Jim Glover, a building contractor in Pierre, S.D. knows all about working in the cold. Where he lives you have to, because within a matter of days, conditions can swing from cool and foggy to frigid and dry—and this can wreak havoc with your tools, especially pneumatics. Problems include frozen regulators, ice plugs in hoses, and compressor oil so thick the motor can’t get it going.
Glover describes what happens when you take a warm nail gun out into very cold weather, “the moisture inside the gun will condense and freeze. The tool could then become clogged with frost, and the O-rings could freeze to the sides of the cylinder and be damaged when you fire a nail. I once took a gun apart and found half an O-ring still frozen to the cylinder wall; it reminded me of what happens when it's below zero and a kid puts his tongue on a frosty piece of metal.”
There’s no helping the kid whose tongue froze to a piece of metal, but there’s help for your tools. Read more
