Who has experience with Dive Compressors
I know this is not the best section for this but I know all the players here so please humor me !! I am going to be doing a crap load of testing shooting and practicing this summer as well as maybe supporting a son and a friend with tank filling and I am seriously considering a bigger compressor. But because of that I have a few questions that play into the consideration.
#1 I have been lubing my F8 every 2 hours on the clock as recommended and when it needs to start filling big tanks instead of guppys that will be multiple times per fill, Are you doing this ?? or will it survive longer runs, I’d like to think I could turn it on a go away for longer periods of time if it were to stay as my primary machine and not babysit it so much. This would make it plausible, I don’t mind half lifeing o-rings if it will survive a good while at a time. Maybe not even a consideration due to speed, I’m not sure.
#2 On the dive compressors in the $3500 price range, is there a clear !! single choice like maybe Bauer Junior or Coltri or Nardi ??
#3 A good friend commented he does not fill tanks to the 4500 psi limit to save wear and increase life on his new dive compressor, do you think this is a consideration, I believe him but would like other opinions too, I am guessing he was advised of this buy the seller but I’ll ask. I want 4500 psi fills for sure !!
#4 Do these compressors take a lot of maintnance such that buying from a good dealer in ultra important ??
#5 Obvious question is there any deals out there ?? Who would you buy through ??
Thanks,
Doug…
All Replies
Raptors are Chinese but appear to be decent quality according to the reviewers so far.
Chinese ?? Maybe i resume those 15 minute trips to the local, friendly Dive Shop. The price was actually pretty fair – in Swedish standards. Only 500$ more than in US is to be considered fair. Everything´s usually close to double the price otherwise …
Yep. A guy in South American did a video review in front of the compressor while it was running. That’s how quiet it is. Did you see someone chatted on Dr. Steele’s ID?
Isn’t that the raptor phenumatics deal. Dr steel just got one but only got to use it once i think.
They are the latest thing and retail for $1795 here. Made in China and based on medical o2 compressors. Little information on reliability yet. Quite a bit faster than an F8.
http://luftvapen.e-butiken.se/luftgevar/pumpar-flaskor/raptor-kompressor
I think it´s American Brand and the model is called “Raptor”. It´s supposed to be as quiet as a Dishwasher and it fills upto over 300 B (the fill pressure is adjustable and the bugger stops automatically when the selected pressure is reached so no need to sit,watch and wait by it) and it sells for almost Humane price for 16.000 SEK = +- 2300 USD.
Personally i Have a F8 and 2 88 cf tanks. I use one and keep one topped. i usually use the bottle till i can’t get a full 230 bar fill on my gun. at that point i top it off…. I have yet to shoot
enough that i burn all the air out of one before the other was done filling. When i had the Bobcat .30 it loved to consume the air my setup hasn’t let me down.
Takes about 3 hrs a top off. So thats my cycle wipe it down and relube prior to or after each use . so it gets lubed every 3 hrs.
If for some crazy reason i need to refill a tank i use a timer on the power outlet. and set it for three hours. then i just wipe it down and relube when i get to it and turn it back on.
works out really well. i got both my bottles for under $100 on ebay. they were within a year of the 15yr mark. i probably have 50-60 hours of run time on my F8 and haven’t had any
issues it runs like a champ.
Yes i know its not the quickest, but it gets the job done at far less price tag.
Thanks for all your responses and the compressors stack just like i expected to find. i have slept on the idea of needing more air but if i apply best logic about what i have already and what i really need it is just more storage capacity. I was concerned i had to stop in the middle of top off fills and lube service the f8 or it might die and need rebuilt on too short of intervals. If i can top off in 3 hours without dealing with it midstream, i can set it and forget it and that makes it work fir me pretty well. SeCoda helped me realize a small leak at my fill probe / QD fitting adds up fast when it comes to air consumption so my compressing time per shot ratio is not what i thought initially. I was panicking a bit with air consumption when shooting this 30, so to speak. The other factor for me is when i travel to shoot i can be portable with my Honda 2000I generators i keep at home for power outages since no part of the system needs 230v and or weighs more than 40 pounds. Il just shop for a couple of tank deals for now since that is what I need either way.
Thanks guys…
Anyone have any knowledge on this one ? :
http://luftvapen.e-butiken.se/luftgevar/pumpar-flaskor/raptor-kompressor
I think it´s American Brand and the model is called “Raptor”. It´s supposed to be as quiet as a Dishwasher and it fills upto over 300 B (the fill pressure is adjustable and the bugger stops automatically when the selected pressure is reached so no need to sit,watch and wait by it) and it sells for almost Humane price for 16.000 SEK = +- 2300 USD.
Hey ride … I know your looking for dive compressors… but it seems you already have a good setup, well minus a bigger bottle or 2.
Personally i Have a F8 and 2 88 cf tanks. I use one and keep one topped. i usually use the bottle till i can’t get a full 230 bar fill on my gun. at that point i top it off…. I have yet to shoot
enough that i burn all the air out of one before the other was done filling. When i had the Bobcat .30 it loved to consume the air my setup hasn’t let me down.
Takes about 3 hrs a top off. So thats my cycle wipe it down and relube prior to or after each use . so it gets lubed every 3 hrs.
If for some crazy reason i need to refill a tank i use a timer on the power outlet. and set it for three hours. then i just wipe it down and relube when i get to it and turn it back on.
works out really well. i got both my bottles for under $100 on ebay. they were within a year of the 15yr mark. i probably have 50-60 hours of run time on my F8 and haven’t had any
issues it runs like a champ.
Yes i know its not the quickest, but it gets the job done at far less price tag.
We have one of these swedish Åsbrink compressors 450 l/m 300bar filling to 340-350bar warm tank so there at least 300 when it cools down otherwise the idiots start complaining…
It’s old and not very pretty, much like hOOt, but it does the job every time every day.
Here the goes for 1500-2000$ complete in working condition.
Not saying you should or even could get one of these but there must be something similar where you are otherwise Bauer’s are good but expensive, coltri also works well but whatever don’t buy to small! Better to have little to spare than the other way around…
Dr. 👿
Attachments:
I use bauer compressors for a paintball business. Bauer is GTG in my book, I have a 12 year old gas idv model that is a tank. It has well over 15,000 hours on it. I bought it new and had my first failure with it 2 months ago. The third stage piston froze and needed replacement ($300) and took 20 minutes to repair. The honda motor that drives the comp, has been rebuilt twice so far but the comprssor keeps going. Other than that it has been a great machine, just change the oil and filters from time to time as recomended in the manual. I also have an oceanus gas model with over 9,000 hrs on it with no problems as of yet and an electric idv with 6,000 hrs no problems. I can honestly say/believe Bauer compressors will last you a lifetime or more.
Doug we have been using a Bauer compressor for 2 years and so far it hasn’t had any trouble. We have 5 guys filling there tanks to 4600 and it works like a dream. I got this one used from a gov sale and had new pressure switch and filters installed and checked out by a dealer.its a great compressor. The service guy told me any time I have any trouble with it he has all the parts in his van to fix it. Try ebay I’ve seen some on there and don’t be afraid to buy a used one. But watch out for the voltage some have 3 phase motors on them that could be a issue for some people
Ridetoeat, Hope this is of some use.
Bauer Jr Compressors are great and their Oceanus is better but heavier. Best to deal with is August Industries if I recall properly. I would be willing to bet the Airetex is as good but doesn’t have a long track record but Bruce Dodson is the owner and a poster on the yellow from time to time. Here’s a post reply by Bruce earlier this month:
AireTex 45 I will try to answer questions posted
January 4 2014 at 10:54 AM Bruce Dodson (Login BDodson)
YF
Response to 220. N.T.
________________________________________
AireTex 45 is NOT made in Turkey. It is designed and made in America. We do source parts from around the world but MOST of cost and all of the labor is America. I do purchase the 2nd and third stage heads from ALKIN in Turkey but that is all that comes from there.
AireTex 45 Compressor is very heavy duty, runs at a low RPM. AireTex 45 runs at 1050 RPM, all others run over 2100 RPM with the Coltri running 2800.
AireTex 45 is 220v-230v and draws about 23 Amps.
The AireTex 45 is the most durable portable compressor in my opinion and I have dealt with them all. In the 8 CFM range most all brands are good and in fact most share many similar parts. But on the small ones most are not durable and have many problems. I tried to eliminate those problems by design. Better internally balanced, lower RPM ,larger, longer and heavier rods. The crankshaft is supported on both ends with large bearings.
The ALKIN W31 we used to sell until 2006 was good in many ways but only supported by bearings on back fan side. We found that caused problems and failures. The larger ALKIN compressors are very good and we still sell those.
After looking at all of the competition and problems they had we designed our compressor from scratch. We do many things different than the others.
On a three stage compressor the first stage is large and builds pressure to say 100 PSI and into second stage that is much smaller. That compresses air further to about 450 PSI and into the third stage which the industry standard is 14 mm and that compresses it to 4500+ PSI. That is how most everyone else does it but it creates a few problems they have not addressed. Smaller piston is lighter so they are not internally balanced. Smaller piston does not have same room for rods, bearings and piston causing quick wear.
I addressed those issues by making the lighter piston steel machined to exact weight instead of traditional aluminum. Now my rotating assembly is internally balanced. By making the smaller piston steel I was also able to eliminate the wear that all of the others have such a problem with.
On the 3 rd stage floating piston I designed it similar to a valve on an airgun. Now it has well over twice the surface area and does not destroy the crosshead piston below it.
Those things make the AireTex 45 in my opinion the best portable made with the Bauer a good one to. There is not another compressor made under 4 CFM that I would recommend at any price. There are other design things we have done to make ours better but I do not think I need to be telling all of my secrets. Now they used to make a very nice military compressor but those are no longer available, they are hard to repair and parts are not available.
My years of building aircraft, working on airguns and building racing car motors have gave me a different look at how to design and build compressors.
Now I will say this the AireTex 45 weighs over 175 and some are around 120 and one is under 100 Lbs but they will not last as long. Now the AireTex 45 is also larger size so in addition to the weight it requires two people to pick up it is the best portable made in my opinion.
Hope I answered all of your questions and if you have any more just ask.
Bruce Dodson
AireTex Compressors
(214)402-5574 Mobile
(817)633-5505 Office
http://www.airetex.com
Check this place out, I have one that I have put 30hrs on, its the Model bGAS4-2, if I had it to do over again, I would have ordered the electric motor unit, just too loud. This guy has an excellent reputation, http://sheldensportinggoods.com/
o and when you have a compressor like that its not even a second thought when you need to degass your gun to make a reg change.after my second pcp i went all in on it and never give it a second thought .
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
O.K. I´ll keep a keen eye on the reviews a while before i decide.