Pump question.
My pump just started doing something wierd. It still works fine, but I want to make sure it’s not something that will lead to problems.
When I pump up my tank, I might not be quite to 3000psi and the pump is hot, so I will let it sit for a few minutes, to cool off. Well, I leave the pump handle pushed down, but in those few minutes, the pump handle slowly rises up. The psi reading on the guage will fall down about 1000psi. The pump is a little harder to push down, but the one pump will bump the psi guage back to where it was, and then it will pump like normal. Sometimes I get a little poof of air, I think it’s where some air is going around the seal, but its very small and not a big deal… yet.
So should I be worried and doing something, or am I paranoid?
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Well, the back flow isnt really normal. It means that there is leakage inside the pump. Some is tolerable while allot means your wasting energy. On my Hill when I first got it it would creep up ALLOT, like half way up the length of the stroke. I took it back to AoA and they rebuilt it for free. After that it didnt creep up at all. After a year or two of moderate use it now creeps up maybe an inch or two and stops.
Of course I wasn’t smart enough to buy a hill! 😛
I got a FX. Which is why I try and take good care of it, I really don’t want it to go out. Don’t want to spend another couple hundred for another pump.
I put a little silicone grease on the pump, and the “poof” stopped. So as long as the backflow is normal (which it seems it is) then I think it’s fine.
At least I hope so. 😯
DONT DO IT… I got an Ultraglide pump from Straightshooters. Within a week, it was impossible to pull up. Shipped back to SS for another pump…. got the replacement. Within a week… same thing.
SS told me that they no longer carry that pump due to the high number of returns they had on it. Most folks would have the pump for about 2 weeks and then it would die out on them. Talk about a piece of shit……….
Well, good to know that! Thanks!
I guess it’s a BSA/Hill or nothing…
same thing happens to me. i bought some o rings from homedepot fixed the problem. 8)
Lama, my Hill pump does the same. I believe it’s a 3-stage pump and it’s normal to have back flow (from the highest pressure stage back to the lowest one). Just make sure you don’t over heat the pump and it should last a long time. I hope yours is a Hill because rebuild kit is readily available and fairly cheap.
DONT DO IT… I got an Ultraglide pump from Straightshooters. Within a week, it was impossible to pull up. Shipped back to SS for another pump…. got the replacement. Within a week… same thing.
SS told me that they no longer carry that pump due to the high number of returns they had on it. Most folks would have the pump for about 2 weeks and then it would die out on them. Talk about a piece of shit……….
My AF pump was doing the exact same thing.
Was, because now it’s a nice piece of junk in a corner of my room.
The puff sound was the internal o-ring farting (the one around the most inner rod, above a nylon ring). Last time the pump fartted so loud that it blew this o-ring (no jokes here…).
The handle going up and the needle going down is due to the loss of pressure in one of the chambers of the pump (I guess…). It needs just a few pumps to rearrange the internal pressure in the chambers.
Hope your pump isn’t from AF. What a crapp!!!
Anyway, take it easy with your pump, let it rest before it gets hot.
If it ever gets hard to pull up, your pump is gone (unless you’re able to fix it, but, I think, it won’t be the same anymore).
Just bought a S63 scuba tank (CF is waaay too expensive here in Brazil) and I’ll buy a Hill pump next time. Or an Ultraglide… but never heard about it here!
It’s almost sure to be the air leaking out of just the hose (back into the pump if the handle’s going up).
When it drops down like that, it only takes 1 pump to get it all the way up. I don’t think the reading is real though. When I’m pumping normally, it takes about 5 minutes to get it up 1000psi.
I’ll be careful about the puff, and if it gets worse I’ll say something. 😀
I get the same thing happing without the handle rising, as I’ll let the pump cool down I can watch the needle go down, one or two pumps and it’s back up to presser and filling again, I don’t think that part is a big deal.
the puff of air in mine comes from the missing bottom o ring from the moving pump cylinder, If I am careful and make sure I stay perfectly vertical wile pumping all is good.
How many strokes dose it take you to get a 1000 psi out of your pump? mine is over four years old and it’s taking me about 60 to move up 300 psi, then I have to let it cool for 10 or so min.
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The HillPump is the one to buy because you can easily rebuild it and it is a rugged pump. Once you have gone thru it the first time it is much easier to understand the pump.
I went thru mine and replaced a few things. Most of the components/o-rings were in great shape, and didn’t appear to be in need of replacement, or lube for that matter. Lately I’ve been using it to re-fill every ten minutes or so, many times in a row when out shooting (no tank).
Since I went thru it, I have so far noticed less of the handle-rise mentioned.