Air compressor oil change.....crazy prices!!

[evintho]

It's time to change the oil on my IR 5L5 and online prices for IR oil is $40+ per quart! I've had the unit since 2006 and I changed the oil the first time right at the recommended 200hrs. That time I used IR oil that came with the compressor. Now, I'm at 550 hrs so I'm way overdue. I was floored when I saw the prices! Any recommendations for a slightly cheaper oil that will still do the job?

 

[flyingblind]

I just use Valvoline 30w.

Eta I have the same vacuum. Mine is 20 plus years old

 

[darkzero]

"Air compressor oil" is basically just 30wt non detergent oil. Pick your favorite flavor.

Many DIY grade air compressors these days say to just use 5W-30 motor oil. I never understood this until I noticed most auto parts stores don't sell single grade motor oils anymore, not around here anyway. Everything is multi-grade detergent oil.

From what I understand about detergent vs non, I'll keep using non detergent by ordering online.

 

[Jack_K]

I complain about engine oil prices and then when I look for oil for my compressors the prices are crazier. To make it worse the compressor oil easily available is too thin for my compressors.

 

[man-a-fre]

Napa has Napa 30 weight non detergent iso100 on sale for $3.69 qt this month in my area flyer.

 

[unslow1]

I also have always used 30wt ND.

 

[nadogail]

My SAE 30 Weight Non Detergent comes from Wally World.

 

[Walkers]

Napa has the ND as well as their own brand of compressor oil. Oddly, I have found 30w ND in a lot of convenience stores in their little auto section.

 

[cvairwerks]

I complain about engine oil prices and then when I look for oil for my compressors the prices are crazier. To make it worse the compressor oil easily available is too thin for my compressors.

Wait til you price turbine oil. Last quart I had to get for a customer was about 80$.

 

[BarrelRoll]

The compressor shop I worked at used non detergent 30 weight in every piston machine including a large national tire chain that ran 2 7.5 IR piston machines in hot closests daily. We rarely had issues and these machines didn't have an easy life, they did get serviced quarterly running for 500+ hours a quarter. The machines that did have issues probably had 10,000+ hours on them.

 

[Earp69]

Who in their right mind changes their air compressor oil?

 

[dnschmidt]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DJ4FKAO/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Seems reasonable to me.

 

[ItsNemo]

I've only changed the oil in my IR once in the ~7 years I've owned it. I did buy the service kit that came with 4 bottles and a filter or whatever which also extended the warranty when I got the thing originally, so have enough for another couple decades lol

Really I can't imagine the oil breaks down that fast in an air compressor, there's no worries about fuel dilution or combustion like a normal engine that can see way more than 200 hours between oil changes. I should send a sample out and see if it's still good after all that time.

 

[yelchevelle]

I took apart a Quincy that had been in an auto shop. They evidently were running detergent oil in it, and it was nasty on the inside. Most of the compressors I have taken apart before and after then really haven’t been that dirty. Run the non detergent oil if at all possible.

 

[Schurkey]

My SC23 compressor pump gets Amsoil. Supposedly needs 10W-30 "All-season compressor oil".

https://www.amsoil.com/p/synthetic-compressor-oil--iso-46-sae-20-pci/

$18 or $14 per quart depending on your Amsoil "membership" status.

 

[evintho]

Thanks everyone....you just saved me a fortune!
NAPA for the win!

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/NOL75115?cid=paidsearch_shopping_dcoe_google_monthly-special_202305&campaign=GSC-Promos&campaign_id=6478906937&adgroup_id=77713095757&adtype=pla&gclid=Cj0KCQjwu-KiBhCsARIsAPztUF3rGLLUJX6CoZUHmscz3xbo5WC2uQdbFR2q7ZS74HezjTcYi5Iq5qYaAmO_EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&

 

[Jlarson]

The compressor shop I worked at used non detergent 30 weight in every piston machine including a large national tire chain that ran 2 7.5 IR piston machines in hot closests daily. We rarely had issues and these machines didn't have an easy life, they did get serviced quarterly running for 500+ hours a quarter. The machines that did have issues probably had 10,000+ hours on them.

Same, all we run in pistons we service and our own machines is plain white bottle Valvoline 30 ND.

Flushed and also torn down plenty of machines that never had oil changes that were all sludged up or had water contamination.

 

[Sumboodie]

Wait til you price turbine oil. Last quart I had to get for a customer was about 80$.

Sold 6 totes (330 gallons) of synthetic to a power plant about a month ago. Was around $45 a gallon from what I recall. One of the more expensive oils I've sold. $80 a quart would be nuts!

Kluber Summit SH32T

 

[Sumboodie]

Chevron Cetus HiPerSyn is what I normally sell for compressors. It for sure crosses over with SullAir lube and an older IR spec.

Ive never heard of using 30wt. I know IR/Doosan approved of Mobil ATF, their special old wasn't working well in the cold.

 

[demarpaint]

You can grab Super Tech SAE 30 non-detergent oil at Walmart for a reasonable price. Redline and Royal Purple make good synthetic compressor oil but the cost is going to be more than the Super Tech at Walmart.

 

[unslow1]

Napa has the ND as well as their own brand of compressor oil. Oddly, I have found 30w ND in a lot of convenience stores in their little auto section.

They keep it for all the lawnmowing crews with trailers filling up equipment.

 

[pcmeiners]

Full price 42.59, discounted 32.38....for a quart of oil

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DJ4FKAO/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Ya, but you save 10.31

......thank all the stupid people in the world for our present prices and devaluation of your savings.

 

[WisJim]

No, it's for 6 qts.

 

[Walkers]

They keep it for all the lawnmowing crews with trailers filling up equipment.

okay, that makes sense now. I just couldn't figure out why they would sell Non Detergent oil, I hadn't thought about the 8.2 billion lawn mowers being towed around every day.

 

[cherrybomb]

Amsoil

 

[fatfillup]

As others have said, 30w ND oil should be fine. Its also what we use in pressure washer pumps. We rarely have crankcase issues as long as oil is in the pump.

The reason to use ND instead of detergent oil is the latter foams too much and I suppose affects lubrication, or so I have been told.

Good luck.

 

[dnschmidt]

Full price 42.59, discounted 32.38....for a quart of oil

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DJ4FKAO/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Ya, but you save 10.31

......thank all the stupid people in the world for our present prices and devaluation of your savings.

Reading is fundamental.

 

[pcmeiners]

Very true. In my case it was not comprehension, but a failure to READ the f*ing details at all

 

[malibu101]

I bought a gallon of Mobil Rarus 427 a few years ago when I got my Champion. Still have enough left for a change and I don't remember what it cost then, or know what it costs nowadays.

Just throwing out another option to check out.

 

[redmondjp]

Everybody here recommending conventional 30W non-detergent oil must be living in warm climates. My box-store 3.3HP Ingersoll-Rand twin piston pump single stage really struggled to start on that oil when the ambient temperature was below 45 deg. F. I would recommend a synthetic compressor oil if the unit has to start in those conditions.

Two different businesses that I worked at, which had big 2-stage industrial piston pump compressors kept outside, both had cold-weather starting issues. We would have to go out with heat guns and warm up the compressor crankcase in order to keep the units from tripping circuit breakers, for the first start of the day.

 

[marinusdees]

As others have said, 30w ND oil should be fine. Its also what we use in pressure washer pumps. We rarely have crankcase issues as long as oil is in the pump.

The reason to use ND instead of detergent oil is the latter foams too much and I suppose affects lubrication, or so I have been told.

Good luck.

I was told that the reason for ND oil is you don't want the oil to pick up the contaminants, you want them to settle in the crankcase. If in suspension, they add to wear. And, since there are no combustion products, there is much less contamination.

 

[fatfillup]

I was told that the reason for ND oil is you don't want the oil to pick up the contaminants, you want them to settle in the crankcase. If in suspension, they add to wear. And, since there are no combustion products, there is much less contamination.

Sounds reasonable. I will say in pressure washers, I have so few problems with the crankcase end of the pump, that it just doesn't matter as long as you have oil in them. Back in the 90's, 15w-40 diesel Rotella oil was used by many of my customers in everything and we didn't see crank end failures. Note, these were commercial pumps that spun about 1700 RPM

 

[darkzero]

I was told that the reason for ND oil is you don't want the oil to pick up the contaminants, you want them to settle in the crankcase. If in suspension, they add to wear. And, since there are no combustion products, there is much less contamination.

Yep, with detergent oil, impurities are suspended in the oil & get filtered out with a filter. So in general, no oil filter, run non detergent. If there is an oil filtration system, run detergent.

I was told that back in the day not all automobile engines ran oil filters (some were offered as add ons) so they ran ND. I'm not familiar with old cars, must have been very old, if true I wonder what era?

 

[BarrelRoll]

Chevron Cetus HiPerSyn is what I normally sell for compressors. It for sure crosses over with SullAir lube and an older IR spec.

Ive never heard of using 30wt. I know IR/Doosan approved of Mobil ATF, their special old wasn't working well in the cold.

You must be thinking rotary screw compressor oil. The compressor shop I worked at used iso32 turbine oil in rotary screw machines. You did see some machines with hydraulic oil in them so I could see ATF working in a pinch. The IR long life rotary screw oil stinks though is required for an IR service contract/ warranty. Suliar had lifetime oil that would stay clear, all you did was top it off and change filters. We run Atlas Copco rotoextend here for some reason, non of our crapcos are under warranty any more.

Everybody here recommending conventional 30W non-detergent oil must be living in warm climates. My box-store 3.3HP Ingersoll-Rand twin piston pump single stage really struggled to start on that oil when the ambient temperature was below 45 deg. F. I would recommend a synthetic compressor oil if the unit has to start in those conditions.

Two different businesses that I worked at, which had big 2-stage industrial piston pump compressors kept outside, both had cold-weather starting issues. We would have to go out with heat guns and warm up the compressor crankcase in order to keep the units from tripping circuit breakers, for the first start of the day.

I was servicing compressors in Colorado. We didn't see a ton of below 10 degrees though we did see below 0 on occasion and never had calls for starting issues because of oil. Plenty of shops had their compressors outside and didn't run 24-7/ shut them off at night.

 

[marinusdees]

Yep, with detergent oil, impurities are suspended in the oil & get filtered out with a filter. So in general, no oil filter, run non detergent. If there is an oil filtration system, run detergent.

I was told that back in the day not all automobile engines ran oil filters (some were offered as add ons) so they ran ND. I'm not familiar with old cars, must have been very old, if true I wonder what era?

I may be wrong, but seems to me 1955 Chevys had an add on oil filter as an option. It was a separate canister, not on the block.

 

[unslow1]

I may be wrong, but seems to me 1955 Chevys had an add on oil filter as an option. It was a separate canister, not on the block.

I was going to say they were optional into the fifties but you already covered that.

 

[darkzero]

Interesting, I was thinking up until the 40s, didn't expect into the 50s.

 

[dscheidt]

Interesting, I was thinking up until the 40s, didn't expect into the 50s.

Purolator invented the full flow oil filter during WWII. It got used in good new designs after the war, but there were lots of pre-war designs still around. Chevrolet used the straight six stove bolt engine, originally developed in the 20s, as their only engine after the war (other GM divisions had their own engines, also mostly pre-war designs) until the small block came out in the mid 50s. It's notable for not having a fully pressurized oiling system, rods are splash lubricated. Sometime in the 50s, it got fully pressurized oil, and rod bearings that are modern shells, instead of babbit cast integral with rods.

Also, of course, cars were just plain **** at this point, and rarely died because the engine wore out from dirty oil, they died because the oil got burned, leaked out, or something else broke. So the lack of engine oil filtering wasn't a terribly big problem, yet.

 

[Walkers]

Amsoil

Amsoil is a detergent oil, you want non detergent in applications that do not have filters. This is so the **** in the oil settles to the bottom, where the detergents job is to keep it in the stream, so the filter can grab it.

 

[Sumboodie]

You must be thinking rotary screw compressor oil. The compressor shop I worked at used iso32 turbine oil in rotary screw machines. You did see some machines with hydraulic oil in them so I could see ATF working in a pinch. The IR long life rotary screw oil stinks though is required for an IR service contract/ warranty. Suliar had lifetime oil that would stay clear, all you did was top it off and change filters. We run Atlas Copco rotoextend here for some reason, non of our crapcos are under warranty any more.



I was servicing compressors in Colorado. We didn't see a ton of below 10 degrees though we did see below 0 on occasion and never had calls for starting issues because of oil. Plenty of shops had their compressors outside and didn't run 24-7/ shut them off at night.

Seems like it was fine for piston compressors too, but I'm maybe misremembering.

We spec most oils for stuff working outside at least -50*, but it's colder than usual here.

Only been above freezing a couple days so far this spring.