[airguy]

Back before I started my project, I started gathering tools that I knew I would need. Somewhere along the line I came into possession of a 2x rivet gun of unknown pedigree which has served me well until the last couple of days. Now it stutters and sticks, and I'm thinking it's likely gummed up internally and just needs a good cleaning. Problem is, I don't know the brand of the gun, or how to tear it down, or if special tools are needed - so I'm coming to the experts. Here are three pics I shot of the offender, there are a couple sticky labels on it but the printing ink on those labels has long since been removed by solvent.

Can someone identify this rivet gun, and tell me how to go about field-stripping it for cleaning?

 

[Vlad]

Bob Avery

Greg if you do not find instructions how to disassemble the gun or decide to outsource the fix, Bob Avery is the expert. I bought mine at Osh 05 and first experienced problem you describe. I sent it to Avery took couple days. Many thousand rivets set since then. Works excellent.
Added: It looks like the gun the Averys sell, I had a sticker at the top as well.

 

[llavalle]

It looks like the gun the Averys sell, I had a sticker at the top as well.

Agreed, my Avery 3x gun looks exactly the same, with a slightly longer barrel.

 

[SkywayCaptain]

Maybe a silly question, but have you tried oiling it (through the air inlet)????

 

[airguy]

I oil both my rivet guns and my squeezer quite regularly - in fact, this gun only started giving me problems after I started using it regularly and often with frequent oilings, and that is what makes me wonder if the previous owner did not oil it often enough, and it's full of gunk that I have now loosened up and/or made sticky by oiling it.

 

[rvator]

Oiling Tools

I suggest that you flood the tool with regular old Marvel Mystery Oil, put a rivet set in it and a rag around the exhaust, and then find a block of wood to hammer. You may have to repeat it a couple of times. If the piston has stuck to the back of the valve body (oil dries up after long storage), you can turn the tool upside down and give the back of the handle a couple of wacks on a block of wood after you oil it. Usually works to jar the piston loose.

To reiterate, you should not oil pneumatic squeezers. The leather piston and cylinder are packed with special greases. The oil will wash the grease out. The tool will work for a while, but it will end up damaging the cylinder.

We've found that the single biggest problem with pneumatic tools is either not draining the compressors (blowing water through the tool) and blowing aluminum chips into the tool from a dirty air line that's been lying on a bench or the floor. Suggest that you always hang your air lines upside down to help with this.

Blue Skies.

Fred W. Kunkel
CLEAR AIR TOOLS
www.clearairtools.com

 

[JHines]

If you can't find anything else, here is a diagram of a CP gun:

http://194.132.104.147/CPIndustrialSite/SGAdminImages/PrintedMatters/179.pdf

doubt the internals would be much differt in your "off-brand" unit.

 

[airguy]

I suggest that you flood the tool with regular old Marvel Mystery Oil, put a rivet set in it and a rag around the exhaust, and then find a block of wood to hammer. You may have to repeat it a couple of times. If the piston has stuck to the back of the valve body (oil dries up after long storage), you can turn the tool upside down and give the back of the handle a couple of wacks on a block of wood after you oil it. Usually works to jar the piston loose.

That agrees with my symptoms - when it stutters and won't operater, I've found more often than not I can give it a sharp rap on the back of the gun against my workbench and it will work fine - but only for 2 or 3 rivets, then it sticks again.

Good information on the squeezer too - I was unaware pneumatic squeezers have leather and grease internally, mine was a hand-me-down with no documentation and I've never opened it up.

 

[RScott]

Do what Fred says, he knows what he is talking about. When I had to do that to my gun, I had trouble getting enough oil into the gun to "flood" it until I woke up and pulled the trigger while filling with oil. And the instructions I had were to run the pressure up high when hammering against the block of wood. I don't know if that was important, but it's what I was told. I think I used somewhere around 75 psi.

In my case, the oil thing didn't cure the problem, so I took it apart and cleaned everything up, reassembled and it worked fine after that. Funny thing is, when I took it apart, everything looked clean, so I don't know what I did that cured the problem.

 

[David_Nelson]

And watch out for little critters...

We've found that the single biggest problem with pneumatic tools is either not draining the compressors (blowing water through the tool) and blowing aluminum chips into the tool from a dirty air line that's been lying on a bench or the floor. Suggest that you always hang your air lines upside down to help with this.

And look out for critters that find a home in your connectors! My air drill wasn't performing as it normally did because a little brown beetle decided to make his home in my air hose!

Fortunately, the hose connector has a built-in screen and this is where I found the remaining bug parts.