Chinese compressors

Hand pumps got old & so has the back, I got a no name Yong Heng type compressor for a good price to put to the test, did a spanner test, some needed an elbow tension, put oil in, water sorted out & with air valves open started my 3Kva generator, this version has the pump power coming from the unit so the pump went on when the Gen started, all good, started the unit & thought 'wonder if the water jacket needs bleeding, so put unit at a 45deg angle & for 20secs air bubbled out of top head, some may think 'so what' problem is if you have an air gap in a radiator system it creates a serious hot spot which boils water, might cause a problem, other than a few air leaks to sort out this unit is impressing me, filling my scuba tank will put the test on, the unit came well boxed with spare seals, for those on the border line of getting these units I don't think you can go wrong, bit of preventive maintenance & good to go.

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my conclusion after using one for awhile is theyre perfect for light duty fills .. as in a 45 min tank lasts me a month .. take care of them and dont beat them and theyll likely last indefinitely in that role ... its downhill from there .. from what ive seen and heard if its tasked with filling multiple large tanks and in co nstant heavy duty use your gonna be lucky to get a year out of it ..
 
Yup they are great for filling guns and small tanks and topping off the larger tanks. That is what they were designed to do. Intermittent duty for half an hour at max. You can stretch that time out a bit if you pay special attention to cooling the whole unit not just the water. They were never meant to fill large tanks and without proper care doing so will likely shorten the lifetime of the compressor for sure.

Still they are best I am aware of for under $1,300 and they only cost $250-$350 depending on where you buy them. So it's what we have to live with.
 
Yong heng and the 74cf tank Can you fill an empty 74cf tank with good old YH? Yup you can, but be prepared to take several evenings. Mine fills at about 5 bar per minute. the goal is about 270 bar in my case, so, that is just under an hour of pumping. Do think it's a good idea to run for a solid hour to fill the tank, absolutely not. Run in about 15 to 20 minute increments, let it cool for an hour, do it again. Once the tank is full, just keep it topped off with the YH. Yes, it'll work, but don't ask too much of the poor YH, or you'll be doing quite a few repairs.

It's really best at filling guns and maybe 90 ci buddy bottles. Good stuff
 
The thing is that the Chinese are quite able to make products of astonishing high quality, only nation with it's own space station i might add!

Snag is that it costs money to produce quality and soon a 100% Coltri MCH-6 clone of same quality will cost 85-90% of the brand and noone wants to fork over that kind of money for a knockoff.

Same in rifles.

The US of A makes the M-16 and it is a nice piece of quality equipment made to fine tolerences. Jams and grinds to a halt when desert dust is present. The eastpack uses the AK-47 which can be made in any tractor factory in the undeveloped countries, it has such lose tolerences that if run over by a truck you can beat it over a rock to straighten it enough for future function.

The same with compressors. If you want quality that lasts year after year then it costs. If you can live with rattle dattle fit and a limited lifespan then cheap is the way to go.


 
My yong heng lasted be about 5 hours of run time. Now it will only top off at about 3600psi. It worked while it lasted. I do have 2 re-seal kits for it but I went ahead and bought a omega compressor. I just about bought an Alkin though. The yong is going to go to a bud of mine who will direct fill his M-rod. My thoughts on the ChiNA compressors. Its hit or miss. Reading around on here it would seem that many love them, though it seems that a good many also end up with a bad taste in their mouth after owning one. It would also seem that they do require a fair amount of repair within a relatively short amount of time. Again, hit or miss. I kept mine cool and kept the oil changed regularly and its life was short lived. Ill be honest, after using the Omega a few times I wish I never bought a Yong. In the end though. All compressors will have a life cycle. Some will just be longer, far longer then others. One last thing. The Yong Heng compressors are loud as hell.
 
The Yong Heng compressors are loud as hell.

Most of the noise comes from the air intake. I replaced the tiny filter with a much larger hose barb and then ran a hose from it to a baffled box with a filter. Made it much quieter. They redesigned the first stage piston to have a thicker top for better durability. I have the new style piston/rod assembly on the shelf just in case but my unit is running perfectly after 3 years with zero problems.