Air Tools & Compressor Accessories
Inline lubricators, filters and regulators
The small line components that sit between the compressor outlet and the tool: a filter to take out water and grit, a regulator to set tool pressure, and a lubricator to oil a percussive tool. Cheap, and the reason tools either last or do not.
Features
- A tool fed unfiltered air ingests grit and condensate, and the wear shows up as lost impact energy long before it shows up as failure.
- Regulators are set at the tool, not at the compressor, because the pressure that matters is after the hose loss.
- Lubricator feed rate is adjustable and has to be set for the tool's consumption — over-oiling fouls exhaust ports and under-oiling seizes pistons.
- Lubricators must be omitted entirely on blasting, painting and oil-free lines, so those lines need separate, labelled hose sets.
- Filter elements are changed on differential pressure, so each filter needs a gauge or a visual indicator fitted.
- Every component in the line costs pressure when clean and more when dirty, so the count of components in series is worth keeping down.
Specifications
| Figure | Typical range | Unit | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Port size | G ½ / G ¾ / G 1 | Must match hose and tool fittings. | |
| Rated flow | 1 000 - 6 000 | l/min | An undersized body throttles the tool. |
| Filtration grade | 5 / 25 | µm | Coarse for tools, fine for instruments. |
| Pressure loss when clean | 0.1 - 0.3 | bar | Accumulates across components in series. |
| Lubricator oil capacity | 150 - 500 | ml | Sets how often someone has to refill it. |