Antifreeze in your pcp compressor?

[tommyb]

I have two compressors that use a closed circulating system with a radiator - although my comment could apply to an open system using a bucket and pump too.

I'm running a pre-mixed "ready to use" antifreeze designed for aluminum parts - not worried about freezing but don't want any corrosion -

This seems to be working fine and is really simple to get and use - no worries about water quality.

Having disassembled my units several times, both to do some mods and to check for any issues, I haven't seen any buildups or corrosion - and both cylinders have fairly complex water jackets.

just my experience...

Thanks.

In reading many of the responses in this post, I’m sensing that one can use either 1) filtered or distilled water with an additive to prevent corrosion or 2) an antifreeze blend (70/30 or 50/50) to help prevent corrosion; even if you don’t have temperature freeze concerns.

 

[AlanMcD]

The other thing you could do (outside the box thinking here) is store it in the garage in a way that it can't freeze. One thought is to keep it in a cooler, and take it out when you go to run it. It also would keep it nice and clean and prevent any bugs or spiders from getting into it when not in use.

I'm in Michigan and keep beverages in a good cooler in the garage throughout the winter, and our garage often falls below freezing. It is never an issue except when those "polar vortices" hit, usually once per winter - then I have to bring them inside for a few days or they will eventually freeze as the garage gets down to close to single digits then. In your case, the inside of the cooler will never get below freezing since the garage ends up not being below freezing except transiently.

 

[tommyb]

The other thing you could do (outside the box thinking here) is store it in the garage in a way that it can't freeze. One thought is to keep it in a cooler, and take it out when you go to run it. It also would keep it nice and clean and prevent any bugs or spiders from getting into it when not in use.

I'm in Michigan and keep beverages in a good cooler in the garage throughout the winter, and our garage often falls below freezing. It is never an issue except when those "polar vortices" hit, usually once per winter - then I have to bring them inside for a few days or they will eventually freeze as the garage gets down to close to single digits then. In your case, the inside of the cooler will never get below freezing since the garage ends up not being below freezing except transiently.

Thanks Alan

Good idea, especially if it were a smaller portable or GX CS4-i compressor. It would have to be a pretty big cooler for an E-5K 1 or 2. Or a Daystate Legerro or an Omega Air Charger.

 

[AlanMcD]

Thanks Alan

Good idea, especially if it were a smaller portable or GX CS4-i compressor. It would have to be a pretty big cooler for an E-5K 1 or 2. Or a Daystate Legerro or an Omega Air Charger.

True, but I remembered you were looking at the CS-4 . . .

 

[tommyb]

True, but I remembered you were looking at the CS-4 . . .

Good memory.

I am looking at a few, and plan to buy something before or by end of the year.

GX CS4-I, E5K1 or a Legerro. I have all the pros and cons pretty well analyzed, just need to decide. Not in a huge hurry as long as my Dive Shop stays alive.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[M Volle]

Good memory.

I am looking at a few, and plan to buy something before or by end of the year.

GX CS4-I, E5K1 or a Legerro. I have all the pros and cons pretty well analyzed, just need to decide. Not in a huge hurry as long as my Dive Shop stays alive.

Thanks for the suggestions.

This site is a great resource for choosing a compressor -
I've got several and stories to go with most of them - price isn't a good indicator -

I purchased a set of five compressors that didn't work from a manufacturer - got all five for $150 and a half hour drive - playing with broken toys has always been a hobby and these were $1,700 units new -
Two problems - same for all five compressors - and with a shop, I designed a replacement piece out of aluminum and only one unit had actual piston damage and became the doner for other parts - one broken LCD display, one bad piston, one broken circulating pump, broken wheels - but essentially its a nice little compressor that will fill a 500cc bottle from zero to 300 bar in about three minutes. It will easily run up to 5,000 PSI.

The original design had a plastic part that would crack and leak all the coolant - would be horribly frustrating if I had bought one new - They stopped making this one and hadn't actually done any failure analysis - they were very supprised I got four of them running with some shop time and $30 worth of aluminum.... its a great compressor now - but there were no parts available, no schematic of the assembly and probably every single unit produced eventually had the same failure -

Units that have consistently good reviews after 2-3 years probably have their bugs worked out - as would compressors from any of the major dive compressor manufacturers - but many of the diving compressors are too big to fill a gun directly - a top off would be a few seconds total.

One really odd problem with guns that fill to 300 bar (4300 PSI) and have a larger bottle (mine is 400cc) is that if you shoot down to about 190 bar, even a 45 minute tank at 4,500 PSI will only give you one full fill back to 300 bar - so I really did want an intermediate sized compressor - able to fill larger bottles for other folks or direct fill my rifle (a top off is a little over a minute). I'm settled on just doing direct fills for now.

Do make sure that you have a good moisture trap/filter - many small compressors will have a "filter" on the fill hose - this is just a little rayon filter that collects some of the moisture but is not sufficient to protect your gear. Better compressors include a filter that has a pressure building regulator so the air actually stays in the filter long enough to be filtered properly.

If the compressor doesn't have one, budget $200 to purchase one as an add on - I use the same filter on both the shop and field compressors - just move it as needed - connects via foster fittings.

Tanks make perfect sense if you are doing 200 or even 250 bar fills.