air compressor oil weight

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own a Craftsman Professional 150psi, 6hp, 25 gallon air compressor, I lost the owners manual, would the right oil weight be straight 20W ?

thanks
 
Most use straight 30w, 20w has a tendency to foam more in these splash lubed units. Non automotive compressor oil is best and usually recommended, compressors don't need any oil add pack.

Home Depot,HF, etc has it for cheap.
 
For that horsepower I would recommend an ISO 68 compressor oil of about 10 cSt@100C, or SAE 30 weight.

Scheffer's #158 or Amsoil PCJ come to mind.
 
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I guess I have the following question...is this oil for the compressor or the engine powering the compressor (you didn't state if it was electric or gasoline-powered).

If its what I'm thinking it is (a big vertical electric), its likely a clone of a Campbell-Hausefield. I have a similar unit, and from what I can remember (and what we run in the compressor) is a synthetic 10w30 (we used/use Mobil 1). That compressor has a LOT of hours on it running high volume-demanding air tools.

I would think you should be able to poke in the model of the Craftsman and find the owner's manual on-line? Might search Campbell-Hausefield or even Tractor Supply Company's "Farm Hand" (same thing as the CH, different color) for a manual to see if it resembles the Craftsman.
 
Originally Posted By: cmf
Most recommend SAE 30W non-detergent "compressor" oil.


I have two compressors that spec this. Problem was that when temps got into the 30's and below, they had a heck of a time turning over and the oil flowed like jello.

I drained and put in Mobil 0W-20 and have had no issues since in cold weather.
 
Originally Posted By: Hootbro
Originally Posted By: cmf
Most recommend SAE 30W non-detergent "compressor" oil.


I have two compressors that spec this. Problem was that when temps got into the 30's and below, they had a heck of a time turning over and the oil flowed like jello.

I drained and put in Mobil 0W-20 and have had no issues since in cold weather.




I have (or should say, "had") the same problem with a direct-drive pancake compressor. It would not even start up unloaded because the oil was too thick at cold temps. I changed it out (since I have nothing invested in it, and wanted to see what happened) for 0w20 Mobil 1. It not only starts up at cold temps without a problem, it actually recovers faster than before the OCI.

I've put quite a bit of time on it (its my "primary" compressor at my residence, my big compressor is located at my parents), and it seems to be working just fine.
 
My Coleman compressor is the size of yours and I use Lowes semi synthetic compressor oil. My compressor gets used a lot have had no issues with it. 8 years old.
 
Originally Posted By: deeter16317
I guess I have the following question...is this oil for the compressor or the engine powering the compressor (you didn't state if it was electric or gasoline-powered).

If its what I'm thinking it is (a big vertical electric), its likely a clone of a Campbell-Hausefield. I have a similar unit, and from what I can remember (and what we run in the compressor) is a synthetic 10w30 (we used/use Mobil 1). That compressor has a LOT of hours on it running high volume-demanding air tools.

I would think you should be able to poke in the model of the Craftsman and find the owner's manual on-line? Might search Campbell-Hausefield or even Tractor Supply Company's "Farm Hand" (same thing as the CH, different color) for a manual to see if it resembles the Craftsman.


yes, for the engine powering the compressor and it's electrical
 
Tractor Supply has Ingersoll Rand branded 20W-40 weight full synthetic that, according to their compressor expert, is specifically formulated for that application. It's not cheap, but everything I've used it in, including a pressure washer pump that sees quite a bit of use, seems to work fine with it. On the last the pressure washer oil change, with somewhere around 250 hours on it, the stuff that came out didn't look any different than the new oil that went in. It probably could have gone at least another 250 hours without any problem. The link:
http://www.ingersollrandproducts.com/IS/Product.aspx-am_en-34358
 
I was once in Honduras on missions building houses. We had a gas powered compressor that ran all day. The compressor oil was noticed to be low, so we added 2-stroke oil to it. Ran at least the rest if the week, and I assume a normal life.

Larry
 
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