Buy this, Not that!

KevinC39

Corporal
Jun 27, 2017
234
118
0
Ride
335i
I recently moved and am getting started on my own tool collection. I previously just worked out of my dad's garage as he already has all the tools I needed. I bought the Milwaukee drill and impact that was suggested in here and bought a little socket set to get started. I'll definitely be looking back through the thread for other ideas. Keep posting if you guys come up with any more.
 

NoQuarter

Major
Nov 24, 2017
1,662
1,066
0
Indiana, USA
Ride
Z4 35is, 535xi, X5 35i
Industrial Air 072-0030IA Automatic Electronic Tank Drain Kit

Air compressors collect water inside the tank from the humid and compressed air. This water sets in the bottom of the tank causing it to rust out and you then develop a leak in the bottom of the tank. After all the rusty water drains through the leak then the air will, then a significant repair and cleaning process.

Manually draining the water is something we all aspire to do regularly, but it is a quite often neglected task.

This auto drain does the task great. I picked this unit because of the completeness of the kit where it includes the braided drain line and the clamp to mount the unit to the bottom of the tank.

The timer on these units, of nearly everyone I looked at has little flexibility. You can set the on time (how long it opens to allow the water/air to spray out, and the off time which is how long it waits to open again. The off time is much too short - only 45mins max. For occasional use compressors, this would simply either drain the tank completely, or cause it to lose pressure, then come on to build pressure, and repeat daily. So I have my drain controller plugged into another manual timer (the kind you buy where you move the pins to set on/off cycles). So my auto drain comes on twice a day, keeping any latent condensation from temp swings out of the tank.

In my installed photo, you can see it clamped to the leg of the compressor, and I attached a small muffler I had to catch the and disperse the air/moisture that comes out. The tube is supposed to be clear but you can see how it has the rusty color from when I first started using it. I think I will get a new clear tube so I can monitor the health of the tank.

20181010_103541.jpg 71Nz7LYDGAL._SL1500_.jpg
Amazon Link
 

cookiesowns

Private
Nov 13, 2017
26
7
0
Ride
2010 535i ZHP6 + 2017 M2 6MT
Anyone have any recommendations on some impact sockets? I got a Milwaukee mid-torque M18 Fuel not too long ago... and a M12 Fuel gen 2 impact as well <-- this thing has some power. Drove a 1/2" lag screw without any issues. ( with non impact rated sockets ( dumb idea ) )

FYI: Ebay is awesome for snapon. I picked up 3 tech angles for a steal. 1/2" techangle for less than $300.

IMG_0403.jpeg IMG_0467.jpeg IMG_0472.jpeg IMG_0764.jpeg IMG_0767.JPG
 
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NoQuarter

Major
Nov 24, 2017
1,662
1,066
0
Indiana, USA
Ride
Z4 35is, 535xi, X5 35i
Industrial Air 072-0030IA Automatic Electronic Tank Drain Kit

Air compressors collect water inside the tank from the humid and compressed air. This water sets in the bottom of the tank causing it to rust out and you then develop a leak in the bottom of the tank. After all the rusty water drains through the leak then the air will, then a significant repair and cleaning process.

Manually draining the water is something we all aspire to do regularly, but it is a quite often neglected task.

This auto drain does the task great. I picked this unit because of the completeness of the kit where it includes the braided drain line and the clamp to mount the unit to the bottom of the tank.

The timer on these units, of nearly everyone I looked at has little flexibility. You can set the on time (how long it opens to allow the water/air to spray out, and the off time which is how long it waits to open again. The off time is much too short - only 45mins max. For occasional use compressors, this would simply either drain the tank completely, or cause it to lose pressure, then come on to build pressure, and repeat daily. So I have my drain controller plugged into another manual timer (the kind you buy where you move the pins to set on/off cycles). So my auto drain comes on twice a day, keeping any latent condensation from temp swings out of the tank.

In my installed photo, you can see it clamped to the leg of the compressor, and I attached a small muffler I had to catch the and disperse the air/moisture that comes out. The tube is supposed to be clear but you can see how it has the rusty color from when I first started using it. I think I will get a new clear tube so I can monitor the health of the tank.

View attachment 16430 View attachment 16429
Amazon Link


Turns out I have a brand new one of these, in box never opened. Amazon has it for $65 with free shipping. I will ship this one out for $55.

I submitted a return when I thought mine was acting up, but turned out is was working just fine. Then I waited too long to return the item.
 

PFS

Corporal
Nov 19, 2018
185
234
0
Ride
335i
Great thread! I'll add two contributions. The first is with respect to toolbox organization, being organized is a great first step towards doing good work. I'm a big fan of the Westling Tools socket organizers.

http://westlingmachine.com/ToolHolders.html

They are easy to use, stable, good quality, and priced reasonably. $10-15 each for most IIRC. Sockets do NOT lock in, which means you don't want this for a portable rig (i.e. bag), but certainly more than stable enough to roll around in a tool cart/etc. Below is a recent pic of me in-process reorganizing the box.

IMG_0083.JPEG
IMG_5862.JPG


The other contribution I just recently picked up is a little creeper seat. This is OEMTOOL 24995, get it on Amazon for about $85 shipped.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HMJK7CF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Rated to 286 lbs, it has a couple drawers that I don't use (maybe for snacks?) but it makes life much easier zooming around between work benches, test stands, etc. It is NOT sized to work on a car -well, maybe brakes if the car is at a moderate height but not under hood. Still, great addition.

IMG_0082.JPEG
 
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PFS

Corporal
Nov 19, 2018
185
234
0
Ride
335i
Oh you have no idea how many extras of 8 and 10mm I've gone through. Mostly 10mm though. 1/4" drive 10mm sockets are a hot commodity for sure. The magnetic bars are pretty useful and I like them better than the budget(er) version at HF, they're $20 each. I'm not sure I'd use them for vertical holding but they're fine for in-drawer use.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0046AVKUY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

For the screwdriver version of the same idea, I use an older company called MTS (Mechanic's Time Savers).

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0046AVKUY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

56947818557__C7F05886-4F8B-4DCC-BBA7-855B9DE84927.JPG


The little red plastic boxes are by Schaller. I was inspired by the same sort of thing from Lista, these suit the needs. I use some other ones too but they're just generic found at a local container store.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KBATJ0U/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
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NoQuarter

Major
Nov 24, 2017
1,662
1,066
0
Indiana, USA
Ride
Z4 35is, 535xi, X5 35i
I'm real happy with the Ares socket holders. Have had them for a few months. The base is magnetic so they don't slide in the drawer and the sockets stay in the tray (magnet) so they wont fall out and would stick on a vertical face if you wanted.

26982
 

matreyia

Major
Apr 19, 2017
1,780
711
0
Ride
335i e93
I had the ecs tuning schwabe led hood light go out and get replaced, even when working, it is not very bright. Not recommended.
 
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