economical compressor oil for yong heng

[Spin]

     I have always used Royal Purple oil in my compressor but what would make a less expensive yet serviceable alternative?

[mobilehomer]

     I have always used Royal Purple oil in my compressor but what would make a less expensive yet serviceable alternative?

You will get tons of varying answers. I use O'Reilly compressor oil. Good oil, not expensive.

[TorqueMaster]

I'm genetically frugal -- researched this a while back.   The mfgr recommended oil is iso 46 hydraulic oil.  Most "experts" recommend iso 100-150 non-detergent full synthetic compressor oil.  Some prefer high pressure compressor oil, as would be used in scuba compressors.  Draw the line where you want...  I've used the Kobalt and the Flexzilla, but will probably go to with Sanborn when those are used up.

Between 46 and 150 iso, here's the ones I found that are inexpensive, full synthetic:

Royal Purple  Synfilm Recip iso 100 Oreilly's/Autozone $22 qt (purple color makes it hard to tell when it is dirty)
Lowes Kobalt iso 100 $9/ half quart (watch the bottles because there is also "synthetic blend")
Napa Flexzilla synthetic compressor oil $15 qt iso 100

Then 3 that appear to be the same, iso 68, marketed under different house names:
Menards Sanborn full synthetic non detergent compressor oil $10 qt
HD Husky full synthetic non detergent compressor oil $8 1/2qt
Tractor Supply Powermate PX full synthetic compressor oil $18 qt

[3crows]

The (my) concern with the "cheap" compressor oils is that they are designed for low pressure compressors. I ran my YH at first on Mobil Jet II and saw no problem and the oil stayed crystal clear but when I got some Seco 500 I switched over and that oil also stays crystal clear thus far. There is also Mobil Rarus which is a high pressure compressor oil.

[avator]

This is what I use.... and always will.

https://www.pyramydair.com/product/air-venturi-4500-compressor-oil-16-oz?a=8639

[Airnut]

This is what I use.... and always will.

https://www.pyramydair.com/product/air-venturi-4500-compressor-oil-16-oz?a=8639

X1

[JimD]

I am provably cheap.  Each of my 5 PCPs, for instance, were less than $500.  I haven't spent $300 on a scope yet.  But I do not go cheap on oil for my cars or my YH.  To risk even a $300 compressor on cheap oil just doesn't make sense to me.  I use Nuvair oil in mine which certainly is not cheap but the YH seems to like it. 

[jmohme]

Royal Purple  Synfilm Recip iso 100 Oreilly's/Autozone $22 qt (purple color makes it hard to tell when it is dirty)

Interesting comment. The problem is that if you are waiting until it looks dirty to change it, you are probably waiting to long. It isn't like these compressors have an oil filter to catch the big abrasive stuff.

I use Royal Purple in mine, because A: it is a good oil, and B: because the color is easier to see in the sight glass.

As for oil change intervals go, during times when I shoot every day. I will change it once a month, and sometimes sooner when it is extremely humid. The compressor is using quarts of expensive oil every change. I spend more a month on coffee that I do on compressor oil.

[TorqueMaster]

I forgot about the Air Venturi oil.
It doesn't claim full synthetic, one answered question says it's a blend.  iso 100, $10 per half quart.  It's intended for a very similar compressor, so it's probably fine......

The dark color of Royal Purple and not seeing when it gets dirty a was common comment about the product.  I haven't used it.
The color does make me less likely to choose it -- if something is burning or contaminating the oil, it would be much noticed later than in a clear-ish oil. 

It's interesting to hear all these ph-oil-osophies.

[sicumj]

The expensive high pressure compressor oil is for air supplied systems and is very expensive and not as good a lubricant as the midpriced oils.  I too use Royal Purple finding that oil not that pricey and works very well.  What ever you decide stay with a synthetic and change it when it starts to discolor.

[elguapo99]

I use very expensive Mobil Rarus 827 extreme pressure compressor oil. My YH is 6 years old without a rebuild and is used exclusively to fill my three SCBA tanks. I see it as a pay me now or pay me later scenario.

[3crows]

True, my YH is new and I do not have much time on it so that is a consideration. But, I keep hearing about dirty oil and thus far I have not seen the oil get dark or dirty or change color from crystal clear in any way. The off color oil that is reported, is this not due to the oil itself combusting and carbonizing and then turning the oil dark?

[jmohme]

I use very expensive Mobil Rarus 827 extreme pressure compressor oil. My YH is 6 years old without a rebuild and is used exclusively to fill my three SCBA tanks. I see it as a pay me now or pay me later scenario.

Exactly!!!
Use a quality oil, and change it often. Don't wait for it to change colors, just keep clean oil in it and these compressors will last a long time.

[Hoosier Daddy]

I use AW46 per the factory recommendations.
 

[Trucker3573]

You don’t have to change it much. It doesn’t take a lot. If it were me I would stick to what I know is quality

[Madd Hatter]

Mobile 1 high mileage 10-40 full synthetic. Change it when it starts to discolor. Can't really say if it's good oil for a compressor as I only used it for around 6 months before it got replaced with a shoebox f10. It's just been sitting in the box it was shipped to me in for the last 3 years.

[Blacktalon6]

I go to harbor freight and just use the air compressor oil the have. I have used it for a few years and it works fine. When I see it getting dark in the sight glass I change it.

[avator]

NT

[Fate]

My Yong Heng has only seen three years of use filling the two PCPs I have... although they do account for over 15,000 pellets between them, so it has seen plenty of normal use. I'm still using the same fluid I started out using. I changed the oil twice the first year when I "thought" it may have changed color, and because of all the advice on the internet. Truth is however, the oil is always beautiful in the sight glass. I think the initial perceived change in color was merely due to washing out the old OEM oil and a new machine getting used to being used for the first time. I haven't changed the oil in more than a year and it's still as new-looking as ever. Comparing fresh to the bottle of "old, used" oil (I keep all old oil for reference) the difference is little. No oil level change has ever occurred.

This is my first HP compressor. But it's far from my first experiences with extreme performance hydraulic oil. So when it came time to choose an oil for the YH I went to an oil I had little doubt would handle it, despite all the sky will fall internet wisdom. I changed the OEM oil, ran the compressor a little, then changed it again.

Machine has been mostly perfect for my needs since. Only failure was the meter blew after a couple years but that turned into a blessing because the replacement was a much better oil-filled gauge whose needle didn't have to always be interpolated. Filling to a specific pressure was a joke. The new meter is predictable and stable. The temperature is predictable, inferring frictional and operational conditions are stable, to me.

My setup is the standard sealed 5 gallon water container filled with distilled water with a wetting conditioner, an upgraded pump, the stock oil/water filter, and a fan run straight from a fuse panel outlet. The YH rarely gets over 40-some degrees with a fill, although it did get over 60* once when I forgot to plug the pump in. I worried a lot but nothing changed I could tell. Due, again, to all the fanaticism surrounding air filtering I got the big multi-element filter as well as this granule and that to eliminate the evils in the air. I stopped using it because it overused the compressor filling its volume and showed zero evidence the fancy filter had caught any evil the OEM little filter couldn't easily handle. When my Synrod's poppet STB this month a teardown revealed zero evidence of moisture/corrosion.

I know it's just a matter of time for all things. This one is no different. All I ask is for a reasonable MTBF, and at this point I've gotten that from this, relatively, cheap HPA compressor... despite my blasphemy in using a non-forum-approved oil.

I use AMSOIL Synthetic ATF oil, from a 5 gallon container left from earlier pursuits. It wasn't cheap so I kept it. It's enough for an army of Yong Hengs.

One lives long enough and does enough things they get used to betting on their experiences over "common knowledge" ... despite being all to often in contention with that "knowledge."