air compressor filter / oiler combo

[Don Jeansonne]

I was looking at adding an inline air filter to my air compressor. HF has a filter / oiler combo unit but many of their reviewers complain about leaks and problems with the oiler portion.

Is it really practical to have an automatic oiler for your tools or is the only way to be confident that the nailers, etc. get adequate oil is to do it manually as per the tool manual?

I am more inclined to use only the filter with the water collection and drain and just not trust the oiler.

Any comments????

[Ken Deckelman]

I don't use inline oilers...I use my air for to many other things-like blowing dust and painting-and you don't want oil in the lines for that. A couple drop of oil in the tool works great for me. I also don't buy much stuff from Horrible Fright. The three filter/regulators I have are SpeedAir's form Grainger.

[Bill Davis]

I'm similar to Ken in that I oil my tools needing it manually. I think it kind of depends on your use. If all you use are pneumatic tools requiring oil and not such things as I do like spraying finishes etc maybe inline automatic oiling would be OK but... there are some things you do not want oil on/in. My use of nailers etc that require oil is infrequent enough to easily tolerate the manual procedure. You could plumb separate lines for oil requiring tools or just keep separate hoses for those and spray finishing etc but that too can be a pain.

[Jerry Bruette]

In line oilers are meant for use on pneumatic tools that see alot of use. I'm talking many hours per day. If your pneumatic tools are only used occasionaly then put a drop or two of oil in them just before attaching to the air line. We use Marvel Mystery Oil at work but I've seen good results with ATF also.

Jerry