Utilus 10 air bubbles in oil sight glass?

[losttheplot]

I have a Bauer utilus 10.
While the pump is running I am seeing a stream of bubbles in the oil sight glass.
Sometimes there is just a minute stream in the center of the glass and sometimes there is no oil in the glass just foam.
Other times there are no bubbles at all.

The pump does not go much above 2600 psi and takes a long time to get there.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kwindham]

Sounds like your final stage seals are shot and the hp air is leaking into your oil. Might be time to rebuild the final stage piston.

 

[divingtactics]

I agree that a rebuild is most certainly in order with your unit. I would also replace the oil every 10 hours till you get it fixed and use synthetic oil if you are not currently using it. If you are changing from mineral to synthetic oil, you will need to remove all head, cooling tubes, valves, separators and filters and thoroughly clean them or the synthetic oil will gradually remove the carbon deposits that mineral oil leaves and clog up your system and filters/PMV/Check valves in time. I clean it all down, change to synthetic, run for 5 to 10 hours and then do another full oil change. A good time to do this clean is when you are pulling your compressor down to rebuild the cylinders, so maybe you should just do that if you are running mineral oil.

 

[roastbeef]

Don't start using all kinds of different oils use what Bauer recommends for your Utilus 10. You have bubbles in your oil maybe its runining hotter than normal (location, Location) or perhaps your using to thin of an oil or the wrong oil. Start with replacing your final stage and if after you still have no final head pressure change the rings in the second stage work backwards. Check your valves as you go along servicing your cylinders making sure the springs have not failed in each and replace as required.

 

[losttheplot]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I have just installed new floating piston and liner in the 3rd stage. It was around $275us from Lawrence factor.
(the old one had some signs of scoring, however it still took around 10 seconds for a drop test. when I ran the compressor without the cylinder heads, there was some oil coming from between the 3rd stage piston and liner )

I also replaced the 1st and 2nd stage piston rings as they were relatively cheap.
I changed the ball bearing in the oil pressure regulator also.

I dead headed the whips and it ran up to 3000psi pretty quick, so fingers crossed all is well in that department.

However, I am still getting air bubbles in the oil sight glass.
The bubbles are coming from the oil pump, I have tried bleeding the oil pump (as per the service manual ) but they are still there.
Sometimes a steady trickle and sometimes foam.

I have installed a small pressure gauge into the 1/8th inch NPT port on the oil pressure regulator.
(I highly recommend this to anyone who has a small Bauer compressor with no oil pressure gauge)
I can dial the oil pressure to 750psi with the small stream of bubbles flowing in the sight glass.


I have owned the compressor for about 7 years, it has always been run on chemlube 751.
It has been in the same installation for the last 3 years.

If anyone has any suggestions RE the oil bubbles I would be very grateful.
I am going to pull the oil pump, and look for any obvious signs of a problem, in the next couple of days.

 

[Seahuntjerry]

Hi,
My utilus third stage is shot due to the poor design of gravity oil feed to the third stage piston..My bauer Oceanus has an oil pump and composite rings on the final third stage piston.
schematics show No oil pump on utilus let me know what you find.
Jerry

 

[losttheplot]

I dont know how many variations of the Utilus were made.
Mine was built in 1987 and it looks the same as this one.

[FONT=&quot]http://www.bauergroup.com/pdf/produkte/ersatzteillisten/utilus/t130-10_1.pdf[/FONT]


It has an oil pump feeding the 3rd stage at 750 psi, the extra oil from the pressure regulator is fed to the second stage.
My compressor is rated as "Continuous duty".
It is my understanding that a compressor without an oil pump would have a "duty cycle"
Running a compressor for long periods of time, when it was not designed to do so, may lead to oil breakdown and premature ware?

 

[roastbeef]

I dont know how many variations of the Utilus were made.
Mine was built in 1987 and it looks the same as this one.

[FONT=&amp]http://www.bauergroup.com/pdf/produkte/ersatzteillisten/utilus/t130-10_1.pdf[/FONT]


It has an oil pump feeding the 3rd stage at 750 psi, the extra oil from the pressure regulator is fed to the second stage.
My compressor is rated as "Continuous duty".
It is my understanding that a compressor without an oil pump would have a "duty cycle"
Running a compressor for long periods of time, when it was not designed to do so, may lead to oil breakdown and premature ware?

Sound like you have air pressure in the crank. Its time to change the rings in the second stage more than likely your getting back pressure through the warn rings back into the crank.

Cheers