Something wrong with air tools?

[pyaarawala]

My dad and I bought a Craftsman air compressor that goes up to 125 psi. We even bought a Craftsman impact gun and wrench; the one to take off wheels and the one for any other bolts. But even at full 125 psi, they weren't strong enough to take off the lug nuts off the car. Why's that so? Do we need more than 125 psi? How much do shops use? Is there something we're doing wrong?

Even the regular impact wrench we used to take off the bolt holding the coilover in, barely worked. When I pushed down the lever my eyes could keep up with the speed of the socket turning, which is not good lol. Just shows how weak it is.

 

[finch13]

Have you adjusted the pressure regulator on the compressor/tank? It's the knob with the gauge on it, set it to 90 psi. Most tools max out at 90 psi, so be sure not to set it higher than that or you could damage the tools.

What size is the tank? Our 6 gallon with drive my 4.5cm impact for about 5 seconds before the compressor kicks on

 

[pyaarawala]

My tank has two gauges on it. Not sure why...

 

[simon_y]

Whats the CFM on the air tank and the gun? Because I remember my friend saying something about that the guns CFM cannot exceed the CFM of the tank, cause then that means it's using more air then the compressor can supply.

 

[dvilla5506]

dam im still using a tire iron lol

 

[98ACCORDLXSD]

Adjust the pressure to the gun by adjusting the knob on the bottom, If not enough air then well it be slow. I solved this and bought one of those mastercraft eletric impact guns, There has not been a bolt I could not remove on my car with it.

 

[Fuzz]

Sometimes the wheel nuts are over tightened too. They install wheel nuts with the impact which is a no no at my place... every nut is torqued to spec with the car.

Most garages operate at 120psi but have at least 100 gallon tanks which means they flow a lot which is more important than pressure.

Sometimes even my gun can't take off the wheel because some idiot at a garage over-tightened. I resort to my bar and standing on it.

 

[kn0x47]

My tank has two gauges on it. Not sure why...

one is a gauge for the pressure inside the tank. the other is the pressure going to the tool. like said before, keep the pressure to the tool around 90 psi.

 

[pyaarawala]

Thanks guys I'll try to figure it out again. Btw what's CFM?

 

[toast]

http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=What%27s+CFM?

Cubic Feet per Minute - The capacity the tool uses vs. what the compressor can supply at that psi is whats important here...