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Compresser Goop?

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Beemie

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I have a semi-portable, stacked (over/under) twin tank 1 1/2hp Emglo compressor hanging in the corner of the garage for blowing parts and airing up tires.
Accessing the two tank drain taps is difficult at best so they are not drained religiously. Very poor design in that respect.

The unit is very difficult to start up in the cold weather. It trips the internal 20a fuse although the compressor is rated at drawing 15a. It seems to have been that way for as long as I remember. So I did a bit of maintenance today and in draining the lower tank quite a bit of yellow mucous followed by a half cup of clear water drained out.
What is the yellow goop all about? Can that contribute to hard start up?

Also changed the oil (what little it takes....4 oz) to 0W30 Mobil 1 hoping that would help too. The manual calls for 30wt or 5w30, both noted as non-detergent. Unfortunately locating multigrade non-detergent oil isn't happening around there in this day and age. That would be why I am trying the low vis multi-grade synthetic.

Any comments would be welcome.
 
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seber

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The yellow goop is oxidized oil from blowby. It is normal. So is the high startup current.Compressor oil is available from industrial suppliers. You may have to order it by mail but it is important if you want the pump to live a long life.
 
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crf450x

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You can walk into o Reillys and buy compressor oil. Most napas too. It's super easy to find. The o Reillys here even stocks royal purple compressor oil.
 
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Beemie

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Thanks for the input guys.

So the yellow slime is not out of the ordinary; good to know.
I don't remember it being like this but then again it's been a while in the making.

All compressor oils I've found in searching lately are 30 weight and I need it to run in the winter now; 30 weight won't work in this machine in the winter based on experience. Maybe it's something about the design but the manual does say to lower the winter viscosity with a multi-grade when it's cold.

I'll see in the morning how the Mobil 1 does.

As for longevity, my sales receipt is dated 1988 and except for when hew the oils have been automotive oil. Still on the original piston and rings. Sorry for dispelling conventional wisdom.
 
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Citation

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I've got a similar Emglo/Dewalt compressor. In the winter I have trouble getting it going in my garage. The issue is two part. First, if you check reviews for the Emglo/Dewalt on Amazon you will see a number of people complain about cold starts. Yes, the compressor does pull some current went starting in the cold. However, in my case the other part is my garage wiring. I took the compressor over to a friend's shop and it had no trouble with cold starts. The difference is his wiring is new. My garage is wired to the house in a very questionable way. To get an idea, I measured the voltage in the plug when just before and during compressor start. Just before it was something like 123V. During the cold start it dropped to something like 98V. That's a huge drop. As the line voltage drops the motor torque drops while the motor starts to over heat (hence the breaker in the pump trips). I'm not sure if my compressor would start on very cold day even if the wiring was good but I can certainly say the poor wiring doesn't help (based on trying the compressor at my friend's shop).

So, is the wiring in your shop good?
 
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Lelandwelds

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Dont use auto oil. Compressor oil is at NAPA or from this thing called "internet". If drains are hard to reach, relocate them. That yellow slime is not normal.

An AR15 will run dry or on Vagisil. They work better with Break Free, etc.
 
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Beemie

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Citation said:
So, is the wiring in your shop good?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the write up (mostly omitted to shorten up this post).

It's a residential garage. House breaker never tripped, just the compressor's.

Thanks for the hint about wiring. I am not sure if it's wired to the main panel about 100 feet away or the subpanel about 40 feet away. It may be the subpanel (based on chicken scratching on the breaker markings) in which case there would not be a strain on the current. Need to double check but the feed can be moved to the closeby subpanel if needed.

Also have considered moving the compressor to the basement where it is warm and much closer to the main panel. The drawback is that it's a crudely noisey beast though. It would probably need a sound reducing enclosure to keep the peace.

Odd how it's fine down to about 45 degrees F.
Just the oil resistance causes the extra strain?

How did you check the line voltage?
 
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Beemie

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Lelandwelds said:
If drains are hard to reach, relocate them.
Click to expand...

The stacked tanks are very close together and the top drain is pretty well jammed in the small space and facing the cylinder so the access is a ****** and adding piping in there would be quite a challenge if at all.The bottom tank is very close to the support shelf so piping that thing would mean building an elevated base.

It would be more worthwhile to replace the whole thing rather than put money into trying to pipe the drains and pay for therapy so it's going to have to run as is until one of us bites the dust. It has run for 29 years now.
 
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Beemie

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I overlooked the fact that the outlet is controlled by three-way switches in rooms 25 feet apart. That adds significantly to the effective wire run for voltage drop.

That being said, 35 degrees this morning and the new 0W30 synthetic oil and it started right up without hesitation and seemed to recycle faster.

Looks like the starting problem was the 30 weight oil.

I should have known based on the vintage Britbike that uses 20W50 oil and can not be kicked over when it's below 50 degrees F.
 
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apollo11

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Beemie said:
You'd have to ask LeLandWelds.
I've dismissed the warning.

Mobil 1 made my compressor work when it NEVER did before in the cold.
Click to expand...
That was exactly the same reason I started using it, hard startup.
It made a world of difference. :thumbup:
I don't see how it could hurt anything.
 
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seber

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"As for longevity, my sales receipt is dated 1988 and except for when hew the oils have been automotive oil. Still on the original piston and rings. Sorry for dispelling conventional wisdom. "

Compressor companies don't make that recommendation without reason. Compressors do not have filters. Detergents suspend dirt and shavings in the oil instead of letting it fall out and be removed when changing the oil. That dirt just keeps recirculating and doing damage. Detergents also form carbon deposits when heated in the upper cylinder. That can eventually damage your valve system. Finally, since there is no ignition the water that is absorbed by the detergent is not expelled through heating and venting.
 
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apollo11

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well, one of my compressors is 30+ years old and was run 24/7 for 20 years.
Still works fine
Wanna know what it has run for all those years?








hint: it ends in 1 :thumbup:
 
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BigSteve63

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Most of the compressors I see anymore are specced for a 20-30 weight non-detergent compressor oil OR synthetic engine oil in 50w30 to 10w30. I have a new compressor that I broke in on dino oil, then switched to Mobil 1 - I swear it runs smoother and quieter.

I have access to all of the Mobil compressor fluids - that being said, Mobil 1 does a great job and is more accessible in smaller package size. Just my two cents...
 
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