Hatsan Lightning service day today!

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Bigragu

Bigragu

Member
Jul 8, 2018
4,887
2,362
CA, United States
My goal each day is to spend at least four hours on anything PCP related, and today was maintenance day on my compressor. This is the first fluid drain and refill since I bought it new in July of 2018.

First order was the compressor oil drain. With a total of 4 hours use in a year, the oil doesn’t look bad at all. I never once did an initial fill and drain to get rid of factory assembly crud, either. This is the original 13.5 ounce of oil from a year ago.



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A bit bit of Nylog Red on the drain plug threads and it’s all buttoned up. This time it only took 12.5 ounces to the fill line, instead of the original 1.5 ounces.
 
When I set this compressor up a year ago on this commercial grade rolling cart, I planned for one day changing out the coolant, so I had sourced all these fittings from the local Home Depot. Sure makes draining out the coolant a breeze. 

The coolant also, did not look bad at all. I made sure to top of my distilled water and Zerex G05 coolant with 6 ounces of Redline Water Wetter coolant additive.



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After things were all buttoned back up, I performed a 4 minute run to get all the bubbles out of the coolant lines, and the new oil all lathered in. No leaks, all is now good till next July. 

Really glad I noted everything as far as coolant ratios, ounces required, etc. It made this job a breeze by not having to look all this up.
 
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Good job.👍

Wish I was as organized .

Now if my compressor would just work. I've spent more time troubleshooting and fixing on it than I have hours on it. Hatsan is supplying what I need but it's a long process. I finally got it to pressurize to 4350 with my hose plugged. All seemed good.

I hooked up my tank and as soon as I close the bleed valve it would pop my cb in the garage at 10 bar.. I've already installed a new breaker and receptacle about a month or so back and it has been working fine since. After a couple tries it popped the cb on the compressor. Now it wont reset and even though I have power to the compressor it wont turn the fan on so it wont run.

Hatsan responds pretty quick and they are sending me a new switch that they think is bad. I really want to make this work as I like the compressor. 


 
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You, know, Randy, stuff happens, especially when it involves electricity. Whatever you fried, wether it turns out to be the switch or the digital gage, it probably happened when the first CB blew. Circuit breaker did it’s job shutting off before your house wiring melted, but not fast enough to protect the energy user, being the compressor. It’s nice that hatsan still takes care of it, really. Today, when installing the three panels back on, one of the screws stripped out. lol and behold, Hatsan even included three extra screws in the O ring bag. I’ve never had anyone leave escutcheon cover screws to a piece of mechanical unit, ever. 



You'll get yours back at 100%. Something I haven’t tackled yet, is replacing the filters inside the gold filter housing. Then, according to some, inside that aluminum block that holds the bleed screw knob, is supposed to be some desiccant. No where have I seen any wordage in the instruction manual to even open that up. I think I’m going to email Hatsan and ask them what’s inside.
 
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I spy a bottle of Nylog! They now have a universal type that works with all refrigerants, but as you have demonstrated, it is great for many other applications. I hope you are getting lots of trigger time with the Wildcat, Augie! Happy Fourth of July!

James



James, as you know, that Nylog is an awesome thread sealer, resistant to oils, and takes well to heat. And because of its elastic properties, you only need a droplet in most cases. I use it in all my transmission fittings, and in PCP’s, anything that uses regular Teflon tape as the seal, I coat it with a drop of Nylog. I have never ever had a leak of any kind when using Nylog properly.



you, too, have a great 4th
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Nylog is an awesome thread sealer, resistant to oils, and takes well to heat. And because of its elastic properties, you only need a droplet in most cases. I use it in all my transmission fittings, and in PCP’s, anything that uses regular Teflon tape as the seal, I coat it with a drop of Nylog. I have never ever had a leak of any kind when using Nylog properly.
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May I know how much pressure Nylog can stand ?

I have been using Loctite 272 ( medium strength ) thread sealants on some of the high-pressure fittings of my Yong Heng + gold filter set up. The stuff seals well under the system's working pressure of 4500 psi but unscrewing the fittings afterwards is really hard. I subsequently switched to Loctite 565 ( low strength ) and less force is required but it's still on the hard side for me. May I know if it is possible to use Nylog on these high-pressure fittings ?
 
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Look up the specs on Nylog and also do a search on videos on Nylog. There was one where it shows a guy take a drop of it and stretch it out to like two feet, it’s that elastic. Nylog was intended solely for the refrigeration and HVAC industry as a sealant and O ring conditioner. At the high pressure stage of refrigerant it can get really hot, and Nylog can withstand that heat. And here’s what will interest you, AirgunFans, the fittings you use it on will disassemble with ease, even years later.

i used to use Permatex high heat, oil resistant thread sealant on all my transmission line fittings, plugs, etc., on my 1993 dodge diesel(love that first gen, btw) and years later if I had to disassemble any of those fittings it was a dreaded chore due to the fittings being rock hard cemented together. Had to use a torch to melt it, which I hate using under a truck. With Nylog combined with a Teflon tape seal, no problem at all. The fittings pop loose years later as if you just tightened them and decided to unloosen them a second later. And Nylog on HVAC O rings, the O rings never dry up and crumble as it keeps them conditioned.

Now, having said that, DO NOT use Nylog on the internal O rings of a PCP gun! Only silicone oil or grease. 

I tried Nylog in the PCP application for the first time a year ago when trying to seal up the gage on a Benjamin Marauder pistol. It comes with Teflon tape as a seal from the factory, but as you know when dealing with high pressure air sometimes Teflon works, sometimes it doesn’t. The gage has a NPT thread, and I hate trying to get “one more turn” out of something as delicate as a PCP gage. A coat of Nylog on top of the Teflon tape seals it up every time. 
 
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Look up the specs on Nylog and also do a search on videos on Nylog. There was one where it shows a guy take a drop of it and stretch it out to like two feet, it’s that elastic. Nylog was intended solely for the refrigeration and HVAC industry as a sealant and O ring conditioner. At the high pressure stage of refrigerant it can get really hot, and Nylog can withstand that heat. And here’s what will interest you, AirgunFans, the fittings you use it on will disassemble with ease, even years later.

i used to use Permatex high heat, oil resistant thread sealant on all my transmission line fittings, plugs, etc., on my 1993 dodge diesel(love that first gen, btw) and years later if I had to disassemble any of those fittings it was a dreaded chore due to the fittings being rock hard cemented together. Had to use a torch to melt it, which I hate using under a truck. With Nylog combined with a Teflon tape seal, no problem at all. The fittings pop loose years later as if you just tightened them and decided to unloosen them a second later. And Nylog on HVAC O rings, the O rings never dry up and crumble as it keeps them conditioned.

Now, having said that, DO NOT use Nylog on the internal O rings of a PCP gun! Only silicone oil or grease. 

I tried Nylog in the PCP application for the first time a year ago when trying to seal up the gage on a Benjamin Marauder pistol. It comes with Teflon tape as a seal from the factory, but as you know when dealing with high pressure air sometimes Teflon works, sometimes it doesn’t. The gage has a NPT thread, and I hate trying to get “one more turn” out of something as delicate as a PCP gage. A coat of Nylog on top of the Teflon tape seals it up every time.
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Many thanks for the info. I have just ordered a bottle from ebay.
 
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In continuing with the yearly maintenance on my Lightning, yesterday I addressed the air dryer aluminum block to find out what sort of media was in there and to see if any oxydation, rust, or contamination was present.

Hatsan does not include replacement media for this water removal block. Everything else was provided for though
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when you buy this compressor, like a rebuild kit made up of O-rings and gaskets, along with a replacement filter media for the gold up right filter. So I called Hatsan USA and talked with Shawn to find out what I needed, and he said I needed to get standard Silica gel dessicant or Activated Alumina dessicant beads in 1/16” to 3/16” in size. Okay, armed with this knowledge, and some awesome assistance from CENTERCUT Mike, I opened it all up.




 
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What I found was awesome! No rust, no forms of oxidation, and the beads all looked clean. I had done some research as an effort to school myself on dessicant types, and what I found out is that activated Alumina does not interact with aluminum when wet, and I could sense that Hatsan USA in our emails back and forth on this matter, that they were leaning more in this type over the Silica gel dessicant. So for now, I replaced the beads back into the block and closed everything back up until I find and buy some Alumina.

The O- ring that was used originally was all torn up along the circumference edge, as if maybe the O- ring used was too thick. I found the correct size in my O-ring kit box, and used that rather than what came in the compressors rebuild kit.



For future reference, I labeled on the block the correct size metric O- Ring.



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https://www.amazon.com/Activated-Alumina-Dessicant-Pellets-16in/dp/B009GA2EAO



Here is what I bought- 1/8” dessicant beads Activated Alumina. Not a bad price, and should last thru many maintenance replacements.



My last item to tackle is the Gold upright filter that houses the cotton role media. My questions to you folks that have these type of canister filters are:

1. Can the media be replaced if I just access it thru the top end cap, thereby not having to disconnect the three air lines at the bottom and remove the canister?

2. If I have to outright disconnect all the lines and remove the canister out, what’s the best set up and tools to get the seams to bust loose? I tried a rubber strap wrench while the canister was still mounted in the compressors frame, but that didn’t work. I just don’t want to gouge and mar up the housing with pipe wrenches and clamping it into a vice. My thoughts were to apply heat with a heat gun rather than a torch. Would that help?



thank you!



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Do they make and sell a special tool to open these up? Like spanner wrenches or like an oil filter wrench?
 
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The final phase of maintenance-



ok, on the downhill on this annual required maintenance procedure. Oil and coolant all done, now it’s time to address the filtration.

My order of Activated Alumina came in, and that was all changed out. Procedure went smoothly. I replaced enough 1/8” dessicant balls of the stuff to make it right at the end of the threads that the brass filter threads to.








 
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Next comes the Gold filter tower. I’ve been stewing on a way to remove just the top cap to access the one cotton filter role that it houses, while keeping the filter tower in place. Removal of the three lower pressure lines just lures in the chances of more leaks. I had to find the right tool, that won’t mar up the filter housing. I didn’t feel like spending $50-$60 for a 46mm open end wrench, so here’s what I found, and used along with a rubber strap wrench from Home Depot-

first things first- duct tape midway to help the rubber strap wrench grip the body of the filter housing better, and a few passes around the cap with a heat gun-






 
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When you first pull the top cap off, you will see this round disc with three holes; I call it a plenum divider, and I’m highly assuming it’s purpose is to keep cotton media from the filter from getting pushed upward with the air flow, and fine particles of cotton into your gun. If any tiny bit gets passed the three holes on the disc, it’ll get caught in the activated Alumina. The three holes also acts as a drain back for any moisture that trickles downwards after the compressor is shut down.

Anyway, this disc has an O ring that is NOT in the rebuild kit that comes with the Lightning. It was actually still in perfect shape so I left it on and reused it. By the way, that disc is easily pulled upwards for removal with a straight style O ring pick.

New filter is popped back in, and re installation is just reverse of the removal of component parts. Will test for leaks and call it a night

(my pics aren’t coming out as I sequenced the removal process, so to avoid confusion to others that may attempt this, starting from the top of the gold filter and working downwards, it goes: Gold Filter cap on top, disc with 3 holes at mid point, then under that disc is the cotton role media. Lastly, the O ring for the top cap should be replaced, especially if you use heat like I did. Hatsan includes two of those in their re seal kit)
 
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