I'm not convinced that the release torque = tightened torque. Tighten a bolt up with it and then use a torque wrench on ever increasing settings until it stops clicking and moves the fixing. I bet it's not close.
AvE couldnt you reverse the test? Tighten with the impact then use the hydraulic wrench with gauge to see how much it takes to break loose? Just wondering. Please do one on the 1/2 " Ingersoll model. I use them at work and they are skookum as frig! Would love to see the inside and how they match up?
Nope. Not the same thing. These guns are designed to reverse bolts and nuts. This is where they have max torque. Not tighten them. You have to use a torque wrench to tighten them.
texasdee slinglead Anybody else mixed with AvE would flat ruin the whole vibe we tap the vein to with these. Bimbos and fumbling tree boys would fuck this right up, and I'm a carpenter/mechanic and I must admit this.
I watched this video during the pan demic when I lost my job and got a new one. I was short on cash and I needed a 1/2" cordless impact. I work in roadside assistance and I change a lot of tires, often on the highway where you've got some motivation to get the job done quickly. About 3 years ago I ran across this video and immediately went to Harbor Freight and bought one. Best decision I ever made and I've been hooked on AvE ever since. I have beat the living crap out of this impact every day for the last 3 years and she's still skookum! It takes lug nuts off of medium duty trucks no problem, and will buzz through just about anything. I've found a few problem lugs that it wouldn't break loose, but it has been rare, mostly Chrysler and GM vehicles with a reputation for bad studs that usually break when I go to the breaker bar, but more often than not a fresh battery does the trick. Cons - I also bought the 3/8, and I wouldn't do it again. No regrets, it was on the clearance rack, I needed a battery, and it is handy for some things, but it's got no marbles. I bought it for driveshafts and it won't break blue loctite so it's no good to me. I bought the grinder for the same reason. It's great for small jobs, but it's a battery killer. I've gone through 2 batteries in less than 10 minutes. None of that really matters, though, because this gem of a cheapo tool was discontinued!! Those bastards. Any chance you could help someone out that was in the same spot as me and do the new High Torque Bauer impact alongside the Hercules High Torque that replaced the earthquake last year? Thanks for being awesome, man, I really appreciate it.
HaHa! Agreed, the man is definitely smarter than your average bear. But holy smokes! That impact should be a damn good one for what Harbor Freight is asking for it.
I never belive i would sit down for more than 30 minutes time after time and look at you open tools, and explain whats inside. But you explain and tell it in a way that makes me understand and at least make me interested. Thank you for making me smarter of choosing the tools i buy, and to learn something about the things we use in the workshop or garage
As a computer parts enthusiast, I'm always weary about judging build quality by the weight of a product, ever since the whole lead weights race. Lots of people used to judge power supply quality by weight, so cheap power supply makers just started filling their power supplies with lead weights.
Most of these products were only available for purchase online direct from these companies in China. These things were infamous for being unreliable and dangerous. Pretty common for these supplies to either burn out before even reaching their advertised capacity, or just catch fire during regular use. I don't know anyone in Europe who tried buying one of these, but I have a feeling none of these power supplies were built with any regard to legal requirements outside China. I wouldn't be surprised if they switched to steel weights though, as it's probably still a common practice, even if most consumers aren't stupid enough to buy them anymore.
TheSpoonKing Weight wasn’t the deciding factor of quality here. He references the weight of the hammers and anvil because of physics. Using Newton’s physics; Force = mass x acceleration. If two impacts are the same except the hammer then the one with the heavier hammer will produce a harder impacting force on the fastener.
@@kstinson OP was referring to when AvE said the impact had a good weight in the hand in the beginning of the video. He said the weight of the tool was a good sign and wasn't referring to the hammers since the tool wasn't disassembled.
Not any cheaper than milwakee? The HF is $250 and you can always get a discount. The tool alone from milwakee is $230 at Home Depot. No batteries or charger.
Just want to say that u are one of the few you tubers that actuly give us viewers a honest opinion and a bloody good laugh as well hope your channel keeps growing strong :)
It's like they knew you were going to open it up. Glad someone out there still makes good quality products. And it was nice to see you so excited over a tear down, it's been a while.
This was a great product breakdown. Love your enthusiasm and knowledge base. I laughed out loud when you referred to the plastic odor as "the smell of Cancer". LOL!
Food for thought... I work at a nuclear site and once upon a time we had some issues with big process connectors loosening. We ran a study to find out why. These acme nuts get hit with about 1000 lb ft. While not the primary goal, what we found in the study was that the loosening torque is about 60-65% of the tightening torque.
Yet that does not always hold true. 57 Chevy steel wheels on a rear axle. To remove the wheels I needed a "X" tire wrench & a 4 foot iron cheater pipe. I broke off all the studs - What torque does it take to break off wheel studs? I am 160 lbs & can lift 100lbs. using a 3 lb hammer to beat on the pipe to shock it loose.
@@jonathanjones770 nope. In neutral some is sticking out on both sides. I have this tool and it's little 3/8 brother. Great tools. I use them at work everyday.
Man, I am so glad you did this test. I bought this thing spending like 250 bucks thinking "harbor freight + 250 dollars = real dissapointment". But I've been PLEASANTLY surprised with it's performance. This gun can bust some big nuts. Now that I know it has your seal of approval I feel even better about the purchase.
Bought one of these yesterday based on this review. Was going to get the Milwaukee initially. Got tired of firing up the compressor and knocking shit over with the air hoses.
@@jabroni6199 I got an open box EarthquakeXT for $130. Was brand new, the outer packaging was damaged. Hard to beat that! My air and electric impact are going into retirement!
My kids hits the 15 gallon compressor tank with hammer.... I heard your voice come out "pressure vessels are Dangerous!" 10 minutes later i am in the yard shooting can'ed air dusters with him and the pellet rifle showing him what catastrophic failure looks like. thanks AvE
Why not tighten down the nut with the gun and then loosen it with the hydraulics to get a number? Maybe use a left-hand thread if the reverse-action of the gun has more 'torque' than the forward.
LazerLord10 could be wrong, but it might not have the same amount of torque forward. He reviewed a different model, and as I recall it was 1100 ft.lbs reverse but only 300 forward. (If my memory id's correct)
People he said LEFT HAND THREAD! Now that has been cleared up, doesn't sound like that bad of an idea, just don't know the accuracy of the hydraulic torque wrench in removing the bolt, I see a lot of broken bolts in his future.
well that doesn't matter, I get what your saying, the problem is the fastener is literally incapable of holding the torque of the gun. So when he tightened with the big hydra, he tightened until it actually did slip once, so that fastener is at it's limit. If he tightened with the gun all he'd do is smack until he over torqued the fastener and stripped it out. which is what he's already done :P If he could somehow directly attach the harbor fraught to the hydralic and attempt to basically have them fight each other by like using a shank between them that in theory could work. Though it'd be sketchy :P
I'm thinking you're creating a pretty ideal setup here. The more rigid everything is the better the impact is going to do, and the solid brass nut and spacer clamped rigidly into a decently sized vise is very solid.
I went to some training by some loctite salesmen sponsored by my job and a lot of their demos showed that just because the bolt is tightened to X foot pounds doesn't mean it will require X ftlbs to remove it, hence the need for their product. According to that, you'll have to see if the amount of torque required to remove a fastener is linear to the tightening torque to really find out what the impact will put out.
Could be. Gotta remember that like i did many entry level mechanics and the like start out with hazard fraught tools. They buy as much as the can and then upgrade as they go. Get the tools to get the job done then upgrade to nicer tools as time move forward. Theres still some tools from hazard fraught i have that i prefer over more expensive upgrades.
Max Maruszewski they must be. What I would give to go to a weekly management meeting and watch an ave review . boy howdy, could you imagine the excuses flying from department heads😄
Let's do the math. When you get a few hundred thousand people talking about what tools to avoid and voting with their wallets, the manufacturers don't have to listen to us, they just have to listen to their customers. Let's ballpark how many tools even get sold in a year.... Gotta figure... 300,000,000 people in the US, half that for a household count, maybe 1/4 have a garage with tools, that's down to 30,000,000. Joe Amateur white collar no-trade is buying new tools, what, once every 15 years? 2,000,000. So, only a couple million drills get sold in the US every year (a drill being probably the most common power tool, to give it an upper limit). Spread that across 5 majorish manufacturers that's only 400,000 apiece. These videos are getting that many views. Then take a less common tool. How many guys own an impact gun versus a common drill? 1/20th? 1/30th? 1/50th? Then consider that the guys not watching are probably asking advice from someone who is. It's certainly possible that a significant portion of the English speaking market for tools in a year is watching this channel and adjusting their purchasing accordingly. I might be off by an order of magnitude, but even then, you're easily hitting 10% of the market, that's more of a swing than advertising makes. That ain't fuckin' around, even at only 100 bucks a pop, each of these videos is having tens of millions of dollars of dick swingin' on the market.
I would like to think so. AvE pointed out it was made in Taiwan. I'm guessing that is the reason for the better quality. The real question here is: Will Harbor Freight stock more decent Taiwan made tools?
Every time I don my Ave shirt a new video is uploaded. Funny enough I found and older broad at Walmart that loved my focus you fack shirt and asked me what was in the vice, so I told her it was a reference to a saying of yours and we had a good laugh.
Hey, I enjoy your vids and your presentation (which is definitely not PC), but your comment section (which, if I have the time, I do read most of) can be so hilarious. TY for bringing us all together:)
You think maybe the brass nut makes it easier though? It's a very pliable low friction material and possibly requires less torque to remove the bolt from than a steel counterpart. That's why it's used in ammunition casings. Would have thought a steel nut would require a higher degree of 'breakaway' torque thus the energy delivered on the initial impacts tends to ramp downwards in many impact tools. Also brass doesn't rust and many applications requiring an impact wrench tend to be on wheel and chassis parts which have nearly rusted together.
I like your hunch, I had the same thought that brass might be self-lubricating or lacks the tensile strength to hold the fastener at the same impacting torques. The assembly the bolt is in might be giving with every impact. I wonder how the threads looked at the several stages of being torqued. If they deform from not being rigid enough, it might go a long way as to why the fasteners are preforming this way. Should have done a known side by side of an impact that "shouldn't" be able to get the job done.
I looked up some friction coefficients. brass-steel : .35 steel-steel : .5-.8 Maybe you have a point but my money is on the fact that no mater what material, the same friction needs to be overcame to tighten the thing in the first place
James Sloan If you really want a bolt to seize in place, dip it in bleach before assembly. She'll rust right the fuck together. When both components are made of steel, that is. Poor mans permanent locktight.
Yeah, I would have liked for him to show us a torque wrench attempting to loosen the tightened fastener, Just for confirmation. There are a lot of ways the test can go wrong, we should be looking for as much confirmation as possible. (Just not confirmation bias :)
I really love the HONESTY!! I am definitely not a Harbinger of Fate fan but I like seeing that they have done something right. Competition for the higher end tools is always good. Keep 'er between the ditches.
Lately I've been having the theory that the plastic made in mainland China is actually distilled from nearby factory fumes instead of using any new materials.
Amazing, the Hazard Fraught tool even with a few warts gets the treasured AvE Skookum rating. And now I know to take another look at Taiwan made products.
A man in a suit sits with his back to the door behind an ornate desk. A tired looking man with stains on his shirt opens the door to the office, tears streaming down his face. "Sir, the results are in...and...it's skookum, by God it's skookum."
Meh, all depends on the profits they get. HF brands (or any company with a respectable amount of capital) could make excellent tools, but that's not the market they've traditionally gone after. This actually kind of worries me. If HF starts making mediocre tools, where am I going to get my super cheap, barely usable, one-use tools from? :)
I am pretty sure they realized the they needed to do something with their electric tools over the last few years. Choosing to go with a Taiwanese manufacturer shows their goal was a quality increase. The new pricing is not throw away cheap, but cheap enough compared to the competitor to stand out.
It's quite possible the opposite happened: a product manager might have realized that cash was left on the table by engineering up to a level they don't normally pursue, and thus the proper profit margin will never be attained. Heads could role. On the other hand, they know they need the New Product Sphincter to squeeze out the occasional golden log to keep us on our toes.
Thank you for your honest reviews! I made the mistake of getting a Hercules but after seeing this I quickly returned it for the Earthquake as I plan to do pretty heavy vehicular work.
Halfway through this video I look down and happen to see a HF mailer sitting on my desk with the Earthquake XT in the corner. Inside is their "side-by-side" comparison with the Snap-On CT8850WB. $249.99 US doll-hairs. If I had any reason to need one, maybe I'd consider picking one up.
The stank is the waste filler material that can't be made into soylent green. They have over a billion people and been around thousands of years....ever seen the gigantic cemeteries in China.... yeah, me neither.
We have one of theses at our auto shop, she works great for about 3-4 months before it looses all torque. We’re had to warranty it about 4 times last year
+NoLongo I don’t think there’s Earthquake 1/2” & corded! but rather than that you probably meant the “Bauer” corded impact from HF, which it seems a monster for what it’s been advertised, has 1050 ft-lbs of breakaway torque !
You just can't beat AvEs honesty. He says it like it is and that's how it should be. way better reviews than those feels good in the hand reviews. Ain't nothin' like takin' her a-part and seein' wut makes er chooch.
lol. It sounds like you are starting to get a crush on HF tools. Some of their stuff is pretty impressive now. Even their zipties are getting to be pretty decent.
Working for the phone company, we use every imaginable race and creed of ty wrap/zip tie. You'd be astounded at the number of unopened bags of ty wraps I find in the forest...
Semiconductor not silicon. These test results don't shock me at all... I told this story on another vid but once had to take off a huge nut from my power steering pulley. Brought it to a collegemate's home who stuck the impact air tool on it. Looked like it was never gonna break loose because he only had a small pancake style 1 hp compressor driving the thing. Started it zipping away but no removal. He said to give it a minute and it felt like forever but sure enough about 90 seconds later the thing came loose. Impact + Time = Shop Magic
I actually like the way they have the reverse switch- I wish all devices did it their way. Here's why: most devices leave the switch proud on both sides, no matter if it's in F or R. By going flush on one side, you can easily tell which direction it's set to. Again- really minor detail, but I kinda like what they did with this.
cencalmatt English is not my native tounge, and even though I’m pretty good at it I guess even the most fluent speaker of a language might make this type of mistake. Heaven knows Swedish is not an easy language either...
The stink is remilled (recycled) plastic. I work with blown film, and (coloured remill) always stinks. Don't quite understand the science and why natural or clear remill doesn't stink anywhere near as much. My take on it is that is may be burning a little as is goes through the extruding screw and barrel as on coloured remill there is a heap of frictional heat. You may have 30-40 degrees C higher temperatures than settings on heating zones, especially just after the feed section of the screw. My theory is that it is burning as when its running the haze of smoke is quite noticeable and that stinks just like the Chinesium smell we all know and love.
I was going to call shenanigans, in the 1st two tests you couldn't see the tool, just the socket(until the very end of test two) but the third test we saw all. Well done. Maybe we'll see a future video "AvE in the Search of the Source of Stank"?
I know this may be impossible. But it would be cool if you could get your hands on some space grade tools. Such as a mock drill that is on the Curiosity Rover or something. I couldn't imagine anything more skookum than a tool used in a multi billion dollar space program
This is timely. Been thinking of picking one of these cordless earthquakes up for a facility maintenance gig I'm starting this month. Need something inexpensive to toss in the truck that won't break my heart if it walks off the job site. This looks like it'll fit the bill nicely.
That is actually completely backasswards from the truth. You use a hammer gun to bust bolts loose. You use a torque wrench to tighten them. Therefore it would be silly for them to put the torque on the clockwise.
Is there a way to crank the bolt as tight as the new Harbor freight will go then spin the hydraulic around and see what psi it takes to loosen it up at? Basically switch the roles of each device and measure how tight it can wrench a bolt to... Ive always wanted an impact maybe I'll look at the hf earthquake. Nice test & review.
you can, but tightening and loosing torque on guns can be different. I'm not sure if it's the case with electric ones as much, but air impacts are deliberately designed this way
Love the channel! I just subbed. Love how you actually take the tools apart! You helped save me money cause I ALMOST bought the HF Hercules brand. Instead went to Lowe's and got a dewalt drill and driver set for cheaper due to the 3 year warranty. Hf deals aren't always what they seem!
We just welded 2 lug nuts together, put the earthquake on one side and snap on cordless on the other. The earthquake spun snap on backwards both in reverse and forward. Definitely a strong gun. Well worth the 239.
Electronic braking on a brushed motor only needs a single FET to short the motor when the trigger is released. It doesn't need a heat sink due to the short duration in use so is probably tucked behind that board.
From my years of experience with Horrible Freight, I just thought that's what China smelled like until I actually went there. Turns out the country just smells like smog, so I'm not sure where that smell comes from either!
id say its definitely recycled material working in a blowmoulding shop we have specific materials for specific bottles and recycled always has a smell wheres virgin material has pretty much no smell also fun fact atleast red masterbatch has its own specifc smell aswell
in general, the Taiwanese are very proud of their industry, so machining and materials used are also generally better. I know I'm preaching to the choir but you're right.
I'm not convinced that the release torque = tightened torque.
Tighten a bolt up with it and then use a torque wrench on ever increasing settings until it stops clicking and moves the fixing. I bet it's not close.
release =! tightening. 20 -30% in the difference. We've been over this.
AvE couldnt you reverse the test? Tighten with the impact then use the hydraulic wrench with gauge to see how much it takes to break loose? Just wondering. Please do one on the 1/2 " Ingersoll model. I use them at work and they are skookum as frig! Would love to see the inside and how they match up?
Nope. Not the same thing. These guns are designed to reverse bolts and nuts. This is where they have max torque. Not tighten them. You have to use a torque wrench to tighten them.
AvE Jam it full of sticky shmoo and give it some heat cycles.
mbrobich they have torque specks for both, usually the tightening spec is less than the reverse. It might show how accurate the #'s
When I was young I would watch Saturday morning cartoons, now it's some french canadian dude.
Evan Craig dude this show would have amazing ratings , just throw in Al Borland and a hydi and I'm glued screwed and tatooed.
texasdee slinglead
Anybody else mixed with AvE would flat ruin the whole vibe we tap the vein to with these. Bimbos and fumbling tree boys would fuck this right up, and I'm a carpenter/mechanic and I must admit this.
I dont really think hes Quebecois, He lives in BC but he sounds like an Albertan
texasdee slinglead I can hear it now..."I don't think so AvE."
He's not French he's just Canadian
I watched this video during the pan demic when I lost my job and got a new one. I was short on cash and I needed a 1/2" cordless impact. I work in roadside assistance and I change a lot of tires, often on the highway where you've got some motivation to get the job done quickly. About 3 years ago I ran across this video and immediately went to Harbor Freight and bought one. Best decision I ever made and I've been hooked on AvE ever since. I have beat the living crap out of this impact every day for the last 3 years and she's still skookum! It takes lug nuts off of medium duty trucks no problem, and will buzz through just about anything. I've found a few problem lugs that it wouldn't break loose, but it has been rare, mostly Chrysler and GM vehicles with a reputation for bad studs that usually break when I go to the breaker bar, but more often than not a fresh battery does the trick.
Cons - I also bought the 3/8, and I wouldn't do it again. No regrets, it was on the clearance rack, I needed a battery, and it is handy for some things, but it's got no marbles. I bought it for driveshafts and it won't break blue loctite so it's no good to me. I bought the grinder for the same reason. It's great for small jobs, but it's a battery killer. I've gone through 2 batteries in less than 10 minutes.
None of that really matters, though, because this gem of a cheapo tool was discontinued!! Those bastards.
Any chance you could help someone out that was in the same spot as me and do the new High Torque Bauer impact alongside the Hercules High Torque that replaced the earthquake last year?
Thanks for being awesome, man, I really appreciate it.
Looks like I'm taking a 33minute poop break.
Stick it to the man, man.
Glad I wasn't the only one!!!
Mike P contact lol
Ha, me too.
Mike P
My legs go numb from sitting on the pot that long!
The Canadian commentary is half the reason I watch these.
your channel is underrated. i have been watching you for years and i dont know what i would do without your channel. you are one of a kind channel.
it definitely is not under-rated,
I never really gave this impact driver any serious consideration until watching this..........GREAT VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!
This is the best tool review I have ever seen on YT, it would be hard to find a more thorough impact tool review anywhere, not just on YT.
Tim datoolman ave is honest and not paid by the tool makers to do a bullshit review. Also being smart as fack doesn't hurt.
HaHa! Agreed, the man is definitely smarter than your average bear. But holy smokes! That impact should be a damn good one for what Harbor Freight is asking for it.
Welcome to actual tool reviews. Not even that - its more of an engineering fantasy football team.
I never belive i would sit down for more than 30 minutes time after time and look at you open tools, and explain whats inside. But you explain and tell it in a way that makes me understand and at least make me interested. Thank you for making me smarter of choosing the tools i buy, and to learn something about the things we use in the workshop or garage
I would have never believed to stumble upon such a smart witty reviewer on a harbor freight tool. Subbed.
Tom Jones is not unusual.
Don't encourage the FOCKER
strap in. he just keeps choochin along
As a computer parts enthusiast, I'm always weary about judging build quality by the weight of a product, ever since the whole lead weights race. Lots of people used to judge power supply quality by weight, so cheap power supply makers just started filling their power supplies with lead weights.
Most of these products were only available for purchase online direct from these companies in China. These things were infamous for being unreliable and dangerous. Pretty common for these supplies to either burn out before even reaching their advertised capacity, or just catch fire during regular use.
I don't know anyone in Europe who tried buying one of these, but I have a feeling none of these power supplies were built with any regard to legal requirements outside China. I wouldn't be surprised if they switched to steel weights though, as it's probably still a common practice, even if most consumers aren't stupid enough to buy them anymore.
TheSpoonKing Weight wasn’t the deciding factor of quality here. He references the weight of the hammers and anvil because of physics. Using Newton’s physics; Force = mass x acceleration. If two impacts are the same except the hammer then the one with the heavier hammer will produce a harder impacting force on the fastener.
@@kstinson OP was referring to when AvE said the impact had a good weight in the hand in the beginning of the video. He said the weight of the tool was a good sign and wasn't referring to the hammers since the tool wasn't disassembled.
Incredible! A HF power tool gets AVE approved as skookum. I guess I have to get one now.
I'm lost. HF? skookum? My mind can't combine these two.
but its not any cheaper than the milwakee
Scary, ain't it?
Not any cheaper than milwakee?
The HF is $250 and you can always get a discount.
The tool alone from milwakee is $230 at Home Depot. No batteries or charger.
snoopdogie187 no 5 year warranty with the HF. Roll the dice. I’ll take the millfuckye
Just want to say that u are one of the few you tubers that actuly give us viewers a honest opinion and a bloody good laugh as well hope your channel keeps growing strong :)
It's like they knew you were going to open it up.
Glad someone out there still makes good quality products.
And it was nice to see you so excited over a tear down, it's been a while.
This was a great product breakdown. Love your enthusiasm and knowledge base. I laughed out loud when you referred to the plastic odor as "the smell of Cancer". LOL!
Food for thought... I work at a nuclear site and once upon a time we had some issues with big process connectors loosening. We ran a study to find out why. These acme nuts get hit with about 1000 lb ft. While not the primary goal, what we found in the study was that the loosening torque is about 60-65% of the tightening torque.
My impact has 400 lbs of tightening torque and 700 lbs of loosening torque, so it looks like you may have that listed backwards.
Yet that does not always hold true. 57 Chevy steel wheels on a rear axle. To remove the wheels I needed a "X" tire wrench & a 4 foot iron cheater pipe. I broke off all the studs - What torque does it take to break off wheel studs? I am 160 lbs & can lift 100lbs. using a 3 lb hammer to beat on the pipe to shock it loose.
AvE is just blowing Wranglerstars credibility out the window, isn’t he :-)
DrDajom you assume too much!
You have to have credibility before it can be blown anywhere
mangleschtar is doing a good job at that himself. I only whatch his vids for his mental breakdowns.
He plays with that horrid substance...what’s it called? Wood? Fuckin masochist.
For some reason his videos keep showing up in my feed and that annoys the hell out of me.
The “fizz” has nothing on a full on dissection
You have an incredible way of keeping things funny, interesting, and informative. Awesome review!
I think the fact its flush is great. You throw your thumb over it, if its flush its in reverse. No confusion. Seems more practical.
I thought flush was the neutral/lock position and reverse was recessed into the body
@@jonathanjones770 nope. In neutral some is sticking out on both sides. I have this tool and it's little 3/8 brother. Great tools. I use them at work everyday.
I don't think it's a big issue like he does, but I wouldn't prefer it.
Been watching and re-watching this site for years now.
He has the luckiest kids in the world.
Man, I am so glad you did this test. I bought this thing spending like 250 bucks thinking "harbor freight + 250 dollars = real dissapointment". But I've been PLEASANTLY surprised with it's performance. This gun can bust some big nuts. Now that I know it has your seal of approval I feel even better about the purchase.
Bought one of these yesterday based on this review. Was going to get the Milwaukee initially. Got tired of firing up the compressor and knocking shit over with the air hoses.
Been considering the Kobalt 1/2" brushless on sale for about 200. Might have to reconsider if I can get this one on sale for about 240.
I know it was a year ago...but another positive is that no one will steal it! :)
1234 the Milwaukee has come down in price a LOT since this video was published 2 years ago.
@@jabroni6199 I got an open box EarthquakeXT for $130. Was brand new, the outer packaging was damaged. Hard to beat that! My air and electric impact are going into retirement!
The "valence" (little black cover) is exactly where the newer 2nd gen Milwaukee had the selector switch between power mode 1 and 2.
Just stumbled on this and genuinely impressed. Great reviewing style with knowledge and wit thrown in too. Fab work.
I haven't seen any other youtuber make cracks at the "nut-busting" quote. This is why your my favorite.
My kids hits the 15 gallon compressor tank with hammer.... I heard your voice come out "pressure vessels are Dangerous!" 10 minutes later i am in the yard shooting can'ed air dusters with him and the pellet rifle showing him what catastrophic failure looks like. thanks AvE
David Shepard Uncle Bumblefuck and his infinite wisdom
David Shepard That is an amazingly sensible way of explaining why not to do stuff we old men know to be excellent ways to die
Love the color commentary of the creative twist of the English language.
Why not tighten down the nut with the gun and then loosen it with the hydraulics to get a number? Maybe use a left-hand thread if the reverse-action of the gun has more 'torque' than the forward.
LazerLord10 could be wrong, but it might not have the same amount of torque forward. He reviewed a different model, and as I recall it was 1100 ft.lbs reverse but only 300 forward. (If my memory id's correct)
most of these impacts have more reverse torque then forward. the torque they are claiming would be for reverse so he needs to test it in reverse.
Andy V, that was an air impact gun. With this being electrical there should be no reason why reverse and forward would have any torque difference.
People he said LEFT HAND THREAD!
Now that has been cleared up, doesn't sound like that bad of an idea, just don't know the accuracy of the hydraulic torque wrench in removing the bolt, I see a lot of broken bolts in his future.
well that doesn't matter, I get what your saying, the problem is the fastener is literally incapable of holding the torque of the gun. So when he tightened with the big hydra, he tightened until it actually did slip once, so that fastener is at it's limit. If he tightened with the gun all he'd do is smack until he over torqued the fastener and stripped it out. which is what he's already done :P If he could somehow directly attach the harbor fraught to the hydralic and attempt to basically have them fight each other by like using a shank between them that in theory could work. Though it'd be sketchy :P
Might be my favorite tool review of all time - intelligent and funny! Thanks!
those are the biggest motherboard standoffs ive ever seen!
When it's getting dangeously close to beer o clock and you see a new AvE video
Definately one of the best feelings
I'm thinking you're creating a pretty ideal setup here. The more rigid everything is the better the impact is going to do, and the solid brass nut and spacer clamped rigidly into a decently sized vise is very solid.
Thank YOU....WOW are you smart!!! I can't wait to watch your other videos !!!
I went to some training by some loctite salesmen sponsored by my job and a lot of their demos showed that just because the bolt is tightened to X foot pounds doesn't mean it will require X ftlbs to remove it, hence the need for their product. According to that, you'll have to see if the amount of torque required to remove a fastener is linear to the tightening torque to really find out what the impact will put out.
Holy shit dude, you are F'in funny. "We're gonna perform a little electronical bris here" has me dying. Love your vernacular!
Man this is really exciting. Are they listening to us?
I wonder the same thing.
Could be. Gotta remember that like i did many entry level mechanics and the like start out with hazard fraught tools. They buy as much as the can and then upgrade as they go. Get the tools to get the job done then upgrade to nicer tools as time move forward. Theres still some tools from hazard fraught i have that i prefer over more expensive upgrades.
Max Maruszewski they must be.
What I would give to go to a weekly management meeting and watch an ave review . boy howdy, could you imagine the excuses flying from department heads😄
Let's do the math. When you get a few hundred thousand people talking about what tools to avoid and voting with their wallets, the manufacturers don't have to listen to us, they just have to listen to their customers. Let's ballpark how many tools even get sold in a year....
Gotta figure... 300,000,000 people in the US, half that for a household count, maybe 1/4 have a garage with tools, that's down to 30,000,000. Joe Amateur white collar no-trade is buying new tools, what, once every 15 years? 2,000,000. So, only a couple million drills get sold in the US every year (a drill being probably the most common power tool, to give it an upper limit). Spread that across 5 majorish manufacturers that's only 400,000 apiece. These videos are getting that many views. Then take a less common tool. How many guys own an impact gun versus a common drill? 1/20th? 1/30th? 1/50th? Then consider that the guys not watching are probably asking advice from someone who is.
It's certainly possible that a significant portion of the English speaking market for tools in a year is watching this channel and adjusting their purchasing accordingly. I might be off by an order of magnitude, but even then, you're easily hitting 10% of the market, that's more of a swing than advertising makes. That ain't fuckin' around, even at only 100 bucks a pop, each of these videos is having tens of millions of dollars of dick swingin' on the market.
I would like to think so. AvE pointed out it was made in Taiwan. I'm guessing that is the reason for the better quality. The real question here is: Will Harbor Freight stock more decent Taiwan made tools?
The first two minutes of this vid shall go down in history as the best ever!
Every time I don my Ave shirt a new video is uploaded. Funny enough I found and older broad at Walmart that loved my focus you fack shirt and asked me what was in the vice, so I told her it was a reference to a saying of yours and we had a good laugh.
*cues the song- OLDER women! Maaake beautiful lovers!
SomeReefer Did you show her your Cockford-Ollie?
James Sloan - Jimmy, are you ordering those rulers to precisely measure your Cockford Ollies?
I bought an Earthquake in 19', skookum and man I'm so glad you did this one. Thanks!
Hard not to like this video.
Finally someone who knows how to review shit.
Good job sir.
Hey, I enjoy your vids and your presentation (which is definitely not PC), but your comment section (which, if I have the time, I do read most of) can be so hilarious. TY for bringing us all together:)
Once you get enough data points, you could make a conversion chart between marketing torque and real torque
Makes me happy I own the 3/8th the 1/2 and the 3/4 Earthquake XT Impacts and never had any problems I see why now very well made
You think maybe the brass nut makes it easier though? It's a very pliable low friction material and possibly requires less torque to remove the bolt from than a steel counterpart. That's why it's used in ammunition casings. Would have thought a steel nut would require a higher degree of 'breakaway' torque thus the energy delivered on the initial impacts tends to ramp downwards in many impact tools. Also brass doesn't rust and many applications requiring an impact wrench tend to be on wheel and chassis parts which have nearly rusted together.
I like your hunch, I had the same thought that brass might be self-lubricating or lacks the tensile strength to hold the fastener at the same impacting torques. The assembly the bolt is in might be giving with every impact. I wonder how the threads looked at the several stages of being torqued. If they deform from not being rigid enough, it might go a long way as to why the fasteners are preforming this way. Should have done a known side by side of an impact that "shouldn't" be able to get the job done.
I looked up some friction coefficients.
brass-steel : .35
steel-steel : .5-.8
Maybe you have a point but my money is on the fact that no mater what material, the same friction needs to be overcame to tighten the thing in the first place
James Sloan
If you really want a bolt to seize in place, dip it in bleach before assembly. She'll rust right the fuck together.
When both components are made of steel, that is.
Poor mans permanent locktight.
Yeah, I would have liked for him to show us a torque wrench attempting to loosen the tightened fastener, Just for confirmation. There are a lot of ways the test can go wrong, we should be looking for as much confirmation as possible. (Just not confirmation bias :)
I was thinking the exact same thing as I was watching this. 100% agree
I really love the HONESTY!! I am definitely not a Harbinger of Fate fan but I like seeing that they have done something right. Competition for the higher end tools is always good. Keep 'er between the ditches.
Lately I've been having the theory that the plastic made in mainland China is actually distilled from nearby factory fumes instead of using any new materials.
Your commentary is the absolute best!!!
Eric O over at the South Main Auto channel really likes his earthquake.
Man you are a wealth of information..and enternaining.. I could listen to you teach all day man...
holy shit i've gotta go pick one of these up before the quality fucks off
Outphuqingstanding review. The best power tool review I've ever watched!
Amazing, the Hazard Fraught tool even with a few warts gets the treasured AvE Skookum rating. And now I know to take another look at Taiwan made products.
You can get wrapped, strapped,tapped, and zapped.
But AvE.
Priceless
There's some happy dance going on in the HF headquarters today.
A man in a suit sits with his back to the door behind an ornate desk. A tired looking man with stains on his shirt opens the door to the office, tears streaming down his face. "Sir, the results are in...and...it's skookum, by God it's skookum."
Meh, all depends on the profits they get. HF brands (or any company with a respectable amount of capital) could make excellent tools, but that's not the market they've traditionally gone after. This actually kind of worries me. If HF starts making mediocre tools, where am I going to get my super cheap, barely usable, one-use tools from? :)
I am pretty sure they realized the they needed to do something with their electric tools over the last few years. Choosing to go with a Taiwanese manufacturer shows their goal was a quality increase. The new pricing is not throw away cheap, but cheap enough compared to the competitor to stand out.
It's quite possible the opposite happened: a product manager might have realized that cash was left on the table by engineering up to a level they don't normally pursue, and thus the proper profit margin will never be attained. Heads could role.
On the other hand, they know they need the New Product Sphincter to squeeze out the occasional golden log to keep us on our toes.
Yo Momma Agree!! We've got a crisis when we can't buy locking pliers with an overbite any more!! SERIOUSLY!!
You have the absolute best "review" videos. You are so knowledgeable. Your opinion is very valuable.
AND you're funny & entertaining. A great bonus
"If you want super stiff, you gotta go stubby" -AvE, 2017
been a mechanic since 77 , I came to this channel for this , turns out I like listening to canucks
This guy is in par with the MRE review guy, they are hypnotic!
RickyisHere Good call!
Lets put that comment out on a tray. . . Nice!!
RickyisHere
Which guy is that? Interested Devil Dog...
paul gleason Steve1989
Ive been buying and trying out MRE's because of Steve. Hes so entertaining
Thank you for your honest reviews! I made the mistake of getting a Hercules but after seeing this I quickly returned it for the Earthquake as I plan to do pretty heavy vehicular work.
Halfway through this video I look down and happen to see a HF mailer sitting on my desk with the Earthquake XT in the corner. Inside is their "side-by-side" comparison with the Snap-On CT8850WB. $249.99 US doll-hairs. If I had any reason to need one, maybe I'd consider picking one up.
"ill Leave it to the Feels good in the hand crew." AVE that speaks about you on so many levels.
I fucking Love your Channel.
The stank is the waste filler material that can't be made into soylent green. They have over a billion people and been around thousands of years....ever seen the gigantic cemeteries in China.... yeah, me neither.
SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!!!!!-!!!!
Sky burial?
We have one of theses at our auto shop, she works great for about 3-4 months before it looses all torque. We’re had to warranty it about 4 times last year
The corded 1/2” impact from HF is $35 on sale. I’d really love to see a proper teardown and test of that since it is the most accessible impact.
I think its a 250ftlb tool not like the cordless one
+NoLongo
I don’t think there’s Earthquake 1/2” & corded! but rather than that you probably meant the “Bauer” corded impact from HF, which it seems a monster for what it’s been advertised, has 1050 ft-lbs of breakaway torque !
I've not laughed so hard in a while. I love that you needed to build a more "Skookum" tight test device. Get er done!!!!
You just can't beat AvEs honesty. He says it like it is and that's how it should be. way better reviews than those feels good in the hand reviews. Ain't nothin' like takin' her a-part and seein' wut makes er chooch.
Once you translate through the Canadian slang and bs, this guy actually does the best tool break downs
What's a key-low?
2.2lbs.
It is spelled KILO actually.....don't mean to be a spell Nazi.
It's a demonstration of how far the US has progressed since the eighteenth century.
Rhetoric. Ha!
Probably not, enlighten my ignorance with some humor!!!
Best TH-cam channel hands down.
lol. It sounds like you are starting to get a crush on HF tools. Some of their stuff is pretty impressive now. Even their zipties are getting to be pretty decent.
Working for the phone company, we use every imaginable race and creed of ty wrap/zip tie. You'd be astounded at the number of unopened bags of ty wraps I find in the forest...
you sir, are a modern diy philosopher!
The megasoreass is not extinct. It’s alive and thriving. At least when I sit to long at my desk.
That took a turn right there at the end.
Thanks. Love the videos
Easily the best channel on TH-cam. And there's a lot of good channels.
Semiconductor not silicon. These test results don't shock me at all... I told this story on another vid but once had to take off a huge nut from my power steering pulley. Brought it to a collegemate's home who stuck the impact air tool on it. Looked like it was never gonna break loose because he only had a small pancake style 1 hp compressor driving the thing. Started it zipping away but no removal. He said to give it a minute and it felt like forever but sure enough about 90 seconds later the thing came loose. Impact + Time = Shop Magic
I actually like the way they have the reverse switch- I wish all devices did it their way. Here's why: most devices leave the switch proud on both sides, no matter if it's in F or R. By going flush on one side, you can easily tell which direction it's set to. Again- really minor detail, but I kinda like what they did with this.
Been watching these videos to try and learn Canadian.
Nice to see a tool which is a pleasant surprise for a change!
MOSFET - Metal Oxide SEMICONDUCTOR Field Effect Transistor
In his defence, the semiconductor material is most likely silicon...
When he was saying it I was thinking "is he gonna get it right?!" "Aaawwwww so close"
benzmansl65amg don't be getting all scientifical up in here 😂
Defense?
cencalmatt English is not my native tounge, and even though I’m pretty good at it I guess even the most fluent speaker of a language might make this type of mistake. Heaven knows Swedish is not an easy language either...
great video. "Electronical briss" I wonder how many viewers will understand this. Looking forward to your next video.
The stink is remilled (recycled) plastic. I work with blown film, and (coloured remill) always stinks. Don't quite understand the science and why natural or clear remill doesn't stink anywhere near as much. My take on it is that is may be burning a little as is goes through the extruding screw and barrel as on coloured remill there is a heap of frictional heat. You may have 30-40 degrees C higher temperatures than settings on heating zones, especially just after the feed section of the screw. My theory is that it is burning as when its running the haze of smoke is quite noticeable and that stinks just like the Chinesium smell we all know and love.
I was going to call shenanigans, in the 1st two tests you couldn't see the tool, just the socket(until the very end of test two) but the third test we saw all. Well done. Maybe we'll see a future video "AvE in the Search of the Source of Stank"?
I know this may be impossible. But it would be cool if you could get your hands on some space grade tools. Such as a mock drill that is on the Curiosity Rover or something. I couldn't imagine anything more skookum than a tool used in a multi billion dollar space program
Plot twist: turns out they're using HF tech
I actually am gonna buy one because of your review. Glad you call it as you see it.
Whatever happened to the follow up video to this?
This is timely. Been thinking of picking one of these cordless earthquakes up for a facility maintenance gig I'm starting this month. Need something inexpensive to toss in the truck that won't break my heart if it walks off the job site. This looks like it'll fit the bill nicely.
This is the first BOLTR on a harbor fraud product I have seen rated SKOOKUM.
Dark days indeed.
Ave have good thanksgiving I learn a lot from your channel I know not to take my tools apart
As far as I know breakaway torque is less than the torque used to tighten the farstener. Not sure if you're taking that into account
That is actually completely backasswards from the truth. You use a hammer gun to bust bolts loose. You use a torque wrench to tighten them. Therefore it would be silly for them to put the torque on the clockwise.
You are hilarious bro. Love it. Keep the videos coming
Is there a way to crank the bolt as tight as the new Harbor freight will go then spin the hydraulic around and see what psi it takes to loosen it up at? Basically switch the roles of each device and measure how tight it can wrench a bolt to... Ive always wanted an impact maybe I'll look at the hf earthquake. Nice test & review.
you can, but tightening and loosing torque on guns can be different. I'm not sure if it's the case with electric ones as much, but air impacts are deliberately designed this way
Love the channel! I just subbed. Love how you actually take the tools apart! You helped save me money cause I ALMOST bought the HF Hercules brand. Instead went to Lowe's and got a dewalt drill and driver set for cheaper due to the 3 year warranty. Hf deals aren't always what they seem!
NOTIFICATION SQUAD MOUNT UP
mounted
O7
Do do do dooooo
At attention sir! Waiting upon direct orders sir!
Squad!!!!!!!
Love the information you give. But more so your antics. Thanks from Michigan, Yooper land.
I bought one and I’ll tell you I was impressed. You solidified my thoughts.
We just welded 2 lug nuts together, put the earthquake on one side and snap on cordless on the other. The earthquake spun snap on backwards both in reverse and forward. Definitely a strong gun. Well worth the 239.
Wow!
I wouldn't have believed it!!
Geeat Job!
Electronic braking on a brushed motor only needs a single FET to short the motor when the trigger is released. It doesn't need a heat sink due to the short duration in use so is probably tucked behind that board.
Definitely, but I couldn't see it on the top side.
I think manufacturer has been watching AvE with all these improvements.
From my years of experience with Horrible Freight, I just thought that's what China smelled like until I actually went there. Turns out the country just smells like smog, so I'm not sure where that smell comes from either!
Unprecedented levels of industrial production will have a small impact on air quality no doubt 👌
id say its definitely recycled material working in a blowmoulding shop we have specific materials for specific bottles and recycled always has a smell wheres virgin material has pretty much no smell also fun fact atleast red masterbatch has its own specifc smell aswell
in general, the Taiwanese are very proud of their industry, so machining and materials used are also generally better. I know I'm preaching to the choir but you're right.