Impact Driver Question

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GDS12

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I just got my first impact driver tool (Milwaukee 3/8 battery operated). Sorry if this is a really stupid question but this is the first tool I have owned that uses a "hog ring" retention system for the sockets. Only have used ball/plunger retained sockets with hand tools in the past.

Is it normal for the sockets to be flopping around on the anvil (the square 3/8 drive part)? The hog ring prevents the socket from completely coming off but if the tool is held down and you are not pressing on the socket the sockets are just loose on the drive.

Is this normal for hog ring retained sockets?
 
To clarify, what you have is an impact wrench. Yeah I know "wrench" doesn't sound right & is why some people call them impact guns. An impact driver has a 1/4" hex drive (female socket).

Anyways, I would say no. How loose is it? The sockets shouldn't be any looser than on a ratchet unless the socket is worn or is poorly made. I have 2 Milwaukee impacts guns, 3/8" & 1/2", I would say most of my sockets fit pretty well on them. Even on my air impacts.

Hog rings are commonly found impact wrenches used for say automotive work. Pin detents are commonly used on jobsites for better safety so a socket doesn't fall off by accident & drop down from up high. Need a seperate tool to push the pin in to remove the socket. But neither of them should affect how tight a socket fits the anvil when new.

Anvil could wear out too I suppose. I've never had that happen on my air impacts. I've had the hog rings wear out though.
 
Yes, you are correct, it is an impact wrench/gun. This is brand new but every 3/8 socket I have can move freely along the axis of the anvil up to the point where it doesn't actually fall off. It still takes a little force to pull it off but it can slide freely once the end of the socket snaps over the ring.

Sorta hard to explain but it is not retained like it is on any other ratchet I have... I think a picture may help...

The first picture shows a socket pushed fully onto the anvil.
20200112_201707.jpg
The next picture shows the same socket with the socket pulled out on the anvil.
20200112_201716.jpg

It takes "zero" force to move the socket to this outer position. Moving it beyond this point to remove it completely does require force as though this is the only function of the hog ring. It seems like the hog ring only acts to prevent the socket from falling off the anvil but allows completely resistance free sliding movement on the anvil.

The tool is brand new but this seems very strange to me. I have tried 3 different brands of sockets and they all work the same way on this tool.

Is this normal?

Thanks for any additional advice!
 
Ah see, yes I would say that is normal, sort of. Normal that it's only friction that keeps the socket on, hence the name friction ring. The pin detent model would keep it in place like a ball detent would.

I have that same gun. I would say mine doesn't take zero force to pull the socket outwards as you said though. Like if I pinch the socket with just 2 fingers I can't pull the socket off. Or if I point the socket downwards & pull the trigger the socket won't slide off at all (you should never do this for safety reasons)

But just a heads up, eventually the friction ring will wear & it'll get looser. I replaced the friction ring on my 1/2" IR impact once & it should be changed again. But that gun I used when I worked in automotive, used all day everday for yrs. I don't use it much anymore so I won't bother to change it.
 
I would have guessed that it looked on the loose side... but it is hard to tell. I would take that socket to Home Depot and slip it on a few different impact wrenches for comparison. You might have gotten an impact wrench with an out of spec anvil on it. You could also measure the impact wrench anvil with a set of calibers then measure a few others at a hardware store.

Even on my better Ignosol Rand, Proto and Mac impact wrenches it takes a good bit of tug to remove a socket... I wouldn't want one where the socket slipprd off too easy.
 
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I use mine a lot, and with some wear they get looser. At the point now where the sockets regularly fall off. Maybe its a design feature, so you keep pressure on the gun to keep the socket on and the bolt head fully engaged. lol
They're 3/8ths 12v ratchet is incredibly handy too. Far more more
 
On the 1/2" fuel version that I have they have a rubber o-ring in a groove in the middle of the square drive to retain the socket.
Maybe they cheaped out on the 3/8 version...
 
I believe in the higher quality impact sockets they grind a detent in the square shaft where the ring engages to give it a little more holding force. i.e. the ring has to be compressed to remove the socket. I wonder if cheap impact sockets just have 4 square straight walls with no detent? I have seen some cheap sockets where they just drill a hole in the side of the socket to act like a detent... like they commonly do with hand sockets.
 
Much good advice here... I took my deep well impact socket and two other 3/8 sockets over to Home Depot and tried them out on the Milwaukee fuel gun they have sitting there on display and I also tried two other gun brands (I think it was a Ryobi and maybe a Makita?). I guess the good news is all of the guns they had in the store seemed to fit my sockets identically to the way it fits on my newly purchased gun. The sockets are completely free on the anvil except when you are pulling it off.

Still seems surprising to me that when you aim the gun toward the floor without pulling the trigger, the sockets just slide down the anvil up to the hog ring which acts as a detent for removal. If I was to pull the trigger when the gun is set to a higher speed I believe the socket might fly off and break something!

Not what I expected but they all seem that way in the store so I guess you need to pay attention to what you are doing!

By the way, I can see an O-ring under the hog ring so it looks to be assembled correctly.

Thanks
 
Were all the sockets from the same set? Maybe a cheap import set? Just curious?

Good news there is nothing out of align with your impact wrench!
 
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