Brave enough to order from Aliexpress?

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I bought one of these cheap Chinese compressors back in Nov. I love this thing. It will pump up a 90ci. tank just fine but not in 4 min. More like 30 min.. It take is 3-4 min. to pump up my rifles. That is what it is best at. I use it to pump up my 68ci. tank but I don't use it much. I take the compressor with me and only use the tank if there is no electricity. Now that I don't have to drive 50 mi. to buy air. I shoot just about every day. I would buy another if something happens to this one. Mine had a couple of issues when I got it. But the seller sent me the new parts. He even offered to send me a new unit. Didn't need that. Just the plug was bad and the temp gauge didn't work. I fixed both while waiting for the new parts. They got damaged in shipping.
I will be getting one of the 2 cyclinder units before long and will let you guys know how it works also.
I have no idea if the one you would get works or not. The guy I ordered mine from fired mine up and checked it out before he shipped it. He said they do all of theirs that way. Have no idea if that is true or not. Mine is a good one.

Jimmy
 
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Yes, clear hoses are for water. Gold tube is a filter I bought, it only had cotton filter in it but I put activated carbon and silica gel in there as well like a proper filter. I think it was like $70 off AliExpress. It doesn't put out more moisture than a handpump does and the filter that comes with it is the same as a FX pump but a whole lot bigger. (FX pump uses cleaning pellets) You only have to worry about moisture if you use it for very long, like 30min. I have only used it for 15min at a time so far and no issues with moisture at all, and I have not actually used the big gold filter yet. I am waiting for my 1.1L bottle, I can take the time it takes to fill it from 0-300 bar if you want when I get it.
 
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Oil got into the filtr and slow fill time. I opened it up to find shredded o-rings and oil all over. Cleaned it up and switched o-rings but still a bit of oil got through. Opened the engine and re aligned averything under the guidance of Wingman but not sure if it is fixed. I sounds kind of funny when used and I have the new one anyways. It might just need a proper wear in though. I also use synthetic compressor oil in the new one instead of mineral.

The updated version is the one to the left. You can see the difference on the pressure gauge at the top. Also the seller has a few new options: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/2653128?spm=2114.10010108.100005.1.QKx8lg
 
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I have purchased multiple items over the past several yrs from Aliexpress with no problems. I had been holding off getting into PCP rifles, due to being a DAV and having some limitations. I knew a hand pump was out the question. The compressors I had looked at were in the $1,000.00 range and I just personally could not justify spending that then around the same amount on rifle then another couple hundred on a scope etc... More monies than I would normally spend on a quality PB rifle. With this compressor and some the newer lower priced PCP rifles, looks like I will be going PCP sooner than planned. Tks for all the links sure helps find the right thing faster. I read all the reviews, not much negative. Do have to wonder about how hard it is to get the proper sized quality seals/rings and a good source for them....
 
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"Erik"Customer service is excellent, I had issues with mine and they sent me a brand new one for free. Now I have two of them. I use ear protection when using them so no issues but would not want to run it without. I don't know anything about compressors but would say this is probably a motorized handpump. I will use it to fill my 1.1L carbon bottle from AliExpress to 300 bar so I can fill my gun in the field. And direct fill guns when need be. The bottle is pressure tested to 500bar and will sit nicely in my backpack and be dead useful for when my Leshiy gets here next week
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All compressors are motorized hand pumps. The only difference is the size and number of cylinders and the difference in the quality of parts used. 

If you have two, why not run them in parallel through a T fitting?
 
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"Erik"I sold the other one yesterday, to a guy who thinks he can fix it.
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Never mind. It probably wasn't a good idea anyway.

I once looked into motorizing my handpump when I first realized the horror of what I'd bought. It didn't seem like a particularly difficult project once you found a suitable motor with enough torque and not too much speed. 

Luckily I was saved by finding a used scba tank for $115. With the amount of time that cheap compressors seem to last and the cost of shipping them to get fixed and the time they take to fill a 30 or 45 minute tank, I'm not sure there would be a saving for me in either time, effort or cash. Even for the cheapest one.

The store that fills my tanks is 5 minutes drive from my home. They fill them in a few seconds but it takes 5 minutes including paying and pleasantries, so it's 15 minutes to fill all three of my tanks. Three full tanks lasts me at least three months usually. 

It seems like the best way to use these compressors is to top off your tanks regularly instead of a full fill. Maybe taking them from 4000 psi back to 4500 psi will extend their useful life. 

Still, if they can't fill a 30 or 45 min tank in 4 minutes, then it means that the reviews on that site are all made up, or that there are better quality models available now. 
 
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Looks like the same one to me.

in fact, while there is a lot of them on Aliexpress, almost all of the low cost ones look to be exactly the same design. They differ only in color or the brand name printed on them. 

I am assuming they are all made in the same place as I can't find any difference in look, design or specs. It doesn't mean there aren't any differences though. I'm no compressor expert. 

Given my situation (being so close to a fill station and owning 3 tanks), there would only be extra convenience for me if the compressor ran perfectly for at least two years. 

Still, for $330 shipped to my door (the cheapest option on Aliexpress), it's hard to see why it's not worth the gamble. It would end all partial fills when tanks run low (but not low enough to fill yet). 
 
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Lots of people can live to tell the tale, but I don't want to be the one to get my leg blown off.

This conservative view comes from my occupation: I'm an engineer at UL, and one of my specialties is air compressors. Pneumatic explosions are serious business. Our standard test for parts containing pressure, such as compressor heads, hoses and fittings is to do a hydro test at 5X the rating of the relief valve that protects them.

When ordering from afar, from a person or a small company, they don't really assume any liability for their products' performance, or lack thereof. So not only is the safety un-confirmed, but there's not even a fear of litigation hurting a company.

Avoid them, and consider the mark-ups from the middlemen to be insurance and someone willing to take on the liability. Where 3rd party certification is concerned, hobby type equipment is often not required to be certified. But in that case, you can bet that the company has considered the safety of the product.

On a tankless compressor, the risk is a bit lower, but there are still hazards to be investigated relating to fire and shock hazards by using questionable components. (motors, motor overheating protection, flame barriers under motor vent openings and lots of other things.
 
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