In the market to purchase a new PCP compressor. Anyone know or have the Chinese Spritech PCP air compressor? Happy with it? Recommendations?
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Air compressors
- Thread starter JMC
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It looks like soo... many other of the Chinese oil-less water-less compressors. They are good for somewhere around 20 hours of use if you are good to them.
I would suggest a Yong Heng if you want something inexpensive that will last. It's the best around for under 1200-$1600 and only costs $300 so is a deal.
It is water cooled and has a crankcase full of oil so it lasts much longer than the other Chinese units.
No 12V though so you would need to buy a tank unless you have a 110 outlet handy and want to carry a few gallons of water around with you.
https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/experience-based-opinions-on-yong-heng-vendors-request/#post-1039607
I would suggest a Yong Heng if you want something inexpensive that will last. It's the best around for under 1200-$1600 and only costs $300 so is a deal.
It is water cooled and has a crankcase full of oil so it lasts much longer than the other Chinese units.
No 12V though so you would need to buy a tank unless you have a 110 outlet handy and want to carry a few gallons of water around with you.
https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/experience-based-opinions-on-yong-heng-vendors-request/#post-1039607
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Make sure that you are mechanically inclined or purchase from a very reputable reseller like Veradium Air.
All the Chinese compressors follow the 80/20 rule.
20% effort yielding 80% results. They all look like will do the job. Loose fittings, sharp edges on functional parts, cheap seal material are the primary culprits.
I've had 8 of them because I kept thinking I would find a 1 and done solution.
If you are mechanically inclined and have the time to fix them most are fine. Yong Heng and Tuxing make pretty good compressors as a base to work from. Better than the no name or unknown name clones. Actually just remembered Umarex Ready Air is actually pretty good and easier to rebuild when the piston seals wear out. Still had to tighten and leak check all the fittings. I like that design because it's easy to use and was designed to be easy to rebuild. My friend has one and is very happy.
None of them are buy it and you are done.
Also, do a search on this forum there are many discussions about compressors and user experience in rebuilding/fixing/upgrading these compressors.
Cheers,
Sergey
All the Chinese compressors follow the 80/20 rule.
20% effort yielding 80% results. They all look like will do the job. Loose fittings, sharp edges on functional parts, cheap seal material are the primary culprits.
I've had 8 of them because I kept thinking I would find a 1 and done solution.
If you are mechanically inclined and have the time to fix them most are fine. Yong Heng and Tuxing make pretty good compressors as a base to work from. Better than the no name or unknown name clones. Actually just remembered Umarex Ready Air is actually pretty good and easier to rebuild when the piston seals wear out. Still had to tighten and leak check all the fittings. I like that design because it's easy to use and was designed to be easy to rebuild. My friend has one and is very happy.
None of them are buy it and you are done.
Also, do a search on this forum there are many discussions about compressors and user experience in rebuilding/fixing/upgrading these compressors.
Cheers,
Sergey
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I have a Yong Heng. I've taken the heads apart several times, am constantly replacing seals, and you get the drift. Yes, it works and for $250, you can buy 5 before you get into an Air Venturi at $1500. Mine is now about 3 years old. Not that many hours, but I figured it was a disposable. When it's unrepairable, I'll just buy another. The YH works, compresses air, and I can't really complain. When it dies, I'll keep it for parts and get one more till it dies too. After 10 to 15 years, I'll have spent the same as an Air Venturi.
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I have the spritech it started with with a bad inverter but they send a replacement for free from China and it's been fine since. Customer service has been excellent if a part fails they send a new one which is all you can ask. You can't fill tanks with it but for gun filling it's fine we'll see how long it lasts and if they are still supplying parts when it kicks the bucket but for now I am pretty happy with it. I didn't want to deal with water and oil which is why I got it.
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Compressors should never be starting against a load. Open the bleed off valve, start the motor and let it run for 10 seconds or so, then close the bleed off valve. I have sheared the drive shaft off twice (I am a slow learner apparently) by having a pressurized fill hose when I started the motor. I thought I was doing ok by shutting down in the middle of a fill to allow cool off time, then starting again with the dry filter and hose already at fill pressure. NOPE, don't do it. Always start at zero pressure on the system.
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I've had a Yong Heng for a year now it continues to work perfectly... I've changed the oil whenever it starts to look to dark. Always start it with the bleed screws open and then close after it's running. A few months ago I added a large in line filter with molecular sieve. I think this will help to keep the compressed air as dry as possible. So far so good... I think I paid $265 on Amazon.
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I personally think that for the money, one can't go wrong with a (real) Yong Heng. Had mine for a little over a year now. Aside from the Dowty seal at the top of the HP cylinder blowing out a month after I got it (3 extras came with the YH & it took only 10 minutes to repair) it has performed flawlessly. (Really wish I hadn't said that because something bad will surely happen to it now!) I have to admit to babying it. I never use it to fill a completely empty tank, only top-offs, never try to fill past 4200psi, always have the pressure & moisture bleed valves OPEN when starting & stopping it, always have ice in my water supply & a fan blowing on exterior housing when running it and I never run it more than 15 minutes without giving it a cool-off break. These simple steps are my routine & have served me well so far. Part of my sense of confidence is I have another "newly rebuilt" YH waiting in the wings should something malfunction with my original one. (Was lucky enough to have traded some equipment for that backup). I keep a little notebook near the YH & record all run time & oil change intervals. It's really great to be "air-independent" & I'm sure the unit has more than paid for itself by now. Good luck in whatever you decide.
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I have to go against all the Chinese compressor contenders, they are junk. AGN is full of catastrophic stories. The most expensive part of this PCP hobby is air, much more than any one gun. You get what you pay for. There is just no comparison between a professional compressor and Chinese junk.
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When it’s time to purchase a compressor, It will most likely be a YH, I have watched many head to head comparison videos on YouTube, If you do a decent water cooling set up for it and keep the temp down while filling, From what I have seen It does a great job, Combined with the price and ease of replacing seals etc. For me it will be a no brainer purchase.
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Speaking from experience, save your money for a good compressor. I recommend a Hill ec-3000. I've been down the YH route, the lower end Omega route, the Spritech route and the JST route. They all failed in less than a year filling only guns. You can be "Lucky" and experience no failures or "lucky" when you do, finding parts to replace the failed pump or line components yourself or you can buy a Hill or the like (Coltri etc) and fill guns and smaller bottles reliably and quickly.
The Hill isn't cheap per se. It's about 1200 dollars. This is where I would start at a minimum.
Now, you can buy cheap compressors that will fill your gun (slowly with the exception of the YH) but they will break and you will be spending another 250-500 or more on a replacement.
By the way, YH fills quickly but is not self-contained. They also produce a lot of oil and in general, become messy towards the end of their lifespan.
The Omega trail-master and clones (JST that is air-cooled and GX3), will be a better option but the pump design is not robust. I've taken apart all of the aforementioned with the exception of the Hill and their pumps look like they are manufactured in the same facility in China. Tiny seals, poor valve geometry on the second stage, and weak pump motors. What is surprising to me is that people will report good reviews because they have a unit that works well during the time of review but nobody seems to have long term high hour reports on these units nor do they have insight into the wear on the pump components at these higher hour marks.
Think about it. Most products work well when new. You want a compressor that is serviceable and whose parts are available. I will give it to Omega. They have vendors that supply rebuild kits. The clones, not so much unless you want to order off Alibaba.
Do what you want with your money. I would advise against the lower-tier pumps. Don't let your budget impact your decision. Save for a good one. Be patient.
The Hill isn't cheap per se. It's about 1200 dollars. This is where I would start at a minimum.
Now, you can buy cheap compressors that will fill your gun (slowly with the exception of the YH) but they will break and you will be spending another 250-500 or more on a replacement.
By the way, YH fills quickly but is not self-contained. They also produce a lot of oil and in general, become messy towards the end of their lifespan.
The Omega trail-master and clones (JST that is air-cooled and GX3), will be a better option but the pump design is not robust. I've taken apart all of the aforementioned with the exception of the Hill and their pumps look like they are manufactured in the same facility in China. Tiny seals, poor valve geometry on the second stage, and weak pump motors. What is surprising to me is that people will report good reviews because they have a unit that works well during the time of review but nobody seems to have long term high hour reports on these units nor do they have insight into the wear on the pump components at these higher hour marks.
Think about it. Most products work well when new. You want a compressor that is serviceable and whose parts are available. I will give it to Omega. They have vendors that supply rebuild kits. The clones, not so much unless you want to order off Alibaba.
Do what you want with your money. I would advise against the lower-tier pumps. Don't let your budget impact your decision. Save for a good one. Be patient.
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Most new to this PCP hobby underestimate the real cost of air..It is the most expensive element of the hobby. The cost of air includes not just the compressor, but all the bottles, whips, gauges, filters and water separators. I'm quite lucky in that I found a Bauer 4 cylinder portable 80 liter/per minute pump in a junk yard. It has a 460 Volt 3 phase motor, but no controls. Not counting my labor, the parts to build the controls, manifolds, adapters, fittings, sensors, power supply, stainless piping and relays cost me slightly more than $1,000 . The pump did not require rebuilding. High pressure air is dangerous stuff and good safe components are expensive.It is simply not possible to low dollar this requirement. My compressor will charge a 12 liter scuba bottle from empty in 20 minutes. It will charge the same bottle from 200 bar to 250 bar in 6 minutes. It is capable of charging a cascade setup of 40 liter bottles for hours on end without overheating and last for 40 years without needing an overhaul. One full 12 liter bottle will allow me to shoot my Crown all day long about a full tin of pellets. A full 12 liter bottle will allow daily shooting of my PP700S-A for a month.
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Any solution's to fill a 580cc to 250bar
I am currently looking for an Air Compressor myself... if I go big I am buying a Dive compressor unit since I do Scuba dive here in South Fla I can get a whole used scuba tank fill rig for 1500.00 ~ 2000.00 support for 80cu ft or 12L tanks ...
If I go small... I am looking around 500 USD... max ... main goal is to not pay a name brand tax because some vendor off-shored a design to CHINA and they sell direct to USA...
my research to date has yielded the following for New Scuba portable units HP for filling tanks on a boat solutions form 110v ~240v or gas/diesel 3K~5.5K here in USA weighing from 110lbs~250lbs
https://nuvair.com/products/compressors/hp/portable
two compressor MFG one Italian one North American
I am currently looking for an Air Compressor myself... if I go big I am buying a Dive compressor unit since I do Scuba dive here in South Fla I can get a whole used scuba tank fill rig for 1500.00 ~ 2000.00 support for 80cu ft or 12L tanks ...
If I go small... I am looking around 500 USD... max ... main goal is to not pay a name brand tax because some vendor off-shored a design to CHINA and they sell direct to USA...
my research to date has yielded the following for New Scuba portable units HP for filling tanks on a boat solutions form 110v ~240v or gas/diesel 3K~5.5K here in USA weighing from 110lbs~250lbs
https://nuvair.com/products/compressors/hp/portable
two compressor MFG one Italian one North American
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