After realizing it had been about a year since I opened up my Mk3 Hill pump, I found some time for it a few nights ago. Back when I was using it a lot, I was really good about opening it up every couple of months and degooping, but with the house remodel, the pump had been neglected. Because I used it for a couple months earlier this year (prior to moving over the bulk of my guns and compressor, etc) I was expecting to find some corrosion. Quite happy to find zero corrosion or anything else nefarious. It did have a small amount of the typical goop/snot that hand pumps tend to get. I'm pretty sure it's just a combination of moisture and silicone grease.
I should have gotten some photos, but once I got all the parts separated, as I looked at them on the work bench, I was thoroughly impressed with how cool all the machining is on those internals.
My idea of pump maintenance isn't anything special, I simply take it apart, wipe off the gunk (using qtips where necessary) and then a very light coat of silicone grease on everything prior to putting it back together. But it's been keeping this pump running, trouble-free, for quite some time. In fact, I've never replaced an oring on it. That got me curious as to how long I've had it. Went through my emails to figure out that I bought the hand pump in November of 2014. Also found an email confirmation from my order for a Shoebox F10 in Oct of 2018. I had gotten a tank around mid 2018 and had it filled by local shop a couple times before I had the Shoebox compressor.
I use such a minimal amount of silicone grease each time that I've been working from the same little plastic tub since the beginning with this pump, and more than half is still there. I'd guess it's about a 30ml sized tub, bout the same diameter as a small tin of pellets.
So, from the end of 2014 to the middle of 2018 this old trusty Hill Mk3 was my only air source. And I used it quite a bit during that time frame, multiple pumping sessions per week. Since the tank and compressor were purchased (and other than the 2 or 3 months earlier this year) the hand pump has typically only seen use a couple times per year, mostly just to keep it functional. I think what has kept it going so long are the frequent disassembly and cleanings, as well as a strict rule to limit myself to 60 strokes (up and down = 1 "pump") and then bleeding the air and letting it cool.
Got it all cleaned up a few nights ago, put it back together, dead-head in the female foster, went right up to 250 bar.
I sure won't be going back to only using the hand pump, but it 's kinda nice to know it's still functional and a viable option to keep my guns going.
I wouldn't necessarily recommend having a hand pump be a PCP guy's sole source of high pressure air, but if finances are tight, a hand pump can keep a guy enjoying the hobby without big spending on a tank and/or compressor.
(No experience with any of the cheaper Amazon/Ebay hand pumps that are so prevalent these days, as they simply weren't an option back then. But I did have a Benjamin hand pump prior to this Hill and it was likely the single worst purchase in all of my airgunning. The innards on that Benjamin were ROUGH, and constantly needing new orings. It was apart being fixed more often than functioning. The tube was corroding and pitting in various places. Sent it in to SunOptics and they just sent me a replacement cuz the first one was so far gone. And I used all the same pump "rules" of not pumping excessively fast, or too many strokes in one sitting, and I also took it apart for cleaning, often, Actually, it needed to be taken apart often cuz it would stop working so frequently. Comparing my Hill to the Benjamin though...Hill all the way).
I should have gotten some photos, but once I got all the parts separated, as I looked at them on the work bench, I was thoroughly impressed with how cool all the machining is on those internals.
My idea of pump maintenance isn't anything special, I simply take it apart, wipe off the gunk (using qtips where necessary) and then a very light coat of silicone grease on everything prior to putting it back together. But it's been keeping this pump running, trouble-free, for quite some time. In fact, I've never replaced an oring on it. That got me curious as to how long I've had it. Went through my emails to figure out that I bought the hand pump in November of 2014. Also found an email confirmation from my order for a Shoebox F10 in Oct of 2018. I had gotten a tank around mid 2018 and had it filled by local shop a couple times before I had the Shoebox compressor.
I use such a minimal amount of silicone grease each time that I've been working from the same little plastic tub since the beginning with this pump, and more than half is still there. I'd guess it's about a 30ml sized tub, bout the same diameter as a small tin of pellets.
So, from the end of 2014 to the middle of 2018 this old trusty Hill Mk3 was my only air source. And I used it quite a bit during that time frame, multiple pumping sessions per week. Since the tank and compressor were purchased (and other than the 2 or 3 months earlier this year) the hand pump has typically only seen use a couple times per year, mostly just to keep it functional. I think what has kept it going so long are the frequent disassembly and cleanings, as well as a strict rule to limit myself to 60 strokes (up and down = 1 "pump") and then bleeding the air and letting it cool.
Got it all cleaned up a few nights ago, put it back together, dead-head in the female foster, went right up to 250 bar.
I sure won't be going back to only using the hand pump, but it 's kinda nice to know it's still functional and a viable option to keep my guns going.
I wouldn't necessarily recommend having a hand pump be a PCP guy's sole source of high pressure air, but if finances are tight, a hand pump can keep a guy enjoying the hobby without big spending on a tank and/or compressor.
(No experience with any of the cheaper Amazon/Ebay hand pumps that are so prevalent these days, as they simply weren't an option back then. But I did have a Benjamin hand pump prior to this Hill and it was likely the single worst purchase in all of my airgunning. The innards on that Benjamin were ROUGH, and constantly needing new orings. It was apart being fixed more often than functioning. The tube was corroding and pitting in various places. Sent it in to SunOptics and they just sent me a replacement cuz the first one was so far gone. And I used all the same pump "rules" of not pumping excessively fast, or too many strokes in one sitting, and I also took it apart for cleaning, often, Actually, it needed to be taken apart often cuz it would stop working so frequently. Comparing my Hill to the Benjamin though...Hill all the way).
