Alpha-Carette compressor is here

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You also have to look at convenience, being able to fill at your house at whatever time you feel like in IMO it’s awesome. If you change your oil regularly and take care that compressor it’ll last you for years and you could probably sell it for more than half of what you paid for it when you don’t need it anymore I don’t know about you but my time is money. Going to dive shops and having a ldeal withthem telling you that you need to wait or they won’t fill the 4500 psi because there booster pump is broken was enough for me even the paintball shops were a pain now just flip of the switch I’m filling my tanks. The best analogy I could use would be having a toothache and finally going to the dentist. 
 
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"bmwgsboy"Thinking of selling my carrete it has 4 hours on it I have the JB filters for it and modified it with a Reserve tank it never gets air bubbles. Reason I’m selling is I’m also an avid scuba diver found another compressor bit more expensive but I could do both http://www.alkinus.com/high-pressure. 
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I'd be interested if you are serious about selling - I'm in the market for a compressor. PM me here for contact info.

Scott
 
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I just wanted to let every one know I started my Alpha-Carette compressor up a couple of weeks ago and it seized up tight. The pump is froze solid. I purchased it about a year and half ago but it only has 15 hours on it. It has been run every month to build pressure and then purged to get all moisture out. I am currently working with Joe and will post when I hear back from him
 
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I just wanted to let every one know I started my Alpha-Carette compressor up a couple of weeks ago and it seized up tight. The pump is froze solid. I purchased it about a year and half ago but it only has 15 hours on it. It has been run every month to build pressure and then purged to get all moisture out. I am currently working with Joe and will post when I hear back from him
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Ugh - that is not good! I hope all goes well for you and I'll be watching for an update.

Good luck!

Scott
 
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Humdinger, Yes our unit is the base model. When I spoke to Joe he said the only difference between the deluxe model and base was Auto Moisture Dump and PMV and our base unit was supposed to have the PMV added with the Alpha filter. Joe did tell me it was no big deal to not have the Auto Moisture Dump just release the valve after topping of my tank. The timer was one of the reasons why we decided to go with the Alpha Carette and If having the base model means the timer was deleted then we certainly would have paid the extra $100 dollars. We will call Monday to find out if this was indeed the case. It is good to know that there is so much room for error as far as over filling the tank but I hope you understand that we would prefer not having the experience of blowing the burst disc and having to replace it. The tank gauge was 4,500 on two different tanks (one tank was Joe's great white) and the large gauge on the compressor read 4,000 each time. We will more than likely just set compressor gauge to shut off at 4,000 in the future but was curious if others had the same issue. You are very observant humdinger. The picture my brother took was before we started the unit and did have air in the tube at the time of the photo. Before we started the unit we filled the lines with antifreeze and with in a very short time of starting the unit we had zero air in the lines. We were very happy how the coolant tank was working. Also very happy with the sound level of the unit! It is a nice feeling knowing that I will always have air when I need it. One more question. How often are people changing the oil after the initial 5 hour break in and oil change? Thanks for the info. Drippinlead
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Sir, a recommendation. Do not just release your moisture valve & be done. Fill your tank, close its valve & disconnect, then while compressor is still running, loosen the drain cock and let compressor run for 5 minutes with no load. This cools it down & will reduce internal moisture build up.

Another 2 tips I'd like to share is invest in the best intake & up line filter you can. I also ran, & will run future systems in smallest room I have, with a dehumidifier running. Wherever you run it, a test of any common dehumidifier will probably suprise you as to how fast they fill up. 
 
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Tore it down today and the secondary high pressure side is froze solid. Had to pull the wrist pin just to remove the head because the piston can't be removed. 

Joe says he'll take care of me will see.

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12gauge, if you study this video you will see how easy it is to remove that frozen piston yourself. In your photos you have not removed the cooling fins. It just takes an allen wrench in the hole that holds a pressure set screw. Underneath is the cap that holds the pieces that make up the high pressure check valve. Once you remove them from the upper side of the high pressure piston all you would need to do is take a wooden dowel rod and tap out the piston from it's outer sleeve. It is hard to pull out from the bottom if it is frozen but it would be easy to tap out from the top if you have the entire assembly on a suppot with an opening to allow the piston to be tapped out. If you also tap out the outer sleeve I would then clean them with 0000 steel wool and lubricate the piston and sleeve before reassembly. If the piston is frozen I'd also make sure the upper check valve assembly is also cleaned and lubricated. This video will show you the steps. You've already done half of it already. Hope this helps. Keep us posted on your progress.

https://youtu.be/Q6pxOBwMISg
 
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I'd first of all like to thank all of you for your support, you guys are great !

To answer some of your questions I received a replacement high pressure cylinder and piston from Joe at the beginning of the week. He charged me $70.00 to my door. Was told it was a new pull off although it had antifreeze dripping of it but looked new? I ran it just to build pressure and seems to work fine although no tanks have been filled yet. I was able to remove the piston from the old head after watching a video that Humdinger sent me ( thank you ) . After some some "persuading" the piston came out and what i found was galling had occurred causing the piston seizure. It's my opinion that there isn't enough oil getting to the top of the high pressure side. 

What do you think?




 
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I wonder if someone can help me. I have a carrette with 12 hrs on it, I last used it in nov to top off my tank from 3000 to 4500 ,took about 50 min.went to top the tank off again today from 3000 to 4500 and it took 3 hrs. Oil was clean I did not notice any strange sounds and it did not run hotter than usual.
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Several Carette owners with low hours on their compressors have recently complained of this same problem. First thing to check is leaks in any of your fill lines or quick connects. If you can rule that out it's time to contact the seller to resolve the issue. They are aware of what it takes to fix this probelm.
 
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I wonder if someone can help me. I have a carrette with 12 hrs on it, I last used it in nov to top off my tank from 3000 to 4500 ,took about 50 min.went to top the tank off again today from 3000 to 4500 and it took 3 hrs. Oil was clean I did not notice any strange sounds and it did not run hotter than usual.
Click to expand...

Several Carette owners with low hours on their compressors have recently complained of this same problem. First thing to check is leaks in any of your fill lines or quick connects. If you can rule that out it's time to contact the seller to resolve the issue. They are aware of what it takes to fix this probelm.
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Thanks, I checked for leaks with soapy water. found none. I guess i'll be calling JoeB.
 
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Mine has run great so far. Tonight I hooked everything up to top off my tank and shortly after building pressure the quick connect on the compressor side hooked up the the Alpha filter let loose. It no longer will seal but I can see no discernible issues with it. Need to get a new fitting and all should be well but if the pressure doesn't seem to be good, fittings would be my first suspect.

As far as the compressor goes, it really seems to be a well built unit for coming from China.
 
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Mine has run great so far. Tonight I hooked everything up to top off my tank and shortly after building pressure the quick connect on the compressor side hooked up the the Alpha filter let loose. It no longer will seal but I can see no discernible issues with it. Need to get a new fitting and all should be well but if the pressure doesn't seem to be good, fittings would be my first suspect.

As far as the compressor goes, it really seems to be a well built unit for coming from China.
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Check inside of your quick disconnect and replace the o-ring first. Many times that o-ring fails which results in the disconnect letting go. It is fairly simple to use a pick to pull out the o-ring inside to replace it. It is either an 009 or 010 size. You can use a buna 70 or 90 durometer but a 90 duro lasts longer. It is easy to slip a replacement o-ring into the groove inside of the quick connect. There is a good possibility that it is all you will need to fix it. If you do need an entirely new quick connect, the thread pitch on the end of that Carette fill hose is M10x1, not the typical 1/8 NPT as on most hoses.
 
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I bought one a few months ago from Joe, and it is everything Joe and others said it would be.

For me Joe is the quenessential expert on those things "High pressure air" . I for one, am not going to chance moisture in $1,500+ PCP's due to a sub par filtering system.

My advise is to watch all of Joe's you tube videos and decide from their.

The only minor issue I have is the mounting of the Alpha filter assembly. I'll come up with something other than a couple zip ties, but in Joe's defense I'm sure he agrees and is probably working on having a proper mount manufactured.

Gary

" 1911...Because life is too short, to carry an ugly gun."


 
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I bought one a few months ago from Joe, and it is everything Joe and others said it would be.

For me Joe is the quenessential expert on those things "High pressure air" . I for one, am not going to chance moisture in $1,500+ PCP's due to a sub par filtering system.

My advise is to watch all of Joe's you tube videos and decide from their.

The only minor issue I have is the mounting of the Alpha filter assembly. I'll come up with something other than a couple zip ties, but in Joe's defense I'm sure he agrees and is probably working on having a proper mount manufactured.

Gary

" 1911...Because life is too short, to carry an ugly gun."

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Here is what I did for mine.



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So, I think all you guys with problems with your Alpha-Carette must me liars. Joe's site still says there has been zero failures with all the units sold! You guys should be ashamed! All kidding aside, are the Alpha's still the compressor to have? I'm buying something this next week and I keep coming back to the Alpha-Carette. Now after a few years, would you guys buy them again? Talk to me guys!!
 
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