Brave enough to order from Aliexpress?

"Smaug"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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I think that someone being liable in the event of an accident would be cold comfort and of little use to most people. A small eBay seller might not even have enough assets to make them worth the legal action.

If you were dealing with a large retailer, they could afford better lawyers than most of us and it costs $50,000+ to bring a claim against a company and it takes years. If there were real damages, e.g. an accident that stopped you working, you probably wouldn't want to drain your life savings on legal bills only to watch the two-bit lawyer most people could afford get ripped apart by the large legal team of the company you were taking action against. 

That aside, I can't disagree with your point about the potential for safety issues with a cheap Chinese anything. 

The concern isn't limited to just compressors though, or unknown Aliexpress sellers. I've had some truely terrible hpa fittings from Air Venturi and I consider them to be no more or less trustworthy as a source of HPA products than any Chinese eBay seller. A cheap Chinese compressor is just that no matter if you order it direct or through an American retailer. 

I've snapped enough brass fill probes to have a healthy mistrust of most hpa fill products but, as an engineer, can you give us any advice around mitigating the risk of using such a death-trap? 

I was thinking something along the lines of me not being in the room while it is filling the tank and turning it on and off remotely. It can't hurt me if I'm not there...

"Smaug"Well, my point is that if there's something for the seller/manufacturer to lose, they'll build it a LOT more carefully. Maybe I have more faith in our legal system than you do, but I've seen a TON of ads offering injury litigation, and they'll just take a cut when the settlement comes through.

I guess if you were going to use it anyway, have some kind of shield up between you and the parts subject to pressure while it's running. Something that could block a bit of shrapnel. It could be something as simple as a piece of plywood.

I wouldn't use it within 18" of the floor in an area where there might be flammable vapros around, like the garage. If you have it in your garage, put it up on a bench, so that any arcing inside relays or switches wouldn't be able to ignite flammable vapors.

I would place it on a non-flammable surface, and that surface would extend for a couple feed in all directions of it. That way, if a winding were to open and throw out a spark, it wouldn't be able to kindle a fire when you're not there.

Maybe just as important as this is to have some way to prevent accidental drops or knock-overs of air tanks, where the valve could get hit and make it fly off like a missile. I'd rather have the tank flat on the ground and get dirty than to risk it rolling off a table and landing on the valve. Get one of those carrier thingies that keeps it from rolling around. (check out the mythbusters youtube video for air tank:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejEJGNLTo84)

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That's good advice that people can use to reduce the risk. Maybe the thing to do is construct a simple barrier around it with extra thick plexiglass or something like that. 

You are right that I have no faith in the legal system. I've seen first hand what it's like for the individual to go up against a large company. Even if you go with a no win / no fee lawyer, there can be tens of thousands of dollars in cost just getting to a hearing date. There are tons of fees that you have to pay in addition to the lawyers costs. 

For a aimple breach of employment contract case I went through in IL against an old employer, the admin fees were over $30,000 before a single lawyers bill was seen. 

Plus, good lawyers don't do no win / no fee. You'll most likely lose to a company that can spend $100,000+ on a legal team. And it will be two years before it gets heard. It's really a horrible thing to go through.

My advice to anyone would be don't go after any legal claim against a company unless you can afford good lawyers, even if your case sounds like a slam dunk in your head. 

How about a little trap door that locks so you can reach in to do what you need to, without exposing your face and body to it. Problem solved....


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i saw one of the ads advertise a remote operation option. I would rather not be in the same room while it's running as I hate noise and dying n stuff.

"Deja"Not really sure what the point of these small compressors are. If you use that little air then a 12L 300 bar scuba will last you ages. Way less hassle. The only reason for compressor is if you start shooting big bore a lot and then that small one wont really be helpful.

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I guess it makes sense for people who don't live near a convenient air fill place. Mine is 5 minutes drive but if I had to drive for an hour or more, I would probably start seeing the merit.

Also, for guns that fill to 250 or 300 bar, it would be nice to be able to top them off when the tank runs low. That's my interest in them. I like the idea of everything always being optimal.