Yong Heng oil color

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Franklink

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Bought a Yong Heng 5 or 6 weeks ago so I'm green as can be with them. I know many have been running them for years so I'm hoping to pick your brains.

The first 20 min I ran with Huskie Synthetic mostly because the Seco Lube 500 wasn't here yet and I needed to top off my tanks for a match. Drained that Huskee stuff after the first 20 min and replaced it with the Seco Lube 500. I'm now up to 126 minutes, total ( 106 minutes with the Seco), and the oil in the sight glass is dark gray enough to not be able to see the red dot used for measuring the oil level.

Is this normal? Do I need an oil change already? Sure hope not cuz it's gonna get pricey doing oil changes every 2hrs with the $75/gallon Seco stuff.

I've been trying to minimize run times, as everybody seems to say one should. Most of my run times have been about 12 minutes. The longest run time I had was 16 minutes. And my temps are topping out at 59-60 on the digital gauge. I did have a warm day a few weeks ago where it went up to 64 but stayed there.

I've also been keeping track of run times and the pressure changes in the bottles I'm filling. It's still filling just as fast as it was when I first got it, for example, 12 minutes to go from 3100 to 3800 on a 60 min SCBA seems to be the norm, and then another 12 minutes to go on up to 4400 (after I've let it cool off for 25 or 30 minutes).

Thanks in advance.
 
Franklink said:
Bought a Yong Heng 5 or 6 weeks ago so I'm green as can be with them. I know many have been running them for years so I'm hoping to pick your brains.

The first 20 min I ran with Huskie Synthetic mostly because the Seco Lube 500 wasn't here yet and I needed to top off my tanks for a match. Drained that Huskee stuff after the first 20 min and replaced it with the Seco Lube 500. I'm now up to 126 minutes, total ( 106 minutes with the Seco), and the oil in the sight glass is dark gray enough to not be able to see the red dot used for measuring the oil level.

Is this normal? Do I need an oil change already? Sure hope not cuz it's gonna get pricey doing oil changes every 2hrs with the $75/gallon Seco stuff.

I've been trying to minimize run times, as everybody seems to say one should. Most of my run times have been about 12 minutes. The longest run time I had was 16 minutes. And my temps are topping out at 59-60 on the digital gauge. I did have a warm day a few weeks ago where it went up to 64 but stayed there.

I've also been keeping track of run times and the pressure changes in the bottles I'm filling. It's still filling just as fast as it was when I first got it, for example, 12 minutes to go from 3100 to 3800 on a 60 min SCBA seems to be the norm, and then another 12 minutes to go on up to 4400 (after I've let it cool off for 25 or 30 minutes).

Thanks in advance.
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Hi Franklink. I've been using Seco Lube 500 from the start. My first oil change was at about 45 minutes. Next change was at about 1.5 hours after that. Then about 4 hours after that. I'm guessing about the exact times here. I just keep my eye on the oil level and how grey it is and change when it looks even slightly dirty. I wouldn't wait for it to be so dirty that you can't see the red dot. For me, if it looks like it has a grey tint to it, I change it. Fortunately the Seco Lube 500 is a very clear lube so it makes it easy to see if it is dirty. The bottom line is that the time between oil changes gets progressively longer for the first handful of changes. After 4 or 5 oil changes your oil might not need changing more than every 20 or more hours. I'm just guessing about the exact times here again. For me personally I wouldn't plan any scheduled oil changes at specific hours of use. Just change it when it has a grey tint. This is subjective, of course. Two guys looking at the same oil will have two opinions as to whether or not the oil needs to be changed. One gallon of Seco Lube 500 will last a really long time -- don't know how long that is, but by the time you actually need to buy more oil, I'm confident that you won't consider the cost of a gallon of Seco Lube 500 to be a big expense relative to the number of hours of run time you get out of your compressor. Lots of guys here have started with one gallon of Seco Lube and have been running their Yong Hengs for years without needing to buy more.
grungy
 
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My guess is the oil is dirty faster due to using the husky oil first. If you just changed the oil, there is still some husky remnants left in the system. It won’t be completely flushed out for a couple new oil changes of secolube. I wouldn’t consider your dirty oil the “norm” for secolube. Just for the first few changes. There is also probably metal shavings suspended from the break in also.
 
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Ots breaking down in some way.

Like your car fresh oil lookse clean and fresh then your past due to change it and it near black..lol. Or contamination getting to it ,..

Theres sited to read up on this and make your own judgment on what going on in your needs

www.machinerylubrication.com

What a Change in Oil Color Means

A lubricant color change can be cause for concern, as it often indicates the oil's composition or chemistry has been modified.
www.machinerylubrication.com www.machinerylubrication.com
 
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grungy said:
Hi Franklink. I've been using Seco Lube 500 from the start. My first oil change was at about 45 minutes. Next change was at about 1.5 hours after that. Then about 4 hours after that. I'm guessing about the exact times here. I just keep my eye on the oil level and how grey it is and change when it looks even slightly dirty. I wouldn't wait for it to be so dirty that you can't see the red dot. For me, if it looks like it has a grey tint to it, I change it. Fortunately the Seco Lube 500 is a very clear lube so it makes it easy to see if it is dirty. The bottom line is that the time between oil changes gets progressively longer for the first handful of changes. After 4 or 5 oil changes your oil might not need changing more than every 20 or more hours. I'm just guessing about the exact times here again. For me personally I wouldn't plan any scheduled oil changes at specific hours of use. Just change it when it has a grey tint. This is subjective, of course. Two guys looking at the same oil will have two opinions as to whether or not the oil needs to be changed. One gallon of Seco Lube 500 will last a really long time -- don't know how long that is, but by the time you actually need to buy more oil, I'm confident that you won't consider the cost of a gallon of Seco Lube 500 to be a big expense relative to the number of hours of run time you get out of your compressor. Lots of guys here have started with one gallon of Seco Lube and have been running their Yong Hengs for years without needing to buy more.
grungy
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Very helpful reply. The information is much appreciated.
 
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Frank,
Going with Dizzums here, used Husky Synthetic blend my first hour (break-in), then Husky Full Synthetic. Plan to go with SecoLube at annual oil change. I only fill guns and rarely hit 60 degrees, so the Husky Synthetic's 470-degree F flashpoint is OK, for now. Prefer the 520-degree F flashpoint of SecoLube and would be using now if running higher temps filling tanks. I'd focus on water temperatures, such as pre-chilling water for 30 minutes with ice bottles, then run water pump to cool compressor to 18's degree C before starting compressor for the day. Keep water cool by replacing ice bottles, as needed. A 10" box fan at rear of YH, started pre-filling, shut-off after all is cooled, has also proved helpful. WM
 
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WorriedMan said:
My apologies should have said rarely hit 50 degrees C, not 60 degrees. WM
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Yeah seems to stay under about 45 C for the first couple minutes with mine too, like it would if I was only filling guns like you cited. Seems to max out around the 8-10min mark though, but doesn't seem to climb higher than that in those last couple minutes.

I've run with and without ice in the bucket and it definitely keeps the temp lower to run with ice.

So far really liking the Yong Heng. Although it's not much faster to top off a tank than my previous Shoebox F10, once you actually include the cool down times (a detail often conveniently omitted by the Yong Heng hypers).
 
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Frank,
Never had the chance to use a Shoebox, seems some really like them. Love my Yong Heng, almost had heart attack using hand pump, didn't even want to use my PCPs anymore. Now I enjoy shooting as much as I want, and also filling them back up with the Yong Heng. Can't imagine a better fit for those unable to afford the big buck compressors, but still wanting "air independence," as Gerry52 puts it. WM
 
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Up to 5hrs and 40 minutes now. Needed another oil change. Probably needed it sooner actually, as it was nearly black. :oops:

It was reassuring to read through @grungy's comments again. Thank you sir, again.

Still seems to be filling at the same rate it did when new. Have pushed it to a 21 and a 20 minute run time, but all the rest have been 16 minutes or less.

Digital temp maxes out at 50 with the cold winter water.

Interesting to note that I forgot to open the tank valve once and the gauge on my fill station pegged out at 6000psi, and no burst disk excitement, even at 6000psi. I dunno how accurate the fill station gauge is at that pressure but it reads 200psi high down in "normal" territory (4600psi is only 4400psi, verified with various other gauges on multiple guns/different fill station/etc). I was surprised I didnt need to source myself a new burst disk from that oopsie.
 
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Franklink said:
Up to 5hrs and 40 minutes now. Needed another oil change. Probably needed it sooner actually, as it was nearly black. :oops:

It was reassuring to read through @grungy's comments again. Thank you sir, again.

Still seems to be filling at the same rate it did when new. Have pushed it to a 21 and a 20 minute run time, but all the rest have been 16 minutes or less.

Digital temp maxes out at 50 with the cold winter water.

Interesting to note that I forgot to open the tank valve once and the gauge on my fill station pegged out at 6000psi, and no burst disk excitement, even at 6000psi. I dunno how accurate the fill station gauge is at that pressure but it reads 200psi high down in "normal" territory (4600psi is only 4400psi, verified with various other gauges on multiple guns/different fill station/etc). I was surprised I didnt need to source myself a new burst disk from that oopsie.
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Hi Franklink. I want to correct one thing I said in my earlier post (2nd post in this thread). I said "After 4 or 5 oil changes your oil might not need changing more than every 20 or more hours." The part about possibly getting away with 20 hours between oil changes was not from my experience -- it was something I thought somone else had reported. I haven't run my YH enough to tell if 20 hours between oil changes is a realistic expectation.
6000 psi? Wow, that is super scary.

grungy
 
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Take 2 clean white patches and a dip stick. Swab clean fresh oil on one and a sample out of the pump and compare. ( Just after a run before contaminats settle)

Notice any breakdown like color , metal, flakes, water, slickability, fine line between making it last another run or 2 or better go fresh.. (opinion). In the end it's your judgment call on whats best for you.
 
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Franklink said:
Bought a Yong Heng 5 or 6 weeks ago so I'm green as can be with them. I know many have been running them for years so I'm hoping to pick your brains.

The first 20 min I ran with Huskie Synthetic mostly because the Seco Lube 500 wasn't here yet and I needed to top off my tanks for a match. Drained that Huskee stuff after the first 20 min and replaced it with the Seco Lube 500. I'm now up to 126 minutes, total ( 106 minutes with the Seco), and the oil in the sight glass is dark gray enough to not be able to see the red dot used for measuring the oil level.

Is this normal? Do I need an oil change already? Sure hope not cuz it's gonna get pricey doing oil changes every 2hrs with the $75/gallon Seco stuff.

I've been trying to minimize run times, as everybody seems to say one should. Most of my run times have been about 12 minutes. The longest run time I had was 16 minutes. And my temps are topping out at 59-60 on the digital gauge. I did have a warm day a few weeks ago where it went up to 64 but stayed there.

I've also been keeping track of run times and the pressure changes in the bottles I'm filling. It's still filling just as fast as it was when I first got it, for example, 12 minutes to go from 3100 to 3800 on a 60 min SCBA seems to be the norm, and then another 12 minutes to go on up to 4400 (after I've let it cool off for 25 or 30 minutes).

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Good luck and welcome to the "oil turning dark fast" club. I've had the same issue for nearly a year now and have been through MULTIPLE oils. I'm now trying this stuff.

 
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In general I think judging oil condition by it's appearance is not a reliable practice. If you really want to know the condition of your oil you can send a small sample for analysis. This is usually done with engine oil but I'm sure they would do an analysis of compressor oil. Blackstone is one company that does it, their price is $35. They will tell you how much metal is in the oil and whether the additives are used up. I haven't done this on my cars or my YH, I just change the oil often. My cars get changed with a full synthetic every 5k miles. My YH gets changed with Nuvair 751 annually. After one quick break in oil change. I run the compressor 3-5 hours a year. I've had it several years and only had to change an O-ring once. The oil looks kind of dirty when it comes out but not nearly as black as what I drain from my cars. I kept the drained oil in a clear container for several years and some sludge settled out. I presume it has some metal chips in it.

You seem to run your YH a lot more than I do which is fine. If you don't want to change your oil a lot an oil analysis may be a good idea. It could allow you longer time between changes without risking the compressor.

I think a gallon of oil is going to give me 10-12 changes. For me that 's like 10 years. But if 5 hours run time is only a month or so for you, then you could be looking at a gallon a year. It may be totally safe to extend the time between changes to 10 hours or longer. An oil analysis should tell you.
 
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Here's the used oil. Ths has been sitting since Jan and still looks the same. Seco 500 is clear when new.

PXL_20230119_041102047.jpg


I think I'm around 9hrs total on the Yong Heng now. Using it much less now that I have the Altaros Booster. Ive changed the oil in the Yong Heng every couple hrs and it has come out nearly black every time.
 
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Franklink said:
Here's the used oil. Ths has been sitting since Jan and still looks the same. Seco 500 is clear when new.

View attachment 352876

I think I'm around 9hrs total on the Yong Heng now. Using it much less now that I have the Altaros Booster. Ive changed the oil in the Yong Heng every couple hrs and it has come out nearly black every time.
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Hi Franklink. I just now hit 9.2 hours on my yong heng. As you know from the 2nd post here by me, I've been using the secolube 500 from the start. Changed the oil at .75 hours then 1.5 hours later, then 4 hours later. So it's been about 3 hours since my last change. It looks a bit grey, but I'm guessing I'll get 6 hours out of the last change as opposed to 4 hours on the change before that. The parts are slowly getting smoothed out. I have never taken the front of the crankcase off to see how much worn off metal "dust" has settled to the bottom of the case, but I'll bet there is enough there to warrant taking off the crankcase cover and wiping everything out just so that stuff doesn't keep getting stirred up and re-circulated like liquid emery cloth. When we change the oil in the yong heng, there isn't much fast flow to carry that settled stuff out with it. By the way, I'm just yammering here -- I might not come to any point or conclusion. I'm just a guy sitting in a hot uninsulated attic room with a warm beer waiting for a new air gauge to arrive in the mail. I just got back from a smoke break and I may have a point here after all -- and a couple of things for you to try. First more yammering. As JimD said, you can't tell from the color of oil whether it's dirty or not, at least when the oil has additives that change from looking like pure honey to coal black with just one sunday drive. This is one of the reasons I really like secolube -- it's clear until there's crud suspended in it. Like the old days of dino oil -- no synthetics -- no additives. If it looked clean it was clean. If it looked dirty it was dirty. So the Husky oil you used right off the bat -- correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing it is one of those "looks dirty instantly" lubes. If that's the case, then with every oil change you have been fighting to get that "color" out of there at least to some extent. But wait! There's more! If you are over-filling the crankcase (not saying that you are), the oil could be foaming. Slinging foam at hot piston parts is kind of like trying to wake up your passed-out buddy by blowing the foam from your freshly-poured pint of beer at him rather than splashing the whole pint in his face. If that is going on in your yong heng (the over-filling foaming thing) then maybe there actually is a lot of new metal "dust" being created every few hours of use. I figure the same thing would happen if the crankcase is underfilled as well. So in order to get to the bottom of this (or closer at least), maybe drain the oil into a container and then pour it through a coffee filter. It'll take quite a while for the filter to be oil-free enough to inspect it in direct sunlight, but when it is, take a close look. Metal dust on the filter in the sun should stand out with lots of pretty rainbow colors. Of course there will be some metal "dust". The question is, how bad is it? That's a judgement call. But still give it a good look over. Then take the crankcase cover off and take a good look at that too. Wipe the crankcase out with a paper towel and re-assemble and add secolube 500 and use the yong heng and keep us posted. I'm going to take the crankcase cover off of my yong heng next oil change and wipe it clean too. I haven't used my yong heng much in the last six months, but it's going to get a ton of use from here on into winter.

grungy
 
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Welp, Yong Henger is still going. Although, previous time I used it seemed to struggle to get that last little bit to 4500. But it got there.

I ran it this morning for 12 minutes. Took my 60min SCBA from 3400-3900. (Finished the fill with Altaros).

Oil is black, and can't have more than 2 or 3 hrs on it. Turns black on first fill after changing so just decided to leave it in longer.
 
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I use Nuvair 751 and have since day 1 in my YH. I changed it early, after an hour or two run time. Now I change it once a year. I fill my 45 minute SCBA tank about once a month on average and it takes the YH 20 minutes or a little less to do it. So maybe 4 hours/year run time between changes.

The oil starts out amber and is darker when I remove it. I put the first 3 changes into one clear container and let it sit until I took it for recycling. Some sludge formed on the bottom. I've never seen a chemical analysis of used compressor oil but I suspect it gets dark for the same reason engine oil gets dark. It has carbon and other undesirable materials suspended in it. I think that was what the sludge was when I let it sit for years. When I change oil in my cars I put the old oil in a 5 gallon pail so I don't have to go to the recycler every time. That 5 gallon pail gets sludge in the bottom too. I don't see the darker color of the drained oil to be an issue or an indication of a problem. The oil is supposed to remove carbon and other junk and that changes it's color. It's just doing it's job.

My moto is to use good oil and change it relatively often. I don't worry about what it looks like.
 
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