Oil cooler

[Shox Dr]

Has anyone fitted an oil cooler to a compressor. I have a Clarke SE18C200, and it can get worked hard. so much so spitting on it turns to vapour on contact. I have a large 20" fan blowing over the pump but it still gets very very hot, even in winter, this weather is killing it.

So I was thinking about fitting an oil cooler, what do peeps think about this, would it make any difference temp wise.

 

[rtbcomp]

I wondered about doing something similar to one of my compressors, more to heat my hot water tank.

I was thinking along the lines of a pair of concentric pipes to replace the dipstick with a steering pump driven by running the pulley on the back of the belt. One pipe sucks oil out, the other returns it.

 

[brightspark]

i wouldnt think it will make much difrence as its the cylinders and the head that are generating the heat. it must be designed to run at a high temperature . u can fry an egg on mine when in constant use and ive had it 30 years . if it got 2 hot it would sieze up . nice idea like but a good blower on the fins is the best option

 

[wyn]

It could do...i have two radiators off scrapped HPC screw compressors..the majority of the radiator is for cooling the oil and a small section on the end for cooling the air.

 

[tigler]

I doubt it's an issue unless the user manual specifies a duty cycle.

 

[pedrobedro]

If it's only a splash system what going to circulate it round the cooler ? The cylinders will get hot but the oil is only to lubricate the bottom end not cool the cylinder

 

[penfold]

If you can get a read of the oil temp does it go over 90 degrees C(one of those infrared laser non-contact thermometers off Ebay for a tenner; I have one and it's ace!)? If not it's probably perfectly happy; compressor lube oil is meant to get up to 80-90 degrees, it needs to in order to drive off moisture.

 

[Shox Dr]

Good idea, I have one for checking the temo on my RC Motor

 

[the snooper]

an oil cooler wont really do anything worth the effort as the piston and cylinder is where most heat is generated especially the outlet valve just like putting your finger over the end of a bike pump it gets hot when you pump the bike pump faster so a waste of time get a better fan on it easier and more effective

 

[Shox Dr]

Just a thought. Never mind

 

[superls]

what ive seen, granted it was on a little 2 stroke nitro engine in an rc boat but same principle, the engine was getting incredibly hot, so what he did was turn the fins off the cylinder and coil some 3/8" (i think, maybe 1/2") copper tube arond it, with heat transfer compound between the tubes and the cylinder, and pumped water through it, kept it considerably cooler.

im not too sure if this could be implimented on a compressor, is it a twin piston setup?

 

[Shox Dr]

Single

 

[superls]

even easier then, something worth looking into i guess?

 

[superls]

you could build a water 'jacket' around it out of aluminium or similar

 

[the snooper]

coiled copper pipe sounds like a very good idea copper has very god heat transfer properties you would nee a water pump car type radiator and a fan but you would have to make sure it was efficient or you could make the problem worse