I am in the market for a compressor. Only going to fill my rifles and 100ci tank. Probably not more than once a week. I think I want a portable that works with 12 volt and 120. Really don't want to get into the bucket of ice water and etc. I can shut it off a let it cool.... beats the hand pump. Do I buy the cheapest on Amazon and get the longest warranty? Or, mid range and the longest warranty? Never saw one in Walmart, where do they hide them? Can't justify anything over $400. What are my options?
Buying a Compressor
- Thread starter WNYBill
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I would recommend the gx cs2. Not that it is something overly spectacular but the fact that parts can be obtained at target forge.net when it needs servicing. I have one and so far so good but it is nice to know there is part availability down the road. Target forge also has a YouTube channel with a bunch of videos on taking it apart and servicing it. I believe on Amazon they are about 350 dollars or so. You can buy direct from gx pumps for nearly 100 dollars less. However, Amazon has excellent/easy return policies and who knows with gx themselves. Guess it’s a pick your poison kind of thing.
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You get what you pay for. Whatever compressor you decide to buy, but an additional inline moisture filter. Not a cheap chinese gold tux filter, one that actually works. Look here: http://www.airtanksforsale.com/
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There are some that have Vevor that actually function. I curse them and Walmart with every stroke of my hand pump.
Failed the transformer twice in less than an hour of run time.
My email correspondence with China, who still pretends they are Walmart is done.
It is in the box and on my list of stops today.
Never been thrown out of a Walmart, but maybe today?
Failed the transformer twice in less than an hour of run time.
My email correspondence with China, who still pretends they are Walmart is done.
It is in the box and on my list of stops today.
Never been thrown out of a Walmart, but maybe today?
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Yong heng, tuxing, gx are the chinese brands to buy. AOA GX Trail charger is good it's got support from Todd and is the GxCs4.
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I agree that a post compression air dryer (a desiccant dryer, not a physical media filter) is crucial with these pumps, but if I were in the market now I would buy this one instead to save some money while still getting a great filter set up: https://nuvair.com/personal-filter-din.html
You'll also need DIN 200 to foster fitting connections too, but the filter is cheaper and probably always available.
Of course these filters do show you how expensive compressed air really is, as they work against your desired budget . . .
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I like having a Yong Heng and a GX CS3 but since I rarely use a compressor in the field anymore, filling my $75 SCBA 80 cubic foot tank with the Yong Heng instead, all I really need now is the Yong Heng.
The water traps in the GX CS3 and CS4 are excellent. I think they are better than a 20 inch tall cotton fiber filter and maybe even as good as a $400 molecular sieve filter. If portability is important, remember that adding a huge water trap filter is going to add a bunch to the bulk and the weight of the kit, plus, how are you going to support the filter in the field? I use a small secondary water filter in the field with my GX CS3 and the secondary filter material has never shown any sign of moisture in it, but I am in the desert. On humid days quite a bit of water comes out of the water trap. I am guessing 10x what the Yong Heng built in water trap catches. You could use color changing beads in the small secondary trap to see how much water is getting past the GX trap. Just be sure to remove them when done testing unless you fashion some kind of plastic liner so they don't touch the aluminum, as they will corrode it when containing moisture. Make sure whatever you buy is use rated for the working PSI you are filling and is max pressure rated over that. This one from Amazon is max pressure rated at 6500+ max PSI.
This filter is bigger than the one I use and would probably be a better choice than the cotton style in humid places. It has a plastic tube to protect the aluminum from the acidity of the beads. Ditch the charcoal that comes in the tube and go with the molecular sieve beads. Don't use Silica Gel You can add some color changing ones for an inch or two on the compressor side to monitor how much water gets caught.
The best deal going right now on a pump for home for both price and speed is the Yong Heng knockoff or unbranded Yong Heng from Walmart.com for $174 shipped, plus an "Orange" water trap for $118. Total cost $292. Less than half the cost of the GX CS4 and an orange water trap. I don't think you would need anything else besides those, but you could add a molecular sieve at the end with or without color changing beads in it. Mine looks like it came off the same assembly line as my Yong Heng and it is twice as fast to fill just a gun than my Yong Heng and both of them are many times faster than my GX CS3 / 4
With the Yong Heng styles, you do not need to use ice in the water to fill a gun, or even two unless they have huge tanks. I rarely put ice in the bucket to fill one gun and have never gone over 55c head temp. Just fill the sink or a bucket with cold water from the tap which takes maybe 90 seconds to do and run it until the water gets up to 50c then dump it out and fill it again or keep the water running constantly into a bucket in the sink with no need to replace it during the fill cycle.
Shut down the compressor when the head temp it hits 50 - 60c but keep the water pump running till the head temp hits about 40c, dump the water out of the bucket and put in fresh cold water. Drain the water out of the head when done. You can add a bit of washing machine water softener to the bucket water if you have really hard water.
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I don't think you'd go wrong with one of the GX Compressors. Botht he CS2 and CS3 are on sale at GX Pumps and they havs a coupon code for 10% off that price: GXPUMPS10OFF
gxpumpofficial.com
I had the CS3 b3fore getting the CS4 and only upgraded so I could fill my Huben to max capacity and fill my 90ci Guppy Tank. I never had a problem with it filling any of my airguns!
CS4
Portable pump Portable pump belongs to a small volume of PCP air compressor, can use the on-board power supply (12V vehicle DC voltage), also can be connected to 110V/220V AC voltage through the transformer attached to the product. The smallest GX CS1 measures 18*17*12cm. The largest GX CS4...
gxpumpofficial.com I had the CS3 b3fore getting the CS4 and only upgraded so I could fill my Huben to max capacity and fill my 90ci Guppy Tank. I never had a problem with it filling any of my airguns!
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I don't think you'd go wrong with one of the GX Compressors. Botht he CS2 and CS3 are on sale at GX Pumps and they havs a coupon code for 10% off that price: GXPUMPS10OFF
CS4
Portable pump Portable pump belongs to a small volume of PCP air compressor, can use the on-board power supply (12V vehicle DC voltage), also can be connected to 110V/220V AC voltage through the transformer attached to the product. The smallest GX CS1 measures 18*17*12cm. The largest GX CS4...
I had the CS3 b3fore getting the CS4 and only upgraded so I could fill my Huben to max capacity and fill my 90ci Guppy Tank. I never had a problem with it filling any of my airguns!
I had not looked closely at the specs on the GX CS4 - 5 hour continuous run time - 5800 psi max pressure. Pretty hard to beat those number in a 12 / 120 volt portable unit at any price. I think it is the only one of its kind.
Is it significantly faster than your GX CS3? My only complaint on my CS3 is how slow it is compared to the Yong Heng.
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@Geezerhood Wow! That was a very informative post (post #9). At your leisure can you post a picture or two of the water trap on your compressor? I’m totally unfamiliar with these.
@FLgunner How do you manage moisture with these compressors? I really no nothing about them. Any issues keeping moisture out of your guns? Do you have a setup similar to what @Geezerhood describes?
Considering that you two live in what I imagine are greatly different climates, I assume that your concerns about moisture would differ.
@FLgunner How do you manage moisture with these compressors? I really no nothing about them. Any issues keeping moisture out of your guns? Do you have a setup similar to what @Geezerhood describes?
Considering that you two live in what I imagine are greatly different climates, I assume that your concerns about moisture would differ.
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@Geezerhood Thank you. Is there a bleed valve on the outside to expel the water? If so, does it do this automatically or is this to be done manually before stowing the compressor after use? I keep reading good things about the GX compressors. It’s helpful to hear from experienced users.
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You are welcome. Yes, there is a bleed valve on the front of the box with a tube running out the bottom of the case. You have to do it manually. On a longer run I will bleed a short burst every 5 minutes or so without stopping the compressor. I don't get a lot of water from the trap since we have low humidity other than during monsoon season. As mentioned already, the amount of actual water that comes out with the GX is significantly more than with the Yong Heng. On the Yong Heng it is more of mist. With the GX there is liquid water on the counter by the drain tube. I never get liquid water from my Yong Heng drain, which is why I use a larger water filter (soon to be the "Orange" one) and a molecular sieve filter since it is obvious that the water trap on the Yong Heng is not anywhere near the efficiency of the GX CS3.
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It is faster, it's a 4 stage compressor so it builds more pressure per stroke, but the cycles are slower and it doesn't build as much heat as the CS3. Here's brief video I did of it running up to 400 BAR. This was with the deadhead attached:
You can see the amount of pressure increase per stroke.
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Because these run at such a low operating temperature, they don't seem to build the amount of moisture as other compressors I've owned. It does have an internal moisure separator, but I still run one of the small in-line cotton filters and when I check it after running for a while, it still feels dry.
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Thank! I did some fill time tests for comparison. I removed the small black filter from the Yong Heng so they were both filling just the short microbore hose with a deadhead in it. I am assuming that was your setup as well.
Approximate time to reach 300 Bar
- Your GX CS4 - 21 seconds
- My GX CS3 - 82 seconds
- My new Walmart "Yong Heng" - 6 seconds
- Walmart "Yong Heng" with the black filter attached - 14 seconds
- My genuine Yong Heng with 20 hours on it - 10 seconds
- Genuine YH with the black filter on it - 20 seconds
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No doubt the YH is faster, but I sold the CS3 before I received the CS4, so I wasn't able to do a side by side comparison like you did. That great information! And yes, the video was filling just the fill whip that came with it!
Now, what would really be interesting is to see the temperaure of each as it fills one of your air guns with the same fill amount! I already know the winner, but it would be interesting to see the temperature of each after filling a gun from 150 BAR to 250 BAR!
Now, what would really be interesting is to see the temperaure of each as it fills one of your air guns with the same fill amount! I already know the winner, but it would be interesting to see the temperature of each after filling a gun from 150 BAR to 250 BAR!
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The low heat on that CS4 certainly is impressive and the 5800 psi max is a good investment in the future as more airguns and tanks come out with higher pressure ratings. My YH holds steady at 117 F as long as there is still ice in my distilled water / Rislone Hy-Per cool coolant mixture. I added some more numbers to the fill time list above.
The slower cycle rate of the CS4 seems like the piston seals would last longer than the high speed travel of a YH.
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