Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Has anyone converted a VN or similar, Commodore air conditioning compressor to an air compressor. I understand that the compressor is usually cooled and lubricated by the refrigerant gas. Is it just a matter of fitting a grease nipple in the right spot and filling it with high temp bearing grese, or is it trickier than that?
Any suggestions or links would be appreciated.

Cheers Chris

Hey,
I have a 75 series with a 1hz diesel and have converted the aircon pump to a compressor and it works a treat. I have not put a grease nipple on it at all but I tip a very small amount of mineral oil down the intake every now and then, and to date no probs. (6 months or so)
I spoke to an auto sparky/aircon man when I did the conversion and although he thought I was an idiot he said there should be no probs.
If it ever does stuff up I will look into doing it with a endless air or something.
apart from this do a search I think this has been talked about before
good luck

Don't use grease, just put an oil seperator after the compressor outlet and a capillary line from the seperator into the compressor intake. Will keep oil circulating permanently like the compressor is supposed to have.

AND DO A SEARCH!!!

theres been a dozen threads onthis, also www.google.com.au is your friend with 20 odd websites on it

roc70y wrote:Has anyone converted a VN or similar, Commodore air conditioning compressor to an air compressor. I understand that the compressor is usually cooled and lubricated by the refrigerant gas. Is it just a matter of fitting a grease nipple in the right spot and filling it with high temp bearing grese, or is it trickier than that?
Any suggestions or links would be appreciated.

Cheers Chris

"SADEN 508 " or a "YORK 210" air con pumps have a sump and do not require lubrication..... SEE SEARCH...its ya friend here !!!!

SADEN 508 " or a "YORK 210" air con pumps have a sump and do not require lubrication.....

Regardless of whether the compressor has a sump or not the compressor requires lubrication otherwise it will sieze eventually. All airconditioning and refrigeration compressors throw oil out the discharge line. This is normal. In a sealed airconditioning or refrigeration system any oil thrown out the discharge line eventually makes its way through the system and is returned to the compressor through the suction line. In a lot of industrial systems oil seperators are used on the discharge line for oil seperation and return. I have seen industrial compressors sieze within 24hrs due to lack of lubrication from failures with oil seperators.
In a 4wd aplication for tyre innflation etc. the use is minimal. But i would recomend periodically adding oil to the suction line, or better still, run an oil seperator and oil return line as Isuzurover suggested. Some people may have run their systems sucessfully for many years without adding any oil. But eventually they will sieze.

Tojo wrote:

SADEN 508 " or a "YORK 210" air con pumps have a sump and do not require lubrication.....

Regardless of whether the compressor has a sump or not the compressor requires lubrication otherwise it will sieze eventually.

yup Nick W has been thru a few, ended up dishing out the $$ for the proper Endless AIr kit I think

easialy solved.... run the suction line to the rocker cover on the motor !!

I would say you would find the oil in the motor to be too thick for the pump internals. Mineral oil is the only one to use.

Or were you joking!!!

Either way I could be wrong

running the suction line to the rockercover allows only oil fume/vapour to be drawn not the actual oil. Its a solution to "extend" the life of the pump not make it a lifetime unit.
Also many ppl dont "filter" the air going into the unit, another solution is to run the suction line to either the airfilter for the motor or rig up a seperate filter, an oilfilter works well for this.... simply get a piece of pipe that threads into an oilfilter ( a RYCO Z9 works well ) fit the suction line to that and mount the filter up high in the enginebay with a large hoseclamp.
An other solution is to fit a oiler.... similar to the LPG oilers you get from any auto shop (FLASH LUBE ).

You cant make a "cheap alternative" airpump last like the porpose built unit... but by a few simple mods you can extend the life of the converted unit by 3 or 4 times, thats what I was trying to do here.

As far as I knew, the only mod done to the Endless Air compressors was a grease nipple tapped into the sump plug. I have done the same, and run combined moly grease and trans fluid in the sump. I also drop a teaspoonfull or so of oil into the suction every couple of months or so. I run an air compressor filter on the suction. I run a water trap on the discharge, before the tank. I also run the discharge through an oil cooler, with both its connections uppermost, so any lubricant in the compressed air cools and pools at the bottom of the cooler. This gets cleaned out every six months or so. They wont run long without some type of lubrication.

V8Patrol wrote:running the suction line to the rockercover allows only oil fume/vapour to be drawn not the actual oil. Its a solution to "extend" the life of the pump not make it a lifetime unit.
You cant make a "cheap alternative" airpump last like the porpose built unit... but by a few simple mods you can extend the life of the converted unit by 3 or 4 times, thats what I was trying to do here.

A converted air con unit with an oil return line may be a "cheap alternative" but I am willing to bet it would LAST MUCH LONGER THAN AN ENDLESS OR ANY OTHER COMPRESSOR. The endless airs are (AS BRC mentioned) just a 2nd hand air con unit converted with a grease nipple but sold for $$$. With continuous oiling these compressors run the same as they do for an air con compressor, but at a lot lower pressure. For air con applications they run 250-300psi. Mine only runs 115psi Max as an air compressor. Although they get hot they will still last just about forever as an air con compressor.

We have had an air con compressor in our Rangie since 1989. It has no grease nipple and no oil, it has never had a drop of oil put in it unless the mechnics have been doing it which i highly doubt! We have used it for pumping tires, air beds etc.. No problems ever. Still going strong.... The only thing that dies what the cheap arse plastic air filter...

V8Patrol wrote:easialy solved.... run the suction line to the rocker cover on the motor !!

I agree with V8Patrol i done this 15 years ago and the comp is now on the third truck, moist filtered air out of the motor is purrrrrfect for the aircond/compressor just need to drain the tank of sludge every 6 months that easy.

Wally