air compressor oil (not sure if right forum)

[Spawne32]

Hey guys, just bought a new air compressor, well they didnt include enough air compressor oil, and since im CRAZY about maintenance of my toys, any old air compressor oil just wont do. The instruction manual says to use SAE 20 non detergent compressor oil...my question is, would regular SAE 20 motor oil do the trick...say royal purple or something similar. The oil they gave me was absolute junk, there was all sediment in the bottom of the bottle, so im just gona drain it all out and replace it before i even start it up for the first time. Compressor oil doesnt seem to be the easiest thing to come by in good brands besides sears brand.

 

[daman]

Hey Spawne

if your anal about your compressor like i was i would hold out and order some Amsoil ISO comp oil,great stuff able to extend the interval out waaay longer.

 

[Spawne32]

i suppose thats what im gona have to do, im getting alot of mixed search results about detergent oils etc lol even though they probably cant be any worse then the [censored] that was in the oil this thing came with lol

 

[daman]

If it calls for a ND i'd stick with a ND $.02

at least yours came with oil mine didn't have a drop in it! cheap [censored]

i only needed 2qts and thats good for almost two fills

 

[Spawne32]

looks like napa sells some not detergenet valvoline sae 30, ill have to run over there tomorrow and pick some up and get to usin this bad boy.

 

[daman]

 

[oilboy123]

I have been using Amsoil in my single stage Sears since 1995. I try to change it every year or so. Sometimes ends up being 2 years. It comes out looking pretty much the same as it went in.

 

[daman]

Originally Posted By: oilboy123
I have been using Amsoil in my single stage Sears since 1995. I try to change it every year or so. Sometimes ends up being 2 years. It comes out looking pretty much the same as it went in.

I'm on my 4th year with my Amsoil i don't put a ton of hrs on it in a year and it looks as good as the day it went in so i cant see dumping it.

 

[Pablo]

This is the kind: Amsoil PCI ISO 46, SAE 20

Motor oil is just too high in additives.

 

[Spawne32]

lol ill order the amsoil, i wanna fire this bad boy up tomorrow though, so valvoline will have to do for now

 

[crazyoildude]

Just use non detergent 20w dino and change it once a year if you use it a lot...
When we first bought this shop the main compressor was 22 years old and never ever had an oil change (i knew the person that i bought it from) It is now 40+ and it had 4 or 5 oil change's using 20w it runs great but the way it is installed it is hard to get to the drain plug..Now that i read this it reminded me and i will change it this week...

 

[Bruce T]

I agree with using a synthetic air compressor oil like Amsoil. I've heard various reasons why using an oil with detergents is a bad idea, but I don't know if these reasons are true.

Some say the motor oil detergents/emulsifiers will suspend and carry particles and water through the compressor (since it has no oil filter), leaving behind deposits and rust. With compressor oil, any junk supposedly lies still at the bottom of the sump. Others say it's picked up and pumped. I don't know.

Some say detergent will foam and prevent oil lubrication (normal pumping of the oil through the engine). Others say detergent does no harm in a modern air compressor.

I would see a big difference the oils required for an electric compressor vs. a gasoline compressor using internal combustion.

 

[Steve S]

The company I worked 17.5 year for had a huge compressor that had its oil changed twice by me during that period of time .The oil was 30wt Delo 400 .The same oil that was run in the service van compressors and every piece of equipment serviced and owned by the company. Run the compressor for a while then change the oil to get the breakin wear out.

 

[synormin]

This is what I use.
http://www.frsport.com/Redline-31304-PolyComp-30WT-Compressor-Oil---1-quart_p_14879.html

 

[Chris142]

The compressor at my work is a large CH 2 cylinder with 2 air filters. It's had ND SAE30 for 27 years now and still works fine. Sometimes it runs for hrs when were sand blasting a bunch of parts.

I change it 2x a year with whatever ND oil the dollar store has.

 

[tig1]

My compressor sets in an un heated garage. Will M1 5-30EP work well in it? I need cold temp starts and I have several qts. on stash.

 

[Steve S]

Originally Posted By: tig1
My compressor sets in an un heated garage. Will M1 5-30EP work well in it? I need cold temp starts and I have several qts. on stash.
Yes ,I have 0w-30 Castrol green that I bought on closeout from Autozone and it has been in service for the last 4 years [though I would guess that it only gets run 40 hours per year] and it still looks good. I put a Donaldson air filter I got from work that filters better than the felt airfilter that came with the comp. stock.