Rain on power tools

I figured wood workers might be a good group to post this question to. Was building an outdoor shed in our back yard. Had a lot of tools out there. Foolishly trusted the weather man who claimed no chance of showers.

We caught a pop of thunder shower today. Had all my tools for the shed outside. Got rained on hard for 15 minutes. Wondering if there is any advice on how to handle them. I dried them all off ( and took them inside). But was wondering if sraying them internally with WD40 for its water displacement qualities would help - or any other suggestion.

Left out tools: framing nail gun, pancacke compressor, circular sawm drill.

Many thanks!

Reply to
todd.roat
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I've had the same thing happen to me a number of times. You'd think I'd learn! I suppose WD40 would work ok but I find it tends to gather dirt later on and I probably wouldn't go that route. If you need to use the tools soon, hit them pretty good with compressed air until you are certain there is no water in them. I've usually just used it as an excuse to relax a while while they dry out! Good luck, Cheers, cc

Reply to
James "Cubby" Culbertson

RE: Subject

Turn on your oven at about 150-175F and place tools in the oven for an hour or so, then allow to cool to room temp.

Heat does a great job of vaporizing water, if you don't over do it.

As far as WD40, like chicken soup, no medicinal value but hadn't oughta hurt!

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

You know, when you have water trapped in your ear after swimming, pouring a little rubbing alcohol will cause it to dry almost immediately. I don't know what effect it might have on the plastic parts but I wonder what would happen if you poured some alcohol in them, then hitting them hard with compressed air?

Reply to
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

Reply to
Wilson

little rubbing alcohol will cause it to dry almost immediately.

Reply to
Rob Mills

Just shake them a bit make sure all the water is out. I do concrete form work and we work in the sand and water. NEVER a problem. Left a pinner (BOSH hammer drill) in an inch of water picked it up and started working NO PROBLEMS

Reply to
<billyb_1969

Reply to
todd.roat

Take a hair dryer to it...couldn't hurt...

Reply to
Tina

Nothing. What do you think construction workers do when it starts raining? You may or may not get a little rust on consumable parts like blades or drill bits, but the tools you listed are designed and intended for use outdoors. Being outside means rain sometimes, and most tools are just fine after a little moisture. If they start to get really rusty, polish them up a bit, and wipe some oil on them, or spray some WD-40. Don't get to worked up about it- if you've got anything that could be described as a decent tool, it'll be fine. Those tools are for use- not for looking at!

Reply to
Prometheus

Friendly warning....let em air a while after the alcohol. I could see myself setting my power drill on fire!

Reply to
James "Cubby" Culbertson

I would put the saw and drill in the oven with the door open and set to the "Keep Warm" setting for a couple of hours before applying power. The air nailer should be treated with a rust preventative such as WD-40 and lubricated internally with the recommended oil. If you have another compressor I'd try to gently blow out any water that got into the motor of the pancake compressor. If that is not possible I'd use a hair dryer to dry out the moisture. Don't cook the motor to death, just warm to the touch for an hour of so.

Don Dando

Reply to
Don Dando

I believe acetone would work better than alcohol. We used it as a drying agent throughout my college chemistry courses.

Reply to
rickluce

Snip I'd SECOND that. A few years ago I had a CIG "Little Beaver" Spray system. Kind of like a vacuum unit. Anyhow it started to make some horrendous noises so I pulled it apart cleaned out the dust and gave it a good spray of WD40. Put it all back together and had a serious brain fart. Fired it up and bloody thing near blew apart. Scared the living Christ out of me. Needless to say, it was a good excuse to get my first real compressor. Quietened it down though :) regards John

Reply to
John B

Should one add seasoning?

woodstuff

Reply to
woodstuff

Yeah, acetone may work better, but may react with the plastic. Alcohol will not.

Reply to
Rick Samuel

Especially good for all the little plastic bits and pieces IIRC. NOT!

Reply to
Unquestionably Confused

I know this may seem silly but, why didn't you take 25 seconds to put the tools under cover during the storm. Why on earth just sit there for 15 min watching them get soaked? Am I missing something here?

Reply to
Battleax

It sounds like he trusted the weather predictions, left them out, and left the house. Came back and the storm had hit. At least that's what's happened to me in the past. Cheers, cc

Reply to
James "Cubby" Culbertson

Hmmmm.....

I dunno. When I get caught in the rain, which does happen (think decking a house when a big storm is coming) and cannot stop, our tools get soaked. Ditto when we go to a job and get caught in an unexpected frog strangler while sitting in traffic (no doubt caused by rain).

We use WD40 on the nails, not on the tools. Try this: spray WD40 on a piece of metal, and let it dry. It leaves a film behind. This film attracts dirt, lint, etc. and makes it into gum on moving surfaces. I sure wouldn't recommend using it on the tools, inside or out. My tool repair guy can tell in a minute when the armatures or brushes are gummed up that someone has been using WD40. That is why my favorite gunsmith told me to quit using it on my shotguns.

Acetone, etc., will dissolve or etch most plastics. I ruined some of my drill and saw cases as I was industriously cleaning off tar from the cases and I noticed the plastic became gummy. Can you imagine what would happen to the varnish on your motor windings if you did this?

As far as your nail gun goes, forget it. No harm, no foul. How much water do you drain out of your compressor tank every day? We are usually in for a few ounces, depending on the season. The point is this: is you are using a compressor to power your nailers and sanders and do not have a drying system of filters in place, they are already exposed to a lot of moisture. If you didn't have a funnel to channel the water into the housing, you should be fine. Many mornings in the south where we have extreme temp changes and high humidity you can actually see the condensation coming out of the exhaust port of the gun on the high usage guns like roofing nailers and staplers.

So what to do when they get wet? We dry everything off as quickly and completely as possible. If we have the compressor on site, we blow out the tools till dry, have some coffee and get back to work. Ideally, we dry with a cloth, blow them out, and then let them sit overnight before using.

Never lost one tool to rain as you described... lost plenty to rust, though.

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41

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