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What made ya do it?

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C

Chukar60

Member
Mar 15, 2022
1,261
1,772
Idaho, United States
I recently bought a Daystate MCH6. Best purchase I have made in my relatively short air gunning career to date.
I know why I finally made the jump.
Between Mrs Chukar and myself we have 5 small bore PCP’s. We can use up a lot of air in a weekend.
Then I added two big bores to the mix. The demand for air took a very large jump. I shoot those big bores quite a bit.
My air source was 35 minutes away. When my business is in season, even that small amount of spare time and over riding priorities made getting tanks filled a problem. The big bores just pushed me over the edge.
I am wondering what pushed the rest of you who bought the large Daystate or Alkins over the edge.
 
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What made me grab an upper-tier compressor? A year’s worth of trips to the dive shop and I started with a big bore. After reading up on compressors and speaking with a few members who are pretty well versed on the subject, it made sense to take the plunge and not look back. Now I don’t worry about top-offs. I have no regrets.
 
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I have not yet done so, and hopefully I won't - I have an almost 10 year old Shoebox compressor, and another almost brand new one I bought as backup if the original fails. Honestly, they fill tanks just as well as the big boys, except for the slower fill time, and that is not an issue as I feel they really are "set it and forget it" compressors. But if those die, I will be getting a good one, that's for sure - @Scotty1 listed the reasons perfectly . . . .
 
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I've cried multiple times over the past 6-7 years as one compressor after another would die. Even my Shoebox F10 died after about 5 solid years of use. I got tired of rebuilds on Yong Hengs that would last shorter amounts of time each time I used it. Etc, etc, etc. Never knowing which fill would be the one which killed a compressor became stressful. Finally pulled the lux compressor purchase a year ago and couldn't be happier - a pinch to the wallet but no tears once I knew I had an outlet I could get 240v from.
 
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ctshooter said:
I've cried multiple times over the past 6-7 years as one compressor after another would die. Even my Shoebox F10 died after about 5 solid years of use. I got tired of rebuilds on Yong Hengs that would last shorter amounts of time each time I used it. Etc, etc, etc. Never knowing which fill would be the one which killed a compressor became stressful. Finally pulled the lux compressor purchase a year ago and couldn't be happier - a pinch to the wallet but no tears once I knew I had an outlet I could get 240v from.
Click to expand...
I cried twice. A Nomad II has a knack for that. 16 hours the first time and when it came back from AV it made 1 fill and died. Done. Won’t even bother sending it back.
I just made the decision that I would forego a couple more air guns and spend the $ on a quality compressor. So far the best money I have spent on air gunning, even more so than any of my beloved guns. You can own all the guns you want but without reliable air they are just space filler in the safe.
 
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For me it was the realization that I just didnt want to engage in the 'compressor hobby'. It seems that those who use the smaller compressors end up modifying them and rebuilding to the point where it's a whole 'nuther hobby in itself and I'm not willing to do that.

In the early days, I went through an easy half dozen hand pumps. That wasnt fun, especially with the AirForce guns. From there, I jumped on the CF tank route and took the 45 min trip to a dive shop. Did that for a while and when Mr. Kaye came out with the Shoebox, I hit that one for a few years, rebuilding it every so often.

Then I learned of Jim Shelden and his compressors and cried once... and havent looked back. Should this compressor ever die (Heaven forbid) then I'll go with an Alkin. No interest in farting around with a compressor or babying it to make it work.
 
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Pesting quickly turned into a hobby. Then I discovered that the big bores are fun air hogs to shoot. However driving a half hour to fill the big tank was getting to be an inconvenience. So I was essentially in the same situation same as you, buying a pump of my own. I went the least expensive route with the Yeng Heng and do my own maintenance and repairs as needed, plus I have accumulated spare parts for when one goes down.
 
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The American made ShoeBox that will not die.
20231108_083503.jpg
 
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Well in the Early days of PCP..Rapid's..over 20 Year ago....
I got my First Rapid PCP and a stirrup pump...
Well pumping up a 400 bottle didn't last long... So I pick up an 88 cu. ft. Airhog tank from Van.
Then the next problem raised it's Head.. I couldn't get a reliable 4500 psi fill in the Central Valley of California!
Either they straight won't fill it.. Then if I found someone who would do a 4500psi fill..it was more like 3950psi......
Also the price for a fill was all over the place.....

So I contacted Curly @ Airetex.. He had an Alkin W31, which loaned customers.. Low hrs...I got cheap and shipped to California.
Problem Solved....
full.jpg
 
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Living in my part of the state there isn't but a couple of dive shops and one couldn't or wouldn't fill my tank to 4500... always some excuse why the couldn't.. the other dive shop had no problems filling my tank but was a bit of a drive to get there. I loved my 1 and only PCP I had at the time but I wouldn't shoot it much...only during hunting season really. I hated that as I wanted to shoot it more. My first compressor (alpha 90) allowed me to shoot more but not really built to fill my tank...it did it but didn't like it.
It did allow me to buy a few more PCP rifles to enjoy. After a couple of years I passed that compressor on to the next guy (still working good) to upgrade to a alkin w31 compressor. The w31 open the door to many other PCP rifles including big bores. It's nice to be able to fill your tanks when you have the time (in minutes)... anytime rather than rushing to the dive shop on a weekend that closes by noon when I had other things to get done on weekends. It freed up a lot of time to shoot more.
 
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Troy Bakel said:
The American made ShoeBox that will not die.View attachment 404274
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Yep! I just filled 2 66 cuft scba tanks yesterday. Just start it and come back a couple of hours later and it's filled. Only problem I have is I'm off grid and my inverter is rated to 4000 watts so when my shop compressor starts up the shoebox stops. So I have to turn off the tank valve and bleed the line so I can restart it. If I don't do that it blows the fuse which I did because of sometimers. Man that fuse is a PITA to replace 😂. Yeah it's a very slow fill but I haven't had to do anything to it except replace 2 fuses and put silicone oil on the lube pads along with some lithium grease on the rods.
 
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Ok. I’ve been shooting my Texan 308 a lot more and it’s an air hog that’s causing me to overwork my little comp.
This is a timely thread for me because my 12v portable needs rebuilding and I’m not inclined to do it.

Is it possible to get a low cost ($700-1200) reliable 120 volt 4500 psi with a small foot print and a weight that one man can move around simply?

What are the top three suggestions?
My nose bleed limit is about $1500
I‘m filling a Great White 97 cu ft tank.

Also, who sells them either new or used and can be trusted?
 
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