Another air tool OIL question...?

[BayouTodd]

I have a new craftsman 1/2' drive impact which has been sitting in its box in my tool chest for the better part of two years, last weekend I had to take a set of wheels and tires off of one of my cars so I decided to use my new impact. I though I had some air tool oil on hand but never could find any so in a moment of desperation I put a few drops of 3in1© oil into the impact, it worked fine, my question is does anyone think I damaged anything by using 3in1© oil instead of air tool oil?

 

[gofastman]

Originally Posted By: BayouTodd
I have a new craftsman 1/2' drive impact which has been sitting in its box in my tool chest for the better part of two years, last weekend I had to take a set of wheels and tires off of one of my cars so I decided to use my new impact. I though I had some air tool oil on hand but never could find any so in a moment of desperation I put a few drops of 3in1© oil into the impact, it worked fine, my question is does anyone think I damaged anything by using 3in1© oil instead of air tool oil?

no, I doubt you did any dammage, dont use it again however IMHO.
from what I can tell by taking apart many of my own air tools the air motor isnt that sensitive of a mechanism, my guess would be the oils main job is to drive out moisture, prevent corrosion build up, and help the motor vanes seal against the motor housing by means of the fluids surface tension (ill bet there is a fancy name for this )

 

[Steve S]

No air tools don't need much to lube the air motor.

 

[onion]

I've lubed my air tools for many years with whatever oil happens to be in my oil can. It's usually Delvac 15w40 these days... ocassionally Delvac 40w. In the past, I've also used ATF and hydraulic oil. All seem to work fine.

 

[ksJoe]

Originally Posted By: onion
I've lubed my air tools for many years with whatever oil happens to be in my oil can. It's usually Delvac 15w40 these days... ocassionally Delvac 40w. In the past, I've also used ATF and hydraulic oil. All seem to work fine.


Same here. Leftover oil, ATF, whatever. It hasn't broke yet

 

[AcuraTech]

No harm done. Best time to use air tool oil is before it gets put into storage, to prevent corrosion. Also good to give it a shot before using it for the day.

 

[another Todd]

I used some non-air tool oil in my 1" impact wrench one day. It immediatly quit working, the oil was to heavy and gummed things up. It took quite a while running MMO through it to get it cleaned out and running smooth again.

 

[George7941]

WD40 is great as a flushing agent to get rid of excess oil or gum or moisture or anything else you don't want in your air motor.

 

[Donald]

If I did not have air tool oil I would use ATF.

 

[KLowD9x]

Mobil1 0w* always did good for me if I didn't have any Snap On tool oil or MMO available.

Personally, use MMO. We call it "gun crack" at work because it will make an air tool FLY.