Based on another thread posted here in early January, I purchased a 'Diablo' HPA compressor off eBay:
https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/has-anybody-checked-these-out-yet3500hours-before-maintence/
eBay Diablo Compressor
To my eyes the Diablo compressor:
Looks very much like an HPDAVV SCU-50:
but with a built in cooling system consisting of a motorcycle radiator, an extra fan, a coolant pump and a 12VDC convertor to run the pump and cooling fan. In the end, so many of these Chinese sourced compressors seem to utilize the same parts, as many of the internal compressor parts also seem to be similar or identical to those used in the Tuxing double cylinder compressors, like the Tuxing TXED011:
My first 'Diablo' compressor was purchased for a total cost of $463 with shipping and sales tax. My saga of preparing the compressor, break in, initial non-building of pressure, eventual working, fairly quick failure, and then getting it working again are described in the above thread. When it failed (which ended up being only a failure of the main power switch - a $2 part and perhaps a common failure point), the eBay seller refunded my entire payment price (including the shipping cost). So with a free, non-running compressor I chose to replace the older technology (and cheap to produce) control system with more modern components, and got it running again with an out-of-pocket cost of maybe $25-$30 and a bit of my time. This first compressor is still running strong for me and I use it almost daily.
When the eBay seller put up another 10 units for sale they added a discount for purchasing multiple units, plus the shipping cost of $100 was the same if you bought 1 or 10 units. Along with a 5% eBay Bucks promotion going on at the time, I purchased 4 more of the Diablos at a cost of $325/unit, including shipping and sales tax. I figured that I could likely get some of them to work, and if nothing else have a couple as parts units.
This lot of 4 compressors arrived in pretty rough shape. Some were missing components (although others, fortunately had extra components
), and 3 of the 4 were received covered in compressor oil. It seems like the eBay seller purchased maybe a bankruptcy lot of these compressors, but really didn't understand what they were. Whereas they may have been prepared for over-the-counter sale, they were definitely not in a suitable condition to be shipped. They had left the crankcase breathers on, instead of re-installing the metal plug on the compressor crankcase, and during 'typical' handling of a bulky/heavy item by FedEx/UPS, they had not stayed upright and almost all of the crankcase oil had leaked out and had gotten all over everything. One even had a specification label on it which said that it was a 220V unit, where these were advertised as 110V units. Since these were in much worse shape than my initial one, missing parts, etc., I initiated a return request through eBay even before trying them out. Within minutes of that request, the eBay seller had once again issued a full refund, and again specified to just keep them.
O.K., so now I have 5 free Diablo HPA compressors...
(As a note, these compressors may have once been sold through AOA as a less expensive or in-house brand. The initial US distributor, no longer in business, was located in Las Vegas. And one of the 4 I purchased had its previous shipping labels removed, but in Sharpie written on the outer box it specified 'Return to Rich at AOA.')
So I started prepping the units as I learned to do with my first one. (And, in the case with these, cleaning off a LOT of spilled compressor oil which had gotten EVERYWHERE). Basically they seem to be of a reasonable design, but cost-cutting shortcuts were taken during manufacturing. Flexible silicone coolant hoses are run over hot and/or sharp metal parts, so I immediately armor these hoses with fiberglas mesh wire wrap, and re-route them (or replace, as necessary. The same silicone tubing is apparently used in home beer brewing, so it is readily available on Amazon). I dump out any remaining oil in the compressor, and re-fill with true compressor oil. I fill the cooling system with a 50:50 mix of anti-freeze, and include a couple ounces of Water Wetter for better cooling performance. Then I run them for 10 minutes with zero load and allow them to cool before trying to generate any pressure.
Out of the second set of 4, 2 units immediately made good volume and pressure up to 300 bar - Success! However the other 2 were very slow to make pressure, and only pressurized up to maybe 200 bar. They also sounded different (quieter) when running.
Well, I've already replaced the entire electronic control system in my first unit. Why not tear into the compressor heads on these non-functioning units to see what is going on? If I really F something up, no real big deal as these units didn't cost me anything anyway.
Up to this point, HPA compressors had been a mysterious 'black box', which I would never have previously tried to open up, and much less repair. I didn't want to take the chance of opening them up, and perhaps allowing some of the interior voodoo to escape. I have always had mechanical skills, but compressors just seemed different to me.
But it turns out that they are pretty simple inside and, as mentioned above, seem to mostly be built using very similar or identical volume-made parts. So I can watch a video about a Tuxing or HPDAVV compressor, and it truly shows me what I am going to find within my Diablo.
Finding parts can be a challenge, but once again since so many of these compressors use the same parts, they can be found with some Google leg work. You may have to wait 2 weeks or a month for them to arrive from China, but they can be found and are generally very reasonably priced.
In the end, I am now quite confident that I will be able to get the last 2 compressors running like they should (when I get my ordered parts). So I will have 5 essentially free, good running HPA compressors. I had a buddy come over and prep one (he wants to get into PCPs so that he can shoot in his back yard with his grand kids). The one he prepped turned out to be a good one, so now I am down to 4. I've got 2 more buddies who want to get into PCP guns and will want one as well. And when you are just starting out with PCPs, who can argue with a free HPA compressor!
I've gone through a lot of emotions with these Diablo compressors - which could probably have come from any Chinese compressor. Joy at scoring a compressor at a good price-point, frustration and disappointment at their failures (and they seem to be very creative in the defects the different ones have
), renewed joy in getting refunds for the bad ones, and pride in finding repair parts and getting the bad ones to function again. All in all they have been a real adventure for me, and in the end a very enjoyable one as I have gained the knowledge and experience as to how these things function, and how to keep them functioning (whether on the electronics control side, or the mechanical compression side). HPA compressors (at least this style) are no longer mysterious black boxes to me, and all it took was a little bit of time on my part (and I'm retired, so that time is 'free') to get that understanding - and some free compressors which I could tear into without fear of ruining a $1,000+ piece of equipment!
Many folks on this forum recommend against ever buying a less expensive Chinese compressor. Buy once, cry once they say, and have something which you can rely on. And I have no basis to argue against that point.
Others are fearful of purchasing a less expensive Chinese compressor as they feel if it fails they will wind up with a rather expensive door stop. To these latter folks I say take the chance, and don't be afraid of getting your hands a little dirty in tearing it apart and fixing it if/when it goes down. They are actually pretty simple inside and relatively easy work on. And who knows - if they keep failing on us we might all get pretty good at diagnosis and repair - something of a lost art in the disposable culture of the 'first world.'
https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/has-anybody-checked-these-out-yet3500hours-before-maintence/
eBay Diablo Compressor
To my eyes the Diablo compressor:
Looks very much like an HPDAVV SCU-50:
but with a built in cooling system consisting of a motorcycle radiator, an extra fan, a coolant pump and a 12VDC convertor to run the pump and cooling fan. In the end, so many of these Chinese sourced compressors seem to utilize the same parts, as many of the internal compressor parts also seem to be similar or identical to those used in the Tuxing double cylinder compressors, like the Tuxing TXED011:
My first 'Diablo' compressor was purchased for a total cost of $463 with shipping and sales tax. My saga of preparing the compressor, break in, initial non-building of pressure, eventual working, fairly quick failure, and then getting it working again are described in the above thread. When it failed (which ended up being only a failure of the main power switch - a $2 part and perhaps a common failure point), the eBay seller refunded my entire payment price (including the shipping cost). So with a free, non-running compressor I chose to replace the older technology (and cheap to produce) control system with more modern components, and got it running again with an out-of-pocket cost of maybe $25-$30 and a bit of my time. This first compressor is still running strong for me and I use it almost daily.
When the eBay seller put up another 10 units for sale they added a discount for purchasing multiple units, plus the shipping cost of $100 was the same if you bought 1 or 10 units. Along with a 5% eBay Bucks promotion going on at the time, I purchased 4 more of the Diablos at a cost of $325/unit, including shipping and sales tax. I figured that I could likely get some of them to work, and if nothing else have a couple as parts units.
This lot of 4 compressors arrived in pretty rough shape. Some were missing components (although others, fortunately had extra components
), and 3 of the 4 were received covered in compressor oil. It seems like the eBay seller purchased maybe a bankruptcy lot of these compressors, but really didn't understand what they were. Whereas they may have been prepared for over-the-counter sale, they were definitely not in a suitable condition to be shipped. They had left the crankcase breathers on, instead of re-installing the metal plug on the compressor crankcase, and during 'typical' handling of a bulky/heavy item by FedEx/UPS, they had not stayed upright and almost all of the crankcase oil had leaked out and had gotten all over everything. One even had a specification label on it which said that it was a 220V unit, where these were advertised as 110V units. Since these were in much worse shape than my initial one, missing parts, etc., I initiated a return request through eBay even before trying them out. Within minutes of that request, the eBay seller had once again issued a full refund, and again specified to just keep them.O.K., so now I have 5 free Diablo HPA compressors...
(As a note, these compressors may have once been sold through AOA as a less expensive or in-house brand. The initial US distributor, no longer in business, was located in Las Vegas. And one of the 4 I purchased had its previous shipping labels removed, but in Sharpie written on the outer box it specified 'Return to Rich at AOA.')
So I started prepping the units as I learned to do with my first one. (And, in the case with these, cleaning off a LOT of spilled compressor oil which had gotten EVERYWHERE). Basically they seem to be of a reasonable design, but cost-cutting shortcuts were taken during manufacturing. Flexible silicone coolant hoses are run over hot and/or sharp metal parts, so I immediately armor these hoses with fiberglas mesh wire wrap, and re-route them (or replace, as necessary. The same silicone tubing is apparently used in home beer brewing, so it is readily available on Amazon). I dump out any remaining oil in the compressor, and re-fill with true compressor oil. I fill the cooling system with a 50:50 mix of anti-freeze, and include a couple ounces of Water Wetter for better cooling performance. Then I run them for 10 minutes with zero load and allow them to cool before trying to generate any pressure.
Out of the second set of 4, 2 units immediately made good volume and pressure up to 300 bar - Success! However the other 2 were very slow to make pressure, and only pressurized up to maybe 200 bar. They also sounded different (quieter) when running.
Well, I've already replaced the entire electronic control system in my first unit. Why not tear into the compressor heads on these non-functioning units to see what is going on? If I really F something up, no real big deal as these units didn't cost me anything anyway.
Up to this point, HPA compressors had been a mysterious 'black box', which I would never have previously tried to open up, and much less repair. I didn't want to take the chance of opening them up, and perhaps allowing some of the interior voodoo to escape. I have always had mechanical skills, but compressors just seemed different to me.
But it turns out that they are pretty simple inside and, as mentioned above, seem to mostly be built using very similar or identical volume-made parts. So I can watch a video about a Tuxing or HPDAVV compressor, and it truly shows me what I am going to find within my Diablo.
Finding parts can be a challenge, but once again since so many of these compressors use the same parts, they can be found with some Google leg work. You may have to wait 2 weeks or a month for them to arrive from China, but they can be found and are generally very reasonably priced.
In the end, I am now quite confident that I will be able to get the last 2 compressors running like they should (when I get my ordered parts). So I will have 5 essentially free, good running HPA compressors. I had a buddy come over and prep one (he wants to get into PCPs so that he can shoot in his back yard with his grand kids). The one he prepped turned out to be a good one, so now I am down to 4. I've got 2 more buddies who want to get into PCP guns and will want one as well. And when you are just starting out with PCPs, who can argue with a free HPA compressor!
I've gone through a lot of emotions with these Diablo compressors - which could probably have come from any Chinese compressor. Joy at scoring a compressor at a good price-point, frustration and disappointment at their failures (and they seem to be very creative in the defects the different ones have
), renewed joy in getting refunds for the bad ones, and pride in finding repair parts and getting the bad ones to function again. All in all they have been a real adventure for me, and in the end a very enjoyable one as I have gained the knowledge and experience as to how these things function, and how to keep them functioning (whether on the electronics control side, or the mechanical compression side). HPA compressors (at least this style) are no longer mysterious black boxes to me, and all it took was a little bit of time on my part (and I'm retired, so that time is 'free') to get that understanding - and some free compressors which I could tear into without fear of ruining a $1,000+ piece of equipment!Many folks on this forum recommend against ever buying a less expensive Chinese compressor. Buy once, cry once they say, and have something which you can rely on. And I have no basis to argue against that point.
Others are fearful of purchasing a less expensive Chinese compressor as they feel if it fails they will wind up with a rather expensive door stop. To these latter folks I say take the chance, and don't be afraid of getting your hands a little dirty in tearing it apart and fixing it if/when it goes down. They are actually pretty simple inside and relatively easy work on. And who knows - if they keep failing on us we might all get pretty good at diagnosis and repair - something of a lost art in the disposable culture of the 'first world.'
