NOMAD II arrived. There were some issues

Took possession of an AV NOMAD II yesterday and wanted to give a quick report. As reported by everyone else the unit came well packaged and complete with everything but the silicone oil which I had on hand. Setup and use is very simple and the instructions are clear and easy to follow. We filled 4 rifles with it and it performed well on all of them. The .22 disco took maybe 2 minutes to refill from 1000 to 2000psi and the Max Air took about 4 minutes to top off. Those times are approximate but I think pretty close. All in all pleased with the unit. 

BUT there are some issues.

1. The small port where you apply the silicone oil every 5 fills or so was missing the little steel piece you see in the pictures. We found it in the bag when we were unpacking the unit but did not know what it was at first. We had watched all the available videos on this thing before it arrived so it became obvious what it was when we were inspecting the unit. We tried to just put the piece back in place but it was clear it was not going to stay in. We opted to open the case following the instructions for changing the unit to 220V and discovered the hose that feeds the oil into the compressor is just a press on fit to the back of the small piece you see on the outside of the case, and it had come off. The end of the hose was nowhere near where it needed to be. We slipped the piece through the case and zip tied the hose onto the back of the fitting for a snug fit...problem solved. Simple fix...yes.....acceptable....no.

2. On our unit the gauge is very stiff and hard to adjust. I do not know if this is normal but it seems to take alot more effort to adjust it than seems necessary. Also the pressure adjust pointer is quite wide and coupled with the tight adjustment makes it difficult to set accurately. In our testing we found that using the right side of the pointer as your reference for the pressure setting gave the most accurate fills. We figured this out by looking at how the system shuts off. There is a pin on the pressure set pointer that drops downward off the right edge of it. When the black pressure indicator needle touches that point the system stops. If we used the center of the pressure set indicator to select the fill pressure it filled slighly over our target setting. Using the right edge nailed it. 

Overall we are happy with the unit and hopefully it will serve us well for a long time. Just wanted to point out these things to you all to avoid potential headaches for anyone. 

We will keep you posted on anything else that turns up.

Gipper


modify_inline.gif


 
  • Like
Reactions: mmahoney
Thanks for the write up and issues mention. I too bought a Air Venturi Nomad ll. Good looking unit and well packaged. I’m glad I read your post because my Nomad ll had the same issue, the lubrication tube port was in the bag and tube loose inside unit. I bet they are shipped this way and all need the metal port installed from the bag of parts before retail shipping. The less informed would just keep dripping silicone fluid into the hole and all over the inside of the unit. Threre should be a spring clamp on the end of that tube, that would work better than a wire tie. I use spring clamps at work on pneumatic control air lines. Automobile and motorcycle manufacturers use these sometimes on the fuel lines, albeit a different size.

So I fixed it with a wire spring clamp. No big deal but most people would probably miss this. 

Air Venturi, are you listening? Seems to be a fine air source with just a few bugs overlooked. Fix the lube tube issue with a spring clamp. Customers should NOT have to remove the cover for this. It is a Pia to take out all the screws from two sides. This should also be noted in the owners/instruction manual at least.
 
Yes, my hose end appeared to be swaged too. Yes it needs a clamp. Yes the directions should indicate this. No, you should NOT have to connect the piece from the bag. We are paying a PREMIUM price for a little air machine and it should be fully assembled. Pain in the tuckas to take all the screws out. Be mindful because two of the screws are shorter than the rest. Slide cover over and be carful of the switches, they stay connected to the cover. Make sure ALL hose connections are tight and don’t leak. Some less mechanically inclined people may have problems. Other than that, a well thought out and executed design. The bag is very cool. I really like it so far. 


 
1550084080_2626490825c6467f0440a71.58366698_615DFC60-495F-4B6F-B72B-07503755F9EE.jpeg
Here’s a picture of the spring clamp I used to fix the lube tube issue, cost is less than a dime.

A very nice portable air source with no noted problems (other than lube tube). I have filled 1/2 dozen times with no problems. It likes 3000 psi fills better than 3600-4500 psi fills.

Be very nice to your unit and fill in steps of 500 psi and let unit rest between steps if you are filling 480-500 cc rifle bottles to 4500 psi. Be sure to purge fill hose and start at 0 psi after each step. Do Not use too much 100% pure silicone fluid, a little is all that is recommended and too much WILL drag down the compressor. There WILL be moisture in the trap so blow down the drain with pressure on system. I am taking really good care of this unit, only time will tell if it takes care of my air needs. So far, so good.

Dennis