# Lubricating oil for a freezer compressor motor **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 19, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lubricating-oil-for-a-freezer-compressor-motor/460591 "2008-08-19T19:55:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lubricating-oil-for-a-freezer-compressor-motor/460591/1 "2008-08-19T19:55:40Z")
A few(4) years back I had to have a motor built for a freezer compressor fan. When they were done they told me to oil it every 6 months (maybe a year, I don’t remember, but I have it written down) with 5-6 drops of “#20 non-detergent oil.” Would that just be 20W motor oil? (Before I feel like an ass trying to buy it at Grainger thinking it’s some specialty product). Now I’m back to go look at the tag again as there was something else written on it, perhaps a brand name of oil. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lubricating-oil-for-a-freezer-compressor-motor/460591/2 "2008-08-19T20:02:24Z")
[QUOTE=Joey P] Now I’m back to go look at the tag again as there was something else written on it, perhaps a brand name of oil. [/QUOTE] It appeared to say “moller” or something along those lines, but it was pretty faded, and…well…written in my handwritting which doesn’t help anything. ---
**Author:** ![hekk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@hekk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hekk)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lubricating-oil-for-a-freezer-compressor-motor/460591/3 "2008-08-19T23:03:06Z")
Do not use 20W oil! It contains things that you don’t want in the motor bearings (acid? I can’t remember). I can ask the dudes who design the electric motors at work tomorrow exactly what “#20 non-detergent oil” is. I can probably get some there, too. ETA: Depending on what type of motor you’ve got there, the oiling/greasing procedure could be dead easy or frickin’ messy. Do you have any nameplate data? Is there a drain plug on the bottom of the motor, or a strange valve-y looking thing on the top by the shaft end? How big is the sucker? 1/2HP? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lubricating-oil-for-a-freezer-compressor-motor/460591/4 "2008-08-20T02:54:16Z")
[QUOTE=hekk] Do not use 20W oil! It contains things that you don’t want in the motor bearings (acid? I can’t remember). I can ask the dudes who design the electric motors at work tomorrow exactly what “#20 non-detergent oil” is. I can probably get some there, too. ETA: Depending on what type of motor you’ve got there, the oiling/greasing procedure could be dead easy or frickin’ messy. Do you have any nameplate data? Is there a drain plug on the bottom of the motor, or a strange valve-y looking thing on the top by the shaft end? How big is the sucker? 1/2HP? [/QUOTE] Hmmm, I look when I go back to work tonight yet. I can tell you that the motor has a little yellow cap at the top and the bottom (presumably for which way the motor gets oriented when it’s mounted) front and back. Whomever built it wrote down on a card 5-6 drops #20 non-detergent oil once per year in each hole (or at each end maybe" I can check the size and make later. ---
**Author:** ![hekk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@hekk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hekk)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lubricating-oil-for-a-freezer-compressor-motor/460591/5 "2008-08-20T03:08:57Z")
[QUOTE=Joey P] Hmmm, I look when I go back to work tonight yet. I can tell you that the motor has a little yellow cap at the top and the bottom (presumably for which way the motor gets oriented when it’s mounted) front and back. Whomever built it wrote down on a card 5-6 drops #20 non-detergent oil once per year in each hole (or at each end maybe" I can check the size and make later. [/QUOTE] Yeah, it’s for each end, not each hole. Maybe. Smaller motors are easy, but it depends on the lubrication system of the motor. Some use grease or oil soaked yarn-type stuff packed against the bearings, some are directly lubed. If it’s the former, all holes need to be oiled. Latter, drops on each end while the motor is running to do the trick. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lubricating-oil-for-a-freezer-compressor-motor/460591/6 "2008-08-20T03:11:25Z")
Uploading pics right now… ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lubricating-oil-for-a-freezer-compressor-motor/460591/7 "2008-08-20T03:14:11Z")
The tag… [![](https://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f44/JoeyJoeyPP/1.jpg) ](https://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f44/JoeyJoeyPP/1.jpg) The motor, showing the holes… [![](https://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f44/JoeyJoeyPP/2.jpg) ](https://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f44/JoeyJoeyPP/2.jpg) The nameplate, not that you can read anything, BTW it’s 1/3hp [![](https://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f44/JoeyJoeyPP/3.jpg) ](https://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f44/JoeyJoeyPP/3.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lubricating-oil-for-a-freezer-compressor-motor/460591/8 "2008-08-20T03:15:06Z")
This is the only type of oil I have ever used for electric motors - [Zoomspout Oiler](http://www.zoomspoutoiler.com/). I usually bought it at HVAC supply houses, but have also seen it at some hardware stores. I has a built-in spout that makes it MUCH easier to get in to hard to reach areas. One word of caution: Oiling the motor after 4 years is probably okay. Oiling it after 10-12 years without maintenance will likely cause a motor failure in a matter of days. AIUI, since the motor shaft always turns in the same direction, when the lubrication gets thin, the shaft will start to dig in to the bearing surface on one side, depositing the debris behind it. When you add fresh oil, the debris is loosened up and now there is room for the shaft to wobble around a bit. This leads to heat, friction, bearing failure and motor death. Anecdotally, this happened to me many times early in my HVAC career. Perform a service call, oil the fan motor for possibly the first time since it was installed, get called back by the irate homeowner 3 days later to find a burned out motor. So I learned that motors that are never oiled can last 10-15 years. Motors that are regularly oiled can last much longer. Motors that are oiled once after 10 years last less than a week. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lubricating-oil-for-a-freezer-compressor-motor/460591/9 "2008-08-20T03:21:34Z")
[QUOTE=Rhubarb] One word of caution: Oiling the motor after 4 years is probably okay. Oiling it after 10-12 years without maintenance will likely cause a motor failure in a matter of days. AIUI, since the motor shaft always turns in the same direction, when the lubrication gets thin, the shaft will start to dig in to the bearing surface on one side, depositing the debris behind it. When you add fresh oil, the debris is loosened up and now there is room for the shaft to wobble around a bit. This leads to heat, friction, bearing failure and motor death. [/QUOTE] Well now if that isn’t a dilema. Actually, it’s been 3 years 10 months, so maybe I’m still okay. The problem I keep having is that I never think to get the oil, and when I do think to get it I forget what the card said. Tomarrow I have to stop at Grainger (coincidentally\* I have to stop there for some Dow Corning 111), so I went and wrote down what the card said. Once I do it once, I shouldn’t have a problem doing it once a year though. \*Acutally it’s not compleatly a coincidence, the DC111 is what reminded me about the other oil I needed. ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lubricating-oil-for-a-freezer-compressor-motor/460591/10 "2008-08-20T03:33:10Z")
[QUOTE=Joey P] Well now if that isn’t a dilema. Actually, it’s been 3 years 10 months, so maybe I’m still okay. The problem I keep having is that I never think to get the oil, and when I do think to get it I forget what the card said. Tomarrow I have to stop at Grainger (coincidentally\* I have to stop there for some Dow Corning 111), so I went and wrote down what the card said. Once I do it once, I shouldn’t have a problem doing it once a year though. \*Acutally it’s not compleatly a coincidence, the DC111 is what reminded me about the other oil I needed. [/QUOTE] Grainger definitely carries the Zoomspout oiler - item# 4NA76. $2.37. And I’m sure your motor will be okay. And if not, Grainger will sell you [another one](http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/2GMR4) 😃 . ---
**Author:** ![hekk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@hekk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hekk)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lubricating-oil-for-a-freezer-compressor-motor/460591/11 "2008-08-20T03:34:33Z")
Thanks for the pics! This design should work fine with 3-in-1 Electric Motor oil, it should be at Ace. ETA: **Rhubarb** must be an HVAC guy. And a genius. ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lubricating-oil-for-a-freezer-compressor-motor/460591/12 "2008-08-20T03:40:17Z")
[QUOTE=hekk] ETA: **Rhubarb** must be an HVAC guy. And a genius. [/QUOTE] Aw, shucks. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lubricating-oil-for-a-freezer-compressor-motor/460591/13 "2008-08-20T03:46:36Z")
[QUOTE=Rhubarb] Grainger definitely carries the Zoomspout oiler - item# 4NA76. $2.37. And I’m sure your motor will be okay. And if not, Grainger will sell you [another one](http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/2GMR4) 😃 . [/QUOTE] Oh, I’ve purchased plenty of motors at Grainger. Oddly though, when I replaced this one, they didn’t have an exact match for me. They sent me to a place that builds/rebuilds motors and they made one for me, right in front of me, it was pretty neat. That’s one thing that I really like about Grainger, if they don’t stock the product you’re looking for, they point you in the direction of a couple places that might have it. ETA, I must remember to go sign up for HVAC classes, I’ve been dragging my feet on that for years. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lubricating-oil-for-a-freezer-compressor-motor/460591/14 "2008-08-20T04:05:34Z")
Straight 20W non-detergent can be bought at most auto parts stores. Places like Central Tractor sell it. You might find it at K-Mart. Don’t get me wrong-Grainger is great for lots of hard-to-find items, as is McMaster-Carr, but you pay a lot more for ordinary stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lubricating-oil-for-a-freezer-compressor-motor/460591/15 "2008-08-20T04:21:11Z")
[QUOTE=danceswithcats] Straight 20W non-detergent can be bought at most auto parts stores. Places like Central Tractor sell it. You might find it at K-Mart. Don’t get me wrong-Grainger is great for lots of hard-to-find items, as is McMaster-Carr, but you pay a lot more for ordinary stuff. [/QUOTE] You’ll get no argument from me about Grainger’s prices, but he was already going there and it’s just $2.37 ($2.09 if you have a corporate account, probably less if you’re an HVAC dealer). I have quoted Grainger’s prices in a number of threads on the boards. Not because I am endorsing Grainger, but because 1.) it’s a good benchmark price for the average consumer - it’s the MOST they should have to pay for a given item. And 2.) Grainger is everywhere and any schmo off the street can walk in and buy stuff. Personally, I luuurve to pay wholesale prices for my hardware, but most 'Dopers don’t have that luxury and Grainger’s carries stuff that you just won’t find at Ace or Home Depot. Still, your warning about not buying things from Grainger that you can get at the local hardware store is excellent advice. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lubricating-oil-for-a-freezer-compressor-motor/460591/16 "2008-08-20T04:23:30Z")
[QUOTE=Rhubarb] 2.) Grainger is everywhere and any schmo off the street can walk in and buy stuff. [/QUOTE] Can they? I always have to give them my phone number/business name so they can look up my account. I was under the impression that you had to be a business to buy stuff from them. ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lubricating-oil-for-a-freezer-compressor-motor/460591/17 "2008-08-20T04:56:31Z")
[QUOTE=Joey P] Can they? I always have to give them my phone number/business name so they can look up my account. I was under the impression that you had to be a business to buy stuff from them. [/QUOTE] This changed a few years ago. If you have an account, they want to make sure your account is credited for the sale, but if you don’t you can still buy at the retail price. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lubricating-oil-for-a-freezer-compressor-motor/460591/18 "2008-08-20T06:29:25Z")
[QUOTE=Rhubarb] This changed a few years ago. If you have an account, they want to make sure your account is credited for the sale, but if you don’t you can still buy at the retail price. [/QUOTE] Selling to the general public is news to me. In the back of their catalog, it reads: **Wholesale Only** Grainger sells products in this Catalog for business use to customers with business identification. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lubricating-oil-for-a-freezer-compressor-motor/460591/19 "2008-08-20T18:34:07Z")
Just got back from Grainger, here’s a transcript of my conversation. Me: “I have a mot-” Granger Guy “Use ZoomSpout” So that was that. BTW I was holding the bottle of it in my hand, so I’m pretty sure he knew what I was going to ask. I also asked if any Joe Schmo off the street can buy something. He said that no, they can’t, but most people find a way, either by using the name of a freind with a business account or using the name of the place they work at.