Bauer Capitano seems to consume a lot of oil

[Karlster]

Hello,
I am a new member who recently acquired a 1975 Bauer Capitano with a 3 hp electric motor that seems to work fine. It appears to have had a hard life and I have no doubt that routine maintenance has been neglected.
The first drain assembly on it accumulates approx 1 to 2 ounces of oil every 15 minutes of operation.

My hunch is that this is a bad sign. It does build up to 2500 psi without any apparent difficulty.

Can anyone recommend a good source of user and repair/maintenance manuals or other technical information for this compressor?
Does this kind of oil consumption indicate costly, complex repairs? If so any ideas of how costly?

I realize this compressor operates at pressures that create a lot of potential danger and it has little margin for error. With this said I have no direct experience with such compressors but a strong mechanical background and a well equipped shop and hope to do whatever repairs I can myself.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or input.
Karl

 

[underH2Oman]

Can try here.
BAUER COMPRESSORS - Service & Support - Technical Documents - Spare Part Lists, Accessories Catalogues & Service Manuals - CAPITANO

Are you sure it is all oil and not water?

 

[swamp diver]

Or try here.
Bauer Compressors

I'd echo UnderH2O's question. Is that pure oil or condensate which is a mixture of about 95% water and 5% oil in an emulsion?

What compressor oil are you running in the sump?

 

[Karlster]

Can try here.
BAUER COMPRESSORS - Service & Support - Technical Documents - Spare Part Lists, Accessories Catalogues & Service Manuals - CAPITANO

Are you sure it is all oil and not water?

It is definitely oil. Very foamy as it comes out of the bottom of the separator drain. Once it sits in a cup for a bit it appears to be very clean undiluted oil.

I am downloading the manual and will read through it tonight.

My real question is if this is a common sign of routine wear with a predictable price tag to remedy or is it a sign of a compressor worn beyond the point of repairing cost effectively.

Thanks for the reply,
Karl

---------- Post added May 5th, 2014 at 09:00 PM ----------

I am running the oil the previous owner gave me with the compressor. The gallon plastic jug no longer has a label or any identifying marks so I would welcome any guidance on a good choice of oil for the unit.

I just replied to underh2oman that it is definitely oil.

Thanks for the reply and the bauer link.

I just downloaded it and will read through it tonight.


Karl

 

[roastbeef]

Definetly your 2nd and 3rd stages are warn out to allow so much oil to bypass. You can buy a complete rebuild kit for it for just around the $400 mark from Lawrence factors "Filtertech.com" The best way to test its performance is to do a blow back pressure test on the block that will give you a good idea of the cylinder condition..

 

[swamp diver]

If sounds as if you need a ring job if you are losing that much oil.
Can you post a pic of the liquid drained?

I'm not really that familar with those older Bauers but CraigEClark on here or Windyman might be. It sounds like if that is truly oil that your going to need a 3rd stage piston and sleeve, rings for the first two stages and valves for the same. Cost is probably somewhere in the ballpark of $1000 for parts if you need all of the above. One you get the part numbers give these guys a call for pricing.
https://www.augustindustries.com/shopdisplaycategories.asp?id=15&cat=Replacement+Parts

As far as oil you should stick to whatever oil is currently in use either a mineral or synthetic. Do not switch from one to the other but odds are the previous owner used a mineral oil. You can check this by putting some of the oil in a clear container and shinning a UV light on it. If it fluoresces green it is a mineral oil. The synthetics generally don't fluoresce.

The current Bauer mineral oil for older compressor like yours is oil #0026 which is Shell Corena S2 P150. I suspect it is cheaper to purchase if from Shell directly. If a synthetic oil then purchase the Chemlube 800 which you can get from August Industries above. Whatever you do don't switch from mineral to synthetic with a compressor that old unless you do a complete rebuild.

You might have a look at this thread for some ideas.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/co...220052-early-1970s-bauer-capitano-info-4.html

Swamp

 

[swamp diver]

Definetly your 2nd and 3rd stages are warn out to allow so much oil to bypass. You can buy a complete rebuild kit for it for just around the $400 mark from Lawrence factors "Filtertech.com" The best way to test its performance is to do a blow back pressure test on the block that will give you a good idea of the cylinder condition..

A blowby test would be useful but do you have the spec for his 40 year old compressor? I see a spec posted in the linked thread above but some of these older compressor do not have a rebreather tube to measure the blowby. Plus he will need to purchase a $125 flow meter in lpm.

Jordair compressors and in one of the posts by Windeyman above suggests removing the 3rd stage head and running the compressor for one minute while observing the piston and sleeve. If oil flows out between the piston and sleeve the piston assembly needs to be replaced. There should only be a small amount of oil on the inner piston wall.

I've attached the blowby chart but it does not have the spec for the older Capitano.

 

[Karlster]

Swamp Diver and Roast Beef,
Both your information is very helpful.
I can feel a significant amount of blowby from the crankcase vent and given the oil use and the unknown age of the compressor it seems appropriate to do the Capitano piston ring kit for $366 from Filter techs.
https://www.filtertechs.com/shop/pr...d=772&osCsid=17be42ad2c8d96a9fe232527657318e7.

In reading other threads I have seen reference to honing the cylinders. Is this only in the case of visible damage to the stage 1 and 2 cylinder walls or is it standard procedure to always hone.

I do want to put an oil pressure gauge on the compressor to be confident oil is circulating as it should.

I did a search of this forum and couldn't find any specific guidelines on attaching a pressure gauge to the oil lines. I need to know where to tap in to the oil pressure and what type of thread adapter/fitting I am going to need.

I will try an locate a uv light to identify the oil. Does changing the #3 piston sleeve and rings in the 1 and 2 cylinder count as enough of an overhaul that one doesn't need to worry about changing oil type?

You guys are a wealth of information.

Thanks so much for the help.

Karl

A blowby test would be useful but do you have the spec for his 40 year old compressor? I see a spec posted in the linked thread above but some of these older compressor do not have a rebreather tube to measure the blowby. Plus he will need to purchase a $125 flow meter in lpm.

Jordair compressors and in one of the posts by Windeyman above suggests removing the 3rd stage head and running the compressor for one minute while observing the piston and sleeve. If oil flows out between the piston and sleeve the piston assembly needs to be replaced. There should only be a small amount of oil on the inner piston wall.

I've attached the blowby chart but it does not have the spec for the older Capitano.

 

[Karlster]

The large disc valve on top of cylinder one was in two pieces and the bigger piece had an additional crack. I ordered a new one. It looks like most of the oil was coming from cylinder 2.
I ran it without the head on #2 and oil appeared above the piston in just a few seconds.

I ordered new rings plus a gallon of oil.

I will report back my results after the parts arrive and I install them.

Thanks again for the input,
Karl

Swamp Diver and Roast Beef,
Both your information is very helpful.
I can feel a significant amount of blowby from the crankcase vent and given the oil use and the unknown age of the compressor it seems appropriate to do the Capitano piston ring kit for $366 from Filter techs.
https://www.filtertechs.com/shop/pr...d=772&osCsid=17be42ad2c8d96a9fe232527657318e7.

In reading other threads I have seen reference to honing the cylinders. Is this only in the case of visible damage to the stage 1 and 2 cylinder walls or is it standard procedure to always hone.

I do want to put an oil pressure gauge on the compressor to be confident oil is circulating as it should.

I did a search of this forum and couldn't find any specific guidelines on attaching a pressure gauge to the oil lines. I need to know where to tap in to the oil pressure and what type of thread adapter/fitting I am going to need.

I will try an locate a uv light to identify the oil. Does changing the #3 piston sleeve and rings in the 1 and 2 cylinder count as enough of an overhaul that one doesn't need to worry about changing oil type?

You guys are a wealth of information.

Thanks so much for the help.

Karl

 

[CraigAClark]

New rings aren't going to help if the cylinder wear is too great. You need to check the ring gap with a new ring down the cylinder to determine if the gap is within tolerance. If the cylinder is worn out, you might not be able to get replacements for a machine that age. If you can get them, they won't be cheap.