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I've just bought a small home-use air compressor, that came with a bottle of oil with a label "Warning, please add proper oil before starting". There was another label indicating to fill with oil before using. There was nothing to indicate that the AC came with shipping oil which needed to be drained first. It has an oil level window with a red dot for min-max oil level. I duly filled the AC with the oil supplied but didn't see any change in the oil level window. It was then that I suspected that it may already have been filled with some sort of oil that totally covered the window. Just to be sure I drained some of the the oil until the oil level was within range in the window. Surprisingly more oil came out than I'd put in, but the oil now had a bluey tinge. I rang the supplier and queried whether I should have drained whatever shipping oil was already in the AC before filling, and enquired as to whether the new mixture of shipping and 'proper' oil was OK. I was told it would be "OK" with that new mixture of oils, however, I felt the answer given was less than convincing.

My query is:

  1. Should I have drained the shipping oil first, before filling with 'proper oil'?
  2. Is the current bluey mix of shipping oil and 'proper' oil OK to leave in the AC?
  3. Would I be safer to drain, and start again with 'proper' oil?
  4. What is shipping oil, is it significantly different from 'proper' oil?

Regards Jules

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  • It really depends if the unknown oil is compatible with what you added. 5$ to drain everything and put fresh known oil may save a bunch of headaches if they are not compatible, I have never heard of things being shipped with oil in the crank case, except for some tools that were supposed to be new but were returned,
    – Ed Beal
    Commented Dec 1, 2021 at 22:53
  • Shipping oil can be anything from stuff in an open bucket they slap on to proper oil used for testing. Most new motors/engines with oil in them, will mention a full drain after short use at first, then standard oil changes.
    – crip659
    Commented Dec 1, 2021 at 22:55
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    Given the relatively low cost of new oil versus the potentially high cost of a compressor, I'd drain it and put new oil in.
    – Aloysius Defenestrate
    Commented Dec 2, 2021 at 4:14
  • OTOH, I've owned 3 small, home-use air compressors and have never received a bottle of oil with any of them, nor have I seen anything in their instructions about draining/replacing/changing oil. Mine were all electrically powered, and this one may be gas powered...
    – FreeMan
    Commented Dec 2, 2021 at 13:07

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