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Foster fitting frustration

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oldsparky

oldsparky

Member
Feb 15, 2018
1,176
181
arizona, United States
I wanted to share a finding to maybe help another to avoid frustration. I have had a Omega Turbo Charger for a couple years. I don’t use a lot of air and only have 9 hours on the compressor. I needed to fill my tank the other day and at about 240 Bar the compressor changed sounds so I shut it down. I called Todd the Omega guru and he told me what to look for. I didn’t see any problems with the check valves he told me to check. I then tried the fill again with the same results. I was bummed since I have babied this compressor. That same day I came into some unexpected money so I ordered an Alkin compressor. My new compressor came in and I couldn’t wait to try it out. I bleed air out of my Omega air tank so I could try it out. I started filling my air tank. When the Alkin gauge read 300 Bar I shut things down but noticed my Omega gauge read 240 Bar. I called Alkin they were polite and called their tech to ask his opinion. In the mean time I hooked up my bottle to my Omega compressor without anything on just to let air from my bottle flow into the Turbo Charger gauge to compare. It read 242 Bar. I then drove down to AOA and ask them to see if they could fill my bottle. Yep the bottle filled right up. A few moths ago I bought a Daystate Wolverine. To fill that gun you need a long female Foster fitting. I don’t remember if it comes with the gun or if I bought it. This morning I started taking my air whip apart from my omega bottle. In the long Foster fitting I see a restrictor screw. I took it out. Then bleed my tank so I could use my Alkin. The Alkin worked flawlessly. That restrictor screw was for sure my problem. Now I wonder if I even needed a new compressor or was I over taxing the Omega Turbo Charger. Anyway I thought I would share so maybe we can save frustration and maybe even compressors.








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I ordered an Alkin compressor. My new compressor came in and I couldn’t wait to try it out. I bleed air out of my Omega air tank so I could try it out. I started filling my air tank. When the Alkin gauge read 300 Bar I shut things down but noticed my Omega gauge read 240 Bar. In the long Foster fitting I see a restrictor screw. I took it out. Then bleed my tank so I could use my Alkin. The Alkin worked flawlessly. That restrictor screw was for sure my problem. Now I wonder if I even needed a new compressor or was I over taxing the Omega Turbo Charger. Anyway I thought I would share so maybe we can save frustration and maybe even compressors.

Click to expand...

That fill whip with restrictor was intended for filling guns from a tank, not filling tanks from a compressor, surly not for any use on a fine compressor like the W31 5 cfm Alkin... Why were you using that on your compressor to tank fill hose...?

Actually, the restrictor was causing the W31 to build up a head pressure higher than your fill whip/tank could utilize in a timely fashion, W31 gauge was reading correctly. Its just that the restrictor was not letting the w31 output pressure balance out in your tank quick enough thru that tiny restrictor.

Using tiny restrictor hose as your compressor fill hose would kill most of the small cheap HPA compressor in short order, causing them to over amp/stress the pump big time. Not good. I don't like using the thin micro bore hoses sold on most pcp sites on a compressor fill hose. I use a 1/4" hose from from the hydraulics supply on mine. Why anyone would want to restrict the output of there compressor making for a slower fill and tons more stress on their compressor I don't know.

The restrictor gun fill whip was/is for those of us that have a low attention span, preventing us from properly supervising and regulating a fill station correctly, giving us slow folks plenty of time to turn off the hpa tank before gun gets overfilled. No way that hose should be used on a compressor, its for tank use only.

That Alkin is a sweet compressor that will serve you well for a long long long time if you're careful what you do to it... Enjoy.

jmo



 
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acs +1! He's absolutely correct & concise. Never use a restricted hose on the "fill" end of a compressor. If one wishes, a check (or one way) foster can be used on the tank or gun filling device so air can only go IN & not escape OUT when compressor is shut down. Never do anything to restrict the output of HPA air from compressor. Back pressure can kill a compressor. 
 
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I ordered an Alkin compressor. My new compressor came in and I couldn’t wait to try it out. I bleed air out of my Omega air tank so I could try it out. I started filling my air tank. When the Alkin gauge read 300 Bar I shut things down but noticed my Omega gauge read 240 Bar. In the long Foster fitting I see a restrictor screw. I took it out. Then bleed my tank so I could use my Alkin. The Alkin worked flawlessly. That restrictor screw was for sure my problem. Now I wonder if I even needed a new compressor or was I over taxing the Omega Turbo Charger. Anyway I thought I would share so maybe we can save frustration and maybe even compressors.

Click to expand...

That fill whip with restrictor was intended for filling guns from a tank, not filling tanks from a compressor, surly not for any use on a fine compressor like the W31 5 cfm Alkin... Why were you using that on your compressor to tank fill hose...?

Actually, the restrictor was causing the W31 to build up a head pressure higher than your fill whip/tank could utilize in a timely fashion, W31 gauge was reading correctly. Its just that the restrictor was not letting the w31 output pressure balance out in your tank quick enough thru that tiny restrictor.

Using tiny restrictor hose as your compressor fill hose would kill most of the small cheap HPA compressor in short order, causing them to over amp/stress the pump big time. Not good. I don't like using the thin micro bore hoses sold on most pcp sites on a compressor fill hose. I use a 1/4" hose from from the hydraulics supply on mine. Why anyone would want to restrict the output of there compressor making for a slower fill and tons more stress on their compressor I don't know.

The restrictor gun fill whip was/is for those of us that have a low attention span, preventing us from properly supervising and regulating a fill station correctly, giving us slow folks plenty of time to turn off the hpa tank before gun gets overfilled. No way that hose should be used on a compressor, its for tank use only.

That Alkin is a sweet compressor that will serve you well for a long long long time if you're careful what you do to it... Enjoy.

jmo


Click to expand...

I might add filling guns with their built in Slo Flo restrictors such as the Edgun and Cricket may lead to early failure for compressors.
 
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I did not know the restrictor was in the female foster. My intentions were to warn others to be sure they do not have a restriction in their hose. But if it makes you feel good to say how stupid I am go for it.
Click to expand...

Don't misunderstand my post, no where did I call you stupid, don't put words in my mouth please. If you want to put a label on it, its more ignorant of your configuration and your equipment. You didn't know a restrictor was in the compressor tank fill hose, or didn't realize what it would do.

And I do commend you also, because I'm sure others have used the same fill whip the same way you did, just never realized the damage they were doing because of the smaller compressors they were using that didn't pump out the big cfm like your w31. You did warn them, thats good, I just explained exactly what happened...

So please, you're not stupid, probably a lot more like most pcp users than me. I work with high pressure gases/compressors, pumps, every day, for decades, so am suppose to know things like this. Guessing you're an electrician, 'sparky', you're not suppose to know this stuff. Probably whoever sold you that hose restrictor should have explained exactly what it was for, and what it was not for, imo.

. It took a big man to come on here and admit a mistake in order to help others...
 
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Click to expand...

I might add filling guns with their built in Slo Flo restrictors such as the Edgun and Cricket may lead to early failure for compressors.
Click to expand...

Didn't know some guns have those..

Wonder what the restrictor/orifice size is in those guns fill port..? compared to the resstrictor orifice size in the micro bore fill whips..?
 
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@ ACS

Hey bud, I am not offended. I have worked in a industry where its impossible for someone to know it all. So I try to share when I can. And learn everyday. If we help each other learn it will be better for all of us. A huge thing I got out of this. A low CFM compressor will struggle but you may not catch it. The Alkin has a higher CFM so it was obvious. Attaching a bottle "whip" to a compressor is something that I have seen as common. However after seeing the restrictor problem I will fill directly to the bottle using a DIN so there is no restriction. Talking with a tech that sales bottles there are bottles out there that we use that have a restrictor inside bottle valve also. So its almost imposable to know what we have.

I wouldn't want to do what I did over and over but the Alkin has a 4500 pressure relief valve so there was no harm done and I didn't even operate the relief valve. I know some get upset at the word stupid but sometimes I do, do stupid things!!!
 
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Click to expand...

I might add filling guns with their built in Slo Flo restrictors such as the Edgun and Cricket may lead to early failure for compressors.
Click to expand...

Didn't know some guns have those..

Wonder what the restrictor/orifice size is in those guns fill port..? compared to the resstrictor orifice size in the micro bore fill whips..?
Click to expand...

The guns with built in slo flow filler check valves have some sorta restrictor interference screws like the threads restrict the air flow if that makes any sense.
 
Upvote 0
@ ACS

Hey bud, I am not offended. I have worked in a industry where its impossible for someone to know it all. So I try to share when I can. And learn everyday. If we help each other learn it will be better for all of us. A huge thing I got out of this. A low CFM compressor will struggle but you may not catch it. The Alkin has a higher CFM so it was obvious. Attaching a bottle "whip" to a compressor is something that I have seen as common. However after seeing the restrictor problem I will fill directly to the bottle using a DIN so there is no restriction. Talking with a tech that sales bottles there are bottles out there that we use that have a restrictor inside bottle valve also. So its almost imposable to know what we have.

I wouldn't want to do what I did over and over but the Alkin has a 4500 pressure relief valve so there was no harm done and I didn't even operate the relief valve. I know some get upset at the word stupid but sometimes I do, do stupid things!!!
Click to expand...

REAL stupid people don't acknowledge they do stupid things nor even realize what they did was stupid and not take any corrective action and keep on doing it and tell others to copy them.
 
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You guys may have just saved the lives of many a compressor. I know you probably helped mine out a lot, I have stupidly been filling my tank with the small bore hose I use from tank to gun. Live and learn. I wonder how many people have caused undue harm to their compressors by doing this. I always thought the filling takes so long because of the high pressure of the air. I will definately be obtaining a full bore hose for my tank filling. Thanks so much.
 
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Well I'll be darned, sure enough I have been filling my tanks with flow restricted connectors since I got my first compressor this year....ooops Now I will simply remove the flow restricted set screw in the DIN connector that came with my Omega tanks when filling. Then put the set screw back in afterwords, only take a few seconds to do so. Likewise I just removed the set screw in my extended fill probe and will just leave it out all together. I'm used to barely cracking the handle on the tank when filling.
 
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Leaving the restrictor in whilst using the fitting in reverse is probably not a good practice. By all means, remove it. I wouldn't worry about using micro-bore hoses. The statement about backpressure killing compressors is ridiculous. These things are high pressure, low flow rate. The backpressure will be super high just from the stored pressure in the vessel that you are filling. A micro-bore hose will still flow enough air to not create higher pressure upstream from it. Unless you see a significant increase in the compressor gauge compared to the tank gauge, there will be no extra load on the pump. To prove my point, just watch the gauges on the tank and compressor. If they remain in balance with each other during the filling process as mine does, then you have nothing to worry about. 
 
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