Impact Driver - am I missing something?

[jape]

Although they are called 'drivers' I've only seen them used as removers. That is what they are best at. And yes the tyre shop boys often use them to tighten (and remove) wheel nuts but that is because they are usually overtightened. A never-ending cycle of ignorance that.

J&K uses them as drivers because they are lighter, Ok. So what? The OP was asking about why his same power/size idriver was not as good as his drill etc.

I reckon it's because it is not as good for the purpose of screwing in screws but would beat them hands down for removing a stuck screw. I have an old fashioned 'hit with hammer' impact screwdriver that works every time the screwdrivers don't. Dunno how many volts my hammer is though.

[Job and Knock]

Jape, those comments were specifically in response to Stevie's comments about 18 volt kit. I have already said that having tried Bosch's early 10.8 volt offering that I could see NO advantage in using a low voltage impact.

As to weight the point is that when you have do jobs like we did a month back where we had to get our kit up several ladder climbs and across an awkward roof to build a trough trapped in a valley between two buildings things like size, weight and speed take on a whole new perspective (as you are crying to get ghee in single journey). And in any case for getting screws out impacts aren't always the best as they can so easily round-off the recesses in screwheads.......

[jape]

Yes, I wasn't arguing with your usage or necessity or ingenuity, just that for the OP the answer seems simple to me, useless tool should be replaced with 18v kit like yours, or a hammer type one like mine (which I have used maybe four times in twenty years and perfect for job and very time-saving). none of us really answered his point but our examples all good and personal.

Maybe the hammer action of the lower rating tool takes power/the ability to simply screw or unscrew away?

[big-all]

Maybe the hammer action of the lower rating tool takes power/the ability to simply screw or unscrew away?

if you mean hammer action as in drill holes then makes no difference as its disengaged when screwing ??

[Job and Knock]

Maybe the hammer action of the lower rating tool takes power/the ability to simply screw or unscrew away?

Possibly. Odd thing is that in the last few days I've been working near the steel staircase guys and they are using (new style) DW 12 volt impact drivers which overcome the "sticky" threads (read rusty!) on the stairs quite easily. Looks like there is a lot of variation between different brands

[steviejoiner74]

Chez did a review not so long back on the dewalt 18v cordless impact drill and it did look impressive,the noise problem of previous models seemed to have been addressed as it was a lot quieter.

[big-all]

Maybe the hammer action of the lower rating tool takes power/the ability to simply screw or unscrew away?

Possibly. Odd thing is that in the last few days I've been working near the steel staircase guys and they are using (new style) DW 12 volt impact drivers which overcome the "sticky" threads (read rusty!) on the stairs quite easily. Looks like there is a lot of variation between different brands

these are actually 10.8v like all other makes they use 4x3.6v cells but because they go up to 13v after a full charge they dont take them at the industry standard level off 10.8v same with the 20v is actully 5x 3.6 or 18v

[steviejoiner74]

Maybe the hammer action of the lower rating tool takes power/the ability to simply screw or unscrew away?

Possibly. Odd thing is that in the last few days I've been working near the steel staircase guys and they are using (new style) DW 12 volt impact drivers which overcome the "sticky" threads (read rusty!) on the stairs quite easily. Looks like there is a lot of variation between different brands

these are actually 10.8v like all other makes they use 4x3.6v cells but because they go up to 13v after a full charge they dont take them at the industry standard level off 10.8v same with the 20v is actully 5x 3.6 or 18v

I take it the American 20v range(dewalt) is actually the 18v stuff we have in the uk?

[Job and Knock]

Yes

[headey]

Yes, we have gone a little tangential, but interesting points. The impact driver does seem to remove tough screws more easily than a 'plain' drill/driver, so is useful for that. It is less useful for inserting screws though, but this might be down to the low power.

[big-all]

I take it the American 20v range(dewalt) is actually the 18v stuff we have in the uk?

yes you get claims that 21.6[6 cells] is 24v and 25.2[7cells ]is 26 or 28.8 [8 cells]is 30v
up to the top end where you have 10 cells giving you 36v but called 40v but could actually be 11 cells giving you an actual 39.6v
any way the point off my comments the number off cells and the ah give the actual comparison input wise rather than claimed voltage
in the same way they can claim a 30amp battery *[for 240 seconds] rather than a 2ah battery