Something to ponder on...I’m curious

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Bigragu

Bigragu

Member
Jul 8, 2018
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CA, United States
we have Alkin,Bauer ,etc. fans, and we have the die hard yong heng type Compressor fans.

lets take away those upper and entry level compressors from this pcp hobby, and what we have left are the mid priced, $800 - $1800 compressors that we all know are the ones that bite us after a few months of use.

of course there are the ones in between the mid priced and the upper level in the $2000 to $2800 ranges. Lets not include those in my question to you all. 

Knowing what we know NOW, and if only those mid priced ones were available, which ones would we get?

Me? I would do the Hatsan Lightning all over again but be fully stocked with spare switches and rebuild kits. I would also upgrade the wiring and terminal connections as soon as I unboxed it
 
I tried the Tuxing compressor and it just generated too much heat and efficiency would go way down. It started out ok, but quickly took a very long time to refill a small flashpup res. I wasn't happy, so I returned it.

From reading reviews and watching reviews, I would probably go with the Omega Trail or save longer and get a Omega Super Charger. All compressors will eventually have an issue, the support for the Omega line seems good.

I say Omega Super Charger because I have a 99cu ft CF tank.

Until then I use the dive shop


 
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Knowing what I do now after going through 3 in less than 3 years, I would have bought one of the Omega units. Once you have a couple breakdowns with the less expensive units? It will be in your head, will it run and top off my bottle today?, you will read threads about others who are having issues with the same unit you have. Some folks are much more mechanically inclined as is the OP here and others. Not me I bought an Alkin 2weeks back.
 
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Augie, Haha it would be a toss up I think between the Hatsan and the AV since they are cousins so to speak. Personally knowing what I know now about the AV I'd land on a grenade instead of buying a new one but having said that I do know them very well from top to bottom and from inside and out and feel like unless its a total melt down I could fix it. I'm less familiar with the Hatsan other than what we've shared. Since I can't afford a Alkin I've got my fingers crossed that my AV and F10 will get me by till the end. Good topic though for those that are in the middle like myself. 

jking 
 
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I went through a couple of cheap Chinese compressors before buying anew Omega from AOA. Been happy with it for over a year. Fills my 45 min scba and others with no issues. I follow the recommended maintenance procedures and keep an-hour usage log. I. always let the water circulate until it cools to room temp. I also have a digital thermometer in the water reservoir to monitor the temp. 
 
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The little I’ve learned on these mid priced compressors with help from JKing and discussions with Humdinger Steve, I’ve come to the conclusion that one, you’d better be handy at working on these things, and two, have a resource for parts or just fully stock up on the wear items. 
Heck, my 2004 Alkin with now almost 46 hours on it, I predict in about three to four years I’ll have to do it’s first rebuild. I know they have a 100 hour rebuild kit. 
To the person reading this thats in the market for a mid priced compressor, know now that you’re going to have to work on it to keep it going. Watch Mad Max movies for inspiration. 


then, before dropping any coin, research if parts are even available for the compressor your eyeing. Are the parts here now gone tomorrow or has this type of compressor platform had parts available since 5 or more years ago? Then stock up on at least two kits, and then you’ll have a total of three rebuild kits with the kit that comes with your compressor purchase

if you are not willing to work on a mid range compressor, then be at ease knowing your either going to huck it and buy new again, or be okay with paying shipping and labor rates to get it rebuilt.



key thing to get out of all of this is parts availability.
 
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Back to those tier three compressors, the ones in the $2000 to $2800 range.  I’ve heard both good and bad on those. Good is always good, but bad is looking at that sizeable chunk of $$$$ in the trash, or pray parts are available and YouTube has a rebuild vid on it. My advice to anyone looking at these tier three compressors, is make do with how you’ve been getting air(hand pumping, fill shop, welding shop delivering you air, etc) and just save up a bit more and just buy a top shelf like an Alkin or Bauer. If you already have $2500 saved, you’re 2/3 the way there towards these top shelf compressors. I’ve talked at least four people out of buying tier three compressors, and suggested saving up a bit more and be patient. 

@ Jking- you know it’s a rush when you got that air Venturi rebuilt, and it’s back to pumping air like new, or better than new. I know when I rebuilt the Lightning I owned to better than new, it’s a feeling of comfort knowing that I beat it and WON. Big thanks to you, for sure, for getting me going. 

Felt like Mad Max, I did, ha ha!
 
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HEAT IS THE KILLER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RAPID CYCLIC compressors will have the greatest wear and tear. For these high speed compressors to have any sort of long term service life requires HIGH QUALITY build materials, Frequent lubrication changes, Excellent moisture filtering attributes. CHEAP does not cover these requirements or even modest priced units still can be sketchy in reliability.

There is good reason why industrial HIGH PRESSURE compressors cost what they do. 



Having owned no less than 4 compressors over the last 10 years the MOST RELIABLE have been SLOW CYCLIC compressors ( Original SHOEBOX and Omega ALPHA 90 )

While I do have a VERY HIGH SPEED Nardi Atlantic 100 it is seldom used being it's BIG, NOISY and sucks 220V power to operate. It run very HOT, Creates a Bunch of moisture having 3 Vapor recovery tanks and carbon filters to get clean air. yea it works great but at a very high cost and maintenance required.



SLOW and COOL compression works best .... So quit being is such a hurry !!!



JMO ...

Scott S
 
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Forgot to add: I run two huge silicagel desiccant filters between compressor and booster, change them @ once an hour. Now my HP desiccant filter lasts 5-6 hours before it needs regerating.

HTB1.1629823589.jpeg


https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32922060803.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4dUcUbfS
 
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I don’t think many of us had any idea how much trouble/expense was involved feeding air to these rifles. I’d like to see Alkin design specifically for the air gun market. Something about 75% the size and money and 110 compatible. Maintaining the durability of the 31 of course . I like my 31 but it’s probably more then necessary for many.
 
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I don’t think many of us had any idea how much trouble/expense was involved feeding air to these rifles. I’d like to see Alkin design specifically for the air gun market. Something about 75% the size and money and 110 compatible. Maintaining the durability of the 31 of course . I like my 31 but it’s probably more then necessary for many.
Click to expand...

Like an Alkin the size of a YongHeng?

How about a 12v car battery attached Alkin?
 
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