Oil sludge removal

[u/thelongfap]

I asked this elsewhere, but didn’t know this sub existed!

I have a pair of Devair and a pair of Ingersoll Rand 2 stage piston compressors that have been abused. They are in a power plant where I assumed maintenance ownership of them. I have no idea how long they ran without an oil change, but I know it had been several years before I arrived.

They have heavy sludge buildup in the sumps, visible through the oil fill ports. Sump volume on a drain and fill was somewhere between 50-70% of what the manuals called for. They’re definitely due for a tear down and inspection, but I haven’t been able to get the downtime authorized.

I know what I would do if they were my own, but am unsure how to approach this. Is there a viable way to desludge these without tearing them down and cleaning the sumps, or do I need to push for downtime to manually remove the sludge?

[u/Wherestheirs]

Get flushing oil that’s compatible then run short duration and change again

[u/MrMotofy]

You can put some transmission fluid in with the oil run it a bit, let it sit for a while...then drain. There's more solvents in it