Hill EC-3000

had my hill for about 7/mo . I had a problem with it first 1month but Hill support is fantastic they helped me solve the issue fast and even sent me free parts.

I fill 4400psi and most of my guns and it never shuts off once.

I TOP OFF MY scba 4500psi tank from 3000psi to 4400psi takes about 2 cooldown periods 

Runs like a champ!

coming up on 35hours runtime
 
I have this Hill compressor. !st thing I did was place a fan next to it to cool the motor and cylinder more. It was advertised as quiet I think that was achieved with a smaller cooling fan. Just my opinion. I read somewhere in an add or the instructions it stops to cools and starts automatically after cooling. More cooling, mine has not stopped once. I have a small bottle I sometimes fill and it's no problem. I contacted a fella who mentioned on the forum about the stopping and started before I bought mine and a suggested he add more fan cooling. He had some fans for computers I think. they were about 4''X 4" square in his photo and he mounted 2 fans, said it worked great. My experience as an electrician is more cooling with electrical anything is better. Except batteries and computer rooms. 68 degrees and 70% humidity for large computer rooms and lead acid batteries. the lithium batteries lose the ability to discharge well with cold weather. Battery drills etc. Remember, High pressure gasses must have proper high strength fittings all the same threads , don't mix threaded fittings, all steel ,etc and lines. Cheap fittings have leaked, broken, come apart and stripped. a small hole or crack can force air into your flesh at 100 psi and up. I know I harp on safety around high pressure air. But I've seen what it can do to cut and inject into things. GBGUNNER
 
The hill compressor is slow. And it stops during use. Filling a gun it will stop 1 to 2 times. Try filling a 75cf to 100 cf tank and will take many hours and many stops. There are better compressor at the price point of the hill that will fill way quicker and doesn't stop like every 3 mins.

Color me incredulous .. why would you use a Hill to fill a 75 to 100 cf tank. It was clearly designed to fill rifles direct .. and it excels at that. I've got a JRII and a Hill .. completely different purpose for each. 
 
I have this Hill compressor. !st thing I did was place a fan next to it to cool the motor and cylinder more……I contacted a fella who mentioned on the forum about the stopping and started before I bought mine and a suggested he add more fan cooling. He had some fans for computers I think. they were about 4''X 4" square in his photo and he mounted 2 fans, said it worked great. My experience as an electrician is more cooling with electrical anything is better…..

GBGUNNER

GB - can you tell us how you placed the fan? I’ve used a 14 inch fan that moves a ton of air but cannot seem to get the run time to increase appreciably. I’ve place it at the motor end, blowing through the compressor and at the oiling end. Makes little or no difference.

I’ve also added a pre-dryer as per a hard air magazine article. Now when I release the pressure from the water/oil separator not a hint of water is blown out. Previously it would soak a good part of a paper towel. Finding the 90 degree fitting was the worst part. If anyone wants a parts list I’ll do my best to put it up. Highly recommended.

BTW yes I am, so far, very happy with my purchase - YMMV
 
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Good info. I have the EC3000 . It filled a 74cft in about 2 hrs. and it shut down many times. Going forward I will only top off my tank. I need info for starting the tank top off procedure. Will it handle a open tank valve with say a 2500psi. head start. Is there a pressure equalization process I need to know. I like the compressor and it works well direct to gun....still I would like too top off my tank? 
 
I am zero for 2 with the Hill EC-3000, unfortunately.

My first one was purchased a couple of years ago, when they were pretty new to the U.S. market and still listed just under $1,000. It only worked for a couple of hours before it wouldn't pressurize past about 100 bar. I've heard others which did this and it was a fairly easy fix, but for $1,000 and so little use time I returned it for refund within PA's return window. It just didn't give me confidence even though Hill is a well respected pump maker.

Recently I purchased a second one, to see if the Hills had gotten any better. This second one read a dangerous 30-40 bar LOW against some known good gun gauges (Red Wolf). So my 250 bar fill with the Hill would actually have charged the gun to 280 bar +. I also noticed that this second unit could not complete the topping off of a 480 cc tank from maybe 180 to 240 bar without stopping to cool at least once. My original EC-3000 from 2 years ago could have performed such a top-off without needing to stop and cool.

So maybe this second one had some issues from the very start? Anyway, being 0 for 2 I have lost confidence in the EC-3000. I had hoped that Hill had gotten their act together a little better in the couple of years since this compressor was launched, but in my experience they have not (or I'm just really unlucky).

If I was going to spend the money being asked for the Hill, I would probably pop for the Omega Air Charger for just a little bit more. AoA currently shoiws them in stock. While not the same for everyone, my experience with the Omegas so far has been flawless. But a couple of things to remember with the Omega pumps are: They thrive on frequent use, but their o-rings can flatten out if the pump is not used at least once every 2 weeks or so. And DON'T turn the grease pots more often than the instructions and/or service light specify. More is not always better. 

My understanding from an Omega pump service guy is that flattened o-rings from lack of regular use and too much grease in the internal workings are the most common issues in their pumps which are returned for service.
 
My Hill 3000 still runs great. I filled a 4500 psi venturi 74cft the first time out. Full to 4500 psi. I probably got lucky and did not kill it. You should have seen the water pour out at the end of the fill. Purge. Now I only want to do top-offs . Also it had no oil consumption during the two hour fill. . For some reason it leaked back ..or...the run time would have been shorter .
 
My Hill 3000 still runs great. I filled a 4500 psi venturi 74cft the first time out. Full to 4500 psi. I probably got lucky and did not kill it. You should have seen the water pour out at the end of the fill. Purge. Now I only want to do top-offs . Also it had no oil consumption during the two hour fill. . For some reason it leaked back ..or...the run time would have been shorter .

Hey Mickey - try this - I have and my fills no longer generate water in the separator - guns or topping off my 74 cbft tank 

Pre Dry air for compressors - Hard Air Magazine
 
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