Are pneumatic tools obselete?

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GTX63

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A battery powered impact beats leaning on a 4 way, for me, anyday.
I did 15 years as an ASE certified tech, and I got tired pretty early on listening to noisy 3 stage compressors kicking on and running at about 100 db.
Having one in my truck's toolbox has been a back saver more than a few times.
 

SirRobyn0

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I would say they are getting to be obsolete. At the shop the best part about cordless tools is that you don't have to deal with the air line, which slows you down. The biggest down fall to the electric tools is they are heavier than air tools. But one of the guys has cordless a 1/2" impact that has more power than any of our air impacts. But it is heavy.

I have a cordless 3/8" impact. The rest of my power tools are air, however as they break down I will be replacing them with cordless.
 

skysurfer

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I’m in no rush when working under the hood so it’s hand tools only. I do use air when I rotate tires and wouldn’t switch to batteries just because I like the sound the gun makes when the lug nuts break loose. Makes me feel like I’m on a nascar pit crew.
 

idahovette

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So obviously you don't have any dirt or crud to blow out of a radiator or off of the engine block, so what do you use.....I know we are talking about tools but air is one of the biggest tools in my "box". You gonna bring out the mini compressor to "air" up your tires on a normal service job, that'll be time consuming and if you are gonna have an air compressor anyway, why not just use it for a lot of things. Also in my last shop and at my shop now, my compressor is outside so it's not noisy........not that I could hear it anyway, after all the years of open headers and music........ok just my 2 cents worth.........so no
 

fast 99

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Battery tools have a place. For me it's for under dash work removing heater cores. However, I do not use battery tools for general repair. Most are just too big to fit in tight engine compartments.
 

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It took me so many years to get into airtools etc, that I still feel like king of the hill everytime I hear that beautiful musical pZZzzz, pZZzzz sound. And that ugga uggas that show I've reached the torque I need. Lol... After struggling with breaker bars and wrenches so long, I look for an excuse to use air
 

89Suburban

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I have both. But I do love my cordless impact, grinder and drill/hammer drill combo (Metabo) and Chinese cordless sawzall. I look as it cutting the cord compared to cutting the hose if you will. I am itching to get a cordless impact gun. And also a cordless ratchet to add to the arsenal for the tight spots I can't get to with my impact driver. Even though I do have some 45 degree adaptors, you still need 2 hands to use them. My air tools are a ratchet, needle scaler and chisel gun.
 

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So obviously you don't have any dirt or crud to blow out of a radiator or off of the engine block, so what do you use.....I know we are talking about tools but air is one of the biggest tools in my "box". You gonna bring out the mini compressor to "air" up your tires on a normal service job, that'll be time consuming and if you are gonna have an air compressor anyway, why not just use it for a lot of things. Also in my last shop and at my shop now, my compressor is outside so it's not noisy........not that I could hear it anyway, after all the years of open headers and music........ok just my 2 cents worth.........so no
Maybe I should refine my statement a little. I don't see air going away. I do see less and less air operated tools. But you need air for a blow gun, to fill tires, in some case to operate the lift so I don't see air going away at all.
 

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I am slowly going to battery yard equipment.Also,my niece bought me a 20v lithium impact and screwdriver kit with a bag/charger, from home depot
 
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Grit dog

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Air ain’t going away but battery operated have taken over the majority of the day to day work in many industries.
At home I’ve only had cordless drill and then a 1/4” impact driver for the last 20 years or more until a year ago or so I splurged on the Milwaukee “almost everything” kit. After all the batteries I had, had died for my old 18V Dewalt drill and driver.
They are now 90% go to for about anything I do around the house.
Sure when I was rebuilding the deck, the corded miter saw, worm drives and sawzall were working. Along with air nailer.
But I probably haven’t plugged in my air impact twice since I got the cordless 1/2” drive.
And the 5ah (mid size) batteries last a long time. Only time I ran through batteries was with a big 7” wire wheel on the 4” cordless grinder, prepping large areas. Example rust bubbly back bumper on my Ram. Wire wheeled the crap out of all of it. Took 90% of the paint off inside and out. Went through 2 batteries and onto a 3rd. But it was nonstop for over an hour.
The days of them overheating and short battery are over.
Assembling and disassembling a 600’ long erector set temporary steel bridge, something like 10,000 bolts, there were only 3 guns that didn’t break almost daily and only 2 that would get full tension on the big bolts.
A spline drive (heavy), a 1” air impact from Harbor Freight and a 3/4” Milwaukee cordless that the supplier gave us to torture test. That Milwaukee only burned up once. The HF 1” airs would last about 2 spans.
But my orbital, paint guns, polisher are all air. Although I’d like a cordless polisher, but my old IR one is just too nice.
 

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I am an Industrial mechanic. We live with Milwaukee Fuel battery tools. Nothing like 40' in the air hanging over the JLG rail and drilling/cutting without a hose! When we have projects in our shop we use air. But I will say our 1/2 in battery impact has more umph than 1/2 air. When things get real ugly we use our 2" hydraulic driver.
 

SirRobyn0

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Here's another little thing. When I managed the service station for 76 we had the compressor outside in a small building out back. It was in such a place that we basically never heard it. Air operated hoists as well.

At the shop I currently manage all the lifts are electric. The compressor is in the main part of the shop. My desk in the shop is on the other end of the shop never the less when that thing kicks on I can't really carry on a phone conversation, which would cause me to put the customer on hold and resume the conversation in the front office. Now on most days the compressor is kicked on only when someone needs to run a air tool, and at the beginning of the day. The system is pretty tight so stuff like filling tires can be done off the tank without running the compressor.
 

CheemsK1500

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Battery tools have a place. For me it's for under dash work removing heater cores. However, I do not use battery tools for general repair. Most are just too big to fit in tight engine compartments.
That's exactly why I've used to air ratchets in engine bays. In open spaces, battery tools will do most jobs as long as you use them within their limits. Too many people watch YouTube videos of compact impact drivers breaking lug nuts loose and think that these exaggerated torture tests are examples of intended use. 1/2 and 3/4 inch drive impacts exist for a reason. Using compacts to break super tight hardware on a regular basis will destroy them.
 

Frankenchevy

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1/2” battery powered impact will remove anything I ask of it. The 3/4” battery powered impact will twist fasteners in two if you aren’t careful.

The one construction/fabricating tool that has a battery variant that will discharge batteries sooner than I’d like is an angle grinder. I have the brushless makita and Milwaukee. They seem to use up batteries pretty quick. The one construction tool in battery form that I love is my 36v makita hypoid (worm) drive style saw. The motor is actually directly coupled, but it’s not like a sidewinder.. I have used dewalt and own Milwaukee as well, they can’t compete with the balance and feel of the makita. The makita feels just as good in the hand as a Skil Mag 77. It’s awesome.

Back to the question though; pneumatic DA sanders, air hammers, die grinders, etc aren’t at risk of going extinct any time soon. I think the biggest factor going against them (especially the DA sander), is the initial cost of a quality air compressor that can push the tool for any length of time.

There’s a store in town called fasteners, Inc. It’s crazy what comes battery powered now: wheel barrows, large jack hammers, single serve coffee makers, you name it…
 
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