Air tools - over lubrication

[_brian_]

I have a sort of devil's advocate question.... Many air tools come with directions stating to avoid over oiling the tool. My question is simply, why? There are some common sense items here like you will be wasting oil and it will spray out more oil in the exhaust, but otherwise, why is this to be avoided? Say instead of adding 3 drops before using I add 20 drops (extreme to make the point), am I causing any harm to anything?

 

[Vinny]

Oil spraying out the exhaust is major bad news if you're working with wood. It soaks into the wood and will ruin any stain you try and put on it.

 

[seagull369]

Adding too much oil to an air hammer (and it doesn't take much) can cause it to malfunction. I've never heard or read anything that stated excess oiling can cause tool damage, however.

 

[_brian_]

Adding too much oil to an air hammer (and it doesn't take much) can cause it to malfunction. I've never heard or read anything that stated excess oiling can cause tool damage, however.

It is odd to me that with tool instructions being so weak in content, they take the time to mention over lubrication. I mean, they mention this, but do not mention using the grease port to put grease in every so often.

I personally do not see an issue as it relates to the tool, but I can see how it might muck up your work or make the tool work in an undesirable way.

 

[Marlin]

In most rotary air tools, you will never have an issue. As mentioned with air hammers you have to be careful because there is a small disc valve that can stick due to the surface tension created by the oil between the valve surface and the valve body. With any air tool the type of oil is probably more important than the amount, do not use higher than a 10 weight and it should be non-detergent.

 

[seber]

Air tool oil is generally 5 wt non detergent natural oil. ATF or hydraulic oil will work fine. Heavy oils will not cause damage but may slow or even stop the tool from operating. Be careful about using just any old oil as some oils swell or eat the natural rubber seals used in most air tools.

 

[jsaw]

If you put too much grease in the the hammer and anvil of an impact, it will cut the performance,

 

[cvairwerks]

Too much oil in an air tool tends to attract dust and dirt and eventuality clogs it up. I've pulled drill motors apart that have been way over oiled and had a difficult time pulling the vanes out of the rotor to clean them.

If you are running an open exhaust, the oil mist will spray over a very wide area....tens of feet....

 

[SeisMec]

Excessive amounts are probably hard on the vanes of an impact wrench.

Probably put close to a teaspoon into a company supplied, well worn IR 3/4 impact when it needed significantly extra ummph. Worked every time. Never actually broke a vane, but still ...

 

[johninct]

I bought a used die grinder that did not work. I pointed it down, filled it up with ATF and let it soak a week. Flipped it over so any extra oil drained out and then hooked it up and it was fine. There is no reason to put so much oil in a tool unless to un-stick it. A few drops is ok or flip it over and let it drain out if you overdid it.

 

[_brian_]

I bought a used die grinder that did not work. I pointed it down, filled it up with ATF and let it soak a week. Flipped it over so any extra oil drained out and then hooked it up and it was fine. There is no reason to put so much oil in a tool unless to un-stick it. A few drops is ok or flip it over and let it drain out if you overdid it.

This is interesting to me. I recently pulled out an older impact wrench and tried to use it. The first trigger pull, it did not break anything loose, second a slight improvement. But the third on, it was back in business. Maybe this was "sticky", or possibly a bit of rust inside? Makes me wonder, if you over oil, you could cause stickiness, but if you under oil, you could allow rust or corrosion. How do you know?

 

[johninct]

This is interesting to me. I recently pulled out an older impact wrench and tried to use it. The first trigger pull, it did not break anything loose, second a slight improvement. But the third on, it was back in business. Maybe this was "sticky", or possibly a bit of rust inside? Makes me wonder, if you over oil, you could cause stickiness, but if you under oil, you could allow rust or corrosion. How do you know?

I have pretty dry lines. I put 2-3 drops in, run it for a second then put the tool away.

 

[johninct]

No oil is ok too in certain circumstances. My friend had a body shop. He never oiled a tool because of a fear of contamination on a paint surface. It is cheaper to flat rate a tool than to repaint an entire car.

 

[Marlin]

Excessive amounts are probably hard on the vanes of an impact wrench....

Not really, Vanes are typically made from either a phenolic resin with cloth impregnated weave or injection molded nylon with glass fill. The phenolic vanes are usually conditioned prior to use by soaking in oil which stabilizes the size and nylon is pretty impervious to most oils.

 

[chris142]

I have been over oiling my IR231 impact since 1989 AND running it on unregulated 150PSI. It still works great today and has never been opened up.

 

[Steve_P]

I have never had an issue "over-oiling". I have seized an air hammer from not oiling it enough. Took it apart and freed it up and all was well. Definitely go none or minimal on auto body sanders as said

 

[fsae0607]

Too much oil in an air tool tends to attract dust and dirt and eventuality clogs it up. I've pulled drill motors apart that have been way over oiled and had a difficult time pulling the vanes out of the rotor to clean them.

If you are running an open exhaust, the oil mist will spray over a very wide area....tens of feet....

Haha when I worked at a tire shop, I was always the closing shift, due to my school schedule. As a prank, we used to pour a lot of air tool oil in the impact guns, so the opening crew would get covered in mist

 

[welder4956]

I bought a used die grinder that did not work. I pointed it down, filled it up with ATF and let it soak a week. Flipped it over so any extra oil drained out and then hooked it up and it was fine. There is no reason to put so much oil in a tool unless to un-stick it. A few drops is ok or flip it over and let it drain out if you overdid it.

We used to have diving companies come in to do underwater welding repairs on some of the nuclear reactor internals after they were moved to the storage pool. We kept their die grinders in a plastic lined barrel for re-use and would basically fill the tool with oil before putting it in the barrel for the next job, which could be several years later. Never had an issue with using that much oil in a die grinder.

 

[SeisMec]

Not really, Vanes are typically made from either a phenolic resin with cloth impregnated weave or injection molded nylon with glass fill. The phenolic vanes are usually conditioned prior to use by soaking in oil which stabilizes the size and nylon is pretty impervious to most oils.

Would guess the impacts I used back when had phenolic vanes. Didn't know they were soaked in oil during tool manufacture.

Thanks for the info.

 

[country83]

Air tool oil is generally 5 wt non detergent natural oil. ATF or hydraulic oil will work fine. Heavy oils will not cause damage but may slow or even stop the tool from operating. Be careful about using just any old oil as some oils swell or eat the natural rubber seals used in most air tools.

I've seen ATF cause issues with some plastic internals on air tools. Plus it doesn't have the film strength of regular oil. Just use the right stuff, you'll be fine.

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

 

[vanapplebomb]

Most air tools have shielded bearings, not sealed bearings. Drowning tools on oil for long periods of time, or over use of air tool cleaners/wd40 can break down the grease in shielded bearings because there is nothing preventing it from entering. I have seen this be an issue, particularly on high speed tools like die grinders. I have also seen it contaminate and ruin the grease in planetary gear reductions used in drills and ratchets.