Pneumatic Squeezer Diagram

I've got a pneumatic squeezer that I purchased from Avery Tools some 15-20 years ago. It's been several years since I've used it and a guy in our local RV club asked about it for riveting the spar on his Hummel Bird.

I pulled my pneumatic squeezer out of storage and found that the trigger is stuck full on. I've tried running some air tool oil in it and pressing even harder on the stick valve. You can hear the airflow change a little when you try to actuate the already open valve. I'm pretty sure it just needs to be actuated a couple times to clean up some gunk in the works. The actual squeezer mechanism itself seems to work fine since it clamps down and retracts fine when I connect and disconnect it from the air hose.

I'm trying to figure out if it's best to get at the valve through the air inlet or by removing the whole valve end from the body of the squeezer. The air inlet is a single part to remove, where the valve end would be several more screw to remove. I did find some purported links to diagrams and repair guides, but those links were from 5-10 years ago and all seemed to lead to abandoned web sites.

If all else fails, I'll just send it in to someone like Clear Air Tools or Atlantic Air Tools that was mentioned in another thread I found here on VAF.

I took one apart many years ago, big mistake! There is a bear of a spring behind the piston that doesn't want to go back in his cage, think c-clamp type pressure to get it back. I believe you can unscrew the valve without taking the end cap off, but I haven't tried it.

BTW, not good to oil pneumatic squeezers through the air inlet like other air tools. The piston is lubricated for life with grease on a leather seal. Oil washes the grease off and then they stick. I made that mistake, tool was re-built to get it back into service.

I believe Cleveland will service them.

I don't have an exploded view, but I've taken several apart and it was not a "rocket science" project. Before disassembly tho - try a good penetrating oil directly onto the pin or ball that is the "air valve actuator". Kroil, Blaster, CRC Penetrating, etc. Give them plenty of time to work - 20min minimum and possibly 2-3 sessions at actuating the valve and then a squirt of oil - wait - repeat. If that doesn't work - disassemble and try it from inside.

PS - some squeezers use a leather piston skirt and should NOT be oiled with air tool oil. They typically don't have a "NO OIL" tag or stamp tho