PCP Compressor

[Local lad]

Anyone got any experience of these 300bar compressors that sell on ebay for about £200.

Looking for one to pump up my FX, just seems too good to be true at that price. 

[DIVERD]

I have one, probably paid £300 ish a year or so ago. it does exactly as expected, just keep it cool and it is great. Some of the air line components are cheaply made, but easily changed to more substantial ones. It charges the gun cylinder in seconds, under a minute for sure. It charges a small scuba cylinder in about 15 minutes, but i tend to have it run 15 minutes, then give it a rest and do it again. Once it is finished keep the water running for a while to cool it and it should last very well. I had it checked over by a boffin pal and he thinks it is great. It wont charge large scuba cylinders day in day out but is ideal for my occasional use. Its hardly twice the price of some of the hand pumps and so is a no brainer for me

[Local lad]

That is good news. Did you get any spares with it. What about filters, are they supplied?

[tankman1959]

does it have moisture capture or filters on?sound good for the money.

[Local lad]

Looks like desiccant type filter but not sure. i need to dig a bit deeper. 

[krugerandsmith]

On 21/11/2018 at 21:39, DIVERD said:

I have one, probably paid £300 ish a year or so ago. it does exactly as expected, just keep it cool and it is great. Some of the air line components are cheaply made, but easily changed to more substantial ones. It charges the gun cylinder in seconds, under a minute for sure. It charges a small scuba cylinder in about 15 minutes, but i tend to have it run 15 minutes, then give it a rest and do it again. Once it is finished keep the water running for a while to cool it and it should last very well. I had it checked over by a boffin pal and he thinks it is great. It wont charge large scuba cylinders day in day out but is ideal for my occasional use. Its hardly twice the price of some of the hand pumps and so is a no brainer for me

What make and model do you have?

[DIVERD]

Its a totally generic ebay one, i think they are all the same, they all look identical. Made in china, blue and black very small compressor

[turbo33]

Yes, I have. 

After a lot of deliberation and research, I took the plunge and bought one. You can get them from the well known auction site. I bought mine from Amazon. I paid probably £40 ish more from Amazon, but was a two day delivery instead of weeks from China, no further postage costs or import charges, so beware going cheaper! Also, I felt a little more confident with an Amazon purchase, that should there be an issue, buying through them would be worth the extra. As it transpired, there were a couple of minor issues, but resolved asap through Amazon.

As has been mentioned above, they do all seem to be much the same on the bay, just subtle differences. The one I bought was this one.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HUKOER-Pressure-Compressor-Automatic-Inflation/dp/B07H924XBW/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1543691937&sr=8-8&keywords=pcp+compressor

Instructions are at best poor! So these are my experiences.

On un boxing, make sure the two bleed valve screws are in the ports. One of mine was missing. Having done the research on the tube, this seems to crop up. Obviously mine, like others unscrewed itself in transit and lodged itself inside the unit. I had to unscrew the casing to get it out. Not a problem, just a few screws, but make sure if yours is missing, that it hasn't dropped on the floor or in the packing. Whilst the casing is off, fit two, not supplied, lr44 batteries to the temp gauge. You can't get this open from the outside. In the supplied package of filters are two white plastic washers. One of theses will need fitting in the machine side where the air outlet hose screws in. These are different to the ones in the overall spares packet.

It is shipped dry of oil for obvious reasons. The oil specified with most of them seems to be hydraulic oil which I find a little odd. This one suggests 5w 30. Once filled, screw on the breather pipe. Be careful with this. Its is fragile plastic at its worst! 

The water pump is very weak power wise and won't lift below the height of the unit, so make the water bowl or whatever you use, on the same level as the compressor.

That lot out of the way, heres the good news.It is a cracking little compressor. I have a 12 litre bottle that is due a test in a month. With fill and test costs, I won't see much change from 50 quid plus two hours driving and fuel. I use sub 12 and FAC @38ftlbs. The FAC is a 230bar fill. Its immensely irritating when you're just about to go out and realise theres not enough pressure in the 12litre to fill up the rifle. Back on the two hour round trip and £15 for a fill. No More! I topped up the 12litre from 220 bar to 280 bar in 20 mins. I ran it for 15mins, rest then 5. The temperature of the compressor should be below 80c, and it ran at a max of 62 which was perfect. I had to do an o ring change on one of the rifles, so a completely empty 400cc bottle took 4 minutes to fill to 230bar. 

On the question of moisture, there are filters supplied. I'm sure these help keep a certain amount out. But I would suggest the following. Use the compressor in the driest environment possible. And also, very few minutes, just crack the bleed valves, one at a time to blow off the accumulated moisture. Standard practise when filling dive bottles, but nowhere are there any advices for this.

Overall, this is an amazing tool for the money. I wouldn't expect it to endlessly charge large cylinders, but for the average guy who wants his and maybe a couple of mates pcp's,  filled, without the hassle of testing, driving time, fuel, inconvenience etc, this really is a no brainer!!

Hope this helps.

T33

 

 

 

[Pistol p]

Thats handy to know.

[oldypigeonpopper]

28 minutes ago, turbo33 said:

Yes, I have. 

After a lot of deliberation and research, I took the plunge and bought one. You can get them from the well known auction site. I bought mine from Amazon. I paid probably £40 ish more from Amazon, but was a two day delivery instead of weeks from China, no further postage costs or import charges, so beware going cheaper! Also, I felt a little more confident with an Amazon purchase, that should there be an issue, buying through them would be worth the extra. As it transpired, there were a couple of minor issues, but resolved asap through Amazon.

As has been mentioned above, they do all seem to be much the same on the bay, just subtle differences. The one I bought was this one.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HUKOER-Pressure-Compressor-Automatic-Inflation/dp/B07H924XBW/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1543691937&sr=8-8&keywords=pcp+compressor

Instructions are at best poor! So these are my experiences.

On un boxing, make sure the two bleed valve screws are in the ports. One of mine was missing. Having done the research on the tube, this seems to crop up. Obviously mine, like others unscrewed itself in transit and lodged itself inside the unit. I had to unscrew the casing to get it out. Not a problem, just a few screws, but make sure if yours is missing, that it hasn't dropped on the floor or in the packing. Whilst the casing is off, fit two, not supplied, lr44 batteries to the temp gauge. You can't get this open from the outside. In the supplied package of filters are two white plastic washers. One of theses will need fitting in the machine side where the air outlet hose screws in. These are different to the ones in the overall spares packet.

It is shipped dry of oil for obvious reasons. The oil specified with most of them seems to be hydraulic oil which I find a little odd. This one suggests 5w 30. Once filled, screw on the breather pipe. Be careful with this. Its is fragile plastic at its worst! 

The water pump is very weak power wise and won't lift below the height of the unit, so make the water bowl or whatever you use, on the same level as the compressor.

That lot out of the way, heres the good news.It is a cracking little compressor. I have a 12 litre bottle that is due a test in a month. With fill and test costs, I won't see much change from 50 quid plus two hours driving and fuel. I use sub 12 and FAC @38ftlbs. The FAC is a 230bar fill. Its immensely irritating when you're just about to go out and realise theres not enough pressure in the 12litre to fill up the rifle. Back on the two hour round trip and £15 for a fill. No More! I topped up the 12litre from 220 bar to 280 bar in 20 mins. I ran it for 15mins, rest then 5. The temperature of the compressor should be below 80c, and it ran at a max of 62 which was perfect. I had to do an o ring change on one of the rifles, so a completely empty 400cc bottle took 4 minutes to fill to 230bar. 

On the question of moisture, there are filters supplied. I'm sure these help keep a certain amount out. But I would suggest the following. Use the compressor in the driest environment possible. And also, very few minutes, just crack the bleed valves, one at a time to blow off the accumulated moisture. Standard practise when filling dive bottles, but nowhere are there any advices for this.

Overall, this is an amazing tool for the money. I wouldn't expect it to endlessly charge large cylinders, but for the average guy who wants his and maybe a couple of mates pcp's,  filled, without the hassle of testing, driving time, fuel, inconvenience etc, this really is a no brainer!!

Hope this helps.

T33

 

 

 

hello, much appreciated this info turbo as i am sure other PW members are who shoot a PCP, i might invest in one when my bottles go out of test,  cheers

[Local lad]

Hi, many thanks for all that information, it sounds like a good investment.

Beaning Scottish, did not want ta part with ma cash if its no good!

[krugerandsmith]

On 01/12/2018 at 20:17, turbo33 said:

Yes, I have. 

After a lot of deliberation and research, I took the plunge and bought one. You can get them from the well known auction site. I bought mine from Amazon. I paid probably £40 ish more from Amazon, but was a two day delivery instead of weeks from China, no further postage costs or import charges, so beware going cheaper! Also, I felt a little more confident with an Amazon purchase, that should there be an issue, buying through them would be worth the extra. As it transpired, there were a couple of minor issues, but resolved asap through Amazon.

As has been mentioned above, they do all seem to be much the same on the bay, just subtle differences. The one I bought was this one.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HUKOER-Pressure-Compressor-Automatic-Inflation/dp/B07H924XBW/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1543691937&sr=8-8&keywords=pcp+compressor

Instructions are at best poor! So these are my experiences.

On un boxing, make sure the two bleed valve screws are in the ports. One of mine was missing. Having done the research on the tube, this seems to crop up. Obviously mine, like others unscrewed itself in transit and lodged itself inside the unit. I had to unscrew the casing to get it out. Not a problem, just a few screws, but make sure if yours is missing, that it hasn't dropped on the floor or in the packing. Whilst the casing is off, fit two, not supplied, lr44 batteries to the temp gauge. You can't get this open from the outside. In the supplied package of filters are two white plastic washers. One of theses will need fitting in the machine side where the air outlet hose screws in. These are different to the ones in the overall spares packet.

It is shipped dry of oil for obvious reasons. The oil specified with most of them seems to be hydraulic oil which I find a little odd. This one suggests 5w 30. Once filled, screw on the breather pipe. Be careful with this. Its is fragile plastic at its worst! 

The water pump is very weak power wise and won't lift below the height of the unit, so make the water bowl or whatever you use, on the same level as the compressor.

That lot out of the way, heres the good news.It is a cracking little compressor. I have a 12 litre bottle that is due a test in a month. With fill and test costs, I won't see much change from 50 quid plus two hours driving and fuel. I use sub 12 and FAC @38ftlbs. The FAC is a 230bar fill. Its immensely irritating when you're just about to go out and realise theres not enough pressure in the 12litre to fill up the rifle. Back on the two hour round trip and £15 for a fill. No More! I topped up the 12litre from 220 bar to 280 bar in 20 mins. I ran it for 15mins, rest then 5. The temperature of the compressor should be below 80c, and it ran at a max of 62 which was perfect. I had to do an o ring change on one of the rifles, so a completely empty 400cc bottle took 4 minutes to fill to 230bar. 

On the question of moisture, there are filters supplied. I'm sure these help keep a certain amount out. But I would suggest the following. Use the compressor in the driest environment possible. And also, very few minutes, just crack the bleed valves, one at a time to blow off the accumulated moisture. Standard practise when filling dive bottles, but nowhere are there any advices for this.

Overall, this is an amazing tool for the money. I wouldn't expect it to endlessly charge large cylinders, but for the average guy who wants his and maybe a couple of mates pcp's,  filled, without the hassle of testing, driving time, fuel, inconvenience etc, this really is a no brainer!!

Hope this helps.

T33

  Thank you for that information ... I have ordered one myself. Tell me did you add antifreeze or corrosion inhibiter to the water coolant?

 

 

 

[turbo33]

44 minutes ago, krugerandsmith said:

 

No, I just used normal water. As the water is only flushing through for a short time, before putting it away, I couldn’t see the point. 

 

[krugerandsmith]

1 hour ago, turbo33 said:

No, I just used normal water. As the water is only flushing through for a short time, before putting it away, I couldn’t see the point. 

 

Thanks for that.  Just toying with the idea of making a water tank with quick release couplings.

[turbo33]

The compressor has QR fittings on it.

[krugerandsmith]

2 hours ago, turbo33 said:

The compressor has QR fittings on it.

O/K thanks once again Turbo.  Looking forward to seeing it in the flesh.

 

 

[krugerandsmith]

On 01/12/2018 at 20:17, turbo33 said:

Yes, I have. 

After a lot of deliberation and research, I took the plunge and bought one. You can get them from the well known auction site. I bought mine from Amazon. I paid probably £40 ish more from Amazon, but was a two day delivery instead of weeks from China, no further postage costs or import charges, so beware going cheaper! Also, I felt a little more confident with an Amazon purchase, that should there be an issue, buying through them would be worth the extra. As it transpired, there were a couple of minor issues, but resolved asap through Amazon.

As has been mentioned above, they do all seem to be much the same on the bay, just subtle differences. The one I bought was this one.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HUKOER-Pressure-Compressor-Automatic-Inflation/dp/B07H924XBW/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1543691937&sr=8-8&keywords=pcp+compressor

Instructions are at best poor! So these are my experiences.

On un boxing, make sure the two bleed valve screws are in the ports. One of mine was missing. Having done the research on the tube, this seems to crop up. Obviously mine, like others unscrewed itself in transit and lodged itself inside the unit. I had to unscrew the casing to get it out. Not a problem, just a few screws, but make sure if yours is missing, that it hasn't dropped on the floor or in the packing. Whilst the casing is off, fit two, not supplied, lr44 batteries to the temp gauge. You can't get this open from the outside. In the supplied package of filters are two white plastic washers. One of theses will need fitting in the machine side where the air outlet hose screws in. These are different to the ones in the overall spares packet.

It is shipped dry of oil for obvious reasons. The oil specified with most of them seems to be hydraulic oil which I find a little odd. This one suggests 5w 30. Once filled, screw on the breather pipe. Be careful with this. Its is fragile plastic at its worst! 

The water pump is very weak power wise and won't lift below the height of the unit, so make the water bowl or whatever you use, on the same level as the compressor.

That lot out of the way, heres the good news.It is a cracking little compressor. I have a 12 litre bottle that is due a test in a month. With fill and test costs, I won't see much change from 50 quid plus two hours driving and fuel. I use sub 12 and FAC @38ftlbs. The FAC is a 230bar fill. Its immensely irritating when you're just about to go out and realise theres not enough pressure in the 12litre to fill up the rifle. Back on the two hour round trip and £15 for a fill. No More! I topped up the 12litre from 220 bar to 280 bar in 20 mins. I ran it for 15mins, rest then 5. The temperature of the compressor should be below 80c, and it ran at a max of 62 which was perfect. I had to do an o ring change on one of the rifles, so a completely empty 400cc bottle took 4 minutes to fill to 230bar. 

On the question of moisture, there are filters supplied. I'm sure these help keep a certain amount out. But I would suggest the following. Use the compressor in the driest environment possible. And also, very few minutes, just crack the bleed valves, one at a time to blow off the accumulated moisture. Standard practise when filling dive bottles, but nowhere are there any advices for this.

Overall, this is an amazing tool for the money. I wouldn't expect it to endlessly charge large cylinders, but for the average guy who wants his and maybe a couple of mates pcp's,  filled, without the hassle of testing, driving time, fuel, inconvenience etc, this really is a no brainer!!

Hope this helps.

T33

 

 

 

The only thing that concerns me is that the Big end journals don't have either roller or white metal bearings.

[turbo33]

8 hours ago, krugerandsmith said:

The only thing that concerns me is that the Big end journals don't have either roller or white metal bearings.

Yes, I completely agree, seems totally un orthodox, however, I haven't found anything on the tube or elsewhere about the big ends burning out...and you can bet that someone would have relished making a video or review of it.  They must be selling in the thousands, and for well over a year, yet nothing I can find. So I would use the best quality of oil available and be reasonable about its expectations. I did find one review on it where this was picked up, but the comment was.........if it eventually causes a problem...machine shop, bearing fitted, job done! Its does seem from the comments on the below review, that its not unusual to have the alloy con rod acting as a bearing, that the oil film will do its job, provided its good quality and changed frequently. Also, that roller bearings would be unsuitable for such a low revving engine......? Also, worst can scenario, new con rod available form something express at 7 dollars!!!!

 

Edited December 6, 2018 by turbo33

[krugerandsmith]

45 minutes ago, turbo33 said:

Yes, I completely agree, seems totally un orthodox, however, I haven't found anything on the tube or elsewhere about the big ends burning out...and you can bet that someone would have relished making a video or review of it.  They must be selling in the thousands, and for well over a year, yet nothing I can find. So I would use the best quality of oil available and be reasonable about its expectations. I did find one review on it where this was picked up, but the comment was.........if it eventually causes a problem...machine shop, bearing fitted, job done! Its does seem from the comments on the below review, that its not unusual to have the alloy con rod acting as a bearing, that the oil film will do its job, provided its good quality and changed frequently. Also, that roller bearings would be unsuitable for such a low revving engine......?

 

Thanks Turbo very informative. Wonder if a small amount of Slik or Moli-slip would be beneficial.  Just an idea.

[Mini Magnum]

I have one of these style compressors https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/263318936298 I also bought a service kit, it works but seems to take awhile to top up, I think there better suited to filling the guns themselves directly rather than bottles... Someone can have it for £120 if there interested, including service kits.. ?

I also have a 300barg double filter system that includes a water trap and replaceable carbon filter that provides dry air and totally neutralises any odour or oil vapour providing breathing quality air, cost me £220 inc postage and vat, used this once, connects to any of these style air compressors... £140 if anyones interested ?

Edited December 7, 2018 by Mini Magnum

[Remimax]

given the cost of buying a scuba cylinder,decanting whip ,travel, time  & testing this has to be a no brainer for someone who does a lot or airgun shooting.

i'm lucky i have a huge bristol  dive compressor left over from 20years running dive charters .

  i think if you kept run time down and just filled yer gun direct with plenty of vent purges to get rid of the mosture it would prob last a while.

if your going to try and fill even small 3l scuba cylinders with this your going to kill it fairly quick looking at the light duty ali  con rod.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Local lad]

£120 I am so tempted!!

Thanks for the advise. 

[krugerandsmith]

4 hours ago, Local lad said:

£120 I am so tempted!!

Thanks for the advise. 

My new one has arrived. Very impressed ,comprehensive  kit comes with the unit, even an anti slip mat.  Only thing that disappoints me is the cooling hoses for packing purposes are wrapped in a tight circle causing kinks along the length of both tubes. The instruction book is as other people have stated  pretty poor.

[turbo33]

42 minutes ago, krugerandsmith said:

My new one has arrived. Very impressed ,comprehensive  kit comes with the unit, even an anti slip mat.  Only thing that disappoints me is the cooling hoses for packing purposes are wrapped in a tight circle causing kinks along the length of both tubes. The instruction book is as other people have stated  pretty poor.

They will be fine. Once the circulated water has warmed water has circulated  they will open out. I ran mine for a short period with hydraulic oil as specified with most info I could find. It emmited smokey air from the breather. On refilling with 5-30 oil it was emission free and perfectly acceptable to run in the house. As I mentioned above, crack the two air valves every minute or so to blow off the moisture. If your topping up the pcp, probably just once, you will work it out. 

Im sure you will enjoy it as I do mine. 

Atb. 

[krugerandsmith]

10 hours ago, turbo33 said:

They will be fine. Once the circulated water has warmed water has circulated  they will open out. I ran mine for a short period with hydraulic oil as specified with most info I could find. It emmited smokey air from the breather. On refilling with 5-30 oil it was emission free and perfectly acceptable to run in the house. As I mentioned above, crack the two air valves every minute or so to blow off the moisture. If your topping up the pcp, probably just once, you will work it out. 

Im sure you will enjoy it as I do mine. 

Atb. 

Thanks Turbo. Have also fitted an oil water separator  in the whip line, I'll see how that works out.