Altaros Booster/Compressor - Review Ongoing

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I invested in a 15gal Dewalt compressor, and while it does take indeed a long time, the system works flawlessly. The shop compressor runs on and off with plenty of rest time in between. I would prefer something faster, but nothing else out there instills much confidence in me. At least not in that price point. The new Hill is tempting...but: I don’t trust AV, system is new and potential wrinkles aren’t ironed out?, can only fill directly to gun (not a deal breaker), been reading up about some issues with temp, etc. 
 
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Much like the discussions about Yong Heng vs Omega vs Alkin etc., it depends on the individual. I've had no experience with the Altaros booster but I have an Altaros regulator that developed a leak in a gauge. I sent multiple emails to their listed contacts and could not get any response from Altaros to order another. I won't order anything from them but I'm glad those who have their boosters are in many cases happy with them.
 
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Updating an old thread. For any folks considering the Altaros booster pump, here is some information that might help you decide if it is for you. I have owned the sheet metal "deluxe" booster pump for almost a year now (https://www.altaros.cz/en/compressors/57-altaros-compressor-booster-unit-sheet-metal-cover.html).  During the first 11 months of ownership, I filled my PCP rifles directly from the pump, which took somewhere around 15-20 minutes. I was running the booster relatively slowly so I didn't stress my shop compressor. Recently, I purchased a 74 cubic foot Tiger Shark tank from Mr. Joe Brancato's Air Tanks for sale (http://www.airtanksforsale.com/).  I actually happened to speak directly to Joe himself when I called on a Saturday (just got lucky), but completed my sale with the staff during the following work week. The tank wasn't the cheapest available, but since I'm dealing with HP air, I wanted to buy something that had testing and quality behind it. Joe's tanks are great, the service was excellent, and best of all, the tank was made here in the USA! Joe and team, you have a customer for life!



Back to the booster...I decided to fill my newly purchased tank with my setup. I have a sears oil-less shop compressor that has a 25 gallon air tank, connected to a Campbell Hausfeld water separator/air dryer combo, then to the inlet of the booster. The booster was connected directly to the foster fitting on the empty tank. I ran the air booster with 110psi input from the low pressure compressor, and the air flow dialed down low, in order to keep the low pressure compressor duty cycle low (i.e. keep the temperatures low). This was all run inside my unheated shed on the shop bench (winter in Texas) the day after a rather wet few days (e.g. ~80% humidity).

PXL_20210131_160859907.1612319594.jpg


Here are the results: 

  • Fill time from 0psi to 4500psi - 19 hours run-time (I split this between two days)
  • Four (4) desiccant changes in the primary (Campbell-Hausfeld external) air drier
    • I had previously bought desiccant pellets via Amazon, so I had plenty on hand to swap out
    • For those that may not know, you can dry your used pellets in an oven using a foil pan for 30 minutes at 200-250 degrees F
  • The low pressure compressor head never got above 130 degrees F
  • The booster pump medium and high pressure sides never got above 70 degrees F
  • The tank temperature never got above 70 degrees F
  • The desiccant inside the booster pump housing only ever slightly changed color during the fill process, but returned to dry color once the desiccant charge in the first air drier was changed
  • The water separator had maybe 0.5 - 1.0 teaspoon of water in it by the end of the process



There it is. I could probably have increased the flow volume of the booster, decreasing the fill time, and run the system at a higher duty cycle and temperature, without reaching any danger point. Speed is not important for me, and I fully expect that topping off the tank from 2000psi to 4500psi will be significantly shorter (maybe 6 hours at these settings), which works for me.




 
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Hey, I am not sure how I missed this thread. It's great thanks so much for sharing it! BTW, I did the survey you mentioned in your first post and I'm so happy it has helped you find a compressor that meets your needs :) 

I ended up purchasing a used Shoebox F10 shortly after collecting some of this data and it's been great. You're pretty much convincing me that if/when the F10 bites the dust, the Altaros will be my replacement.

I too have a Tigershark and would love to know what your top-off times will be with your setup. For reference, I am now shooting guns that accept 300 bar fills (Kalibrgun Cricket 2) and I typically drain my Tigershark tank down to about 240-250 bar and then top off to 320 bar (think my tank's gauge reads about 10 bar high). This takes me 90 minutes and I'm running this on a pathetic little 3 gallon husky oilless compressor which barely outputs 100 psi (the darn thing refuses to die!). I think they recommended a 120 psi input so this could be faster but it really does not bother me that it slow to top off.
 
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I have an Altaros booster that has passed 110+ hours without any issues.

I run it from a 0.75hp compressor but it just chugs on at a slower pace and the pressure switch makes it a set it and forget it thing.

They can be ordered here: https://www.altaros.cz/en/50-compressors

The new "kit" they have developed will let you boost a feed bottle down to some 100psi while using shop air for the work. That means you can suck a N2 bottle dry beore returning it for a 6000psi refill.
 
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Xindaris, thank you for your feedback, and I am truly sorry to hear about your experience with the Altaros booster. Your post had me re-visit the manufacturer's page to verify that running the compressor for extended periods at a slow rate & low temperature was safe. I agree that HP air is nothing to play around with. After reviewing the manufacturer's page, the system is designed for long periods of operation. I don't know if you ran an extra air drier prior to the inlet port, but that is my setup, and I am do spend extra time making sure that the desiccant in the on-board drier that came with the booster stays as dry as possible. That's why I stopped operation to change and re-charge the pre-drier desiccant pellets.



For anyone else reading the thread, there are lots of examples on this board (and others) about the potential dangers of mis-handling high pressure containers. Nothing in life is risk free, but do take precautions. If you aren't comfortable working with HP air, get your tanks filled at a qualified shop and remove the concerns.



Best of luck.
 
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I have a large workshop and multiple compressors. My air line that I hooked up to the booster had 4 industrial desiccant dryers, 4 moisture traps, and the desiccant dryer in the booster. The air line also had a pressure regulator at the compressor and another before the booster. I also had 1 high pressure desiccant dryer at the outlet before the bottle. I was able to run the booster at their recommended max inlet air pressure indefinitely. Even at max air pressure it takes about 1 hour for every 10 cu ft of air when filling an 88 cu ft SCBA tank. I think the booster would work fine for light applications, like filling a gun or a pony bottle. It is not heavy duty enough for tanks. If they had honored their warranty and or said the USA was excluded from their warranty in their literature when I bought it I would not be complaining. That being said unlike a few years ago when a booster was the only inexpensive game in town today there are many better options for basically the same price that fill much faster out there. Remember when you buy a booster to be fair you have to include the price of the compressor to run it wether you have one or not. When you run a booster with a compressor the size most people have that compressor is going to be running at it's max. No compressor is going to last long in that environment. When I got into pcp's I was like everyone else, I went the cheap route for air. When I added up all the money I spent thinking I was saving money I could have easily bought a Bauer. It is a lesson learned by me the hard way that I just wanted to pass on.
 
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I bought a blue box and immediately noticed a 6mm tube had come loose on the booster in shipping. Stuck it back in and proceeded to fill two large welding cylinders. In the middle of the last fill noticed a large air leak where the tube had been disconnected. Turns out the 6mm elbow is bad and no longer springs back over the tube. Asked Altaros to send me a new one and they said use a longer 6mm tube. While this may work the elbow remains broken for whatever reason and needs replacing. I will pay for this myself since they are cheap but it is a little disconcerting........
 
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xindaris said:
After fixing it, using it to fill tanks is not a good idea if you want it to last. Use it to fill guns only. When mine had a catastrophic failure during the warranty period they refused to honor the warranty. Since they are based outside the USA you really don’t have many options if they don’t help or honor your warranty.
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Well that Is very interesting if true because I told them exactly what I would be using it for. Not here to play games with people.
 
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