Air Impact Wrench

   / Air Impact Wrench #61  
Steve, first off, I'll say that I never worked on nail or brad guns or rivet guns; just automotive air tools (impact wrenches, ratchets, sanders, air hammers, chipping hammer, drills, saws, nibblers, shears, grinders, etc.), but I owned an 18 ga. brad gun and my brother had both brad gun and nail gun that we used building his house, and I think I can safely say you ain't gonna hurt the tool with too much air tool oil, but you might blow surplus oil on the wood or whatever working on. I doubt that we ever put less than a teaspoonful of oil in any of them at a time. Two drops at a time is probably sufficient if you aren't going to use it very long. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif There is the possibility that your relative overloaded the tool with oil and it didn't work; but if he'd just pulled the trigger a few times to blow the surplus out, it would have.
 
   / Air Impact Wrench #62  
After my last post, I got curious and did a little looking on the Internet to see what others say about oiling nail guns. Some of the things I found, in part:

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Read your directions about oiling your tool if you are working on a big job you may want to exceed the recommendations and oil it in the morning then after lunch. It doesn’t make sense to save a couple drops of oil to windup having a piston get scarred. )</font>

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( we put two drops to three drops of pneumatic oil into the air inlet. Sometimes we'll add an extra drop or two after lunch, if the gun has had a morning of heavy use or if the gun's operation seems a little sticky )</font>

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( we used ordinary motor oil in the guns but quickly discovered that the O-rings in the guns deteriorated rapidly and that the cylinder walls turned gummy. Although a little more expensive, pneumatic oil all but eliminated those oil-related problems )</font>

Don't reckon your relative was using motor oil, do you? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
   / Air Impact Wrench
  • Thread Starter
#63  
How about the grease in the front end of an impact wrench. Is it safe to use the same grease that I use on my tractor? I don't remember the brand of grease that I have but I believe it is Lithium type.

John
 
   / Air Impact Wrench #64  
John, the specifications and qualities of various greases gets beyond my technical knowledge, and I can't tell you exactly what difference they make. Ingersoll-Rand sells their own brand of grease for the impact wrenches, and they actually have at least two different ones; i.e., the manual for the IR231 calls for one part number and the IR2131 is another part number and they're a different color. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that rotor bearings and the impact mechanism in the 231 are lubricated by the grease you inject at the rear of the tool while the 2131 uses sealed bearings so the grease only lubricates the impact mechanism (which is almost identical to the 231) and is injected on the side of the housing. I bought and used the IR grease for the 231 in one pound cans and used it for all the air tools I worked on.

As for using the same grease you use on your tractor . . ., I know a lot of mechanics do just that (and so did my brothers). I can tell you without a doubt that any grease is better than no grease, and I'm quite confident that the grease you're using will not harm or damage the tool. It's my guess that the "wrong" grease might reduce the power a bit if it's a thicker or "stickier" grease, but you probably won't notice the difference.
 
   / Air Impact Wrench
  • Thread Starter
#65  
Thanks Bird. I haven't been able to find the grease they specify in any of the local stores (IR 115). I may have to order it online.

John
 
   / Air Impact Wrench #66  
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( may have to order it online )</font>

Or perhaps catch one of the Snap-On/Matco/MAC/Cornwell tool trucks at a local garage. I don't know whether they all stock it or not, but would think so.
 
   / Air Impact Wrench #67  
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Don't reckon your relative was using motor oil, do you? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif )</font>

Wouldn't surprise me. Or real cheap oil of some kind. Just never has made a lot of sense that an inline oiler won't damage the tool, but that thrid drop I dump down it is too much. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Steve
 
   / Air Impact Wrench
  • Thread Starter
#68  
My neighbors son is the service manager for a large Chevy dealer. I'll ask him if he can get some for me.

BTW, I tried the IR2131 out today. Sure has a lot of torque compared to my AllTrade. Very quiet also. My air compressor has no problem handling it.

John
 
 
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