etc... Over time the vanes can get worn out due to debris, that's why a clean air supply is so important. Steel lines are very common for plumbing air in a shop but the downfall is that the pipes can rust and when the rust flakes off it passes through the line into your air tool. All these little nicks and scratch's eventually let a good amount of air past the vanes and you loose power. Place a filter in your air line as close to the tool being used as possible. In industrial plants and many shops they use a combination unit that has a filter and lubricator. Air enters the filter and exits into a lubricator that injects a steady small amount of oil into the line to lubricate tools and cylinders. Just don't try to use a paint gun with a lubricator unless you like the orange peel look.

When you can eventually get on the Snap On website they have parts breakdown diagrams and it will be a little more clear how the vanes work in the impact gun.

 

[CurlyDave]

If you want the air tool to work more effectively on your own lug nuts, go down to the auto parts store and get some anti-seize. Permatex is the brand I have always used.

Whenever I buy a vehicle, I take all of the lug nuts off, one by one -- no jacking required, and put a little anti-seize on the stud, then torque the nut back down. Once is enough for years, although you may want to repeat every 5 years or so.

This prevents the lug nuts from becoming stuck on. Essentially the same as making my air wrench much more powerful. It does not allow the lug nuts to loosen all by themselves. The lug nut is actually held in place by the interference between the conical section on its inside shoulder and a corresponding conical section in the rim.

If you ever look into how torque specs are developed for various nuts & bolts you will find that the threads are supposed to be lightly lubricated, which is exactly what the anti-seize does.

There is enough anti-seize left on the stud and inner nut threads that a tire shop can not overtorque your lug nuts any more. I have always been able to get them off easily.

Of course this only works on your own vehicle, but I have never had one stick after this and my air wrench works a lot better now...