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Air Cat Aircat Impact wrench cheap import poor warranty

by: katkirax( 178Feedback score is 100 to 499) Top 5000 Reviewer
78 out of 84 people found this guide helpful.
Guide viewed: 3923 times Tags: air tool | impact wrench | nitrocat | aircat | air gun


I have been a  professional mechanic for over 20 years. I should have known better, but now I have learned an expensive lesson. You get what you pay for. In August of 2006 I purchased a Nitrocat (Aircat)  3/8" air impact wrench on ebay, it was a composite, lightweight, and boasted 500 ft lbs of torque. And it was a lot cheaper than an IR. So I bit, ordered it and when I got it, first thing I noticed, Made in Taiwan. Great, Taiwan quality is about 1/2 a cog above the quality China is so well known for. Oh well, I thought, it has a 1 year warranty, it must be OK.   NOT!  First thing I discovered, was that there was no way this tool was anywhere close to 500 ft lbs of torque, it was fairly strong, it was barely 200 ft lbs of torque. Oh well, I thought again, 200 ft lbs is more than enough for a 3/8 impact. But the more I used it, the worse it got, when I finally got around to sending it in for warranty, it would not loosen a 3/8" bolt. (40 ft lbs) So I sent it to the warranty place, (took 4 days to get there) and I finally get a call from someone there after 2 weeks, (Timely service) and they told me it was going to cost me 165.00 to get this air wrench fixed. ( which is more than it cost) I told them they were mistaken, there is still a few months of warranty left. They said, "no, we can't warranty it in this kind of condition, it is all worn out." I asked them if my coverage would have been better if I had sent them a new tool? They told me it was caused by "dirty air".   "These composites will not tolerate dirty air", they said. This was odd because my 1/2" IR composite, my 3/4" IR composite, and all 3 of my co-workers all have IR composites from 3/8 thru 3/4, none of these air tools have failed, all are breathing the same air as this low quality import, and all are much older and have been used much more. They repeated the same story over and over, no warranty. Lesson learned, if it says aircat, leave it where it is at.  There is a reason they cost much less than quality brands. This tool has little value, and the warranty has even less.


Guide ID: 10000000003845989Guide created: 06/22/07 (updated 07/23/08)

 
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