Air Venturi Hill EC-3000 Issues

[BobsterIT]

Hi Guys,

I just started having issues with the Hill Ec-300 compressor I bought in June.



If I try and fill a gun which takes more that one cycle to fill, The compressor

will fill to 75 dec shutdown for a cool down pause ,but when it cools to 65dec

instead of starting backup it binds and trips circuit breaker.

If I depressurize and start over it will start just fine again, run the cycle and do the same thing.



Do you have any advice on solving this issue?

 

[Humdinger]

Go to Hill's UK website, airriflepump.com and send them a message describing your issue. There is a contact form in the lower left side of their home page. 

 

[Solo1]

Try just depressurization and let it start back up

 

[BobsterIT]

If I depressurize and start over it will start just fine again, run the cycle and do the same thing.

 

[BobsterIT]

If I pause the fill and depressurize then resume fill it works fine. The problem is by the time it get back up to pressure it is ready for another cool down. 

 

[Humdinger]

Most home circuit breakers are rated at 15 amps. However, a washing machine is on a 20 amp breaker. As a test, try plugging your compressor into the same receptacle as your washer and see if it trips. Remember that restarting the compressor under load will draw high amps than when it starts with no pressure.

When I first started using a new Daystate LC-110 it was rated at 15 amps at 110V but would trip any 15 amp breaker in my home as it approached 4500 psi. My fix was to plug it into the 20 amp washer receptacle. No more tripping. If yours works by plugging it into a 20 amp circuit, it's telling you that 15 amp circuits aren't going to work with your compressor.

 

[BobsterIT]

The compressor binds up, That's why it trips the circuit . I have emailed both Pyramyd Air and Hill in the UK but so far no response. 

 

[Humdinger]

Call Air Venturi at (216) 292-2570. They were very helpful whenI repaired an Air Venturi compressor for a friend.

 

[BobsterIT]

Contacted Air Venturi , They issued me a Warranty repair ticket to return the compressor for repair..But At MY EXPENCE!

Do I drain the oil before I send it in or as is, they never gave me instruction.

 

[Humdinger]

Given the exhorbitant retail price of $1,200 they should be sending you a prepaid shipping label. How long have you had the compressor? How many hours has it been run? I'm wondering if a tech support person at Hill couldn't just talk you through the repair and send the parts. It's not that complicated a design but shipping isn't cheap. Compressors can be expensive when they don't work as they should.

I would drain the oil. Most shippers don't really pay attention to this end up stickers. If it gets turned over your compressor could be a mess if oil is still inside.

 

[BobsterIT]

Guess I won't be sending my Hill Compressor back for repair. They want $234 to ship it back

The issue is not a stoppage. It just won't restart when it comes out of cooling cycle when it is pressurized.

I just have to depressurize it before it starts up again . 

 

[SDstephan]

Have Hill given you any indication what the issue might be? 

 

[shoot44]

I have been following your thread hoping to have a solution in hand in case this happens to mine.

To date my Hill has never came close to the 75c cutoff point while filling (actually topping off from 150 to 250 bar) the 480cc bottle on my gun. It did after the gun's fill valve stuck open and dumped all the air and had to refill from zero, but it restarted as it is supposed to. I did notice that once it reached 75c and cutoff the pressure on the Hill dropped a few bar before it restarted. The pressure also drops a little after topping off the bottle and before I open the bleed valve. Does yours also do this drop off thing?

I don't understand how it can restart under pressure. Makes no sense to me. Was thinking that maybe that slight drop in pressure somehow relieved the pressure on the piston. 

Here is something from page 8 of the Hill manual:

Wish Hill had provided an explanation of why the unit would do something like this. Their English English is confusing to me at times.

Perhaps your unit has got this mixed up with the high temp cutoff procedure.

 

[BobsterIT]

Mine Also drops pressure when is pauses.. I will say that most all compressors can't restart under pressure so The Hill is one of the few that does.

 

[BobsterIT]

I will note that I have tried to contact Hill Directly but they Have not responded to any of my email.

Does any one have a better way of contacting them?

 

[Humdinger]

I went to Hill's website and used their contact form to inform them of their lack of response to your emails. Have you used the contact form on their website?

Hill Air Rifle Pump

I wrote them asking why they haven't responded and got an immediate answer. They said they have no record of you contacting them. Are you using the contact form on the bottom left of the page I linked? I think there is a simple fix to your problem that won't involve the Pyramyd Air or Air Venturi crowd. Hill has always been responsive. They don't want the bad publicity this thread is creating. Here is an email I received from them within an hour of using their online contact form.


Hi Steve

Thanks for sending the link through. I have had a look through our system and I can assure you that we have not received any emails from the customer you are mentioning.

If you are in contact with him, please ask him to resend any emails to [email protected] and our technical department will respond straight away.

Kind regards,

Ernest H Hill Ltd.
Longacre Way
Holbrook
Sheffield
S20 3FS
England
Registered in England No. 91553

Telephone: + 44 114 248 4882
Direct Line: + 44 114 349 4445

 

[Healthservices]

Mine Also drops pressure when is pauses.. I will say that most all compressors can't restart under pressure so The Hill is one of the few that does.

How much pressure are you talking about? If it is just 5 or 10 bar, it maybe just the unit cooling and the air contracting. in addition to what was already said, when depressurizing to restart, you are just depressurizing the line not the whole tank right? One last thing have you checked for leaks? Some units will develop leaks over time and will only leak at high pressures. Having a leak can extend your compressor times to the point it will get hot and have to go thru a cooling cycle.





Allen

 

[shoot44]

Hundinger - I'm with you. I have contacted Hill a couple times. Always got fast responses.

Healthservices - Yea, mine Hill gauge drops 5-10 bar immediately on shutoff, then stabilizes. " Some units will develop leaks over time and will only leak at high pressures." Mine has not leaked but if I do not get the purge valve tight it will start to vent air at the higher pressures and extend run times as you stated.

 

[BobsterIT]

I got a reply from Ben Kardoosh at Hill Pumps today.

I am really shocked at the detailed instruction he gave me to solve my problem.

I looking forward to dig into them this weekend.

I hope these instruction can help others as well 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------



From what you have described, I can think of two likely possibilities.



1. Not all three compression stages are pulling their weight.

Most likely stage 2. This causes stage 1 to have to take up the slack and produce more of the pressure.

Stage 1 being a large volume stage with a large piston area can easily cause the compressor to stall if it is fighting too much downstream pressure.

This will be more likely to happen as the motor attempts to start, since starting already requires more current than running.

To fix this, check the stage 2 ball valve and spring valve for dirt/debris/fragmentation, and clean/replace where necessary.



2. The final stage piston seal has a partial leak.

Usually if the final stage is not producing any pressure, the PRV will start to make hissing and popping sounds as it as it passes gas, and the compressor will struggle to get past 100 bar.

However, if the final stage piston seal has a slow leak, it may not produce this symptom. In this case it is possible for the compressor to function almost normally, apart from when it is paused at pressure (such as during a cooling cycle) in which case high pressure gas can slowly leak past the stage 3 seal and directly into stage 1. If the stage 1 intake valve happens to be paused in the closed position (which is a 50% chance) then the pressure in stage 1 and the various downstream pipes could increase to above the usual operating pressure of stage 1. Again, this can cause stage 1 to stall the compressor upon start-up.

To fix this, examine the stage 3 piston seal for signs of wear/damage/ embedded swarf, also examine the anodised surface of the cylinder bore for signs of scraping, and replace components where necessary.

A slow leak in the final stage spring valve (A.K.A bullet valve) can also contribute to this effect. It may be worth examining this for signs of fragmentation/ embedded swarf.



To summarise I would advise to first check your valves (since this is the least invasive process), and failing that, check the final stage piston seal.



Below is a link to a video showing how to access various components for maintenance. (you will need to remove the green shroud first)



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9ARFfEtv9s

 

[SDstephan]

thanks for posting their response BobsterIT - this sort of factory support seems unparalleled based on user reports I've seen - reassuring to say the least