I recently bought an italian made 100 litre 3hp air compressor for occasional spraying , blowing out filters etc.
Since new it has , when stopped manually blown a white oily substance out of the tank outlet...ie. where the pipe from left cylinder enters the reciever tank.
I then started to notice when draining the tank there was a lot of the same milky oily substance coming out!
The oil level is also dropping considerably....yet when the level in the sight glass is maybe half full I get no spitting out or oily air.
I dont think there is an oil/air seperater on my model....
Is it feasible that the oil level indicator in the sight glass is incorrect........I guess it can happen.
Any suggestions /advice most welcome.
btw, compressor is italian made v twin, direct drive!
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Go back to the firm you bought it from.
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Well , I would....only it was bought at a roadside market.
Had no reason to doubt it was new.
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you always get a milky substance when draining the tank.
As regards the oil level keep it half full then if this cuts this milkyness down.
Dont buy stuff like this from the side of the road it might not have a safety certificate for it if its a grey import and could be liable to blow you and your house up if it doesnt cut out at a pre designed safety level.
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I agree with oldman it should have a safety certificate and be tested every 12 months by an engineer licensed for the job
the question of the oil answered, put an oil /water trap on if spraying and drain it often
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All piston air compressors suffer to one degree or another from "oil carryover" getting past the piston rings into the compression space and this will end up in the reservoir unless it is filtered out before it gets there. Because the compressor inlet air contains moisture the delivery air will contain a mixture of moisture from the inlet air and "oil carryover" from the sump. Once the oil/water mixture has left the compressor it will cool down and the water will condense into small droplets and the mixture will then be in the form of an emulsion, i.e. it will appear milky. The amount of moisture will depend on the relative humidity of the air on the day in question. The amount of oil will depend on, amongst other things, the compressor duty. Once the oil is emulsified with the water the mixture at the bottom of the reservoir is likely to remain as an emulsion rather than to separate into it's constituent parts. As defender says, you need a filter between the compressor and the reservoir. Don't put it too near the compressor delivery port in case the filter doesn't like getting hot.
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L\'escargot.
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I'd forgotten I was now retired and for a while I was thinking I was still at work! For "reservoir" read "receiver" or "tank" or whatever.
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L\'escargot.
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All piston air compressors suffer to one degree or another from "oil carryover" getting past the piston rings..........
Nowadays - not all. I was suprised to see a 3hp/50l compressor the other day that had no sump - it was almost like looking at a cutaway model. Exposed crank, conrod and you could see the bottom of the piston. Wierd.
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Nowadays - not all. I was suprised to see a 3hp/50l compressor the other day that had no sump - it was almost like looking at a cutaway model. Exposed crank, conrod and you could see the bottom of the piston. Wierd.
I'm intrigued. Tell me more.
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L\'escargot.
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I'm intrigued. Tell me more.
Not much to tell really - he bought it a month or so ago and the manual (such as it was - for a different model) said about checking the oil level. He couldn't find the dipstick so ended up removing the plastic ducting for airflow and found what he said was "only half a compressor". Visible was the motor shaft with an excentric that the conrod was attached to, going up into the cylinder where the piston could be seen. I'll ask him during the week as he may have taken some piccies of it. Runs fairly quiet and he's had no problems with it AFAIK. Is this what they mean by oil-less compressors??
Martin
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Happy ending to this tale....saw the guy at the same place yesterday, told me to return "presser" whichI duly did.
Recieved brand new machine in box complete with safety cert from SIP in Leicester....working perfect!
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