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Inline oiler...necessary?

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Moose-LandTran

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I used to have an inline oiler on one of my guns, i found that i'd fill it and within 2 minutes it was empty. And it took a fair bit of oil too. I now oil my guns whenever i use them, or i chuck in a bunch of oil and let them run at free speed for 5 or so minutes to make sure the oil gets all through the turbine and internals.

Just get a little applicator bottle to oil them through the tail piece and they'll be fine.
 
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Phatsub

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Thanks. I'm looking for a good regulator/filter combo unit to minimize the clutter hanging on the wall. I've also heard some say they just shoot some WD40 in their tools, is that good enough lube?
 

ron in sc

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Just get a little applicator bottle to oil them through the tail piece and they'll be fine
.

That what I do too.

Use only airtool oil. I use a Mobil product, you can get it by the quart at Graingers.
 

5wndwcpe

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Any airtool oil is fine. I don't run an inline oiler because it will contaminate your hoses and maybe your hardlines, depending on where you locate them. Most definately a concern if you plan to paint.
 

Uncle Buck

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Any airtool oil is fine. I don't run an inline oiler because it will contaminate your hoses and maybe your hardlines, depending on where you locate them. Most definately a concern if you plan to paint.

That is exactly the reason to use separate leader hoses dedicated for thet purpose only, only for oiling, and keeping main lines clear and clean for painting. :thumbup:
 
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billymade

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I got a nice bottle of air tool lubricant from NAPA Auto (house brand) and also a bottle from Milton, both look similar and were cheap. They work great and I think were under $6 or $7 apiece.
 

Marlin

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Dec 6, 2007
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I used to have an inline oiler on one of my guns, i found that i'd fill it and within 2 minutes it was empty. And it took a fair bit of oil too. I now oil my guns whenever i use them, or i chuck in a bunch of oil and let them run at free speed for 5 or so minutes to make sure the oil gets all through the turbine and internals.

Just get a little applicator bottle to oil them through the tail piece and they'll be fine.

Five minutes or seconds? Hopefully the latter, otherwise you're running the oil out that you just added and causing unneeded wear.
 

eschoendorff

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I used to have an inline oiler on one of my guns, i found that i'd fill it and within 2 minutes it was empty. And it took a fair bit of oil too. I now oil my guns whenever i use them, or i chuck in a bunch of oil and let them run at free speed for 5 or so minutes to make sure the oil gets all through the turbine and internals.

Just get a little applicator bottle to oil them through the tail piece and they'll be fine.

Exactly what I do... only for 5 seconds, not 5 minutes. I have an inline oiler, but I had teh same problem.


Oh, and I also use Marvel Mystery oil. That stuff is cheap and it works! I even use it on my axial valve on my trombone....
 

Moose-LandTran

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Five minutes or seconds? Hopefully the latter, otherwise you're running the oil out that you just added and causing unneeded wear.

Minutes. I like to make sure the oil gets through all the mechanism inside. I put in plenty of oil defore doing this. I can't imagine it was any worse that the daily use the gun got, about 800 wheel nut/bolt cycles a day.
 

Marlin

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Minutes. I like to make sure the oil gets through all the mechanism inside. I put in plenty of oil defore doing this. I can't imagine it was any worse that the daily use the gun got, about 800 wheel nut/bolt cycles a day.
On most air tools the lubrication for the air motor does not get communicated with the other areas of the tool (impact mechanism, ratchet mechanism, etc). Lubrication for other areas is usually done through fittings located elsewhere on the tool. A few drops of oil in the inlet of the tool and a few seconds of free speed will thoroughly coat the motor components and you'll be good to go for the day. The difference between the nut / bolt cycles you run and running the tool at free speed is that in most impacts, the motor runs at about 1/10th its free speed while impacting, so very little of a bolt removal or fastening cycle is at free speed. Running the tool at f/s for 5 minutes will just wear out the vanes, cylinder and end plates more quickly. BTW, 800 wheel nut/bolt cycles per day is impressive, what is the application?
 

Moose-LandTran

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On most air tools the lubrication for the air motor does not get communicated with the other areas of the tool (impact mechanism, ratchet mechanism, etc). Lubrication for other areas is usually done through fittings located elsewhere on the tool. A few drops of oil in the inlet of the tool and a few seconds of free speed will thoroughly coat the motor components and you'll be good to go for the day. The difference between the nut / bolt cycles you run and running the tool at free speed is that in most impacts, the motor runs at about 1/10th its free speed while impacting, so very little of a bolt removal or fastening cycle is at free speed. Running the tool at f/s for 5 minutes will just wear out the vanes, cylinder and end plates more quickly.

Didn't know that. Lucky i only did it a few times. Mostly i just gave it a quick oiling before it started work for the day.

BTW, 800 wheel nut/bolt cycles per day is impressive, what is the application?

When it was doing that i was running a tyre shop. 800 cycles is working on an average of 20 cars a day, with 5-stud hubs and removing 4 wheels per car. So you do 400 cycles removing all the wheel nuts/bolts and another 400 putting them back on.

Of coures, not all days had that much work. But when we were busy, we were busy.

These days my guns get very little use, compressor at the new shop ***** so i use my hand tools 99% of the time.
 

ddawg16

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I use transmission fluid.....a couple of drops every time I plug in the hose....it is just as good as the other stuff.....

But what is more important is to put in a couple of drops before you put it away....a couple of drops...a quick burp to spread it out...then pop it in the drawer....
 

eschoendorff

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I use transmission fluid.....a couple of drops every time I plug in the hose....it is just as good as the other stuff.....

But what is more important is to put in a couple of drops before you put it away....a couple of drops...a quick burp to spread it out...then pop it in the drawer....

Sounds like a good idea... I think I'm gonna do just that. I usually just oil the tools before I use them. Oiling them before storage makes great sense though! :beer:
 

Benchloader

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Mar 5, 2006
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Louisiana
A Micro-Fog Lubricator will be just fine to spray a mist of oil thru the air line for your tools. But if you ever plan to hook your air hose to a paint sprayer it might contaminate the paint from oil residue in the air line.

I do recomend a water seperator between the air line and tank though.
 
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