Problem with pneumatic squeezer

Hey folks,

Looks like my pneumatic squeezer blew some seal or something, as it has a massive air leak at the bottom... it's where the trigger arm presses some piece to activate (squeeze).. So, aside from the leak, now once activated, the squeezer doesn't return until air supply is disconnected..

Is this something I can fix myself, or do I send it out somewhere? If I can fix it.. how do I do that?

I did disassemble the bottom end, and I'm not sure what I need to do.. maybe pack grease or something to make the seal? (I'm just guessing here


Thanks!

There is a plunger valve that has an O ring on it. It blew on my used squeezer. Home Depot's aviation department has the correct O ring to replace it. I use bearing grease on the O rings when I put it back together. Not sure it that's correct but it has worked for me.

Thanks Cam. I just took it apart again, and the O ring looks fine (visually). Should I replace it anyways? Was there only one ring (it's sitting in its own groove)...

I would go ahead and get a new O ring and replace it. I found if I didn't put any grease on it, it would still leak. My squeezer was quite old so that may have had something to do with it. I went through a few O rings before I got it to stop leaking. Once it worked right I built the whole plane without any problems from the squeezer.

Do you know what air preasure you were running? I found that the plunger stays in when there isn't enough air pressure. I run all my air tools at around 90 psi.

If you are new to this squeezer, you may or may not have found that if you pull the trigger while there is no air pressure then plug it in, it will run through one cycle. So watch out when installing the air hose.

Some squeezer venders will also provide an overhaul service. I bought an overhauled unit from ebay a couple of years ago, its been fine since, the guy said he only used ebay as a form of advertising to promote his company - can't remember his name right now. I believe a full overhaul will cost $60 - 100 depending on what is broken. Might be worth considering?

Pete

The folks at Avery Tools can help you out for sure if the O-Ring doesn't solve the problem. They helped me out last year and the customer service was phenomenal. I was having 'issues' with the depth-setting on my squeezer, right when I first bought it. Being local, I went up to Avery's thinking my squeezer needed a repair. Bob Avery dropped what he was doing, took me down to another shop on the airport, and explained to me that I was simply setting the squeezer wrong. Even though it was working fine, Bob took the squeezer apart and checked it out for me while I waited. I didn't even buy the squeezer from Avery's, and Bob went out of his way to help out a fellow RV-builder.

(Note: if it gets to the point of needing outside repair, do a quick search on this site for "Squeezer Repair". There was an extensive thread on the subject, about a year ago).

Hope this helps?

Thanks guys. I'll see if I can fix it myself before sending it off for overhaul, which would just slow me down a week or two..


I've had this squeezer for almost 2 years now (got an overhauled unit from the Yard).. and it's been working fine (until yesterday). Nothing had changed (pressure etc..)... I was dimpling bagagge corner rib, and after a few holes, it just "popped" and started leaking..

Thanks!

OK.. good news -- it's fixed. Bad news -- I'm kinda dumb.

It wasn't the O-ring.. the little tab that pushes the plunger in moved somehow, and was pushing it in, not letting the plunger valve to come out all the way.. so the O ring wasn't making the seal.. Oh well, it was a duh moment

Anyways, at least it might be helpful that O-ring's size is 7/32" I.D. and 11/32" O.D. (1/16" thick). Lowe's has it at the plumbing section (oops.. not aviation quality)