PCP Filling/storage/work cart

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Fasyankee

Member
Mar 10, 2019
61
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Earth, United States
So I converted one of my unused HF tool carts into a dedicated PCP “service station:

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As you can see my compressor sits on a shelf that was one of the interior shelves. I drilled/attached it to the side using the pre-existing bolts under the handle.

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Just inside is the cooling water bucket that also has a copper coil inside to increase efficiency, as well as the door mounted shelves that are sectioned perfectly to hold tins. The remaining space is for extra large parts, scopes, chemicals, etc.

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Other cabinet has cleaning kits for powder burners & Air, I keep my chrony, tripod, hand pump and some other stuff in there. Top drawer has targets, old rails, rings, red-dots, rangefinder, side-shot, bipods, powder burning ammo, etc....etc.



just thought I’d share, its on wheels which is convenient. Oh, and I drilled a hole in the side for the water lines/power supply for the pump and mounted a 4-pot power strip. Now when I need a fill I just tap the power button on the strip activating the water flow, hook up whatever gun is on the bench and then hit the power on the Young-Heng. I plan on adding a small sheet metal back/angled sides to keep anything from rolling off the top. I’ll probably add a piece of soft/thick fabric or carpet to the top too that I can slide on and off as necessary as well as a light of some sort. The cart I got for under $200 (I think more like $150 w/coupons) from Harbor Freight and the support straps for the compressor shelf were got at Home Depot or Lowe’s.....I just had it lying around.

i have a 200 yd range right outside my garage door, I just put my table out there and roll the cart to the edge of the garage and I’m good to go.
 
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Heavy, I did a bunch of experimenting with the setup till I came to the current one. The way it works is the pump (which is also upgraded from the junk one that comes with the compressor) is at the bottom of the bucket, that goes to the lower inlet at the cylinder head, then it comes out of the compressor to the coil which is just 5/16” copper tubing coiled around the outer edge of the bucket. That connection is at the bottom of the bucket, the coil then goes to the top of the bucket where it spills back into the water. When filling any of my PCP’s the temp has never gone above 50*c with this setup. It used to get to about 67*c when I just had the pump and the neoprene hoses, alas I did change the pump at the same time but I figured it couldn’t hurt to have the greater surface area of the copper going through the entire bucket. I’ve also never found a need to add ice, but then again I don’t have an SCBA or other large tank. I just top off the rifle cylinders when required.

i did find however that the cooling works better if the inlet of the water is at the bottom of the cylinder, I believe it’s because it purges the air better when the return is at the top. I was seeing bubbles going out the return when it was opposite.
 
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Get yourself some wood inserts that are threaded, and attach a working vice to the top of that wood, like a Best gun vice. Then, if the flat table top is needed just unbolt the bolts that were holding down the gun vice into those threaded inserts. You can use bolts with plastic knobs on them, So removal of the vice becomes tool less.

As far as a light goes, go to Eastwood.com and get one of their rechargeable under hood car lights. Those things are so very bright, portable, have a high and low intensity settings, and when the charge runs low, those lights can run like normal when plugged in, since you’ll add a power strip on your set up.



Lastly, stick on some magnetized trays on the sides of your cart, so if and when the time comes to disassemble a pcp, you’ve got magnetized parts trays at the ready for all the fasteners in a pcp
 
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Fasyankee I have been juggling the idea of taking a old window unit coil and using it like a radiator with a computer fan on the backside. That is why I like your idea, I can mount my air filters to the cart also in a stand up position. My yung hang has to be turned off for cooling on my big 45 min bottles. I shoot big bores mostly and they chew up the air pretty fast.
 
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Jamlet, yeah I made a cooler/dryer for my old shop compressor with a car condenser. I ran the line from the actual compressor into the condenser with a drain into an old argon tank, the line then went into the tank. It worked a peach. I never had to drain water from my tank after doing so. I only had to drain from the argon tank which was maybe once a year. I sold that unit in ‘06 when I moved.....need to update new compressor the same way. I’d considered doing that with the young-Heng but not sure it’d handle the high pressures. For the water I’d bet it’d work great with a couple fans. So what do you think, put it on the return (hot) side of the compressor or the feed (cold)......hmmmm that’d be interesting to figure out.....
 
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