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Omega Compressors ?

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choper456

Member
Nov 15, 2020
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Idaho, United States
I admit I am new to pcp gunning, but this whole issue of "which Compressor" is beyond mind boggling I am going to reduce this discussion to a compressor one could rely on for say a 6 L tank refil and your rifle and just for giggles 110 v only. No portables. and let's say you top of your tank's and guns a dozen times or more per month. Lastly you want a good contact here in the good old USA. for breakdown questions that will contact you back with problem solving answers before you turn another year older.

So here comes my question/observation as the new kid on the block. How come you almost never see an Omega compressor come back on the market and if so it is gone before the ink is dry in the ad ? Further, very few complaints from owners. And last but not least the base model, "Air Charger" no frill few whistles and runs for up to eight hours where as the new Benjamin Charger has too cool off after 30 minutes, both for approximately the same money (AOA-Omega and Optics Planet-Benjamin.)

I check multiple sites numerous times daily as I am sure a lot of you do looking for feed back and direction on "which compressor" ? The whole issue of water/air cooled vs if you need to keep adding oil or not comes down to who cares if it is in fact reliable. Who besides Omega is going to service if needed beyond our skill level here in the States for an original purchase price of $1,200 range ? I think a lot of us need an up to date education in this area as to "which compressor" as identified above and why.

Thanks all

Choper
 
Chinese compressors are made and built to be disposable. Know it and live with it you were warned. BUY the Wal-Mart 4 year protection plan if you buy ANY compressor of Chinese origin. Had a $2000 Omega fail twice in its early new condition first received was DOA FYI. Several others had paper weights right after the one year warranty was up $1800-$2000 Omegas also FYI at least one guy managed to sell his broken condition $2000 Omega just past warranty for $500 recently who recovered 1/4 of his cost back. A $2300 Chinese Coltri MCH6 clone failed shortly after a year FYI. What makes you think a cheaper $1200 Chinese compressor especially the same brand as these documented failed examples 18 months of light use or less then plain old KILLED OVER DEAD gonna be more reliable? BUY ANY BRAND CHINA COMPRESSOR FROM WALMART WITH 4 YEAR PROTECTION PLAN OR TAKE YOUR CHANCES ITS YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY TO FLUSH DOWN THE TOILET HOWEVER YOU PLEASE.

Even the $999 HILL UK brand had documented failures in their first month of use and a personal friend returned his for refund after less than one month after it failed. I'd buy the Hill if Wal-Mart sold it and offered the 4 year protection plan though. One year warranty simply ain't enough for ANY sub $2500 compressor realistically. You divide the cost by number of days before you throw it in the trash you be shocked after buying them added up you could have bought the $3300 Alkin in the first place.
 
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Where you gonna buy an omega air charger? AoA hasn't had them in stock for almost a year. I purchased a re-built one for $700 and it runs good, it may last a long time but it is truly a crap shoot as to whether it will last. At my age and medical condition ... it doesn't make much sense to put a ton of money into an Alkin and then kick the bucket in just a few years. If I was healthy and in my 50s or 60s it would make good sense ... but now?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Shalom

John
 
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None of this air gun stuff makes any sense.


I’ve personally given up even trying. If I thought I would be dead in a year or two (which is far from an impossibility) I’d be even less concerned about the money then more . But that’s me .

When I get the chance to shoot my guns I’d like to not have to F around with a compressor that may or may not do the job. 

 
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In a perfect world everyone can be like BigRagu or Humdinger and just rebuild the $1299-$1399 Air Venturi or Hatsan Lightning any time by just ordering the parts no problem but what about all of the rest who aren't mechanically inclined?

Say it's best case scenario it lasts 2.5 years assuming you paid $1500 including shipping and insurance. That's $600 a year for air. Those not mechanically inclined get to do it all over again drop another $1500 then what if this time it only lasts 1.5 years that's $1000 a year for air. Better off buying an Aliexpress 60 or 90 day warranty $200 Yong Heng with free shipping since even if it only lasts 6 months and breaks its ONLY LIKE you throw away $400 a year instead BEST OPTION.

OR buy with the Wal-Mart 4 year protection plan and keep getting FREE REPLACEMENTS shipped to you within every 4 years you get to keep the broken ones for parts and paper weights at roughly $65-$100 per year depends on the price you paid including 4 year $44.95 protection plan. Good to have $11.24 insurance per year right?
 
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Where you gonna buy an omega air charger? AoA hasn't had them in stock for almost a year.
Click to expand...



AOA had them about 2 months ago, I bought one, it's fantastic. They sold out quick. I called them and talked to Kip, they had 7 pallets of Omega air compressors come in and they were testing all of them before they left to go to their new owners. 

Yes, you'll hear that unless you buy an Alkin, Bauer, Daystate, Coltri or some other $3k compressor that all of the rest are crap. Lots of people have great experiences with Omega compressors and even some of the other inexpensive ones. I'm not saying don't buy a $3k compressor, I'm just saying do your homework. My compressor was $1267 to my door and in the 2 months I've had it, it's been awesome. Yeah, I know, 2 months is nothing. But, their USA support from what I hear is great, and the Air Charger is not that sophisticated. Like most inexpensive compressors, it comes with an entire rebuild kit. I'm pretty mechanically inclined and feel that if there's a problem, I can fix it. The Air Charger has been around for quite a while, I like it. It fills relatively fast enough for me. It takes my Guppy tank from 3200 to 4500 in under 8 minutes. My F10 takes about 25 minutes for the same fill. Southern Gunner has well over 500 hours on his Air Charger, his is 6 years old.

My point is, just do your homework. If you are like me and filling a small bottle, or even a large one a few times a month, I think the Air Charger is awesome. YMMV of course.
 
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I bought an Air Charger from the classifieds here a while back for $850. (Ad was on for 17mins) It was in “well used” condition and definitely in need of some TLC. I got a rebuild kit and went to work. To me this compressor is pretty easy to work on. I expect a lot of hours before the next rebuild.

F6B965E0-961E-449C-9332-EE884760AC32.1607221356.jpeg


I love how quiet these Omegas run. They seem to be one of the few that run a little slower but they just keep chugging along and no worries of over heating like the YH. Although I do believe the YH have gotten pretty reliable and are a great bang for the buck. Damn near hand pump prices.

My friend has a Supercharger and supplied me with all the air I could ask for in my first year of this PCP rabbit hole. It’s great that we both have the same rebuild parts and knowledge of the machines.

check out this video form Southern Gunner. This guy has 5 years on his Air Charger pumping 10-15 tanks a week.

https://youtu.be/NsbchP7awPk
 
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My suggestion is wade thru the information on the sub forum and make your own decision. It’s all there . If you’d like my biased opinion PM me
Click to expand...

Why aren't you posting your real world experience? 

I would feel REALLY TERRIBLE if I remained quiet about something I paid so much money for or even if it was a cheap Yong Heng to a newbie to let the OP decide and weigh the good and failure ratio don't ya think?
 
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How exactly does the Omega Air Charger differ from the Omega Supercharger?

Is it from a different manufacturer (China of course but from a different factory?)
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Both seem to be of the modified hand pump design but the Supercharger has a fancy enclosure and also an auto purge.

https://www.airgunsofarizona.com/Compressor.html
 
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In a perfect world everyone can be like BigRagu or Humdinger and just rebuild the $1299-$1399 Air Venturi or Hatsan Lightning any time by just ordering the parts no problem but what about all of the rest who aren't mechanically inclined?

Say it's best case scenario it lasts 2.5 years assuming you paid $1500 including shipping and insurance. That's $600 a year for air. Those not mechanically inclined get to do it all over again drop another $1500 then what if this time it only lasts 1.5 years that's $1000 a year for air. Better off buying an Aliexpress 60 or 90 day warranty $200 Yong Heng with free shipping since even if it only lasts 6 months and breaks its ONLY LIKE you throw away $400 a year instead BEST OPTION.

OR buy with the Wal-Mart 4 year protection plan and keep getting FREE REPLACEMENTS shipped to you within every 4 years you get to keep the broken ones for parts and paper weights at roughly $65-$100 per year depends on the price you paid including 4 year $44.95 protection plan. Good to have $11.24 insurance per year right?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the compliment, O'Doyle. Anyone who reads my posts knows that I'm no fan of Omega compressors for reasons I'll explain below. 

IMHO, Omega compressors are the most overpriced and complicated compressors on the market. An Omega is a motorized hand pump with nice amenities. It takes skill and patience beyond my ability to rebuild one. Just look at the all the pieces on the table in srtmat's photo in this thread or watch the 30 minute AoA rebuilt video on Youtube. Just count the steps necessary to get to the rubber o-ring seals inside of an Omega. Yes, a few lucky owners have had one that didn't break. I prefer to avoid compressor Russian Roulette from a $1,000-2,000 investment. There are much sturdier, durable compressors for the price of an Omega. Buying a compressor is a confusing choice for many new PCP owners. Answering the question of what is the best air compressor is like answering what is the best PCP. There are too many factors involved for a one size fits all recommendation.

Early this year a friend of mine had his Air Venturi fail for the second time. The first failure was repaired under warranty. The second breakdown was 18 months later and out of warranty. He was going to throw away the compressor until I repaired it for him with parts from Air Venturi. I worked on it as a favor for a good friend and as a learning experience. I wouldn't buy an Air Venturi or Hatsan Lightning even it it came with an extended warranty. I prefer owning something built to last and that doesn't require frequent rebuilds. 

The best advice to extend the life of any compressor is to use name brand high pressure compressor oil and don't overfill. Overfilling, or using #46 hydraulic fluid, or detergent motor oils all lead to premature failure due to burnt oil deposits ruining the o-rings and clogging check valves.


 
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Speaking of overpriced hand pump driven by electric motor connected via serpentine belt, I bought TWO FX COMPRESSORS years ago for just under $3000 shipped. Both had to be sent back for warranty on my dime mind you within only a few months and I used them at 2 houses so I wouldn't have to lug those damn things from house to house. Even cranked the adjustments as instructed to avoid shipping BOTH back on my dime still wouldn't fill past 800 and 900psi and BOTH Failed AGAIN right when their 1 year warranty expired. I sold them both in still like new condition each for half price as-is shipped!!! because both couldn't pump past 1100 and 1200psi apiece and all of my huge non regulated 1500psi Mac1 USFTs were below those cutoff like that's when you refill them at 1100-1200psi anyway. I had prayed they could at least end up filling to1500psi then I would have kept them just shoot my USFTs even bought an additional cool MAC1 hunter carbine because of the 1500psi fill. Both compressors failed around the same times at both instances and that's me using each at half duty one at each house. They were motor driven FX hand pumps inside and both occassions I wasn't able to get parts to fix them myself and was told needed to send both in again. This was even before FX had spare parts offered for their hand pumps. Come to think of it (right now) I should have just bought new FX hand pumps to replace and pray it was their pumps giving problems.
 
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Humdinger - "I prefer not to play compressor Russian Roulette with a $1,000-2,000 expenditure. There are much better designs and durable compressors for the money"

I'd love if you could give me at least one name of a compressor in the $2000.00 range that will be guaranteed to be reliable for many years. I will buy it right away.

I recently purchased a "GX E-5K2 PCP Air Compressor, 4500psi 110V 1200W, Auto-Stop Setting, 2 Pistons & 4 Stages Compression, Water and Fan Cooling, Moisture Filter,10 Hours Continuous Work for Paintball, Scuba Dive Tank" for $2000.00. (( 6.8L pcp tank, just needs 45 minutes from 0-4500psi )) This compressor has the same mechanicals and electronics but in a different enclosure as the Omega Turbocharger. The things that attracted me to it is that it is rated for 500 bar and will run for 10 hours continuous. I like to have my tank at a full 4500 PSI (just over 310 bar) when cool so I normally fill to 325 bar (4700 PSI) which is about 5% over the working pressure using a very accurate digital pressure gauge. I have easily seen small mechanical gauges that can have more error than that so I am comfortable with that. The problem is that normally when using a compressor rated at 300 bar (4350 PSI) I have has had numerous rupture discs blow before reaching the full 4500 PSI. When I got the GTX compressor the first thing I did was to plug the outlet port and take the pressure to 400 bar. It did that easily and it wasn't straining one bit and the rupture disc was still intact.

The other thing I like is that it has a gear reduction so the pump operates at a much lower RPM. That makes it quieter and more reliable. The other thing is that since it has more torque the compressor can be restarted without bleeding off the pressure. I have numerous times taken the tank to 300 bar with the auto shutoff and then started it again to take it a little higher, It starts the same under 300 bar as when there is no pressure in the system. It uses grease instead of oil so the outlet air is much cleaner and there is less maintenance.

Do I expect to have to maintain and possibly make repairs over time? YES, ABSOLUTELY! Heck, I purchased an Ingersol Rand 7.5 horsepower commercial air compressor (cost me $3000.00 w/shipping) rated at 180 PSI that I have had to replace the reed valves in twice in 3 years. After the second time I CNC'd a new set using .005" inch thicker stainless steel spring shim stock. It has been running for almost 5 years now without a problem. So yes, I can re-machine or even re-engineer parts if need be so that possibility was factored into my purchase decision. I could have purchased a dive shop quality compressor for $5000.00+ and even then there would be no guarantees. Yes, there might be a better warranty, but the biggest problem is that these compressors are heavy so shipping them out for repair is impractical not to mention the the amount of time you are without it.

So in summary... there is no easy answer. Either you have to have the tools and skills to do repairs when necessary or just buy a cheap compressor that you can throw in the trash when it break and put up with it's limitations.
 
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Humdinger – "I prefer not to play compressor Russian Roulette with a $1,000-2,000 expenditure. There are much better designs and durable compressors for the money"

I'd love if you could give me at least one name of a compressor in the $2000.00 range that will be guaranteed to be reliable for many years. I will buy it right away.

Essentially this is the debate we are having. IS THERE SUCH A THING. Several of us are suggestion that in that price range there is not. Others say there is. You folks who are trying to decide are going to have to read as much as you can stand and come to your own conclusion. Then spend the money and find out 
 
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I think there three categories of PCP compressor buyers:

1. Buy cheap and throw away when it breaks, or repair it yourself.

2. Buy mid range and hope you get a good one and repair it yourself if and when it breaks.

3. Buy top end and hope that for all that money it runs and runs and doesn't break. If you have that much money to spend you can probably either afford the shipping to send it in for repairs or pay someone to fix it.

As I said I paid $3000.00 for a 80 gallon 7.5 HP Ingersol Rand shop air compressor and had it break twice in 3 years and ended up fixing it myself. What was I going to do - crate it up and freight it back at my expense for warranty work each time????? They certainly weren't going to send someone to my shop to fix it.
 
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