Compressor

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  • Vic

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 2, 2010
    1,454
    Whiteford, MD
    I know there are some other PCP shooters out there and thought I would share my findings on a Chinese compressor I bought recently. Some of you may of seen these before and I have heard mixed reviews but so far I am pretty happy with the one I bought. I have been wanting to get a home compressor but cost has kept me from buying one. I have around $300 invested in this one and so far so good. I have filled my Ninja bottle multiple times and though noisy, it works. The first few times I did it I noticed the temp went up pretty fast. I am cycling ice water through this thing and was surprised that I had to cycle it off and on to cool. I think the problem was air in the top of the cylinder head. I leaned the compressor up and this allowed air bubbles to come out and probably improved water contact in all the head. I refilled the bottle from 2800 to 4500 in about 3 minutes. I bleed the air every minute or so to get the water out. As best I can tell the air in the bottle is dry.

    So if you want an inexpensive answer to filling bottles/reservoirs this might be for you. Anyone else have any experience with these small compressors?
    Vic
     

    Biggfoot44

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 2, 2009
    32,880
    For those of us just scratching our curiosity of things PCP , could you describe/ name this fine piece of technology in a little more detail .
     

    Mr. Ed

    This IS my Happy Face
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 8, 2009
    7,899
    Edgewater
    For those of us just scratching our curiosity of things PCP , could you describe/ name this fine piece of technology in a little more detail .

    Pre Charged Pneumatic is a fancy term for an air gun: PCP Airgun

    And the compressors need to be able to generate at least 3,000 psi, up to 4,500 psi: Compressors

    PCP air guns are on a plateau way above the old Crossman CO2 toys of the past. Snoop around Pyramid Air for a taste.

    Lots of videos on hunting with PCP rifles:

     

    Biggfoot44

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 2, 2009
    32,880
    Thanks . I was more or less aware of the rifles and hunting thereof , but had though you were dependent upon scuba shops or maybe welding supply for recharging .
     

    Kyler

    Member
    Apr 4, 2016
    55
    Keedysville
    Thanks . I was more or less aware of the rifles and hunting thereof , but had though you were dependent upon scuba shops or maybe welding supply for recharging .

    I go to the Brass Anchor in Frederick to get my SCBA tank refilled. It is $15 per fill IIRC. I debated buying a compressor but have been turned off by the Chinese units. Seems like a lot of hassle, water draining, chillers, etc.
     

    Mr. Ed

    This IS my Happy Face
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 8, 2009
    7,899
    Edgewater
    I use Sea Colony in Severna Park, and it's usually under $5 to top off the tank. I'm sure that filing it completely would cost more, plus require leaving it overnight to cool.
     

    Vic

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 2, 2010
    1,454
    Whiteford, MD
    Understand about the water cooling, but now that I have it figured out, not that big of a deal. I have a buckt, half full of water and then dump a pitcher of ice in it and roll. It works pretty well and I leave it intact on a bench in the basement. I think the basic design isn't bad and it fills pretty fast, they probably could of dumped the RPM down some and make the heating problem less an issue. I do like the ability to go in my basement and within 15 to 30 minutes top off my two rifles and my Ninja bottle. Up to this point I was using a hand pump. With my .25 MRod it wasn't a big deal. When I bought the .45 Texan, hand pumping wasn't a good option. I tried pumping up my Ninja bottle too. Wow, painful. I think there are some new pumps coming out that are cheaper and probably better made. I think I saw one at Pyramid Air that is around 600$. Might look to that in the future but for now what I have works.

    Bigfoot, I originally bought he MRod for shooting squirrels. It is shrouded and very quiet. I started with the .22 but sold that and got a .25. If you are looking for a squirrel killing gun, it works. A predator polymag is a hollow point pellet. My .25 mushroom out to around .38. They are devastating to small vermin. I bought the .45 because a 400 ft lb rifle is legal to hunt with. I shoot a 350 grain pellet around 730 fps. It's a thumper.

    I suggest you don't buy one of these though, they are addictive, and it's not a cheap hobby. It is getting more reasonable, but not cheap.
    Vic
     

    hobiecat590

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 2, 2016
    2,434
    PCP air refills etc

    Any SCUBA shop should air refill any scuba 80-150 cu ft. tank for around $7. NITROX is more, but you don't need it for PCP air guns.

    RE: filling your own, Fill it off at the top rated pressure for your tank, then let cool. You can fill the tank while in water, even ice water, but the tank will still get warm due to physics. How fast it cools, depends on ice, volume of water etc.

    For example, a 120 cf tank filled to 4500 PSI will cool to around 4000 PSI. After cooling top off to 4500 PSI.

    If you procure your own tanks, be advised that they have to be hydrostatically, (hydro'ed) tested every 5 years ($50) and visually inspected (Viz'ed - $15) every year to be filled by a SCUBA shop.

    Aluminum tanks are typically 80 cf and 3000 PSI and are dirt cheap. You can get bigger ones but you might has well go steel HP tanks.

    If I had a PCP air gun, I'd go w/ HP 150 4500 PSI steel tanks. These are bit heavy for diving for most folks, but for shooting will provide the most refills per tank fill. Since most PCP guns require 3000 PSI fills, how many fills are you going to get out of an Aluminum 80 cf at 3000-3500 PSI? A 150 cf is almost 2x the volume and you start at 4500 PSI. A 100-120 cf HP steel would also be OK for most folks for a day at the range.
     

    BigTinBoat

    Active Member
    Jan 12, 2016
    335
    Eastern Baltimore County
    Personally I use a ShoeBox Compressor to fill my 3 SCBA tanks. It might take a couple hours to fill to 4500 psi from 3000 psi, but the slower fill rate does NOT generate heat like a faster compressor.......plus it's made in the USA.
     

    Vic

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 2, 2010
    1,454
    Whiteford, MD
    I looked at the shoebox compressors but you need to have another compressor to feed into the shoebox and it is $500 by itself. So $600 to $700 investment. I'm cheap.
    V
     

    Vic

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 2, 2010
    1,454
    Whiteford, MD
    I looked at the shoebox compressors but you need to have another compressor to feed into the shoebox and it is $500 by itself. So $600 to $700 investment. I'm cheap.
    V
     

    BigTinBoat

    Active Member
    Jan 12, 2016
    335
    Eastern Baltimore County
    I'm cheap too, got mine used and then bought a $49 compressor from Lumber Liquidators. Been running 2 years now with nothing other then preventative o-ring changes twice.
    Hope it holds up for ya. Seen lots of guys on the various forums having troubles with them.
     

    Mr. Ed

    This IS my Happy Face
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 8, 2009
    7,899
    Edgewater
    I use Sea Colony for my Scuba Tank refills. It only goes to 3000 so, as it is depleted, I top off my rifles with my hand pump. I refill my tank when it gets to 2000 PSI.

    Maybe I misunderstood your post, but they get my little bottle up to 4,000 psi.
     

    John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,731
    Socialist State of Maryland
    Not an aluminum scuba tank they don't. You must have a carbon fiber bottle. Some aluminum tanks can go up to 3200 PSI but not too many. The cheapest carbon fiber bottle I found was $450 which I decided could be used elsewhere. My scuba tank was paid for decades ago and it serves me just fine. ;)

    Back in the day when I used to dive a lot, we used an Air Force compressor with a triple stage filter and charged our own tanks sitting in a 55 gal drum of water. Now that was a compressor. :lol:
     

    Mr. Ed

    This IS my Happy Face
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 8, 2009
    7,899
    Edgewater

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    Vic

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 2, 2010
    1,454
    Whiteford, MD
    I have a Ninja paintball tank like that with a 3000 psi reg on it. What is that other knob on top, another pressure gauge? Just wondernig.
    Vic
     

    BigTinBoat

    Active Member
    Jan 12, 2016
    335
    Eastern Baltimore County
    Maybe I misunderstood your post, but they get my little bottle up to 4,000 psi.

    I have a Ninja paintball tank like that with a 3000 psi reg on it. What is that other knob on top, another pressure gauge? Just wondernig.
    Vic

    The knob on top opens and closes the pin valve. The knob on the side is the bleed knob. After the knob on top is unscrewed (to close the pin valve) the side knob has to be loosened to bleed prior to unhooking the foster QC.
     

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