Pressure Washer Pump and Lubrication Oil:
A pressure washer pump is a little portion of the pressure washer that splashes the high-pressurized water. Including all high-tech hydraulic systems, these pumps also are used in the water jets too.
Pressure washer pumps also need to be lubricated, as there is an internal moving surface so if you don’t lubricate these parts, your pressure washer pump will face internal mechanical friction. Also, heat will produce due to this friction, for which the total system will wear before time.
So pressure washer pump oil is a must therefore. Now the common question may arise in that case Can you use compressor oil in a pressure washer pump? If not, then why? If yes, then how!
Mechanically we use different types of oil like Compression Oil, Engine Oil, and Pump Oil. Either to run the engine, compressor, motor, or other mechanical parts, we need the lubricating item, that is these sorts of oil.
Before giving your question answer, let’s know the properties of all these oils-
Compression oil: Needs to lubricate the compressor Applications. The key feature of this oil is-it doesn’t feature any detergent. Yes, detergent-containing oil can keep clean the engine or compressor applications, but the cons of detergent-containing oil is-it can carry metal shards to the whole compressor system.
On the other hand, compression oil is the best food for compressor parts. These oils are thermally stable. and this oil can resist oxidation in the compression parts. Therefore total compressor system remains clean and safe for a long time. Finally, the user got a lengthy compressor running time in the meanwhile of the next maintenance.
Engine Oil: Engine oil usage in the engine so that it runs without any mechanical friction. And the whole system works giving almost no loss of energy! Engine oil is used for the lubrication of the engine parts.
If you could choose the perfect engine oil to lubricate your engine, it will consume less fuel and will perform more efficiently. If you think fundamentally, yes both the motor oil and the engine oil are the same. However, engine oil is used in the vehicle’s engine usually.
Pump Oil: These are 30w non-detergent oils. So these oils are mineral based but these are nondetergent oil. Whether in the pressure washer pump, in the water jets, or in the hydraulic pumps you can use these oils.
These oils are also free of any additives. So where there are no air filters, these oils are pretty suitable in that case. However, these oils are just like the magnets to the internal contaminant. They grab the inner side contaminants and thus ensure the safety of the sidewall and the crack of the whole system.
Can You Use Compressor Oil in a Pressure Washer Pump?
Yes but no! That means you can use compressor oil to run the pressure washer, but it is not suggested. The compressor oil has detergent compounds (magnesium sulfonate) that are required to clean the inner metal surface.
But the fact is, whether it is an engine, compressor or motor-there is an oil filter/oil drain plug. So when this detergent portion of the compressor oil removes the internal debris, metal dust can easily drainage out through the oil filter.
So lubricants without this filtration system, get dirty and become damaging to the whole system. As pressure washer pump is made through silicone substances which all are naturally prohibit the foaming inside.
Pressure washer pumps do not have any kind of oil filtration system, thus they cannot make their lubricants free of any contamination. So non-detergent oil especially all-purpose oil. the pump oil is best for the pressure washer pump.
Pressure washer pump features high pressure in their internal environment. This high pressure works to flow the fluid at high pressure and high velocity toward the target surface. This high diffusion is not perfect for compressor oil. Compressor oil (Mobil) cannot take a load of this high pressure, thus causing abnormalities.
As already we know pump oil is lighter than compressor oil. Therefore they have less surface tension compared with the compressor oil. The pressure washer pump can go well with lighter oil. But a highly viscous oil with enhanced surface tension is not suitable for the pressure washer.
Besides this, as the pressure washer needs to mainly splash the water at a high rate, so water may return back into this machine and can invent into the axial piston as well. So surely at that time, there will be the formation of some air bubbles inside the lubricants, which can destroy the total lubricating property inside the pump.
So at that time, you can face various damage inside your pressure washer pump. Like-damaging of the seals and pistons, oxidation rusting, and a few others.
Oh! One more thing I forgot to include, another important matter for which we should not use compression oil in the pressure washer pump is-foaming and aeration in the pressure washer pump, which happens due to the use of highly viscous oil inside its pump.
As the surface of this pump entrapped air due to this high viscous lubrication, it can cause an extreme vibration on the whole machine ultimately.
FAQs:
What kind of oil do you use in a pressure washer pump?
Obviously the non-detergent pump oil. Especially the SAE 10W-30 and SAE 10W-40 are the two greatest pressure washer pump oil you can go through well. As all the pressure washer works to splash the water, therefore30w non-detergent oil works best into them.
What can I use in place of pressure washer pump oil?
All Purpose Engine oil, Non-detergent Oil, Synthetic oil, etc. could be a good Pressure Washer Pump Oil Substitute for Pressure Washer. Just before using any of this oil, be sure you have read the user manual of the pressure washers.
Is compressor oil the same as pump oil?
No Compressor oil is not same as pump oil. These oils are detergent oil and feature different properties than pump oil.
Can you use synthetic oil in a pressure washer pump?
You have to check the manufacturer’s manual for pressure washers. If your manufacturer says it is okay, you can use synthetic oil in a pressure washer pump-you can use. Usually, most pressure washer pumps can operate using synthetic oil.
Finally,
If you love your pressure washer, you never will want to kill it before its expiration! So say no to the compressor oil for your pressure washer pumps. Use only dedicated pump oils for the pressure washer-it will make your pressure washer alive and beautiful for more days.
That’s all on -Can you use compressor oil in a pressure washer pump or not!
