air ratchets

[grumpyvette]

now a good quality 3/8" drive air ratchet is a huge benefit to a mechanic, as it speeds up a great deal of the work removing and installing bolts in non-critical areas on the car.
theres a great number of really crap quality 3/8" drive air ratchets, but having a couple decent ones makes life far easier, just keep in mind they require oiling frequently,and dry air and in most cases about 90-110 psi air pressure to work correctly long term.many guys blame the air ratchet when its the compressor or air lines or the pressure levels or lack of maintenance running it that's the real problem.

surprisingly these cheap ratchets work reasonably well, but they are not anywhere near the quality of the better ones available.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... mber=35227

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... mber=47214

viewtopic.php?f=50&t=1830&p=4764&hilit=moisture#p4764

NOTICEABLY BETTER QUALITY

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/ ... 1328_21328

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/ ... 6353_36353

http://www.mytoolstore.com/sk/sk91215.html

if you don,t keep the air pressure levels up to a minimum of 90 psi, the tool well oiled and the air feeding it dry you won,t get good service from the tool!, start every day by draining the compressor of moisture, and oiling the tools


READ THIS THREAD
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=24

 

[grumpyvette]

btw once you get an air ratchet and compressor in your shop, build yourself an engine priming tool from a salvage yard distributor core,

quick trip to local salvage yard, 30 minutes with a belt sander, or a lathe and PRESTO/CHANGO! an oil pump primer, I welded a socket on mine on the top so I could use the 1/2" drive air ratchet gun so you can spin the pump up without over heating a drill, but hey the ideas similar

just a tip,if you've got a quality priming tool or have made one from a old distributor,ALL electric drills WILL eventually run into over heating issues spinning a oil pump primer because the torque load that results causes the drill to spin at a fairly high load and LOW rpm, resulting in a good deal of resistance and HEAT but not much cooling air flow thru the drill.
the simple answer is to braze a deep well socket

to the upper end of the oil pump primer tool you make from a distributor or purchase than spin it with an air ratchet , which won,t result in a drill burning up its motor

OR if you've got a decent air compressor, that will supply air ratchet tools, you can braze a large threaded rod coupling nut,

to the upper tool central shaft and use the air ratchet,with a deep six point socket, which will tend to spin those prime tools far easier without the tendency to over heat like some electric drills
just a tip guys, any ELECTRIC DRILL is going to have a difficult time spinning an oil pump priming tool , without heating up and at least potentially or eventually burning out ,simply because electric drills cool with air flow and spinning as slow as an oil pump priming tool with that much resistance to the rotation its not going to be spinning fast enough to get the required air flow to cool properly.

there IS a simple solution for anyone who can fabricate that has access to air tools
you simply modify an old distributor similar to this picture then weld on a 3/8" drive socket to the top and your your AIR RATCHET to spin the primer tool which will not overheat and burn up.
btw I was using an air ratchet recently and the guy I was helping (MY B.I.L.) asked me why I squirted some M.M.O. into the air tools quick connect air line connector before I started to use it and before I put it back in the tool chest?
I also lightly covered the external surface with WD40
its really simple, compressor air tends to contain moisture sor allowing the air flow to force some M.M.O. over the internal surfaces and putting a bit more on the tools working moving parts, before you store the tool, tends to reduce rust and internal wear issues.
http://www.super-lube.com/synthetic-air-tool-lubricant-ezp-58.html

http://www.plews-edelmann.com/oil-cans-and-oilers/
most auto parts stores carry it, its a high detergent high quality oil that can be added to most automotive oils to increase the level of friction protection slightly,its been used for decades with good results, its designed to leave a film on the surface