Alkin W31 vs Bauer Oceanus E1 - A Review

[iain/hsm]

@iain/hsm

You are so freakin rude, hostile and incredibly toxic. You do NOT add any positive or constructive anything in this thread.

Thank you so much that is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.
I do value your opinion however wrong it may be and as this is an all inviting inclusive forum we should welcome that your feelings take precedence over truth and substance. I now consider myself truly humbled by your generous comments.Thank you so much LOL

 

[iain/hsm]

You can't read I said LOCAL.

Forgive me for this American English is not my first language.

Wrong, I went and looked sure enough under high pressure breathing compressor it's list

So tell me when you did finally find the Alkin W31 on the Alkin web site under paintball was it with a Briggs and Statton light duty engine as supplied to the OP or is it still showing the more expensive yet elusive Honda GTX LOL

 

[formernuke]

Forgive me for this American English is not my first language.




So tell me when you did finally find the Alkin W31 on the Alkin web site under paintball was it with a Briggs and Statton light duty engine as supplied to the OP or is it still showing the more expensive yet elusive Honda GTX LOL

Under breathing compressor.

Now I did state that I have an electric model so the CO isn't as big an issue because I don't have a gas motor attached to the unit. The rest of issues the OP described with brief use I also haven't experienced.

 

[iain/hsm]

Some pictures of both compressors:

View attachment 736095

Some unique features of the Alkin W31 paintball/Airgun compressor you would be hard pushed to see
on any other competent manufacturer of high pressure breathing air compressors.

In no real order of magnitude, but to kick off while we wait for the RPM question to be answered. First consider the high pressure relief valve.

Its upside down, Strange you say why mount a relief valve upside down where all the dust durt junk particulate matter and any condensate droplets get to nest inside the safety relief valve clogging up the operating mechanism and seat.

Why not fit it as instructed upright so the dust and dust flows past. Note its an American made relief valve so this may indicate something done by Alkin USA and not Turkey. Feel free to disagree.

 

[iain/hsm]

Under breathing compressor.

Now I did state that I have an electric model so the CO isn't as big an issue because I don't have a gas motor attached to the unit. The rest of issues the OP described with brief use I also haven't experienced.

I'm sorry to disagree but CO is a big issue regardless of prime mover (Gas or Electric) in breathing air compressors especially for divers and especially with localised oil overheat on the discharge side of the valves with 3 stages and the high compression ratios magnified four fold when advertising a high discharge pressure rating. Another claim of the ALKIN group that need further discussion with divers.

Again also amplified with Alkin is their claim these compressors are rated for continuous duty.

We can get to the CO issue on these Alkin's in due course but for now the question is was it it a Briggs and Stratton as supplied to the OP on the adverts and web site you describe or the more expensive and industrial rated Honda GTX as advertised in the photos.

 

[BoltSnap]

NO. Heck just read a few posts on the subject before making a wild ass guess.

So, who you are you and what is your role in the compressor business please?

 

[formernuke]

I'm sorry to disagree but CO is a big issue regardless of prime mover (Gas or Electric) in breathing air compressors especially for divers and especially with localised oil

CO is a big concern. Let's use basic science.

CO primarily comes from burning fuel gas, propane natural gas etc. For compressors also from oil leaking through into the air.

So we take two compressors, one electric one gas powered. Both have the same intake filters. Could both get some from oil as well, yes of course but the amount from oil will be the same. Which one will output more CO prior to any filtering? The gas one why, simple there is an exhaust right next to the intake. So it is bringing in more CO than the electric to start with.

So very basic science tells us that an electric compressor will have less CO output than a gas, hence CO is not as big a concern with electric.

Isn't real science fun.

 

[SurfLung]

My understanding of Hopcalite in the filtration media is that it merely converts Carbon MONoxide to Carbon DIoxide... And it's capacity for doing this is not big. That is, it only works for trace amounts of CO that might be generated by the compressor itself. With a gas powered compressor, you have to position the intake UPWIND of the exhaust. Not only that, you should have a significant and constant wind carrying the exhaust downwind and away from the intake. Simply positioning the intake a respectable distance from the exhaust is no guarantee that CO won't swirl back around. I have used a household CO detector at the intake hose of my gas powered compressor and if I don't have a definite wind blowing exhaust away, that detector will read significant PPM of CO. Don't expect Hopcalite to take care of that.

As for CO that's generated by an oil lubricated compressor, my understanding is that it is caused by BURNING oil... not oil vapor. Oil has a "flashpoint" that's a combination of temperature and pressure. This is also referred to as "Dieseling". I think everyone can agree that running a compressor to higher pressures and hotter temperatures than it is designed for is not recommended. Also, modern synthetic compressor oils are quite a bit less prone to dieseling than the lubricants that were used in the past.

Last but not least, I can comment on the filter life of the Alkin 31. I have a vertical Alkin W31 compressor. When I got it, I was expecting to use the clear Lawrence Factor filters and simply go by the blue indicator strips to know when to change filters. BUT the Alkin P21 filter cartridge is virtually the same as the Bauer Triplex and it does not lend itself to accurate use of the blue test strips. Alkin says to change the filter after 50 hours or once a year. I have friends who gave me the Bauer charts but I don't think they can apply directly to the Alkin because of the differences in the intercoolers and condensation chambers. The Alkin has a way more intercooler coils and THREE separate condensers. This is (I believe) quite a bit more moisture and oil separation capacity than the Bauer Triplex system.

I'll post more on this later...

 

[SurfLung]

Okay... to continue... The conclusion to this argument is that the Alkin removes MORE moisture and oil vapor before it gets to the filter media. And this makes the filter media last longer. Which also would explain why the Bauer humidity/temperature tables probably don't apply to the Alkin.

Proving it - I tried the viewport system that has a window and a disk inside that changes color with moisture... Like the strips, it's supposed to change from blue to pink when your moisture content is too high. This I found absolutely useless. If I started with it pink and put a brand new filter cartridge on, it would stay pink. If I started with it blue and put a used filter cartridge on, it would stay blue.

Home Made Moisture Checker - A friend on another forum came up with this. The blue dot strips are cheap. The container was made from a household water filter and runs UN-pressurized. Anyway, I put the dot strip in it with all of the dots showing pink from being out in the summer humidity. I hooked up the fill whip and ran the compressor and within ONE MINUTE it turned all six dots blue... Which means the Alkin W31 was pumping NICE DRY AIR and the filter media is still good. I tried it again with a used Lawrence Factor clear plastic filter and got the same result. And again with a used Lawrence Factor cartridge that's made for the Bauer... Same result. After each test, I unhooked and let the humid air back into the container and all of the dots turned pink again. I have to conclude that the Alkin is pumping nice dry air and all three of those cartridges have plenty of life left in them.

What about Carbon Monoxide? Well, since the viewport-with-disk system didn't work, I don't trust it to work with a Carbon Monoxide disk. BUT, I found the same CO detecting disk for use in private airplanes. I'm going to mount this in the same homemade container to check for CO.

Procedure for Use - Remember this is NOT PRESSURIZED. So you can't use it while filling a tank. I use it before I start filling a tank... To check and assure that the filter media is still good. Once I've done that, I disconnect the fill whip from the checker and hook up directly up to the tanks I'm filling. It's no problem to periodically re-check the air during fill sessions. Just swap the fill whip to the checker.

A Better Way - A couple of the others on that forum (who are much smarter than me) came up with ways to run a similar moisture checking system while filling a tank. But I'm happy keeping it simple.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

Okay... to continue... The conclusion to this argument is that the Alkin removes MORE moisture and oil vapor before it gets to the filter media. And this makes the filter media last longer. Which also would explain why the Bauer humidity/temperature tables probably don't apply to the Alkin.

Proving it - I tried the viewport system that has a window and a disk inside that changes color with moisture... Like the strips, it's supposed to change from blue to pink when your moisture content is too high. This I found absolutely useless. If I started with it pink and put a brand new filter cartridge on, it would stay pink. If I started with it blue and put a used filter cartridge on, it would stay blue.

Home Made Moisture Checker - A friend on another forum came up with this. The blue dot strips are cheap. The container was made from a household water filter and runs UN-pressurized. Anyway, I put the dot strip in it with all of the dots showing pink from being out in the summer humidity. I hooked up the fill whip and ran the compressor and within ONE MINUTE it turned all six dots blue... Which means the Alkin W31 was pumping NICE DRY AIR and the filter media is still good. I tried it again with a used Lawrence Factor clear plastic filter and got the same result. And again with a used Lawrence Factor cartridge that's made for the Bauer... Same result. After each test, I unhooked and let the humid air back into the container and all of the dots turned pink again. I have to conclude that the Alkin is pumping nice dry air and all three of those cartridges have plenty of life left in them.

What about Carbon Monoxide? Well, since the viewport-with-disk system didn't work, I don't trust it to work with a Carbon Monoxide disk. BUT, I found the same CO detecting disk for use in private airplanes. I'm going to mount this in the same homemade container to check for CO.

Procedure for Use - Remember this is NOT PRESSURIZED. So you can't use it while filling a tank. I use it before I start filling a tank... To check and assure that the filter media is still good. Once I've done that, I disconnect the fill whip from the checker and hook up directly up to the tanks I'm filling. It's no problem to periodically re-check the air during fill sessions. Just swap the fill whip to the checker.

A Better Way - A couple of the others on that forum (who are much smarter than me) came up with ways to run a similar moisture checking system while filling a tank. But I'm happy keeping it simple.

I have also found the disks to be complete trash.

I think your way is better, but I track the temperature and hours with a spreadsheet. I believe the spreadsheet is based off of LF chart and will add 18F to ambient and spit out how much life is left on my filter. So far it's worked great.

I have also never had the strip on the filter itself turn all the way (Rix SA 6). It just starts to fade a little bear the inlet but still 90% blue.