Air Venturi Compressor - First Oil Change and Insights

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NL-Law

NL-Law

Member
Nov 11, 2017
159
10
Newfoundland, Canada
A quick PSA for those of you who have an Air Venturi compressor.

After approximately 20 hours use, I did the required first oil/air-filter change. While the Air Filter was just like new, the oil was completely spent. In 20 hours, the compressor turned high quality synthetic 5w40, (Penzoil Platinum Synthetic) into this green sludge:


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I also added this simple vibration hour-meter to keep track of the future changes. You can pick these up on Amazon for $20 and they work perfectly. 


3f59e65042b70cc8d9e998257cccf212.jpg
 


Given the oil breakdown, I might continue doing it at 20-30 hours instead of the recommended 50 hours. For those of you who are wondering, my Air Venturi compressor is still running like a champ and I absolutely love it. Highly recommend this great product
 
Hey NL law, thanks. I have one also since april. After i set it up, i put in regular compressor oil and ran it filling my tanks for about 5-6 hours and i changed the oil to a synthetic compressor oil. The reason i changed the oil early was because the compressor comes shipped with crappy oil inside to keep the inner parts lubed and free from rust. So i wanted to break it in and also get rid of that cruddy storage oil it came with. My oil also came out some weird shade of blue and smelled funny. I am going to change my oil every 10 hours or so. It is a big investment and worth the cost and trouble in my opinion. Good luck with it. Im planning on getting a bigger CF air tank in the near future.
 
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"intenseaty22"Glad your compressor is working out great. I did not have the same luck with their booster, so was scared of the compressor. 
Thanks for the clock tip. Buying one of those in T-1.
So, oil change is recommended at Q 50, and it looks like sludge after 20, would someone consider doing it Q 15 hours or so?
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Likely a good idea. After the initial fill, you can get 2 fills out of a standard Quart oil bottle. No need to mess with the air filter that often though, as it has no appreciable wear in only 25 hours. (Maybe inspect it every 2-3 oil changes.)
 
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NL-Law, thanks for the insight. I just got myself one for Xmas and love it. I was surprised the oil dirtied so fast. I've topped off two SCBA's and two steel 440cuft cylinders. As cheap as oil is I'm going to change mine more than necessary probably. The vibration run meter is a great idea, never heard of one till now. I'll be ordering one of those today, thanks for the tip. Now that I have everything full I probably won't have to run mine for a while. Before having a booster or compressor I wanted the extra storage but know I'm thinking about selling one of my steel cylinders since the air is not an issue.
Jimmy
 
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Mine had an extended run of 2hrs 35 minutes with a ambient temp of 70 degrees. I was running mine in a storage building by an open door. My starting pressure was 3050 and I stopped at 4500#. Curios myself what the critical temperature range is. BTW, I was filling a 440 steel cylinder if your wondering about the long run..

1:25pm 113degrees 3050
1:55 143
2:30 152
3:15 172
3:50 181 4500
 
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Thanks Jimmy. As you may know I’m doing a project with the Tuxing that is very similar to the AV. So I’m trying to find an upper limit for my temp. I have installed a cooling system, but am still waiting on a few fittings. Should be here today. I’ve used it to fill from 3000 to 4500 and the temp. never gets over 60 C, but that’s using the 5 gallon bucket and only running for about 15 minutes. I’ll post to my project once it’s done with some stats and photos. FYI, I got one of those vibration run time meters from Amazon and it works great. 
 
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I can fill my 74 cubic-ft CF tank from 0 to 4500 psi in approximately 45-50 min. The max temperature I see is between 75-83.5 degrees Celsius. (Auto shut off is at 95 degrees but I’ve never been near that.) My garage is at a steady 20 degrees C.

I run Prestone Coolant instead of water. (No real reason, just had lots on hand.)

Never noticed any real chance in the oil level with my usage. 

My compressor is inside a cabinet and I run it with the cabinet doors open. (Fairly good airflow around it, but not as good as on an open floor.) I suspect operated near an open door with better airflow would keep it under 75 degrees permanently. 
 
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Centercut, I've checked the oil level and can't tell that's it's used any. I did get the vibration hour meter ordered today looking forward to trying it out. I'm still going to document every detail on the fills, you never know if it ever needs any repairs the manufacturer might really dig that someone keeps records.
NL-Law, I spoke to a rep at AV and he said we can use a 50/50, then he said a 60/40, water to antifreeze mixture. He did say to flush it out occasionally. Maybe just a winter time recommendation.
NLaw, when you inspected the filter was it wet, discolored or still look good?
jk
 
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"jking"Centercut, I've checked the oil level and can't tell that's it's used any. I did get the vibration hour meter ordered today looking forward to trying it out. I'm still going to document every detail on the fills, you never know if it ever needs any repairs the manufacturer might really dig that someone keeps records.
NL-Law, I spoke to a rep at AV and he said we can use a 50/50, then he said a 60/40, water to antifreeze mixture. He did say to flush it out occasionally. Maybe just a winter time recommendation.
NLaw, when you inspected the filter was it wet, discolored or still look good?
jk
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Hi

I used the pre-mixed Prestone Coolant to ensure I had a good Water/Coolant mixture. 

The filter was still in 98%+ condition. Maybe some slight yellowing, but certainly not wet, oil-soaked or anything like that. While I changed it, it definitely didn’t need to be changed. 

 
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