Oiling an "oilless" compressor?

[SecondMonkey]

I have a few high volume 12v "oilless" air compressors that are simply a good chinese copy of a more expensive Viair unit.

I just took the head off just to see how it looked inside - and I was surprised to find oil. The compressor is simply a small aluminum piston with a steel sleeve and some kind of plastic ring. (teflon?)

Something I've learned over the years is that there is no such thing as good oil in China. So if I was to wipe the cylinder clean and replace it with some kind of synthetic oil - what would I use? There is no oil reservoir, just a little lube in the chamber. Should I use normal compressor oil or maybe something more sticky - like gear oil?

 

[XS650]

Can you find out what Viair uses?

 

[SecondMonkey]

Originally Posted By: XS650
Can you find out what Viair uses?


Not really...they're all supposed to be "oilless", so the factory lubrication "never" needs to be changed. I don't know, the Viair units might be completely oil free.

 

[kd5byb]

I wouldn't oil it.

I've got an oiless compressor (a Coleman, prob made in China) and one of the blessings of it is that there is no oil in the air coming out of it becuase there is no oil in the compressor!

thanks,
b

 

[SecondMonkey]

Originally Posted By: kd5byb
I wouldn't oil it.

I've got an oiless compressor (a Coleman, prob made in China) and one of the blessings of it is that there is no oil in the air coming out of it becuase there is no oil in the compressor!

thanks,
b


The thing is, it's already oiled. So it's not a truely "oilless" compressor. I have no idea what kind of oil they used though, but I'm sure some sort of synthetic would be better.

 

[tom slick]

are you saying that there was oil on top of the piston? or that it has a crankcase full of oil?

If it just has oil on the piston then clean it off and leave it dry. it was probably put there for rust prevention during shipping.

 

[hi-miler]

I'll believe the oil was there for rust prevention before I'll believe it was there for any other reason. Just replaced the piston in a Dewalt compressor, found no oil.
Just an opinion.
Steve

 

[BuickGN]

One of the problems I found back when I was 17 and working on oiless air compressors is when used in paint shops and places with lots of dust in the air, they wear out very quickly. I would think oil would cause dirt to stick and increase wear.