JHZR2
Staff member
My compressor is a Makita MAC2400 big bore, low speed compressor. I love it. Works great, have used it for nailing, spraying anti-rust oils, blowing out yard sprinkler systems, inflating tires and other things.
Ive had it since maybe 2007, pretty intermittent use... It has had Amsoil compressor oil in it, ISO 100/SAE40 since nearly the beginning, having just broken it in on Makita oil.
Honestly, shamefully, Ive never changed the amsoil lube since I put it in. The compressor stays cool and runs great.
So I wanted to do a change, and change I did. And I was surprised to see the kind of dirt, or metal bits that came out. Some photos:
As you can see in those funnel shots, it is really fine grains of something. I didnt feel if the material or lube was grainy by touching the oil.
Here it is in the disposal container. You can see that the fine bits are separate from the oil, and have their own wisps of this stuff in the oil. I did notice that more of this black stuff comes out at the very end of the draining process.
I repeated the fill and drain twice, once without running the compressor, and then once cycling it a few times. Got more of this stuff out, though finally it as pretty clean.
The first few times, collected, it looked like this:
The last time it came out looking clean like this:
But it took about a quart of flushing oil through to get it clean.
Granted, I let it go too long, but what is this black stuff a sign of? This is a cast iron compressor, so is this just normal? I run it with an air filter and never in excessively humid conditions. I keep the tank drained.
Any ideas?
Thanks!
Ive had it since maybe 2007, pretty intermittent use... It has had Amsoil compressor oil in it, ISO 100/SAE40 since nearly the beginning, having just broken it in on Makita oil.
Honestly, shamefully, Ive never changed the amsoil lube since I put it in. The compressor stays cool and runs great.
So I wanted to do a change, and change I did. And I was surprised to see the kind of dirt, or metal bits that came out. Some photos:
As you can see in those funnel shots, it is really fine grains of something. I didnt feel if the material or lube was grainy by touching the oil.
Here it is in the disposal container. You can see that the fine bits are separate from the oil, and have their own wisps of this stuff in the oil. I did notice that more of this black stuff comes out at the very end of the draining process.
I repeated the fill and drain twice, once without running the compressor, and then once cycling it a few times. Got more of this stuff out, though finally it as pretty clean.
The first few times, collected, it looked like this:
The last time it came out looking clean like this:
But it took about a quart of flushing oil through to get it clean.
Granted, I let it go too long, but what is this black stuff a sign of? This is a cast iron compressor, so is this just normal? I run it with an air filter and never in excessively humid conditions. I keep the tank drained.
Any ideas?
Thanks!
