How to grease Omega Turbo Charger

[Kostya]

Hi all,
I've got the Omega Turbo Charger, so far working great after ~ 7 hours.
But I am totally confused by the maintenance instructions regarding the grease.
I tried to turn it until the click, didn't hear the click, and apparently turned it too much.
When I screw out the grease cylinder it looks like this (see photo).
So, I don't know whether my compressor is over-greased or under-greased, and what to do next time I need to add the grease.
Does anyone have instructions (video?) on adding grease from scratch?

(I asked Todd, he doesn't know of such a video)

thanks!

 

[Wauzoo]

I talked to Todd back in April as I had the same question as you do. The instructions suck as there isn't any kind of click device on the grease cups and not very informative in my opinion! I asked about the red light as I was just over 6 hours and it hadn't come on. He said the 6 hour red indicating light works, but sometimes he asks the manufacture to get rid of it. He said to turn the knurled knob 1 full turn every 4 hours, not 6 and do it while the compressor is running. There is also a rubber disc with a tiny hole, I can see it in your pic, but it looks like it's sitting sideways under the grease, that sits over the grease in the grease cup. Make sure it's there when you screw the cup back on. And yes, my grease cup looked like yours, maybe about 3/4 full, and the disc was sitting above the grease when I took it off at a little over 6 hours of run time. I immediately sent Todd a text and followed his instructions. Just made sure the disc was back in place over the grease, screwed it down to approximately where the other grease cup that I didn't take off was and gave it a full turn from that point. The compressor had developed a minor squeak and it stopped after turning the grease cups which I assumed got grease into the system again. He also said to continue turning the grease cup every 4 hours until it bottomed out. Then remove, refill, burp the air out and start all over again. I found the easiest way to get in contact with Todd was to text him and when he responds, I save a copy of his text for future reference.
I also got advice from another person on this forum about greasing. He said the biggest issue with over-greasing is the last check valve failing which he says is easy to clean on Omega compressors. He said to err on the side of over-greasing if I was comfortable with cleaning the check valves, which I am. So if you feel you over-greased your Turbo Charger, remove the last check valve and look for grease. As there are 2 check valves and I never asked him what he meant by "last", I'd just check and clean both. I hope this info is helpful?

 

[Kostya]

Thanks for the information!
Few questions remain, and Todd (if you are here) - please, please create a video with instructions
1. How much grease to put when completely replacing it?
2. Where to get the grease? Other threads suggest "High Temp Grease NGLI#0", but would be great to have a link
3. where to get replacement rubber-disc if needed.
4. what are the signs of under-greased or over-greased compressor

 

[Wauzoo]

I'd suggest you text questions 1, 3 & 4 directly to Todd. His number is 704-252-3024.

Here is a link to buy the grease: https://renewablelube.com/products/bio-food-grade-e-p-grease And it states in the description: This product is used as an OEM grease for Omega air compressors. This grease is recommended by the manufacturer and will preserve your manufacturer's warranty!

 

[skohl]

Thank you for posting your info from Todd re: greasing the turbocharger. I had a supercharger for 5 years and 250 hours and now have a turbocharger for 2 years and 48 hours and have followed the guidelines in the factory info. I just went out and turned the grease knobs one full turn and will continue every 4 hours!

 

[cmatera]

Definitely the poorest, most conflicted information I have run into in a long time. The unit itself says to turn the grease knobs one click every six hours. The trick is, there is no click, but by the time you realize it, you have overgreased the unit and can damage it.
Todd has been of limited help. He did say to turn the knob one full turn every four hours, so if you wait for the red warning light to come on or see your hour meter at 6 hours, you have already missed the first time to grease it. The knob has no definitive mark to know when you have turned the knob one full turn, and I guess when the coolant was installed, it was too much trouble to mark the grease knobs with a Sharpie on a $2,000+ unit, which I have now done. They could have also placed a sticker over the incorrect interval and knob turning requirement with the correct information, but that would have cost like 10 cents a unit.
The one question no one wants to answer is:
How much grease should I see in the hole the greaser screws into before I turn the greasing screw for the first time?
As poorly made as the greasing unit is, I would rather just put some in directly with a syringe every so many hours if I ever get a straight answer as to the frequency.

 

[cmatera]

Thanks for the information!
Few questions remain, and Todd (if you are here) - please, please create a video with instructions
1. How much grease to put when completely replacing it?
2. Where to get the grease? Other threads suggest "High Temp Grease NGLI#0", but would be great to have a link
3. where to get replacement rubber-disc if needed.
4. what are the signs of under-greased or over-greased compressor

Disappointing that AoA cannot have Jared Clark or someone there, make a video on this basic but critical maintenance procedure, including refilling the grease pot, reassembling the cover washer, and installing the grease for the first time to then be done every so many hours. Do a search on the Omega Turbo Charger. These same questions have been asked many times over, so it has obviously not been properly explained.

 

[rcs9250]

I had an Omega Air Charger. I realize it’s different than the OP’s model. I like cmatera’s idea regarding a measured squirt from a syringe so you know the grease was dispensed definitively.
On the Air Charger, from my tinkering, I was able to see that (by removing the air intake filter assembly) that the grease was injected into the air intake port by way of ingestion from incoming air. It sort of ingests the grease over a period of time from head warmth and air turbulence.
When I rotated the greasing cup, I removed the air filtration assembly and watched in the air intake port to actually see grease appear. That way I was assured grease was dispensed. Should there be air bubbles entrained in the grease, you don’t get the full shot of grease required.
When re-filling the grease cup, I put a small amount of grease in the cup and then tap it onto the bench top several times to drive the air bubbles, if any, to the surface, then a bit more grease and repeat till full.
That way I know that I’m dispensing all grease and not part air, part grease.
I’m not aware of the design of your compressor to be able to see grease being dispensed into the air path but do what you can to hopefully assure a dose of grease.

 

[cmatera]

Another great shortcoming of the system is: you fill the bottom of the cup with grease and turn it upside down and screw it into the top of the compressor. The grease from the bottom of the cup feeds the cup in the compressor. The grease at the bottom of the removeable cup never gets used. You are always adding grease to the top and using it from the top once inverted. A better way would be the plug having a Zerk fitting. You feed the grease from the top through the Zerk and the grease gets fed to the compressor from the bottom, so you are always using the old grease first. That's why I would like to wipe out the opening in the top of the compressor of all grease, clean all the old grease out of the grease cup and start over. Since I cannot figure out how much grease should be put in after a complete cleanout, I cannot do that.