air compressor oil ?

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im buying a used air compressor tomorrow. looks to be used for airing up car tires and blowing dust off the rv and garage.

its a 5HP 60 Gallon ProAir II Air Compressor.

i wanna change the oil since its sat for a while, should i just get ND 30wt or has this website found a better solution ?

just curious
 
In Arizona you have pretty dry air to start with. So crankcase water build-up is not really a big issue.

I have been running automotive oil in my compressors for decades. They still run fine. I used to use 10W-30. but last years I got some free oil at the re-use table at the homeowner haz-mat turn in. Chevron 5W-30 supreme. I change the oil every 2 years, so I put that in. Motor starts are snappy quick and no consumption
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Just stick with "plain" non detergent compressor oil. I live in the North, and run Synthetic compressor oil for winter performance.
 
Do you know how old the compressor is?

You should open the drain on the tank (in front of the buyer) before you haul it off to see how much moisture comes out. When I bought my 26 gallon compressor at least a quart and a half of rusty water came out looking like gravy. If it doesn't have one already install a ball valve to make draining the tank easier.

Maybe you can knock some money off the price depending on what you find.

My compressor is oiless so I'm not the expert, but as you state, I think the ND 30wt is what a lot of people use. Maybe do a few drain and fills on it, so see what the oil looks like. I would run the compressor for a few cycles and open the drain to clear out an possible rust or moisture.
 
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compressor is like 5 years oil. im getting it for cheap so im taking it either way... i just didnt know what was recommended if it was dirty. for all i know it may be clean...
 
I installed a auto dump valve that dumps a small amount of air off the bottom every time the pump shuts down. Think a kit is less than $25. My last pump recommended M1
 
There's a 40 watt difference in startup wattage between conventional and synthetic compressor oil on my 3.5HP. Pretty big deal because I plug it in on a 20amp breaker on a ghetto extension cord outlet. I used to pop the breaker somewhat often and now I rarely do.
 
Originally Posted By: DemoFly
There's a 40 watt difference in startup wattage between conventional and synthetic compressor oil on my 3.5HP. Pretty big deal because I plug it in on a 20amp breaker on a ghetto extension cord outlet. I used to pop the breaker somewhat often and now I rarely do.


Thanks for sharing, got a 5 hp 20 gallon air compressor on a 150ft 10 gauge romex. 20 amp breaker. There certainly is a brown out when the compressor starts.
 
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Originally Posted By: dave123
Royal Purple Synfilm 100 recip has become my favorite running in a 7.5hp pump.

I wanted that, but it comes in big quantities up here. However, it's still more convenient than the 1200 litre quantity of Rarus that Imperial Oil wants to sell me.
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Castrol ND 30 is priced well enough, at least in comparison to most of the supposed "compressor oils" we see at our Home Depots.
 
Originally Posted By: Garak
Originally Posted By: dave123
Royal Purple Synfilm 100 recip has become my favorite running in a 7.5hp pump.

I wanted that, but it comes in big quantities up here. However, it's still more convenient than the 1200 litre quantity of Rarus that Imperial Oil wants to sell me.
wink.gif
Castrol ND 30 is priced well enough, at least in comparison to most of the supposed "compressor oils" we see at our Home Depots.


I bought a quart on Amazon. I read a lot of good reviews about it. I'll try it out in the spring.
 
I've been using Porter Cable semi-syn which is available at Tractor Supply, I also have Powermate semi-syn & full synthetic air compressor oil as well. I have a Campbell Hausfeld 60 gallon single stage that the manual states you can use their oil which is 30w conventional oil or you can use a full synthetic 10w30 such as Mobil 1. I am not a big fan of nd 30w oil especially in the winter time where it's affected by cold temps. I also have a Schrader 26 gallon portable compressor that still had the original oil and in the winter it would trip the breaker because the oil was so thick that it couldn't turn freely enough so I changed it out for synthetic air compressor oil and never had a problem since and this last winter it had the semi-syn with no problems either and never tripped the breaker.

Yes the boutique oils are not that cheap but they are formulated specifically to work with air compressors.
 
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