Hill EC-3000

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Butch

Butch

Member
Jul 2, 2017
441
31
Missouri, United States
I’m thinking about picking this compressor up and would like to here the guys here that have had this compressor for a while as far as the reliability of the Hill EC-3000.

How long have you had it?

How many hours have you used it?

What problems have you had? If any.

Most of my guns are 480cc bottle guns and the reviews seem to say if fills quickly. Would you agree with that?

Would you recommend it or should you have went a different route? 


I have been watching this compressor for a while now to get a feel if it’s worth the money and I would like to hear how it has held up for those of you that has had the compressor for a while now.

Thanks,

Butch






 
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Have had one for about 8 months and have only had one issue with a blown fuse. I typically use it to fill 700cc-300bar, 580cc-300bar, and a few 580cc-250 bar bottles. 
I have changed the fluids once, about a month ago, when it started to look dark. Easy to use and quick filling of the bottles. When I had the issue with the fuse Air V was quick to assist but it was the members on the forum that told me where to look and what was the likely issue.

I had a Nomad previously but returned it after about a week and it failed. 
 
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Yes, I am happy with it. I checked and I have over 6 hours on the compressor. I have 7 rifles and 5 of them go to 300 bar so having a dependable compressor is needed. I had started to look at some bigger units but since I’m not filling scuba tanks I haven’t jumped on one yet and the Hill has met the challenge.

Since the fuse blew now I know to check for loose wires every so often just to make sure nothing come free from usage.
 
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Thank you for posting that Bio. I do have a YH and it has served my well for going on a year and a half just filling guns. I have been looking at the hill since it first came out and I like the idea of not having to deal with the water. 
I have seen a few people really put some hours on the hills with any problems. That is why I am interested in it and the YH really isn’t good for where I would like to use it. 


thanks again bio I think I’ve read about all your post. 


Butch
 
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.I have one. first thing I did was get a fan for it. Now I have a small blower,. The overheat sensor never shuts it off with the extra cooling. In the instruction book it mentioned that this may happen. They brag about how quiet it is. That's because it needs more cooling IN MY OPINION. More cooling is more noise . Given the fact that hHll puts their name on it and as I understand it made some changes in it before it went into production. I ordered my own when they were a little less expensive from Pyramyd
 
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I have had one since June of last year. I have about 4 hours on the clock thus far. The largest tank I fill is the 580cc tank on my LCS. So far [knock on wood], I've not had any issues with the Hill.

Prior to getting the Hill, I went through 2 YH Compressors, 2 Hatsan Spark compressors and a Benjamin Recharge. None of those lasted more than a year, so I'm really hoping the Hill outlasts all of them!

The only gripe I have with the Hill, is it won't fill more then 300 BAR, so I can't fill my Huben to 350 BAR, but that's not really that big a deal. It also does not fill as fast as either YH or the Recharge, but is much faster than the Hatsan Sparks and the other 12V compressors I own. It is much quieter than the YH and Recharge, but not much quieter than the Hatsan Spark. I'm hoping I won't have to buy another compressor for quit a while!
 
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I think you and I went through the spark compressors about the same time FLgunner. 
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Yep, one of the failures was my fault, I stopped the compressor mid fill to allow it to cool and then restarted it without releasing the pressure first. It twisted the shaft right off the reduction gear! The thing did have some torque! To Hatsan's credit, they did send me a whole new gear assembly, but even after putting it all back together, it was never quite the same.

The second just stopped reaching the preset pressure, I don't really know why, but by that time, I was ready to move on. I missed the speed of the YH compressors but didn't want to go back to buckets of water for cooling. I sold both Sparks and both failed YHs to a guy who worked on refrigerator compressors. I have no idea if he ever got any of them working or not, but hopefully he did.

After selling those, I tried the Recharge. It was great, but still did not last a year. It's based on the same pump design as the YH but is fully self contained and has a lot of electronic monitors and safety features. When it failed, I believe it was a circuit card that failed because up to the point it just stopped turning on, it was filling just fine. The failure may have been a fluke, and it may have worked fine for many years if the circuit card hadn't failed. Crosman was awesome and sent me a replacement, but when I was waiting on the return process, I bought the Hill. I still have the Recharge as a back up, but haven't really used it, other than filling it with oil and water and making sure it worked. Since getting the Hill, I really like it more, so unfortunately, the Recharge is just sitting in the closet not being used! The Hill is much quieter and is a joy to use, so thus far, I have no reason to use any other compressor!
 
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I agree with your thoughts about the YH I was going to get one for myself and when my son heard me talking about a compressor he went and ordered a hill thinking more cost is always better. I think the YH for gun filling is more bang for the buck. And if it does break the repair costs aren't that much, and still come out cheaper than a hill. As a matter of fact you can get two YH for less than one Hill and you have doubled your chances of getting a good one and have spare parts to boot.
 
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I was down in Pensacola at the time you had it list in the classifieds and come very close to buying the recharge from you. With the wife and kids wanting to go go go and do everything I forgot about it till I didn’t have time to meet up with you to get it.
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It's still here and available if you ever make it back down this way and are still interested. I gave up trying to sell it because I don't want to ship it and chance it being damaged. It's still like brand new, but would have to be a local in-person deal.
 
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It seems well designed and an appropriate balance of weight and robustness for it's price. Perhaps it's just a rationalization until I eventually blow $5K on a dive compressor but I'm sticking to it. 

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It has been posted on this forum many times that a reliable pro quality compressor from Coltri or Alkin can be purchased new for $2,500 - $3,200. If someone is a patient and determined bargain hunter, a lightly used Bauer, Coltri, or Alkin can be found on Craigslist or this forum's classifieds for even less. It does not require a $5,000 outlay to get a first class compressor. A maintained name brand compressor will have an excellent resale value after many years of dependable use. In the long run one name brand costs less than a collection of failure prone hobby compressors.
 
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 Let’s not get off the subject. All I am asking about is the hill from guys that have the EC-3000 and how the compressor has treated them? 
From I am seeing the guys here are happy with them and it does what is asked of it. As we all know Hill makes arguably the best hand pumps out there and have been making them for a while now. I have two of the hand pumps and god knows I have put them through hell and the darn things just keep going. 
So if the compressor treats me as good as the hand pumps have then I will be a happy camper. 
I’m hope that some more people with the compressor chime in good or bad before hit the buy button. I have watched every review I could find but nothing really with any long term use. 


thanks,

Butch
 
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Butch - "I have watched every review I could find but nothing really with any long term use." 

According to Hill it was "Launched in Las Vegas at Shot Show back in January of 2020." so there will be no long term use reviews.

Some of the first ones had electronic problems and some did not have locktite applied to some places it should have - and were recalled.

I got mine back in Dec 2020 (for $999) and have been well pleased. It stopped building pressure 2-3 months ago after I hadn't used it for a couple weeks. Simple fix, especially with the excellent videos Hill put out. Just cleaned the valves and it was back up and running.

But - have you seen the prices for maintenance parts - outrageous. Add to that they have to come from across the pond. Why doesn't AV carry them?

But - nice to have both the manufacturer and the distributor to turn to for help.




 
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