Air ratchet and 1 gal. compressor

[socialDK]

How well will a air ratchet work with 1 gallon compressor?  Just for minimal use like changing a chain and sprocket.  Nothing major.

[Chanse]

Not.... I have a pancake compressor and I can barely use and air tools constantly, my cutoff wheel for instance only goes about a minute or two then starts to die.  my big impact starts to die after going through one full wheel, eight lug. And this  think is 3 or 4 gal. Now with nail guns, it does pretty well, they use a fraction of what actual impact tools use.

[jrains89]

well seeing as a 1 gallon compressor should get to 100psi in about 30 seconds, i don't see how it would be so bad. you'd probably use the entire gallon per lug nut, and have to wait for it to refill, so nevermind it would suck lol


get a 75 gallon compressor like me and have fun.

[dohabee]

I think it really depends on how quickly your compressor pumps air.

air tools will list their cubic feet per minute requirements and psi requirements somewhere on the box when you get them.

An air ratchet might use around 4cfm of air at 90psi so if your compressor can refill the tank with at least 4cfm you could use it all day.

It probably cant refill itself that quickly, mine can't and I have a 20 gallon.

it is ok for light usage but I still have to sit and wait for it to refill every once and a while.

[natedawg120]

Or if the compressor attached to the one gallon tank moves enough air then you could piggy bag an air pig on the one gallon tank.  That would increase your total volume and help buffer the pressure changes aiding the compressor in keeping up longer.  I had a 3 gallon tank with a medium electric compressor (7-10cfm i think) and with a 25 gallon air pig in line with my air tool of choice attached to the airpig i was able to you a large airbrush to paint car parts for a repair and air tools with no problem.  Still had to take breaks often to wait for pressure to build back up but was able to break pesky lugs free every time.