Air Compressor Oil

[jonp]

Does the brand make a difference? My oiless finally quit after fixing it last year. Since it sits in the shed I decided to get an oil one.

What's the best oil to use?

[yovinny]

I've always used 30wt non-detergent in all piston compressors.. Same stuff I use in the lawn mowers and other small 4-cycle engines.
Screw compressors are another matter altogether,, they all usually call for very specialized AW hydraulic fluids.

[cwtebay]

The manufacturer generally has fairly specific recommendations for the oil to use (even a brand most of the time).

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[Winger Ed.]

Its got a crankshaft and piston just like a regular small engine.
All I've ever used is 10-30 engine oil in my different compressors. (I'm a big Castrol fan)

I had a cheap 4 horse one last about 20 years in my garage shop by changing the oil once a year.
The valves in the head finally gave up the ship, it took a real long time to pump up, and I got a bigger one instead of rebuilding it.

[Mal Paso]

Non-detergent and I would break it in with regular oil. Synthetic can interfere with the ring/cylinder break in.

[Hossfly]

Mineral oil, clear food grade mineral oil. Been using it for many years.

[BJK]

I use Amsoil synthetic compressor oil after break in.

[jim147]

Mine calls for full synthetic. It should say in the paperwork if you buy new. The old ones I had in the machine shop used 30w non detergent.

[farmbif]

as far as ive known and used just like yovinny says--non detergent straight 30 weight unless you want to spend the extra money and get stuff like genuine Ingersol rand branded compressor oil.

[too many things]

trans fluid is best F or the new all purpose

[ruger1980]

Most tractor and auto supply stores will have an air compressor oil that will work. Now if you have a $50-100k I may recommend going with the nice synthetic oils that are speced for them.

[rbuck351]

Use what ever you have on hand. Compressors don't need a detergent oil as there is no combustion blow by to dirty the oil but it won't hurt a thing. About the only bad thing you can do is let it run out of oil. Short of that the bottom end should run a lifetime. The valves are another matter, cheap compressors have cheap valve assemblies and will give trouble a lot sooner than a top of the line compressor. My current compressor I think is a Curtis that I bought at an auction for $125. I think it was built in the 40s or 50s. It had a minor leak in the one way valve between the compressor head and the tank. I took it apart and dressed the valve disc with some wet or dry emery cloth and it now works like new.

If you can find one for a price you can work with, get an old DeVilbis, Curtis, Ingorsol Rand or other pro compressor and use what ever oil you want. Most any oil made prior to 1950 is junk compared to most any oil made today but even the junk oil worked fine in compressors.

[Shopdog]

Saylor Beall is another,standout compressor.

Look on the side of this SB compressor pump. See that finned,goober bolted to the side?

Now,googlefoo a "Franzinator". These are expansion tanks that remove moisture from the hot,compressed air.... before sending it to the tank. And they are extremely effective. The Franzinator was the brain child,although he admits it was simply borrowed from SB.... of a body shop owner. He simply rigged one up out of threaded black pipe and threw the notion out on the web.

Folks jumped all over him,attacking his motives? Or whatever. He had 20+ employees,LOTS of $$$ compressors and sore bought driers. He simply threw it out there for home boys,who then turned on him like a pit bull on crack?

But in anycase,an expansion chamber,intelligently designed and placed between the compressor head and the tank is a huge part of killing moisture on the cheap...EVEN if you have a refrigerated dryer. Oh yeah,I use Mobile one... think it's their 4227(IIRC?)

[Gunor]

Synthetic oil - I have heard does better in cold weather startups….

[starnbar]

Saylor Beall is another,standout compressor.

Look on the side of this SB compressor pump. See that finned,goober bolted to the side?

Now,googlefoo a "Franzinator". These are expansion tanks that remove moisture from the hot,compressed air.... before sending it to the tank. And they are extremely effective. The Franzinator was the brain child,although he admits it was simply borrowed from SB.... of a body shop owner. He simply rigged one up out of threaded black pipe and threw the notion out on the web.

Folks jumped all over him,attacking his motives? Or whatever. He had 20+ employees,LOTS of $$$ compressors and sore bought driers. He simply threw it out there for home boys,who then turned on him like a pit bull on crack?

But in anycase,an expansion chamber,intelligently designed and placed between the compressor head and the tank is a huge part of killing moisture on the cheap...EVEN if you have a refrigerated dryer. Oh yeah,I use Mobile one... think it's their 4227(IIRC?)

I gave my saylor beale to my neighbor in 1978 he still has it and still paints harleys with it.

[megasupermagnum]

You do not want to use a multi-grade detergent motor oil in an air compressor. The big reasons I know of are that a motor oil will foam, wont lubricate as well, and they keep particles suspended in the oil. In a non-detergent oil, all that gunk and metal will separate, and settle at the bottom. That's what you want in a compressor, but not an engine with a filter. Some air compressors spec fancy oils, but your run of the mill home air compressor is going to call for a non-detergent straight weight, something like an SAE 30. To be honest, you probably will be ok running a motor oil, but it definitely will not be better for it. Since the price is no different, there is no reason not to use the oil they call for. I used to run your basic parts store SAE 30 non-detergent oil, it even had a picture of an air compressor on it. Now I have an oilless compressor.

The sad thing I've found with new air compressors, at least the ones a normal guy could afford, is they are all high RPM ones, presumably to be competitive on paper with high CFM, and other factors. The problem is they are all super loud. My dad has a fantastic old compressor, it must be 40 years old now. It lopes along at a pace you could probably crank by hand, yet it keeps up just fine for the tank it has. The beauty is that it is not only quiet, the sound it makes is very gentle. I hate being woke up a night by the angry scream of my compressor that I forgot to turn off.

[BJK]

Yes, synthetic oil is better for cold temp' starting, that goes for your car too. I have an unheated shop and I'm not going to heat it just to start the compressor, it never gets below 32°F, so synthetic is what I put in the compressor. FWIW, I only heat the shop for humans.

[Mal Paso]

If you use a 3600 rpm motor you can use a smaller cylinder and have great specs for the money. There's not as much cylinder/head surface area to dissipate heat though and you can't get moisture out of hot air so it goes right through traps and tanks right to your tools and paint.

1800 RPM motors need twice the compressor and both are more expensive to build but they last longer, run cooler.

I had to find an 1800 RPM generator lately, they are getting scarce too.

[Soundguy]

Non-detergent and I would break it in with regular oil. Synthetic can interfere with the ring/cylinder break in.

Many new compressors spec a synthetic oil. My huskie 60g upright suggested their brand 30w nd comp oil OR any 10w30 full syn motor oil of some API level I don't recall.

Use one of the options that the manufacture specs and you should be fine.

[jonp]

Thanks for all the advice. Cold weather is not an issue down here, sitting in an unheated garage for a few months between uses is. It seems straight w30 non detergent is the consensus?

[megasupermagnum]

Thanks for all the advice. Cold weather is not an issue down here, sitting in an unheated garage for a few months between uses is. It seems straight w30 non detergent is the consensus?

If that is what the manual ask for, then yes. The point being, you can not buy an oil that is better than what the manufacturer tells you is best for it.

[4rdwhln]

True compressor oil has an anti foaming package. That being said Napa sells Campbell Hausfield full synthetic compressor oil. It is in mine and still clear as water after 10 years. Used maybe 10 times a year now days. Although some times its used 8-10 hours a time.

[nicholst55]

I bought a new IR compressor to run the equipment at the dry cleaners we used to own. A few months later, we began experiencing problems with it. It's been several years, so I don't remember all the specifics of the situation. Long story short, when we finally called IR and had them send a guy over to troubleshoot it, he very quickly diagnosed the problem to the oil my shop manager, my BIL, was using. He was using 10W motor oil, because 'that's what we always used in the old one.' After draining the oil and replacing it with IR brand air compressor oil, the compressor ran flawlessly. That convinced me. The IR AC oil may have been a bit more expensive than the cheapest motor oil from Wal-Mart, but the air compressor ran like it was supposed to after that.

[samari46]

We had two large electric air compressors at work to provide the air for pump controls. Mobil DTE 2190t which is actually a turbine oil worked well. And was also used in our steam driven fuel oil pumps. Only had two overhauls in 25 years. But have to agree that what the manufacturer tells you to use may be the best. Frank

[Rapier]

Live in the woods, 30 miles from town, so when I bought one of those big stand up black beasts, I could not find the specified oil anywhere, ended up ordering a 2 gal container off the net. It only takes about 8 oz to change oil in the compressor motor, so. Seems like good stuff so I decided to try it in the Bridgeport oiler also, so far, so good, that old Bridgeport was dry when I got it and its oiler broken, with two broken copper pressure lines, it oils now. It ain’t way oil, but…..