coolhl7
Bronze Member
will any penetrating type oil do for occassional use (such as using a 3 inch cutter etc) or is specific air tool oil that much better? Thanks
Air Tool Oil ? is it necessary?
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Bird
Rest in Peace
I'm no chemist, but real air tool oil is something called "gum solvent" oil. I use it and feel like it's cheap enough that there's no reason not to, however, I've known a lot of mechanics and others who use Marvel Mystery Oil (not the Marvel Mystery Air Tool Oil that I used all the time I was doing air tool repair work) and other light weight oils. I'd say any oil is better than no oil, but keep in mind that air tools have some rubber O-rings, some have a type of plastic and/or rubber throttle valve, some have oil seals with rubber components, some have plastic rotor blades or vanes while others have a compressed fiber material for the vanes, some have motor oil in the front end (impact assembly), some have grease, etc. It was quite common for me to get air tools in for repair which had those "mushroom" type throttle valves that had literally disintegrated or crumbled and it wasn't too unusual for parts of them to get inhaled into the air motor and melted in the cylinder. Did they disintegrate from the wrong kind of oil; i.e., one which "dissolved" them? I have no idea.
DieselPower
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In my opinion the two most important things you can do for your air tools to make them work at peak performance and get a long service life is to use a good air tool oil and to have a good water seperator on your air line. Personally I use the Marvel Air Tool oil that Bird was talking about. I have air tools that have been used on a daily basis for years on end that have not been rebuilt yet. Just like with your tractor a little maintenance goes a long way.
As mentioned, air tool oil is usually found at Wal-Mart, also Home centers and lumber yards for the nail guns. You only use a few drops so, a small bottle will last. Also as mentioned, a water separate will help lengthen o-ring and bearing life. Mounting it downstream where the air has cooled some will increase its performance. Be careful of hose ends, don't drop in the dirt. Dirt is hard on internal seals.
SkyPup
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I always use Marvel Mystery oil in all mine, so far so good!
Bird
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SkyPup said:
Regular (red can) Marvel Mystery Oil or air tool (white can) Marvel Mystery Air Tool Oil?
SkyPup
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Bird, I always use the red can.
They state on their site they are the same formulation, the white just has more corrosion inhibitor added to it due to the water content of compressor air:
"Can I use MMO in my air tools such as a nail gun?"
"Yes, you can use MMO in your air tools. However, we recommend you use Marvel Air Tool oil for longer term use. The formulation of the Air Tool Oil is nearly identical to the original MMO but also includes a heavy-duty corrosion inhibitor to protect the tool in the high-moisture environment of air tools."
"Does the Air Tool Oil contain silicone?"
"No, neither the Marvel Air Tool Oil nor original formula MMO contains silicone."
They state on their site they are the same formulation, the white just has more corrosion inhibitor added to it due to the water content of compressor air:
"Can I use MMO in my air tools such as a nail gun?"
"Yes, you can use MMO in your air tools. However, we recommend you use Marvel Air Tool oil for longer term use. The formulation of the Air Tool Oil is nearly identical to the original MMO but also includes a heavy-duty corrosion inhibitor to protect the tool in the high-moisture environment of air tools."
"Does the Air Tool Oil contain silicone?"
"No, neither the Marvel Air Tool Oil nor original formula MMO contains silicone."
slowrev
Elite Member
I had the valves in a butterfly impact disintegrate like you said. I had only used MM air tool oil in it....Bird said:
I don't use that oil any more....
Don't we need to use synthetic air tool oil ?
Dexron works great in air tools.
Bird
Rest in Peace
I just wondered. I know lots of people use the red can, and there's nothing wrong with it, but of course, as their website says, the air tool oil is even better. It's kind of like the air tools that use grease and have the little dimple looking grease fitting for a needle nosed grease gun. Ingersoll-Rand has at least 2 or 3 different grease formulas for their air tools, but I bought and used just one of them in everything that had to be greased. And while I was, at least, using genuine Ingersoll-Rand air tool grease, lots of mechanics just used whatever grease they had in their grease gun for their other jobs.
