Cleaning air tools

[nutsnbolts]

Several years ago I was without storage space and I packed up all my tools into bags and boxes and stored them on the side of the house where I was living for about 3 years. When l moved l discovered that a pile of them had fallen over and gotten wet. How long they sat in water, l don't know.

l reboxed it all and figured l would deal with it later. (I was drinking heavily at the time, and that's what alcoholics do ). This evening l finally discovered what was in the last box...air tools.

There is a Mark1 3/8" air ratchet, two Campbell-Hausfield 3/8" air ratchets, a Mechanic's Air Power 1/2" impact, a Campbell-Hausfield 1/2" impoact, and a Central Pneumatic 1/4" die grinder. What a find! I estimate the value of this treasure to be twenty, maybe even thirty dollars

They are really THAT bad. I think they will clean up with a good bath and some vinegar. What I am not sure about is whether or not it is okay to dunk air tools in vinegar for a few hours to take the rust off of them? Or maybe there is a better way?

Also, I was wondering about the oil in them. I am guessing it is 10 years old or more. TBH, I don't remember using these tools much and I don't think I oiled them regularly. Is there a way to flush out the old and replace it with new? What kind of oil should I use? Is there a specific oil for air tools?

 

[countryroad82]

I'm going out on a limb and I'm going to say if they rusty on the outside they're going to be crusty on the inside. Oil them up with whatever you have laying around and see if they'll work at all. If they don't either plan on pulling them apart and breaking everything free or tossing them. That's just my take.

 

[nutsnbolts]

I'm going out on a limb and I'm going to say if they rusty on the outside they're going to be crusty on the inside. Oil them up with whatever you have laying around and see if they'll work at all. If they don't either plan on pulling them apart and breaking everything free or tossing them. That's just my take.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that part...I tried them out with the air here at work and they all worked fine, with the exception of a Central Pneumatic air hammer that I remember being a POS when it was new.

 

[countryroad82]

Depending on the level of rust then, I would probably just hit them with a red Scotch Brite pad and maybe some thinner then call it done. Use will wear the rest of the rust off. I wouldn't be too keen on totally submerging them as I halfway feel it would do more harm than good. I could be wrong though. Oh and you should remember this is coming from a paint and body guy. I rarely oil my air tools and when I do I pretty much run the oil out after oiling them before they get close to a car. It's my line of thinking that is one less of a chance of contamination on my bodywork. I would much rather have to replace a $200 DA in 5 years verses having to go back and strip paint, primer, and filler due to something contaminating my work. That gets a little expensive.........

 

[nutsnbolts]

That makes a lot of sense. Honestly, l don't even know if l noticed the oil sticker on them before today