Simplex 35 oil conversion from Simplex brand oil to synthetic

[Chris Wehrman]

I have a Simplex 35 head that was ran with the Simplex brand oil from Strong when it was in service. I'm in the process of cleaning it up and was wanting to convert it to synthetic compressor oil (ISO32). Should I use anything to flush the old oil out? I saw a flushing/cleaning product by Lubriplate that they say will remove petroleum based oil, clean and remove any varnish left over. It's also listed to be compatible with their own synthetic compressor oil. This to me seams like a good thing to do but it's not cheap and I want to make sure i'm not going to damage anything, especially the intermittent, during the process. (I've attached the spec sheets for the flushing fluid and the synthetic oil for reference). Looking through the forums archive I saw some one mention using kerosene as a cleaning agent but i'm a bit nervous about using that too.

What would be the ideal method for cleaning and converting over to synthetic?

Thanks,

Chris

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Not really much different than changing a car over to synthetic, Put the synthetic oil in and run it for 20 or so hours then change it again. Now, I did not run any Simplex's on synthetic because we really only had access to LaVezzi synthetic oil at the time, It was slightly too heavy an ISO weight for the Simplex splash type lube system. Plus, my feeling was that Simplex's leaked way too much and the expensive oil would be going to waste. I did use it in many other projectors though, including DP-70's. You should be able to get an equivalent weight synthetic compressor oil easily today.... but if the projector does leak some, then why bother unless you are running it 18 hours a day??? It's only those long running days that synthetic would really benefit the machine.

[Chris Wehrman]

Thanks Mark. I just want what's absolutely best for the machine since they are no longer made. If there really is no benefit to synthetic in a home screening room environment, then I'll stick with a traditional compressor oil.

Chris

[Randy Stankey]

I don’t know... In a home screening room, you don’t have to worry about managing a large number of machines.
The cost difference wouldn’t add up as quickly. Plus, the number of hours you’d be putting on the machine would be less. You wouldn’t need to change the oil as often.

With traditional projector oil costing $50 (ballpark) spending $100 on synthetic still might make sense if it saves the chance of having to spend money, elsewhere, to fix other problems that better oil might prevent.

[Chris Wehrman]

It's not really a matter of cost for me, I just want what's best for the machine. I am finding 1 gallon jugs of iso32 synthetic compressor oil anywhere between $65 and $95 on line. Grainger sells Miles brand for $75 for a 1 gallon jug. Never heard of Miles brand so I don't know how good it is. Another Brand I was considering is Lubriplate. I've also found a "no name" oil sold by McMaster-Carr for $60 per 1 gallon jung, There is no label on the bottle and the manufacturer listed on the SDS sheet says "Oil Company". HAHA!

Chris