Review on Campbell Hausfeld 'Get Stuff Done' 1/2" Impact Wrench (XT002000) by Darren Munajj

First and foremost - this impact driver was $50. FIFTY LOUSY DOLLARS! Therefore, negative reviewers, there are almost NO grounds to complain if it doesn't work perfectly - or even well.On my first use this thing blew my mind! I have a Ryobi One+ 18V cordless impact driver rated at 100 ft lbs. I love the thing dearly and have put it through things it should never have been put through in two hard years of use. It has never complained, but it only puts out 100 ft lbs of torque. I have been limited by this enough times that I was looking for a better option. The NiMH batteries on my Ryobi are getting old and for $100 I could upgrade the battery (singular) and charger to Li Ion, but the torque spec would not change. Any time I've hit a wall I've had to borrow my friend's plug-in DeWalt impact driver (rated at 350 ft lbs and costs about $150). This has happened enough times that I thought I should upgrade my own equipment. I almost peed my pants when I saw a pneumatic driver rated at 550 ft lbs for just $50! Who cares if it worked well. It should at least be able to torque out more than 100 ft lbs, which is all I needed anyway!So I read all the negative reviews and they sounded like there may be legitimate concerns on quality with this CH driver - but if one tests it right away one can return a defective product. So I bought it. Right after I got it I put it to work on my post-and-beam chicken run. The structure is build, but there were several (nine) 6" construction lags that my Ryobi just could not sink. I got that DeWalt plug-in driver to finish things off, but I left nine lags not as torqued down as they could be. This was in order to get the loaner back quickly and because I thought things were "good enough." Well the "good enough" seemed less-so over the intervening weeks. Now that I had a new driver, why not test it out on them?I was a little surprised at the stringent requirements for both lubrication and air supply as I read the manual (I've never had a pneumatic impact driver before). The manual is all of three pages long and almost all of the troubleshooting (fills most of one page) goes back to lubrication and air supply. I couldn't help but wonder how many of those negative reviewers did (or didn't do) their due-diligence in these areas.LUBRICATION - Oil the air motor before and after each use. They recommend 1/4 oz of oil, which seems ludicrous to me. But that's what's called for. I probably did a little less. - Impact mechanism: add 1/4 oz of oil, cap, then run the tool for 20-30 seconds while moving it around, inverting it, etc. Then drain any excess, recap and you're good to go. I didn't add 1/4 oz because the opening is so small I had to add oil one drop at a time. But I probably added 80-100 drops. Nothing has come out yet. Maybe I'll just keep adding each time I use it until some does come out?AIR SUPPLY- Do not use quick disconnects. Whatever. I added one.- Use only fittings and hoses with 3/8" ID. No idea. My hose was given to me and it has no markings apart from the pressure rating. It could either be thick-walled 1/4" ID or thin walled 3/8" ID. Regardless I'm sure the quick disconnect I added is a 1/4" ID at the orifice.- 90 PSI max, and supply at 3.4 CFM continuous. I did this. My compressor has a 17 gallon capacity (on the primary side of the regulator the supply pressure is 150 psi).FIRST USEI charged up my 17 gallon compressor (at 150 psi, regulator set to 90) and wheeled it off (unplugged, no electricity) to the chicken run. I sank the nine 6" construction lags using this gun anywhere from 1/4" to 3/4" depending on what was needed. I figured I'd just run the tank out.These lags were all driven by the Ryobi so I know they were stopped at the 100 ft lb torque mark. The CH driver effortlessly continued the job. It ran slower than I'd expect a 550 ft-lb rated driver to go - BUT! I have already mentioned I was running against manufacturer recommendations with my small quick disconnect (and possibly the air hose ID).CONCLUSIONStill with the ease it torqued the lags down. Having used a 350 ft lb DeWalt electric on the same type of lag connection I'd estimate the CH is operating between 200 and 300 ft lbs.If I want more torque I can buy upgraded hoses and connections. But frankly all I wanted was MORE than 100 ft lbs. For $50 I have that, even with improper air supply.Additionally when I was done with that job the primary side of my regulator was at 120 psi. So I used 30 psi in a 17 gallon tank to do the final sinking on nine stubborn 6" construction lags. This strikes me as a very efficient pneumatic tool. My 4" cutoff tool (rated at 5 CFM @ 90 psi) is FAR more of an air hog than this gun.For $150 I would be very happy with this gun. It's far smaller and lighter than the DeWalt plug-in. But to get this performance for just $50 - and to know that performance can be further increased if I so chose - I am super happy with CH!I will be using this on every heavy duty application I have. I'll update the review as experience dictates.UPDATE - I used this to take off ancient, rusted bolts off an exhaust system that failed on me. I used plenty of PB Blaster and my trusty Ryobi impact driver to try to break the O2 sensor nuts off. No dice. So I got this CH out again and put it to work. When the nuts broke free I though I was again impressed with it's performance. Imagine my surprise when I found the nuts and NOT broken free. The CH driver simply sheared the O2 sensor mounting studs off the exhaust pipe with the nuts still attached!I'd say it has more than adequate performance!