Air vs Battery for Shop Tools
 

To get some conversation going here - what do you use for tool power in the shop - manual only, air tools, or battery tools?

I've always been a hand tool person and still start every job with regular ratchets / sockets / wrenches. Over the last 6 or 7 years though, I'd started building up some air tools to make life easier. If there's a fastener in a tough spot, or if its a large fastener that's likely to require a lot of torque, I'll go drag out the hose / charge the compressor / get an impact.

I never got fancy enough to run hard line, so I always end up snaking a hose or two across the shop back to the tank. My compressors always seem to have some kind of minor leak, so they're always 100% empty if I haven't run them in a few weeks. So I usually have to be struggling a good bit on a job with hand tools before I decide that its time to grab some air stuff to help.

As we've been doing some home renovation stuff the last couple years though, I've started accumulating some battery powered tools for construction (drills / saws / etc). Ive generally not been a battery tool fan as my experiences 20 years ago were poor - they never had the power of a plug in tool, and the battery life seemed to get shorter every time you used them. But with some modern battery powered stuff, I've really made a 180 on them.

How it relates to garage tools is that I finally crossed over and bought a battery impact (using the same brand / battery system I had for my construction tools). I used the battery impact for the first time last weekend and was absolutely blown away by the torque - it seemed every bit as powerful as my 1/2" air impact. Not sure how good they are on battery life, but as I've got a handful of batteries already for the construction tools, it doesn't seem like it would matter as I can easily swap them (especially since the impact came with its own battery which adds to to the collection of batteries). Its also nice not having to worry about running a loud compressor late at night / waking anyone up. I'm starting to think about shifting that direction instead of continuing with air tools.

My only worry with battery tools is compatability in the long term. With an air tool, I can hook my 3 year old impact to my Dads 35 year old compressor and it works perfectly. Same vice versa with his ancient impact and my new compressor. But with batteries tending to be a proprietary connection, I worry a bit that that the tool may become completely useless once the battery fails and that line is no longer supported (ie in 10 years, theres new battery tech, different voltage, and a whole new line of tools). I did get ones with a lifetime warranty on the battery, but I didn't read the fine print and am skeptical thatll still work 30 years from now.


So that's the story behind how I got to thinking about this topic in general.

A couple months ago I bought my first battery tool, an AC Delco electric ratchet to do my intake manifold gaskets and man were those an absolute life saver. Not having to constantly refill my compressor, dragging the hose around and being able to get that small ratchet in tight areas without worrying about the big hose attached was awesome, and I think I have recharged it one time since then. I don't find much reason to buy anything air for my projects yet. I have yet to try a battery impact. I'd like to see if those can get my lugs off, because even my air impact has trouble with them.

Doing car work, 90% or more, manual tools. But I also know that I am sometimes missing out on benefits from other forms of tools. My electric tools are all corded, but I do own a Harbor Freight Warrior battery drill. That HF drill is awesome for almost anything you need to do around the house. Way better than my experience years ago with the old HF Drill Master products.

Now, for my dream garage, I do want a good size compressor, plumb some air connections and have shop air available. Some of that is "it is what I am used to". But it is still a good option. Air tools as you said are universal and been used for years. And I have no problem with the idea of mixing corded and air powered tools if need be.

I also recognize the past 5-10 years a HUGE wind of change. Battery tools are becoming insanely better! Drills, circular saws, reciprocating saws, impacts and many other tools. As I said, I only have one battery operated tool, works great. I have seen too schools of thought on battery tools.

One school is buy the best of breed. If brand X makes the BEST impact, that is what I want and brand Y makes the best saw, then get that.
The second, figure out the tools most important to you, find the brand that has the best options in that line and go with ONE brand.

I have watch both of these schools at work. I personally will opt for the second. Going the first route, EVERYTHING uses a unique battery and as a result battery charging, maintaining, replacing is just a headache. Oh the battery is not charged OR does not hold a charge long OR I did not get around to buying a new battery OR I lost/broke that charger. But, if you stay with one family of battery tools, then odds are you have more than one battery. If you exhaust the charge on a battery, you can grab another one or swap with another tool. It simplifies your battery maintenance. You might have say 10 battery powered tools that use the same battery but only 3 or 4 batteries. And if one battery is ready for replacement, you can still get a job done.

That's what I was thinking for my second tool with a compact 3/8" impact being a 3rd if things continue to go well.

My issue with air is that I started buying a bunch of tools and probably have a dozen or so at this point, but at best I use them once a month. Honestly almost 100% of my use the last year has been either filling tires or a trim air nailer for baseboards around the house.

I just dont think I use them near enough for what I paid. Id planned to do a bunch of hard line for my big 220 compressor when I get the new garage built to encourage me to use it more often. But honestly I'm thinking about scaling my air stuff down to just my small rolling 110 compressor with the few tools I actually use.

I could see a lot more usefulness in a pro auto shop for someone doing suspension work all day every day with an air reel overhead, but I'll never do anywhere near that volume.

Lugs are actually what sparked my interest on an impact. I was at a local autocross and saw quite a few people using them to swap wheels. I never would've believed it before as my history with battery tools was so poor.

This "mid range" battery impact I got is supposedly good to 650 ft lbs in reverse. First test was on my wife's SUV lugs and it popped the handful of lugs off that I tested it on with absolute ease.

That was my biggest surprise getting into the new stuff. My Dad had some battery tools in the early 2000s, but Id never grab it as I always dreaded having to go back for a corded tool + extension cord 20 minutes later when the thing ran low enough on juice not to be able to turn a screw anymore.

In the mid 00s, I got a Crafstman drill with 2 batteries in the hopes I could get through any project by swapping back and forth. It worked OK early on (although torque was nowhere near corded), but the battery life degraded over time like the old RC cars used to. It finally got the point a few years ago that 1 battery was virtually done for and the other battery would only last a dozen or so screws (practically useless). Of course getting any kind of replacement battery (even aftermarket knockoffs) was practically the price of a brand new drill + battery.

So my expectations were very low getting into a new drill. I was just blown away how strong it was and how long the battery lasted.

That was my plan too once I get the new garage built. Ive had a pretty big 220v compressor for awhile, and wanted to do copper hard lines along the walls with several outlets along the way, plus a couple ceiling mounted reels out in the middle.

I'm just on the fence about even doing that now. I'm tempted to just downsize to my smaller roll around 110 unit, and just wheel it over directly by the work area when I need it. Would save me a ton of money as I'll have plenty of electrical outlets.

Thats the position I'm getting to now. Ive had 2x 2AH batteries for awhile and the new impact came with a 4AH. I'm about ready to pull the trigger on a tool combo that has another 4AH battery (thats essentially free on top of discounted tools due to buying combo on sale), so there's no way working by myself that I'd ever run out of battery doing construction or auto work.

There is still a good amount of stuff you can do with the right 110 air compressor. It might be worth staging the 110 compressor somewhere out of the way and just run a couple connections to a couple convenient locations. This way if you truly walk away from air tools, if you need them, you don't even have the wheel the compressor or mess with extension cords for it. Just connect the hose to the hard line and go. If you find that the air tools still get heavy use and need a bigger compressor, then just swap the compressor.

But it really sounds like you might be headed for more battery tools. And in my book, a test for a battery impact, not your own cars. Hit a junk yard. See if it can handle those! My cars don't have rusted on lugs or lugs that are over tightened.... But odds are the junk yard cars do.

I'm definitely picking up at least two or three more for construction stuff. We're in full swing on the covered patio extension construction now to appease the city so I can get approval on my garage permit. Once we get started on the garage though, I'd like to be 100% free of plug in tools as the garage will be at the opposite side of the lot from the house / power. I'm worried about damaging tools from under voltage from having such a large run using commercially available extension cords that far.

They run combo sales pretty often on these battery tools, sometimes even letting you pick what's in the combo - so I always keep my eye out and may squeeze in a ratchet or something if the proce comes down enough from buying a set.

I'm not entirely sure where I'll end up when we finish the garage. Id bet I'm probably a year or year and a half away at this point, so I've definitely got time to think.

Thats a good idea. Ive been wanting to take my daughter for her first time to see one, so I may as well bring the new impact to give it a shot. Luckily rust isnt really an issue out here unless the car came from out of state.

Spinoff question- for those of you who have done hard line, what material did you use?

My plan had always been to do copper as I see it commonly used in industrial applications. But even just doing a ring around the 3 non-door walls (not even going up over the bays for drops between cars) is like $400 in just pipe, no fittings because copper is so high right now.

I know some budget garages use PVC, but Im not comfortable going that route, especially with our heat.

I see a ton of ads for flexible aluminum piping thats really cheap, but Ive never seen anyone actually use it.

My dad ran copper pipe years ago in his garage.
Outside of that, I am not sure what other materials are common for the task. If CPVC is used by some shops, depending on the cost of CPVC, as long as you have access to it, could be worth doing (if it fails, just replace it). Or do a mix of copper and CPVC. Use copper in areas where servicing is painful and CPVC in others. Might be a bit goofy, but also might do the trick.

I am curious if any one else chimes in with ideas. Something I may need to keep in mind.

I dont think it is legally OK in commerical / industrial- I believe OSHA specifically prohibits both pvc and cpvc by name for that use.

I've seen DIY home shops run it, but perosnally it scares me a bit. When you start getting up to compressor outlet temps around 180-200F, your safety factor drops to almost 0. My big compressor is rated up to 175 psi and my smaller 110 up to 150. 1/2" schedule 40 cpvc at 180F is only rated to 148 psi. That doesn't even factor in degradation due to age or from the oils in the compressor / lines.

I'm not so worried about leaks, but more the pipe exploding. Chance of impact damage is pretty low (although I bet its loud at 150 psi), but Id rather put something in that I never have to worry about again.

Ive been looking more into those aluminum lines lately - should be as easy or easier to work than copper, but for much less cost. Of course its all a bit of a daydream at this point, I don't even have a concrete pad for the garage yet...