The Upholstery Forum

Exactly a year ago I bought a 2HP black and decker air compressor. I haven't been using it until about a month ago. I realized it is not running normal so I decided to consult my manual. it recommends SAE 5w50. However I live at a very high temperature climate with temperature between 32-40c.
I'm not able to get the recommended oil in town.
Any suggestions on alternate oil would be highly appreciated.

@Hope Komla ,

What can you get for weight? Also do you have access to Lucas oil additives?

I'm no engineer but I would think a different weight oil would work fine. What weight oil is available in your town?

@Hope Komla
The first number in the equation is 5w, that is the viscosity or flow rate of the oil. The second number, 50, is the capacity of lubrication it has. So in laymen terms that oil flows as a 5w oil but has the same lubrication capabilities as a 50w oil. You can change the second number but don't change the the first because the tolerances in the compressor pump are so tight that it needs the thin viscosity to get in between the moving parts or you will burn it up ( lock it up). You can go with 5w 20 or 5w 30 and be fine. I would recommend the 5w 30 since its closer to the 50 but those two should be readily available to you.

@Bondo497 ,

Do you run Lucas additives in your equipment (not sewing)

Lucas oil,I have to check the shops around.


@John,other types of oil I see around are 15w40,5w40 and mineral multi grade.

Basically I'm a novice so I really not know the meaning of all but thanks for the explanations so far.

@Bondo497

Great explanation. Got some basics. I appreciate it.

@BigRig
I ran Lucas oil additive in my wife's 3.7 liter jeep for 45 minutes total and you won't like what I have to say about it.
It got the bearings that quick. She only had 57,000 miles on it when I screwed it up with Lucas.
That's when I learned about the importance of not using thick oils where they do not belong.
I left one quart of 5w 20 out so I could put one quart of Lucas in and that #### went in like gobs of honey, I cranked the engine and it rattled like a box of rocks. I read the bottle and it said it would break down to the right viscosity once the engine got to operating temp and stay that way but after 45 minutes of warm up and driving it still rattled so I pulled it back in the shop and drained the oil and that #### back out and that stuff was the first thing to come out of the drain and it came back out as thick and globby as it went in. After that the next two oil changes I found more and more bearings in the drained oil, so yeah I've used it and won't recommend it to anyone with these new tight tolerance engines of today.

@Bondo497 ,

It is worse than honey! We have one F150 that has close to 400,000 miles on it and that is the only way that baby runs.

@BigRig
I hear ya brother lol. Yeah one with that many miles on her could use some thick goop to take up the clearance gaps for sure.

My engine was fine but I had heard all these great things about Lucas products so I figured what the heck, I'll give it a try. Bad mistake!

Thanks for the info @Bondo497

No problem @John , I hate bashing and I was not really trying to call out a particular company's brand name but @BigRig asked me if I had ever used it. I just want to save someone else from making a high dollar mistake like I did when it comes to tight tolerance engines.