Super happy with my Ayrrtek booster

[cmatera]

Finally got to use it. With Huben K1's in .22 and .25 (titanium air tubes) having a 350 bar fill it seemed a logical purchase. Although I have a Bauer Junior II compressor and all 3 sizes of Joe B tanks, my maximum fill pressure was 4,500, and only for a couple fills. When the nitrogen dealer would not deliver to a residential area (Hazmat), the solution was to boost what I have.

While the low pressure side of the setup can be run with a compressor requiring power (gas or electric) by using 2 high pressure air tanks and an inline regulator, you can use it in the field without power. This thing is slick. I'm especially happy I bought it since I have an FX M3 coming from Ken Hicks at SPAW and when the new 300 bar bottles are out, it will be useful for it as well. Here's a pic of my setup at home, which will work just as well on the bed of my truck in the field, and is very easy to disassemble/re-assemble:

I got my booster from Douglas Russell at maddogstocks.com. 

 

[mtnGhost]

Man, I hate to be the negative Nancy in the room, but mine was real temperamental to both temperature and altitude! I had leaks at 3-4 different fittings when I was using it out in the field in ~35F weather (one of the fittings is a left hand thread BTW). It leaked again when I used it at home ~70F.

I haven't used it much, but I had leaked every frigging time - so I wound up re-doing all of the Teflon at every junction.

 

[Chickenthief]

And the Altaros B2B will do the excact thing but at @half of the price.

https://www.altaros.cz/en/compressors/160-altaros-double-booster-b2b-edition-bottle-bottle.html

OH and it has double boost cylinders so it's twice as fast ;-)

 

[cmatera]

No problem. Was fully aware of the booster wars before purchase. I used it 4 times today, no leaks. Prefer to buy state side. I know where Wichita, KS is. I probably could have saved money by buying a Yong Heng but bought a Bauer Junior II from a dealer in TX instead. You pay your money and take your chances.

 

[CampFussell]

I love my Ayrtekk as well Carl. My nitrogen bottle is down to 2400 psi at the moment and this booster is making it possible for me to continue getting fills. I used to change my nitrogen bottle out for a fresh one when it got to 3000 psi. And like you I can fill my Huben to 250 or 300 Bar with no problems.

I have discovered that the SCBA tank providing the regulated 125 psi to the low side seems to use more volume of air than the SCBA tank on the high side by close to a 1.75 to 1 ratio?

So, just for giggles I hooked up my little California Air shop compressor to the low side. It maxes at 120 psi and I don't have a moisture filter on it yet, but did a quick test just to see how it performed anyway. Heck I might invest in a little stronger shop compressor and moisture filter after actually trying it with my little compressor?

Here's a quick video I did for my testing with shop compressor and back and forth with the two SCBA tanks.



https://youtu.be/ZooAZAVNKG8



Fuss

 

[cmatera]

That was helpful. I wondered about using a shop compressor. Having the Bauer, I don't worry about the need to refill, so I'll probably stick with the 2 tank setup. It was nice to see how to use the compressor setup if I ever need/want to without actually doing it. I know some want to boost to fill air tanks. I don't need that. I just want to boost a few guns to 300-350 bar using my tanks which have 250-300 bar, and so far, it works really well. Before purchase, I asked Doug Russell about the quality of air when using a compressor. He told me the compressor side only runs the booster. The air that gets boosted comes from the tank filled with my Bauer Junior II with its gold tower filter.

 

[CampFussell]

Thanks for the input Carl. That puts my mind at ease then. I might just continue to use my California Compressor the way it is then.

 

[Str8tshooter]

Finally got to use it. With Huben K1's in .22 and .25 (titanium air tubes) having a 350 bar fill it seemed a logical purchase. Although I have a Bauer Junior II compressor and all 3 sizes of Joe B tanks, my maximum fill pressure was 4,500, and only for a couple fills. 

Bauer JR has a adverstised max fill of 5000 psi or 345 Bar? 

 

[cmatera]

Yes the Bauer is listed at 5000 psi -max. I rarely max anything. My auto shutoff is currently set at 4500 psi, because I believe most carbon fiber tanks are only rated for 4,500 psi. Since a chain is only as strong as the weakest link, well, you know. When I fill my tanks to 4500, by the time they cool down it is more like 4300 psi. I could put the tanks in a water or ice bath, or let them cool and top them off but that would be a waste of my shooting time. When you own multiple air hungry guns (Hubens, bottle guns, and a Benjamin Bulldog, it doesn't take much before you cannot fill them to capacity. I could run out an top off my tanks I have a compressor. I own the means of production.

As I stated previously in another post, there is a reason I choose not to do it that way. Mr. Porter Stiles of August Industries in TX where I bought my Bauer, told me it's not good on the compressor. I can fill all 3 sizes from Joe B from 3,000 psi to 4,500 psi in about 45 minutes. If I want to run out and top them off from 3,500 to 4,500 my run time would be about 25 minutes. This, he explained, is not good on the compressor. The Bauer Junior II is rated to run for long periods, like to fill many large tanks for a fire department or a dive ship or shop. When you run the Bauer for short periods, it never really gets hot. The heat cooks off condensation in the oil. If you see the oil level in your compressor rise unexpectedly, you probably have water in your oil.

To me, for various reasons it makes more sense not to push my compressor or tanks to the max to fill multiple guns a few times, but to fill to fill my tanks to a slightly lower pressure use them to fill my guns a few times and then boost the pressure to the guns, and when I run my tanks lower before filling, it takes longer, my compressor gets hotter and cooks off the water.