Compressor oil

[mowersman]

Good evening all
I'm about to give my newly acquired Ingersoll Rand compressor a good service, but am struggling to find the right oil. The label on the crankcase specifies light compressor oil, SAE10. The lowest viscosity I can find is SAE30. Anything thinner I can find is in ISO grades for rotary and vane compressors. Could someone recommend what I could use. I'll admit, in my old one, I just chucked 10w40, but this is a rather nice compressor, so I'd like to use half decent oil.
Cheers
Andrew

 

[normspanners]

SAE 10?? hum that is thin you can use low detergent engine oil but finding 10 is going to be a pain some of the vane compressor oil can be used in either and most rotaries use a thiner oil so could be ok.
I struggled to find sae 20 but used morris's classic car oil and that is quite cheap for 5 ltrs as apposed to 'compressor oil' as it is basically the same thing .

 

[brightspark]

ive just used any motor oil I happen to have in my comp. ive just changed the oil in it after 40years. might have put semi synthetic in it 10 forty grade I think as I already had some

 

[dannyp]

chould chuck 46 hydralic oil in it ?

when you look at the forces invlved in a compressor compared to a running engine all worrying soon goes away

 

[Bill Edwards]

I'd use proper compressor oil - it's not as though it's expensive or needed in any quantity so why take the risk of using something that may be unsuitable?

 

[julianthegypsy]

I had the same problem with an old pillar drill, it specified something weird and unobtainable but it turned out that air tool oil which I believe was 22 was a perfect match.

 

[brightspark]

one of my compressor pumps of a Leyland bus fitted on the diesel engine and the oil is pressure fed of the engine . they probably do a million miles before knackered so I wouldn't wurry my other twin pump setup is topped up the same and gets hammered blasting and running all the time so I wouldn't wurry about what u put in it

 

[Turbo]

If you have any agri suppliers near you go in & ask for milking machine oil. You could also get in in a motor factors. A milking machine vacuum pump is the same as a compressor with the connections swapped round & uses the same oil.

 

[normspanners]

I think the problem of the op is it specifically says sae 10 which I think most people would agree is very thin for 'most' comp's which makes me think there is a legitimate reason for this, most use 30 or 40 grade whilst I agree with all the above^^^comments re the oils, because as with engine oil it has been proved after 6-8k it all ends up virtually the same spec anyway, but a compressor is better for its oil than an engine because there isnt as much carbon entering the oil but there IS moisture,
regular changing is the key IMO.

After all, the most critically stressed parts in a diesel engine are lubricated by diesel alone, and with the state of the diesel nowadays with the 'low sulfur' claims what the companies should say is we are putting less lubrication in your fuel, that will end up destroying pumps etc quicker. I had contemplated mixing a little diesel with the oil for my comp for very cold conditions.

Thick oil is a killer for most, especially single phase, motors, on very cold startups

Hydraulic oil comes in various grades also, some has no lub added and some has a high lub content.

 

[normspanners]

I used to have a transit owed by BNFL and they scrapped it because it was smoking BADLY I got it for scrap price when I checked it, it was the oil that was like p$$ turns out that they had to sign a stores request for engine oil but not for hyd so they would request 5 lts of castrol 'in the day' but top up the old tranny with hyd oil, quess where the castrol went HMM!!

All I did was changed the oil for real engine oil and she was fine the oil was far too thin but the bearings etc suffered no ill harm from the oil it just smoked and burnt it.
I had that van for 6yrs after, running on propane and sold it too a mate who ran it for another 3-4 the engine was fine.

 

[pedrobedro]

Does it have an oil pump or is it just a splash system ? Look for some ISO 32 oil. Non detergent oil is preferred for compressors as they let muck settle out instead of carrying it round for a filter to remove it.

 

[normspanners]

Oil viscosity is measured several ways. The three main ones that we encounter in equipment manuals are SAE, ISO, and AGMA. People are most familiar with SAE which stands for Society of Automotive Engineers. Engine oil viscosity is always measured in terms of SAE. Next we have the ISO system which stands for International Standardization Organization. The ISO scale is commonly used to measure the viscosity of industrial oils. Last but not least AGMA stands for American GearManufacturers Association. It can be confusing when you have a gear case that the manual says requires SAE 90 gear lube and one oil distributor gives you a pail that says AGMA 5 and another gives you a pail marked ISO 220. In terms of viscosity only, this is 3 ways of describing the same thing. In terms of viscosity they are equivilant. The chart below bears this out. The second dotted line goes horizontaly through ISO 220, AGMA 5, SAE 50 (engine), and SAE 90 (gear). Understanding the relationship of the viscosity scales to one another is useful but the viscosity of an oil is only part of what makes an oil a proper lubricant for a particular application. Other factors include the type of base oil and the additives with which the lubricant is formulated. Use the following chart to better understand the relationship of the viscosity measurement scales only. Please call for help to select an appropriate lubricant for your application.

If you can find rotary oil sae 10 if you look it will normally say for reciprocating machines also, ie piston