Compressor damaging internals

JimNM said:

Cumulative wear is a whole lot different than the OP wild statement about ruination and blind accusation that a "cheap" compressor will RUIN an expensive gun. There are so many logic holes in the premise as stated, and never addressed, that we now have 2 different topics in the same thread.

Yes, I have ball bearing indents on my YH fitting. Yes, I can see how the high-speed hammering of the machine can transfer the force from the air column to the connectors. Yes and Yes. Point agreed. I also see how the higher the pressure gets, the more energy will transfer as the density of the compressed gasses increases. I have not run my YH since I got my GX3 and now GX4 pumps. I don't like to have to wear hearing protection while I refill my tanks.

It is not an issue of cost i.e. "cheap" vs. luxury pumps, nor is the cost of the airgun a factor in the rate and extent of the damage formula.

Thanks to those who have enlightened me. I will be more aware of the condition of my foster connections. I will try to limit direct to gun fills to on the go scenarios where carrying a bottle or two is not feasible.

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I don’t always get it right… part of the human factor; I apologize for using terms like “cheap“ or “expensive” as they are quite subjective and certainly not “exact” terminology.
My H.P. background comes from 21 years in the Navy EOD Diving Community. I am not a mechanical engineer. But I am, from spending all those years around H.P. systems very safety conscious.
One of the things that we used to do in the Navy involved investigations after equipment failures, especially if people were hurt. The goal wasn’t to place blame, rather it was to first create awareness and then to sort through the problems leading to the failures; because failures cost time and money. In this case, as stated, I became aware of three guns all costing greater than $1000.00 having their (internals) damaged by one common factor… the same “cheap” newly acquired compressor bought on Amazon. Do I know the brand name and price they paid for this compressor? Not yet; hoping to learn that soon. Cost? <$500.00? Probably? dunno.
What I do know, is that for those of us who truly enjoy PCP’s, nothing could be worse than spending our hard earned money on an expensive (or inexpensive) PCP only to have it ruined in a very short time because of a compressor, regardless if it’s cheap or expensive Compressor. Even worse is when the damage is significant enough to void the warranties on our brand new PCP.
My two objectives when I started this thread was not to declare that the sky is falling, or compressor snobbery, rather it’s to promote an awareness that a potential issue exists which may cost my fellow Airgunners a lot of money and heartache. Hopefully that awareness will get people to study and evaluate their own particular equipment and support systems. The second objective is to get other people to share their experiences and knowledge around this topic…, knowledge is power!
I see both of these objectives being met, albeit sideways.

We can and should ALL do better ALL the time… but we are, after all, humans.

Avator said:

Yep, might be a good question for some of these manufacturers. We all know that it's important to keep moisture out of our guns and tanks but this is the first time I've considered this surging of the slow speed compressors and the affects they may have on the guns (regulators and valves). I don't think it's much of an issue with tanks.
But if I think about it, as mentioned before, every shot produces a surge as the regulator and valve recharge after each shot.

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When I first learned of this incident I was shocked. I had never considered that the pulsating nature of a compressor, regardless of its cost, could damage an internal regulator or QD fittings. Thus my initial reaction.

Troy Bakel said:

Google "Cyclic Stress on Spring Disc Pressure Regulators".

When a shot is taken the regulator is opened by the spring discs as pressure drops in the plenum. The pressure pulse occurs once.

During rapid fire the plenum pressure may remain low enough to allow the spring discs to hold the regulator open. In any event the cycling rate is low and controlled by the spring discs.

When charging the plenum, force from the high pressure side of the regulator forces the valve rod open allowing the discs to expand and float. If you are pulsing "CYCLING" the regulator from the high pressure side, the discs may lose alignment wearing against each other and also scoring the valve rod.

Troy

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@Troy Bakel excellent information. Thank you.

Troy Bakel said:

I saw one of the rifles mentioned hooked up to the air compressor mentioned.

The air line was pulsing pretty good and you could feel the rifle vibrating.

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Any chance you can name the particular brand / model compressor?

Troy Bakel said:

Unfortunately no.

I was just walking by when Rod said something like "look at this" so I slowed looked and thought something like " that regulator is getting rabbit f@#&ed".

The line had just been called hot so I continued to my firing position.

You know me and my vanity driven ego ..... If it is not my Thomas or my Impacts, I am not interested.

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edit: thanks again… all of us are learning important things from this. Although I am not certain, I suspect that this type of damage / or particular issue, will only apply to regulated Airguns?