Sealey 3HP compressor, oil coming out of breather

[droopsnoot]

I have a Sealey 3HP 50L compressor, and it's recently started throwing oil out of the breather. A mate of mine suggested, and a search on here seems to agree that this might indicate wear on the rings, or maybe the bores. Does that sound like a reasonable assumption?

I bought it new in 2007 and it hasn't had a massive amount of use. Is that something I can fix, or is it basically scrap? If the latter I suspect I'll just arrange some sort of shield around it to stop oil vapour hitting the surroundings and run it until it dies. It wasn't massively expensive, it's just annoying that a cheap compressor doesn't last for ever.

 

[voipio]

Has it been overfilled with oil, by any chance? If not, then piston ring or bore wear are a likely cause. If the wear is really bad, it will start to struggle to get to pressure. If it's not had a lot of use, there might be some rusting of the bores, which might clear with a bit more use, or the piston ring(s) might be stuck in their grooves. Again, use might free them up. No guarantees, though. A bit of rag over the breather will catch most of the oil, and help give some idea of how much is being lost.

 

[tom2207]

keep an eye on it and dont leave it on all the time , as it will start to struggle and get warmer and the downwards spiral starts . Ive one doing the same but its ancient , my friend threw it away ten years ago and he had it years before that ,,,, Im just going to have to face the facts , its done . but the oily smokey smell seems to keep the mice out of the garage ,,, these days it trips the thermal cut out trying to keep up , poor old thing , maybe we all will go down the same way.

 

[droopsnoot]

Has it been overfilled with oil, by any chance? If not, then piston ring or bore wear are a likely cause. If the wear is really bad, it will start to struggle to get to pressure. If it's not had a lot of use, there might be some rusting of the bores, which might clear with a bit more use, or the piston ring(s) might be stuck in their grooves. Again, use might free them up. No guarantees, though. A bit of rag over the breather will catch most of the oil, and help give some idea of how much is being lost.

If anything, it might have been running a bit low. I noticed a lot of dust stuck to the end where the breather is, which was because of the oil mist landing on it, wiped it clean and added some oil to it. I only had a bit as I can't find my full can, so I didn't add much. It hasn't been used much over winter because, until I got a new capacitor for it, it was a real pain to start in cold weather, needing five minutes with a hot air gun so it didn't blow a fuse.

keep an eye on it and dont leave it on all the time , as it will start to struggle and get warmer and the downwards spiral starts . Ive one doing the same but its ancient , my friend threw it away ten years ago and he had it years before that ,,,, Im just going to have to face the facts , its done . but the oily smokey smell seems to keep the mice out of the garage ,,, these days it trips the thermal cut out trying to keep up , poor old thing , maybe we all will go down the same way.

I don't leave it on any time I'm not using it, and I always drain the tank when I've finished with it. I'm careful (or paranoid) about leaving electrical stuff switched on when I'm not there, so everything is off before I go home.

I'll just see how it goes for now then, maybe more use will help it, or maybe it'll kill it off. I've probably had my £142 worth out of it, though I'd prefer not to have to buy another.

 

[hermetic]

give it a good flush out with flushing oil and refill with the correct grade compressor oil. I have a Clarke that has been running like this for many many years, still going and build up to pressure quick smart! If the piston rings were a problem I would expect a long running time and a struggle to reach the cut off point, but it seems absolutely fine, just messy! they are not the most mechanically perfect kit in the world, almost built to be disposable!
Phil

 

[droopsnoot]

Cheers, I was just a bit concerned because it's only recently started doing it after all this time. I've never flushed any engines out, so I'll have a dig around and see what to use for that. I was going to change the oil for something thinner because of the starting problems, but never got around to it (or using my suction pump as there's no drain that I can see) because the capacitor seemed to sort the problem.

 

[dave h 2]

You can make an oil catch can with a bit of old shower scrunchie inside to stop the oil in place of the dipstick. Works for a while, but direct drive wear twice as fast as belt drive.

 

[not done it yet]

Why buy a whole new compressor? If everything else is good, why not just replace the pump?

 

[droopsnoot]

You can make an oil catch can with a bit of old shower scrunchie inside to stop the oil in place of the dipstick. Works for a while, but direct drive wear twice as fast as belt drive.

It doesn't have a dipstick. There's a "window" in the end of the sump to show the oil level, though it isn't all that clear.

Why buy a whole new compressor? If everything else is good, why not just replace the pump?

I'll look at that when it finally stops working - I hadn't considered that something like that would be available, at a price that made it worthwhile. Note that I'm a bit nervous when it comes to compressors, that's why I make a point of draining the tank every time it's been used to minimise the build up of moisture. No idea if it makes any difference as I know several people who will happily leave the tank "full" in case it's needed.

 

[not done it yet]

You can make an oil catch can with a bit of old shower scrunchie inside to stop the oil in place of the dipstick. Works for a while, but direct drive wear twice as fast as belt drive.

Ahh, if it is a direct drive I would likely scrap it.