Compressor oil

[Soundguy]

Speaking of ashamed.. that CH upright from 1984 that dies -NEVER- had it's oil changed... the big electric motor went out on it, and the tanks was getting rust on it.. so i decided not to repair it.. sinc ethe cost of a new (real) 5hp motor is the same cost as a cheaper (peak) 5hp upright compressor.. with new tank.. etc.

soundguy

 

[RobJ]

so I was thinking synthetic may hold up better...unless there was a leak. It was less than 2 years old and used very infrequently.

It's not going to hold up if it runs out of synthetic either. A perfect case IMO that why spend more money on oil if it isn't used very much. Also would not put in the expensive oil until I found/fixed the leak!

Rob

 

[acohen100]

It's not going to hold up if it runs out of synthetic either. A perfect case IMO that why spend more money on oil if it isn't used very much. Also would not put in the expensive oil until I found/fixed the leak!

Rob

Well the engine seized and it's at the dump, so no point looking for the leak now . New compressor is already in the shop and purring like a kitten.

 

[Bird]

I just noticed that Northern Tool has the Ingersoll-Rand T-30 synthetic compressor oil (it says using that oil extends your one year warranty to two years on type 30 compressors) and it's $10.99. However, it's been a year since I bought my synthetic oil and it was $3.99 a quart.

 

[Soundguy]

An observation... The last 3 compressors I've bought ( small pancake for the garage for tires, large upright for shop, and a medium upright for farm ).. all of them have what are probably chinese assembled.. mostly aluminum pumps. on each of them after 1-2 hours of use.. the oil was dark... a change of oil after that has stayed nice and golden. My guess is these machines are built. filled with oil.. turned on for 1 compressor cycle to see if they pump air and the pressure switch works, and then are drained and shipped.. That means no break in.. and your oil probably picks up break in metals pretty quick.. thus the rapid color change.

If i hade a new pump now that came with synthetic oil.. I think I'd run a few cycles on some good clean cheap compressor oil.. then drain and refill with the good high $$ stuff.

soundguy

 

[Bird]

Chris, the manual for my 3 year old "Industrial Air" compressor by Coleman PowerMate says "Made in the USA with domestic and foreign components" so I don't know how much was which. The pump is black and I'm guessing the head is aluminum and the rest is steel based on the fact that a magnet will stick to anything except the head. It came with synthetic oil and I ran it a year before changing.

 

[Soundguy]

On my pumps.. the largest upright actually has a steel cyl but onthe other 2 they are some cast pot metal... same with the 'sumps'.. all aluminum.

Soundguy

 

[Bird]

Chris, those all aluminum and shallow crankcase or sump are the ones you have to be careful about keeping full of oil right up to overflowing. I haven't looked at the manuals the last few years, but the Craftsman compressors made by DeVilbiss, both oilless and oiled compressors, had a warning in the manual to not run them more than 10 minutes continuously.

 

[Soundguy]

Mine have site glasses.. which i always eyeball before turning them on.

I must say.. the lil pancake compressor is about 13ys old now.. cost 89$, and has actually run continously somethimes for 20-30 minutes at a time. then a 10 minute cooldown.. then another 20-30 minute run.. did that for a couple years on and off before I got a real compessor to run my paint gun.

It did have a cap on the moter break a wire when 6 mos old.. a wire nut fixed that... and it did pop a gasket in the head earlier this year and i was gonna scrap it.. but tore it apart and cleane dup all the plates and reed valves with carb cleaner and put it back together with automotive gasket paper cut by hand with a knife. Been running fine since. tough little varmint!.. but then.. i always make sure it has oil too!

soundguy

 

[acohen100]

Yeah, I think that break-in was something I probably neglected on the broken one when it was new. This time I left the air release open and just ran it with no load for about an hour to let everything seat and then changed the oil. I agree with soundguy. Looks like they filled it, ran a cycle and drained it. There was a wisp of oil in the crankcase when it arrived. Hopefully this one lasts me for more than a few years.