Bauer Junior 2 E How Much Air Leak During Storage Is Normal?

[Guy Kuo]

Hello, newbie to Scubaboard here. I'm not a diver, but arrived at this forum because I have a brand new Bauer Jr 2 e1 compressor. The compressor is used to fill an SCBA tank for air rifle usage.

The Bauer manual states that one should leave about 80 bar pressure in the compressor after final bleeding. However, my unit loses all pressure in approximately 24 hours. This is despite fully closed bleed valves and verifying no leaks in fill whip, air filter housing, bleed outputs etc. What I do find is a large leak backwards out the air INTAKE.

Here is how fast air is coming out the intake when pressure is 2,000 PSI
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One other owner of a new Bauer Jr at the Talonairgun.com forum also notes his new Bauer also loses pressure and bleeds air out the intake.

I contacted the dealer and the response has been to simply use the compressor and see if things improve.

My question here, is how much pressure should a Bauer Jr 2 be losing when shut down. I would like to know if my filter cartridge is at risk and if what I am seeing is actually normal.

Thanks,

Guy Kuo

 

[sealark]

Check valve after the final stage. Hard to figure how its getting back to the first stage intake. But if the check valve after the final stage is allowing air to go back into the compressor after shutdown it could cause that. priority valve could also allow that if it's the last check valve in discharge line. Just a thaught others may have different answers.

 

[Guy Kuo]

Thanks. I'm perplexed. Apparently the Jr 2 doesn't have a check valve after the final stage. Could it be that a Junior 2 simply isn't capable of holding storage pressure after shutdown - user manual not withstanding?

 

[sealark]

I would if it doesn't have one get a priority valve and put it in the discharge line it gives much better dryer air by not allowing any air flow through the filter assembly until a certain pressure is reached in the filter assembly. If you max pressure is 2000 1500 PSI would be a good setting. Other than that I wouldn't worry about the leakage you are not loosing that much volume. You might not even have or need a filter assembly for your use. Take Bauers advice and run the crap out of it.

 

[Guy Kuo]

There is already pressure maintaining valve that doesn't let air out of the dryer until the filter assembly pressurizes. I think that is the same as "priority valve" you recommend. Yes, I think I'll simply be using the compressor. As a new compressor owner I am simply nervous about getting the maintenance right.

BTW, although the PCP (precharged pneumatic) airguns don't quite need breathing quality air, they still need near complete water removal to prevent tank corrosion, and oil removal to protect our pneumatic seals. A modern PCP air rifle requires a lot of pressure to operate. A typical gun's integrated cylinder is "full" at 3600 PSI and "empty" at 1740 PSI. Hence, one normally fills a SCBA tank to 4500 and uses just the top 20% of the tank to recharge the gun. My SCBA tank will get topped off whenever it drops to 3600 PSI, rather than the deep cycling possible for breathing.

My original plan was to have my tank filled at a local dive shop, but they are limited to 3,000 PSI fills - nearly useless for PCP usage. That's how I ended up with the Bauer Jr. It's a bit of overkill for single person PCP use, but it can fill my tank to 4500 PSI and I don't have to worry as much about my SCBA tank getting corroded.

You may laugh, but my compressor is probably only going to run 15-20 minutes, twice a month. So, "running the crap out of it" isn't quite what it will see.

 

[sealark]

I would set the pri valve at 2500 that will get most of the moisture out and the safety valve could be adjusted to get the required max pressure. I would call Bauer with the model and serial and make sure you can go to what you want pressure.
I caled about a K-14 compressor that was rated for 3200 and was told to just set thr relief valve to 5000 and it would be fine. I only wanted 3000 and that was 26 years ago still running fine. Good luck with yours.

 

[rcontrera]

Your compressor is just fine. There is always going to be a little bit leakage of air backwards through the system. Don't mess with it unless you know what you are doing and it will last you a LONG time at that usage level.

 

[Guy Kuo]

Sealark, again thanks for the advice. I think my PR valve is set for just over 2K. As a newbie, I think I'll leave things be since it looks more and more like my compressor is indeed behaving normally.

Ray, your reassurance is greatly appreciated. I came over to scubaboard because there is more experience with dive compressors here than at the air rifle forum Bauer Junior ii E1 - TalonAirgun.com

I can now relax a bit and let the compressor do its job.

 

[clownfishsydney]

Mine has always leaked out since new (now 13 years old). Nothing to worry about at all.

 

[Guy Kuo]

Clownfishsydney, I wish the Bauer user manual hadn't made keeping pressure in the compressor post usage seem like such an important deal. If 13 years of leaking out has caused no problems for you, who breaths the air, it must be a very minor issue indeed.

My worry was what you get when mixing compressor newbie + alarming instruction manual + being familiar with how seals in air rifles behave. Air rifle seals seals fail if one doesn't keep the gun pressurized at all times. I was afraid that leak down on my compressor would ruing the compressor seals and prematurely age the filter cartridge.

Thanks to you, more experienced, compressor owners, I now know the leak down is normal. It is very reassuring to hear this is OK.

I'm still at the stage where I cringe and fear the compressor or tank exploding every time I watch the pressure go up.
I guess that will subside as well.