New $210 Tuxing 4500psi compact compressor
After much deliberation I have bought a compressor to fill my PCPs and pony bottles.
I was torn between spending decent money on a Bauer JNR or just take a risk on a cheep Chinese job.
The new Altaros booster looked great but it still relies on a regular work shop compressor to operate which would mean I would have to spend more money upgrading my current workshop cheapo or it would soon let me down.
So after searching many cheap Chinese compressors I found this one that is very well priced and fairly new to the market.
Size L 35cm x W 18cm x H 34cm
Net Weight 17KG
Power 220V-240V 50HZ or 100-130V 60HZ
Motor Power 1.8 KW Pressure :300bar/4500psi
Inflating speed 2800r/min
Noise78DB
Fill an empty 500cc bottle to 300bar in about 5 minutes and direct airgun cylinders topped up from 120bar to 300bar in 2 mins
It boasts a new design water jacket for better cooling than the open tube tube compressors and seems to have some really great reviews so far.
Buyer reviews here:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4500PSI-compressor-300bar-Electric-portable-pump/32691757608.html?spm=2114.13010208.99999999.264.AAz6YJ
I had no real need to fill 12ltr dive bottles with a compressor (which Im sure this one will do) so a lightweight will suit my needs.
It will be mainly used to direct fill my PCPs, top up my 500cc backpack bottle from 180 to 300bar and top up my 3ltr pony bottle from 180bar to 240bar.
Between them all I have more than enough air for an outing.
I had some reserves about build quality but it is a very simple unit and I had the seller pack in enough piston seals, O rings and plastic seats to rebuild the thing ten times over for a very reasonable $7 extra.
The Seller was extremely helpful and seems to know his product with full back up service parts available.
Fuxing my Tuxing looks to be very simple and it lends itself to loads of upgrades such as a larger oil/air separator.
I just received a litre of high quality Special Bauer full synthetic breathing air compressor oil which cost me a crazy $70 but there is enough for 4 services. (1000 hour intervals)
The unit arrived in New Zealand from China via TNT in a very speedy 4 days! Currently being held in customs but I hope to see it any day now.
Ill add to my review as I spend some time using it.
My expectations are realistic with any Chinese purchase but the price seemed right on this one.. It is really not much more than a motorised 2 stage hand pump and keeping that in mind the price is very reasonable.
I will be using it for very short intervals not hours on end like the shoe box compressor etc require so wear and tear should be a lot less.
All Replies
:hoot:
Dear Gizzard lips….
My research into this type of compressor has revealed some of the makers indicate it is wise to let the compressor run for a brief time without a load, permitting it to exhaust any water vapor remaining in the compression head. They indicated, when hot from compression, there is usually some remaining moisture within the compression head…so best to vent for a few seconds.
Given your youth and ignorance…have you taken note of this suggestion, and if so, what are your thoughts?
One other thought…the digital gauge reads 35.5 centimeters? Do you guys measure temperature by length down there???
Kind regards….
Uncle Hoot:
“A man prone to deal with fools and miscreants whilst presenting elegance, patience, and vastly superior intellectual reserves!”
Nice test.
Oh and 241bar is not 4500psi… Think you got a typo.
Marko
Impressed? So am I!
I was honestly not expecting anything from this cheapo.. Like I said in the beginning its basically a small electric PCP hand pump but it seems to perform well!
The compressors themselves are not new to the market, the water jacket design is however an improvement on the the older open head design. There are many of the older type on Aliexpress with more features for similar prices to this one:
but it was the water jacketed head that drew me to this model.
Yes that was a typo sorry., I have corrected it, thanks 🙂
Ok I’m little impressed on that small unit. I just hope every unit works as good and you just didn’t get lucky.
Nice test.
Oh and 241bar is not 4500psi… Think you got a typo.
Marko
Edit: ok you corrected it as I was typing?
A quick update, I found the source of the sweet hot synthetic oil smell, its is coming from the crankcase breather as the oil warms up.. nothing to worry about there…
More good news, using a very scientific “sniff test” I cant smell any odour from the whip line air at all so no oil blow by seems to be present there.
I know I said I wouldnt do it but for Hoot: s :hoot: interest sake only I decided to top off my 12 litre Scuba tank just to see if it could.
Now excuse the blurry cellphone pics, the workshop had poor lighting and the compressor has a vibration when running..
I started with 190bar (2750psi) in the scuba tank and it is a 241bar (3500psi) WP tank so that was my target pressure.
The ambient compressor and water start temperature was 20.2 deg C.
After every 5 mins or so of running I manually released the blow off valve to purge the condensation in the pump which gives a gentle hiss and shoots a small amount of water vapour from it.
This is not a compressor you can just turn on and just walk away from, it requires constant supervision and manual interaction. There are no auto pressure shut off switches or auto water bleeds.. its up to the operator to keep it doing what it should.
After 24 minutes of continues running the Scuba tank reached 241bar (3500psi).
The compressors temperature gauge read 35.5 deg C. The cooling water in the bucket felt about body temperature. While the pump on the compressor was only warm to touch the crank case was much hotter, not so hot that I couldnt hold my hand on it but hot. I could see the oil in the sight glass was also much thinner.
The seller told me in an email to use a large bucket for cooling water for best results or add cold water as necessary. He also advised to open the bleed screw on the compressor before turning off the compressor when the vessel has been filled.
There was no English user manual with the compressor so this info was valuable.
Although it seems the compressor is capable of larger dive bottle fills I have no idea of the units longevity should it be used for 20 to 30 minute top ups on a regular basis. I would certainly not recommend filling anything bigger than 3 litres from completely empty in one go without regular shut down cooling periods.
Personally I will stick to the 2-10 minute fills on smaller air tanks for my compressor.
I opened the Whip line filter right after the fill and inspected the cotton filter, there are no signs of oil but the filter was damp. There were tiny beads of water on the filters inner surfaces closest to the compressor, the dive bottle side was dry… so again this compressor will benefit from a larger volume water/oil separator even on shorter top ups.
Mine is in transit.
:hoot:
Dear Kiwi,
How do you think this unit would work for topping off scuba tanks?
From what I have read these pumps appear to be designed for .5 to 1.0 liter cylinders, what happens if you hook it up to a 150 cu ft scuba tank to top it off from 3000 psi to 3600 psi? Several of the AliExpress ads indicated a 4 minute fill time for 0.5 L bottle. Would it not take many hours to top off a 3600 psi scuba tank. I’d like to have one, but I don’t speak Mandarin and there are no buses from Toad Suck to Peking, so my return/repair options are limited.
I’m concerned it might burn out in short order…on the same note, I would not want to tote this unit around with my pcp air guns when shooting. The extension cord would have to be several kilometers long for those in deep woods!!!
Open your beak and spill the beans…
Kind regards,
Uncle Hoot:
Sounds like a good experience so far! I’m very curious as to how this holds up under use.
The price of your compressor is very tempting. If the quality build is any indication, this may be a “must buy”. Keep us informed!
By the way…drumstick, did the earthquake affect your area? I never knew New Zealand had such events. Other than the occasional kiwi attacks on senior citizens and children, I thought things were very quiet down there.
Uncle Hoot:
Nothing ugly to report so far but I will certainly put it through its paces.
Re: shakey hobbiton..
:hoot:
Sounds like a good experience so far! I’m very curious as to how this holds up under use.
“The compressor has very noticeable sweet “hot synthetic oil smell” to it any those of you who have ever raced two stroke motorbikes will know this smell very well.. not unpleasant..”
Back in the early 1960’s I stumbled upon a product from Germany called “Klotz”…a synthetic oil that was unknown outside of the two stroke community. When used, no two stroke smoked from the exhaust and that was a first in those days prior to oil injection. It cost $5.00 a bottle and that was a high end product when the going wage was .50 cents an hour! It was worth it! The engine never gummed up, the exhaust stayed clean, and the plugs never needed to be changed…a complete change from the petro oil normally used.
The price of your compressor is very tempting. If the quality build is any indication, this may be a “must buy”. Keep us informed!
By the way…drumstick, did the earthquake affect your area? I never knew New Zealand had such events. Other than the occasional kiwi attacks on senior citizens and children, I thought things were very quiet down there.
Kind regards,
Uncle Hoot:
The compressor showed up well packed and damage free.. the seller emailed me several times with operation hints and tracking details while it was in transit and has been very helpful in general.
I was impressed in its build quality even before I got it out of the box… seems very well made which exceeded my expectations.
I had intended on changing out all the O rings with quality ones and foster fittings with European made stainless steel items but again I was pleasantly surprised to find no leaks and the brass foster fittings supplied with this one are not as sloppy as most of the 8mm Chinese made ones.
I did however strip it and lube all the rubbers with silicon grease and flush the remains of the mineral oil from the sump that they partially drained after testing the unit and prepping it for international shipping.
Nice to see that it was actually tested and the QC in place is better than most Chinese companies.
There was a little bit of metallic filings in the oil I drained before flushing the sump out but Id say that’s pretty normal with any machine running in process.
As I mentioned I went overboard and spend decent coin on some full synthetic Bauer breathing compressor oil as if there was any small chance of the oil vapour entering any of my PCPs it is totally safe from compression related explosions. It is also just an all round better oil for the protection against wear and heat on the internal components and lasts 3 times as long before services over std mineral oils.
Although it states the oil changes should be at 1000 hour intervals I will do the first one at about 20 hours after a good running in period.
I took about 200mls to fill the oil to the mark on the sight glass so the litre I bought will last me a while.
After connecting it all up and testing the water pump for good flow, I fired it up for the first time just with a blanking plug in the whip line. The liquid filled manometer climbed quickly to over 4500psi and I shut it off.
The compressor was surprisingly quieter than I expected and sounds very smooth.
One last test before filling a bottle was to test the supplied manometers accuracy. I screwed it into a DIN adaptor and tried it on several air cylinders at various pressures and tested it along side a good quality Sabre manometer I have and know is accurate. Happy to say the compressors gauge reads very true.
So first cylinder fill test was on my .30cal pistol. I hooked it up and turned it on and it filled 55cc from basically empty to 240 bar in less than 30 seconds!
Next was my 3.1 litre buddy bottle, it took just over 6 minutes to top up from 170bar to 240bar.
Im impressed. It does exactly what I want it to do and with those fill times it barely got warm!
The compressor has very noticeable sweet “hot synthetic oil smell” to it any those of you who have ever raced two stroke motorbikes will know this smell very well.. not unpleasant.. in fact quite the opposite for me. I am not sure where the smell is emitting from but will monitor it. It also has the new electric motor smell as Im sure most do in the first run in period.
I took a quick look at the cotton whip line filter and it was still dry and clean. No oily smell present there so I dont think it in the compression chambers.
I have a 4500psi 500cc carbon fibre bottle and DIN valve arriving soon the same as the one in the vids above that fills from empty in 5 mins so if I use it as a back pack buddy bottle it will only be getting topped up from 170ish bar to 300bar so will be closer to 2 or 3 minutes use.
With these very short run times and over all low temps I hope Ill get plenty of hours out of this compressor between rebuilds.
An overhaul of the second stage valves and piston rings looks very easy and the compressor comes shipped with enough of these spare parts to do these rebuilds at least twice.
I actually ordered a kit of 10 rings for an extra $6.90 just to have on hand as they seem like the only service parts that aren’t generic and easily found locally.
The O rings on the compressor are all off the shelf N70 metric sizes and easily acquired locally for most people.
If or when I need to replace the plastic second stage valves I will turn some decent ones up on the lathe from some Acetyl or similar rather than use the replacement plastic ones it came shipped with.
I still intend on adding a larger volume oil/water separator to the unit to get the driest and best quality air into my cylinders so will update you on that shortly.
Early days with it but I will add to my experience with it here as I feel the need.
Dear Winged Wonder…
Did you order the 220V or the 110v? Our standard voltage here in the Colonies is 110v, and it appears the compressor was originally designed for the higher voltage. 220v is generally more efficient, and it begs the question whether the unit’s operation will be measurably compromised at 110v.
Further, are the various filter elements you mentioned generally available, and how might one identify them if ordering on-line? It would appear foolish not to obtain the larger filter unit to keep moisture out of our very expensive guns.
Keep us informed! This is a promising little unit if it holds up to average pcp owner usage.
Kindly ‘Ol Uncle Hoot:
I ordered the 220V as we are 220-240V here in middle earth. I think you may be right about the 110v compromise but we need a guinea pig from Trumpland to be sure.
I have sent a question to the manufacturer about the availability various filter elements for the larger filter body and will update you here when I get a reply.
:hoot:
Dear Winged Wonder…
Did you order the 220V or the 110v? Our standard voltage here in the Colonies is 110v, and it appears the compressor was originally designed for the higher voltage. 220v is generally more effecient, and it begs the question whether the unit’s operation will be measurably compromised at 110v.
Further, are the various filter elements you mentioned generally available, and how might one identify them if ordering on-line? It would appear foolish not to obtain the larger filter unit to keep moisture out of our very expensive guns.
Keep us informed! This is a promising little unit if it holds up to average pcp owner usage.
Kindly ‘Ol Uncle Hoot:
A lot like yourself in fact all kiwi birds have very poor eyesight.. also not unlike yourself they use a very keen sence of smell to locate worms.. they dont eat seeds as they are insectivorous.
I have yet to recieve the big Tuxing filter but when I do I see what it requires in the way of fuxing and post it here.
They are a std size filter body and there are many different replacable elements available to fit them so I sure Ill find something that works better than the small whipling hand pump filter.
:hoot:
Dear Walking Drumstick…
Your commented: “For $60 I have upgraded to the more substantial full size desiccant and element water/oil filter. and since nothing escapes my attention…I am emboldened to offer you advice…
Is is feasible to cut two “end plugs” off of that over-sized Tampon in the larger filter, and put desiccant beads in the middle? Would they have enough time to absorb moisture prior to entering the gun???
Perhaps that filter is more than a “Niagara Gusher Flow Tampon“. If it is just cloth…can you improve on it? Shame it doesn’t have a view window to check on the beads…
Meanwhile, keep on pecking…even a blind Kiwi finds a few seeds now and then!
Kindly ‘Ol Uncle Hoot:
Not 4 stage, but only 2 stages on that unit. Just another small shopcomp with added second stage piston and cylinder head package. Hope she’s worth the cash. Looks better than the nimrodair unit what comes to the build quality but nothing much more. No water / oil separator nor desiccant filter. The added filter in the hose is so tiny.
Marko
Edit: oops didn’t read it all, you did order filter and separator. My advise, do hydro test them before use. I wouldn’t trust the Chinese too much, did test mine when I got them, where ok but better safe than sorry.
Hoot: :hoot:
No you old fool, Metric air does not work in the USA as it vortex’s counterclockwise instead of the std clockwise vortex in your northern hemisphere.
It works on the same principle of our L/H twist barrels down here.. yours are all R/H twist.
How can you not know that left hand twist and metric CC air is only for use south of the equator??? Simple stuff here folks, flush the toiler down under and it spins the opposite way, thus the rifling and air has to turn in the opposite direction too.
You Mericans will have to order the imperial version in 110volt with the crazy looking wall plug that reverses the vortex.
The unit comes with a small whipline filter the same as the ones supplied with hand pumps that have a replaceable cotton filter inside. I have heard tampons work well too.. :rofl:
For $60 I have upgraded to the more substantial full size desiccant and element water/oil filter.
As I said I have no intention of filling any larger dive bottles.. this little unit will be nursed at low run times just topping up pony bottles and direct gun fills. It has no auto shut off feature so I wouldnt be walking away from it while filling 240 bar fills anyway. :whistle:
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I had not read or been told that but yes it makes sense. There seems to be very little information out there about these smaller compressors but I intend to change that here.
It came shipped with a 4 page leaflet in the box but it is all in Chinese. IMO these compressors need a comprehensive user and service manual in English with clear illustrations..
I had my first O ring blow out today on the small whip line filter, the O ring it came fitted with was a 20mm x 3mm which does not fit correctly.
There was a spare one in the kit but the supplied o-rings are too large in cross section. I have replaced it with a Viton 75 20mm x 2.5mm which seals in a proper manner. Too large of an o-ring means the fitting never attains metal to metal closure to house and buttress the o-ring. This leaves the rubber O ring sandwiched and protruding out of the join and has to resist the airs force all by itself… I doesnt last long.
Im looking forward to a full tare down of this compressor on it first service (or failure) to see what other seals could be improved for better over all longevity.