The MOB Rules - just going to toss this one out ( Nomad II - lemon? )

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jdanvers

jdanvers

Member
Jul 7, 2019
951
376
South Central Upstate NY, United States
So some of you may have seen my post in here from a month or two ago re: relatively new Nomad II compressor turning into a brick. Long story short - of all the damned things that could have gone wrong it turned out to be something stupid - a bad power cord. Yeah - the cord itself was bad. Not the power supply, not any of the electronics - the cord itself. Whatever. Kudos to PA for doing me a solid on that - they sent me a prepaid shipping label and paid for shipping of the unit both ways. That's good.

( baseball ) that was strike 1 for the nomad

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I got the unit back, with a new (or different at least) power cord and it worked fine until just this past Friday, 15 November. I went to pump up a gun and while loading up magazines I audibly noticed that the thing was just running, and running, and running .... taking a LOT longer than it usually does. I looked over at it to put eyeballs on it and the "load" value was at 6. Yeah - single digit - 6. Not in the mid-twenties where it typically is - due to building pressure. Six. This thing was NOT building pressure. { "sigh .... you gotta be kidding me . . . " } I unplugged it, did all of the troubleshooting per the manual, etc .... nope - something was wacked - the thing would not build pressure. I call PA and they again offer to send me a shipping label. I have vacation days to burn though and PA isn't *to* far away for me to just drive out there and physically bring it to them. They're cool with this - so - I jump in the car and go on a road trip. I drop it off, they take it and call me an hour and a half or so later to let me know it's been fixed. Something about a safety pressure sensor (fuse?) thing at / on / near the cylinder - I forget exactly what / where he said the issue was - but that's what the issue was and it's good to go. Great! I drive home and park it in the kitchen as it is now late and I'm tired - I'll use it in the morning. The road trip out there was this past Wed the 20th.

( baseball ) that was strike 2 for the nomad

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The following day, Thursday the 21st - I unbox it, gas up a gun that I'm working on / tuning . . . . shoot it some, run low on air - gas it up a second time / shoot some more. Time passes . . . I can't play with the tune project for a little while - have to do other stuff. Done doing stuff - I go to gas up the tune project gun again and . . . . . . six. Yeah. Six. I'm f#$!ng (lol) FURIOUS - " . . . you have GOT to be kidding me!!!!!!!!! " I call and send off an e-mail to PA - I am NOT driving all the way out there again.

( baseball ) that was strike 3 for the nomad

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When I emailed PA I told them that they could either REPLACE the unit with a NEW one - NOT repair it - I don't want this lemon any more . . . {sigh} *OR* they could just refund my money. I got an e-mail from them (PA) this morning and they are asking just that - do I want a NEW unit or a refund?

→→ What do you guys think??? Those of you who own one - what has your experience with it been? How long have you had it for? Did I just get a bad deal of the cards with this one ( got a lemon ) and hopefully I'll have better luck with a new replacement one? Ie; it'll run for longer than a month? I'm to a point where I'd just assume get a 4500psi tank and find a place to get it filled - this thing has NOT left a good impression with me. Very frustrating. 😠
 
Mines been steadily cranking away without issue for many months now. Not a single issue. 

But I am hearing these stories... not encouraging, but then I know a few folks who haven't had any issues. 

I can palpate your frustration, especially at this price point. THEN again, a new compressor, tanks, valves, etc, is a huge chunk of cash. 

Go with what your instinct tells you to. 
 
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I had one of these and it came defective would not build pressure. PA sent me a new one. That was several months ago... in June. Since then (I really hope I am not screwing myself here) I have had no issues and really like it. I shoot my Crown and impact three times a week at least every week so it is filling both those guns three times a week each sometimes 5- 6 and I have had no issues. For the size and how I shoot (I can get out to 100 yards on my property and have no close neighbors) this thing has been just what I need. Some things I do (have no idea if it helps) but I haven't had issues so maybe it does?

1. When I first plug the compressor in I let it run 30 seconds or so before I hit the power button. Then when I hit the power button I let it run for about 30 seconds before I start to fill. I repeat this when the fill has ended. 

2. I purge the valve on the bottom of the unit every 5 fills 

3. I add a couple drops of oil every 5 fills.

4. After I bleed the pressure after a fill I power the unit off but I let it "run" 30 seconds before unplugging...

Now fair disclaimer, before I sent my first one back to PA I tried for a week to get in contact with air Venturi through email, social media, and several voicemails. I heard back 5 weeks later.... NOT KIDDING.... so basically outside of 30 days if you are not dealing with PA and this thing dies I suspect you would have a very long wait for a repair or a new unit coming from them and of course you have to ship the thing on your dime at that point to AV..... There were enough bad reviews here that made me seriously consider just getting another unit and not a replacement. But for me, and how I shoot a small unit like this is perfect... a large compressor takes up more room, has to be stored inside, and the YH set up with water buckets etc isn't something my wife wants in a closet in the house so form factor mattered to me. 

Six of one half dozen of another. As with everything the reviews of these things that are bad outweigh the good because stuff that works people are much less inclined to tell us that it works....human nature. There are plenty of lemon stories out on the forums with AV big unit and Daystates and the others as well. Part of me just things that these compressors are built like appliances these days to last about 3-5 years and then force us to buy another one. 

Good luck with whatever you decide.
 
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I'm curious to know if anyone as even heard of a problem with the Shoebox booster? I did a search here and could not find problem one. Will need maintenance down the road of course. Any problems, ever?
Click to expand...

It is my hypothesis that the failure with these occur in the oil free compressors used to power it but I suspect these failures are not reported because the Shoebox booster compressor is not directly at fault nor is it broken.

What would be really useful would be efficiency, time, and hidden cost data for all the compressors, booster compressors, et al. Then it becomes very easy to forecast risk to ROI.
 
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Pick and Steelo - good on you guys! Steelo - your process / steps on using it - thats being disciplined (lol) - agreed - hopefully I/we haven't jinxed you!!

I think I'm just going to ask for my money back. Fortunately (?? lol) I have a hill hand pump that came with my first gun that I purchased as a kit. Apparently I'm going to get a little fitter over the coming winter months until I figure out what I'm going to do. I live out "in the woods" ( rural Upstate NY ) and as such there are a number of fire dept's in the various towns and small villages around here - I may inquirer re: how / where do they get their breathing tanks filled - maybe I could get a tank filled via one of the FD's if I go that route. ( and save in the meantime for a bigger / badder compressor that will do those ) I'm soured on any compressors Air Venturi @present . . . anyone ever hear / read / see anything about this one? --> https://www.airgunsofarizona.com/Compressor.html

Regarding tanks though (Air Venturi) -- with the money I'm going to get back from the nomad -- I do find myself eyeballing this thing - opinions?

https://www.pyramydair.com/s/a/Air_Venturi_Carbon_Fiber_Charging_Station_4500_psi_98_cu_ft/5905
 
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https://www.airhog.com/tank-sets/180-88-cuft-whole-hog-tank-set.html



For a few bucks more, I’d get this one. It’s the one I started with. Longer fill hose, better gage set up that’s offset so for easier viewing, and comes with beefy stands and a carry handle. Can’t beat it for the price point. The hose is long enough where you can set the tank on the ground and still shoot tethered to your gun off a bench, should you ever decide to shoot tethered.
 
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