Ryan Slater
Member
I was reading on another list about the care of a pnumatic squeezer and it got me wondering if I was taking care of mine properly, so I emaild Avery tools for their input. I have copied their response here for others to read.
Ryan
Some months back a customer in Australia asked about info on the same subject. I e-mailed him a lengthy text on how to care for the pneumatic squeezers and air tools such as drills & rivet guns. Seems bits & pieces of what I sent to him were passed along and somewhere along the way things got mixed up or something -- I've had a number of calls checking on what to oil or not to oil. This caused a lot of confusion and mis-information to be spread.
Here goes:
PNEUMATIC SQUEEZERS:
The pneumatic squeezers have a leather seal on the piston inside the tool.
When assembled this leather seal is lubricated with Lubriplate grease --
quite a bit of it. If you add oil to the air inlet on a pneumatic squeezer
it will (over time & if you add A LOT of oil) wash out or dilute the
Lubriplate grease. A drop or two of oil ocassionally will not hurt
anything, however. You do need to lubricate the plunger on the back
(throttle body) of the squeezer. A drop of oil on the plunger every few
weeks will keep the "O" ring down inside the body lubricated. Also,
inside the squeezer are three (3) needle bearing rollers that are assembled
with grease. These ARE NOT accessable unless you dis-assemble the tool
completely. These bearings should be fine for years and / or 4 or 5
airplanes. The only other place you need to lubricate on the pneumatic
squeezers are on the end of the set holder (or end & threads of the
adjustable set holder) and the sides of the set holder where it goes into
the yoke. A little Lubriplate grease here is all that is needed.
RIVET GUNS:
Rivet guns need oil in the air inlet on a regular basis (if you are
sputtering oil onto the work surface you've put in too much -- wrap a rag
around the gun and run until the oil quits coming out). The big thing about
rivet guns is to not let them sit idle for long periods unused. The oil
inside can gum up & turn to a sticky like varnish which will clog up the mov
ing parts. If you have any water in your air system, it can get into the
gun & rust the internal parts, also stopping the moving parts. Guns need
to be run on a regular basis and the old oil replaced with new oil. Also,
try to use the same type of air tool oil all the time -- some oils are not
compatiable.
AIR DRILLS:
Air drills need oil in the air inlet on a regular basis, also. The oil
lubricates the rotors in the air motor and the bearings on either end of the
air motor. Same as the rivet gun, if you have oil sputtering out of the
gun you've put in too much -- put a rag over the exhaust and run until the
oil quits coming out. Most air drills have planetary gears that are
greased at the factory (the air motor turns a higher RPM and this is reduced
thru the planetary gears). There may be a fitting to add grease to the
gears near the front of the drill. (We sell a gun with grease for this
purpose). Note that under normal use you probably do not have to add grease
to the gears for a long time -- if you do add grease you may find some
grease comes out as the drill is running and it may be slung out by the
chuck. If you experience this you will just have to run the drill till the
excess grease is forced out of the gears (it will stop but takes 15 or 20
minutes of run time to do so.
Hope this helps answer your questions. Please feel free to pass this
along; but please do so in its entirety so I do not have a repeat of last
time where bits & pieces of this were put on the web in a confusing manner.
Regards; Bob Avery / Avery Tools
Ryan
Some months back a customer in Australia asked about info on the same subject. I e-mailed him a lengthy text on how to care for the pneumatic squeezers and air tools such as drills & rivet guns. Seems bits & pieces of what I sent to him were passed along and somewhere along the way things got mixed up or something -- I've had a number of calls checking on what to oil or not to oil. This caused a lot of confusion and mis-information to be spread.
Here goes:
PNEUMATIC SQUEEZERS:
The pneumatic squeezers have a leather seal on the piston inside the tool.
When assembled this leather seal is lubricated with Lubriplate grease --
quite a bit of it. If you add oil to the air inlet on a pneumatic squeezer
it will (over time & if you add A LOT of oil) wash out or dilute the
Lubriplate grease. A drop or two of oil ocassionally will not hurt
anything, however. You do need to lubricate the plunger on the back
(throttle body) of the squeezer. A drop of oil on the plunger every few
weeks will keep the "O" ring down inside the body lubricated. Also,
inside the squeezer are three (3) needle bearing rollers that are assembled
with grease. These ARE NOT accessable unless you dis-assemble the tool
completely. These bearings should be fine for years and / or 4 or 5
airplanes. The only other place you need to lubricate on the pneumatic
squeezers are on the end of the set holder (or end & threads of the
adjustable set holder) and the sides of the set holder where it goes into
the yoke. A little Lubriplate grease here is all that is needed.
RIVET GUNS:
Rivet guns need oil in the air inlet on a regular basis (if you are
sputtering oil onto the work surface you've put in too much -- wrap a rag
around the gun and run until the oil quits coming out). The big thing about
rivet guns is to not let them sit idle for long periods unused. The oil
inside can gum up & turn to a sticky like varnish which will clog up the mov
ing parts. If you have any water in your air system, it can get into the
gun & rust the internal parts, also stopping the moving parts. Guns need
to be run on a regular basis and the old oil replaced with new oil. Also,
try to use the same type of air tool oil all the time -- some oils are not
compatiable.
AIR DRILLS:
Air drills need oil in the air inlet on a regular basis, also. The oil
lubricates the rotors in the air motor and the bearings on either end of the
air motor. Same as the rivet gun, if you have oil sputtering out of the
gun you've put in too much -- put a rag over the exhaust and run until the
oil quits coming out. Most air drills have planetary gears that are
greased at the factory (the air motor turns a higher RPM and this is reduced
thru the planetary gears). There may be a fitting to add grease to the
gears near the front of the drill. (We sell a gun with grease for this
purpose). Note that under normal use you probably do not have to add grease
to the gears for a long time -- if you do add grease you may find some
grease comes out as the drill is running and it may be slung out by the
chuck. If you experience this you will just have to run the drill till the
excess grease is forced out of the gears (it will stop but takes 15 or 20
minutes of run time to do so.
Hope this helps answer your questions. Please feel free to pass this
along; but please do so in its entirety so I do not have a repeat of last
time where bits & pieces of this were put on the web in a confusing manner.
Regards; Bob Avery / Avery Tools
