# What is the proper oil for a Ridid air compressor?



## dakzaag (Jan 6, 2009)

I picked a Rigid aluminum air compressor out of the trash the other day. The owner said it wouldn't start and he couldn't find his reciept to take it back so he was just throwing it away. 

*Ridgid OL50135AL Aluminum Twin Stack Portable Air Compressor *

I figured it was worth a shot so I brought it home. It is about a year old and has not worked for about 9 months and when it was working the guy only used it a little bit. 

The oil was low and that allowed the piston to freeze up at the shaft. (pretty simple piston motor) I pulled the head and took the piston out and sanded off a little of the bearing surfaces with emery cloth and put it back together. 

It runs great and builds pressure just fine. I put 30 W oil in the gear box because that is what I had on hand. Does anyone know if there is a specific oil for these compressors?

I think I scored a decent compressor out of the deal, but we shall see how durable it is. I don't use a compressor much, but this will be a great addition to my shop and be handy in the field when I need it. 

This is a picture of the basic model I picked up, mine of course is oil lubed and also the color is silver. 










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## BACKWOODS (Sep 10, 2007)

I have always used 30W Non Detergent oil in my compressors.
Google the model and you most likely can find the owners manual online.
Or go to HD and buy some Rigid Compressor Oil


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## mikeswoods (Oct 11, 2008)

I use synthetic compressor oil---if your compressor is subject to freezing weather --the standard oil gets to thick for the motor to turn over.


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## Andrew M. (May 25, 2008)

Shell Rotella T6 syn. diesel, 15w-40.. $20/gal Walmart, PepBoys. A/C oil that is syn. is way over priced . That is what I use in all my A/C's and my 2 MC's too. The best out there, that use it in race cars and MC's. I use it as a oil in tool joints, actually anywhere. . Google it if you want. The detergent is a non issue w, diesel rated oils. and far superior in anti-shear and low temp performance. Regular ND 30w is a very basic oil and not good in Low temps. Works well in pressure washer pumps as it does not foam. Have 20 year old DeVilbiss 80gal/3 stage in shop and Hitachi EC12, and a $2k specialized pure air copeland A/C too , that is from 1988, all run like new. . The 6T is the latest version from Shell. The non diesel syn. formulas are totally different, do not use them.


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## Anti-wingnut (Mar 12, 2009)

BITD we ran 30W non detergent motor oil in our fleet of compressors, which ran from 1 1/2 HP strokers to 120 HP three-phase screw compressors. The use of 30W non detergent motor oil was confirmed to us by IR and Quincy factory mechanics.

But that was a long time ago, and oil has changed some, especially with the advent of synthetic oils. Andrew M may very well be correct, but the addition of detergents adds nothing to the characteristics of a oil which would help a compressor. I would follow the advice of the other posters and: 

1) Use a oil specific to compressors
2) Use a 30W non detergent oil, either a standard or synthetic formula

I know of no reason to use a high detergent oil in a compressor, and many reasons to avoid its use


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## Andrew M. (May 25, 2008)

You are correct, no need for detergents but in the diesel formula they are different as well as the different friction modifiers that cause clutch slippage in wet cluches in motorcycle transmissions esp. in the "green gas saving oils" are a disaster in MC's. Mobil 1 has been ruined by this EPA standard. The 6T Rotella meets the strictest JASCO rating spec'ed by Honda. This is the most severe service std. Google the Rotella to see the story. 
My friend uses it in his Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche twin turbo, GT40...he races as well
IR etc. do not make their own oil and it is way over priced, 4 times the cost of 6T. Hitachi specs. syn. diesel 15-40, NOT 30w ND. BTW, right on the A/C. I feel, as an ex mechanic and looking at the internals of my EC12, after all these years , no evidence of any scuffing or wear using the Rotella even in the older less desirable formulas. I never used ND30w. The detergent foaming issue simply does not exist, no evidence in the glass of my 2stage A/C. I would not use car gas saving oil in anything actually.


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## Tom Struble (Mar 2, 2007)

does your friend need another friend?:shifty:


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## Anti-wingnut (Mar 12, 2009)

Andrew M. said:


> You are correct, no need for detergents but in the diesel formula they are different as well as the different friction modifiers that cause clutch slippage in wet cluches in motorcycle transmissions esp. in the "green gas saving oils" are a disaster in MC's. Mobil 1 has been ruined by this EPA standard. The 6T Rotella meets the strictest JASCO rating spec'ed by Honda. This is the most severe service std. Google the Rotella to see the story.
> My friend uses it in his Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche twin turbo, GT40...he races as well
> IR etc. do not make their own oil and it is way over priced, 4 times the cost of 6T. Hitachi specs. syn. diesel 15-40, NOT 30w ND. BTW, right on the A/C. I feel, as an ex mechanic and looking at the internals of my EC12, after all these years , no evidence of any scuffing or wear using the Rotella even in the older less desirable formulas. I never used ND30w. The detergent foaming issue simply does not exist, no evidence in the glass of my 2stage A/C. I would not use car gas saving oil in anything actually.


Although my head is spinning with all that information, I consider myself as thoroughly convinced you are correct about something. I am heading out the door, and on the way to Pep Boys. Rotella sounds like the perfect cure for the water on my knee, arthritis, and as a possible stool softener.

That detergent sounds like it'll clean out my insides real good. 

And it doesn't sound like I need to worry about foaming too much

:clap::clap::clap:


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## dakzaag (Jan 6, 2009)

tomstruble said:


> does your friend need another friend?:shifty:


 


Friends don't let friends drive home with an empty bed...:thumbsup:

As much as I would love to introduce you, this guy is a shop-aholic and always has to have the latest tool to remodel his garage/basement/shop/office. I could not afford to lose a steady source of tools right now. 

He has absolutely no talent or skill other than being able to pull tools off the shelf at HD and pay for them. 

I have a 1000 watt inverter mounted in my truck, a bench top drill press in the shop and a small suit case full of every imaginable hand tool ever found at HD that were all given to me at some point cause he either owed me or didn't have a spot for it. :clap:

Unfortunately he hasn't heard of festool yet, but I intend to introduce them to each other soon.:whistling


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## TBFGhost (Oct 9, 2008)

CH calls for Mobil1 5w-30 or 10w-30. So I just starting running Mobil1 5w-30 in all my compressors. It works well, doesn't seem to foam up, never gets too thick. being that these things are generally splash lubricated I opted to go with the 5w-30 as I am sure it will splash around quite a bit more...lol.

Most of the time...just put a decent oil in there and you will be fine...


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## maninthesea (Nov 11, 2008)

The best oil to use in a compressor is an oil that is formulated to absorb moisture from condensation. This water is then boiled out when the machine gets hot. 
An example is mineral Shell Corena P100 for colder weather & P150 for areas where it never gets cold. The sythetic equivelent is AP100 and AP150. The military equivelent if I recall correctly is 2190TEP which is steam turbine oil(Absorbs moisture)

That said for most aplications the oils mentioned in the other posts should work just fine.
Cheers Jim


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## TBFGhost (Oct 9, 2008)

maninthesea said:


> The best oil to use in a compressor is an oil that is formulated to absorb moisture from condensation. This water is then boiled out when the machine gets hot.
> An example is mineral Shell Corena P100 for colder weather & P150 for areas where it never gets cold. The sythetic equivelent is AP100 and AP150. The military equivelent if I recall correctly is 2190TEP which is steam turbine oil(Absorbs moisture)
> 
> That said for most aplications the oils mentioned in the other posts should work just fine.
> Cheers Jim


 



If your running your small compressor enough that it get to 212* you might want to think about getting a larger compressor. I could see that oil being used in Large, shop based air compressors in an auto mech/body shop. ESP a body shop there there are blow guns, spray guns, DA sanders, impacts, etc going all day non stop....but my little compressors barly get warm to the touch if I am running them hard....maybe the cyl head gets warm but the heat is gone pretty quickly. Never noticed the rest of the compressor heating up tho.


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## maninthesea (Nov 11, 2008)

TBF you may be correct. 
The compressors I work with put out from 3000-6000psi and a LOT of heat is generated. Its the compressors worst enemy. The low pressure compressors I get asked to look at once in a while are all run by 15-30HP motors so they generate a lot of heat also.


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## TBFGhost (Oct 9, 2008)

LOL...yeah, I think we are talking about two different things there...but good to know reguardless.


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