Komptec KT90 Compressor Track Record?)

[Guy Kuo]

I recently learned of the Komptec KT90 compressor. I searched on this forum and on the net, but found little useful in terms of track record and actual usage reports.

KT 90 E, 300 bar

It is a lower CFM unit that seems to slot in below a Bauer Jr in terms of price and performance. Does anyone here have any experience with them?

 

[iain/hsm]

I recently learned of the Komptec KT90 compressor. I searched on this forum and on the net, but found little useful in terms of track record and actual usage reports.

KT 90 E, 300 bar

It is a lower CFM unit that seems to slot in below a Bauer Jr in terms of price and performance. Does anyone here have any experience with them?

What is this compressor forum section turning into? Junk Yard Dogs or something?

And now I have to be on my best behaviour I’m not sure if I should be honest and tell the truth or be nice and polite and ignore the factual information you need to make an informed choice for fear of upsetting some air gunner with a vision of import genius.

But to be fair Bit of a refreshing change from that junk from China earlier, but still no way I would consider.

Main Reason No 1.
Spare Parts Spare Parts Availability, No manual, No Parts List , No Parts Price list

Main Reason No 2.
Spare Parts, Spare Parts Availability, No manual, No Parts List , No Parts Price list

Main Reason Why Not No 3.
Spare Parts, Spare Parts Availability, No manual, No Parts List , No Parts Price list

When I say manual I mean a proper strip down and replace service manual not the dinky operators stop/start change oil an filters kind of manual.

27 years ago this compressor first came onto the market, five years later it was gone.
Now its back I guess, you can tell what it is by the unique 3 bolt fan coupling inside the
casing slats.

I should say this latest good looking box pan folded powder coated steel cover looks great and the paint choice exquisite.

It was in its day originally a good design using a off the shelf low pressure 150psi compressor but changing the con rod liners and heads and replacing them with a high pressure piston set, If you do it right and match the rod loading each stage on the crankshaft bearings it’s not a bad idea to make a cheap high pressure compressor
The original designer was a chap called Gunter Monsam from memory he made 3 versions, the mini, the joker, and something I can’t remember but he made a good job of the design modifications.
The unit would work fine if a little slow needed more oil than the coltri and thats saying something but it was OK

This Komptec outfit must have bought out the idea but it is or was originally called a Monsam compressor.

Why you would want one is easy its probably cheap, and this is your first venture into buying a compressor,
If so may I respectfully suggest Coltri for Bauer.
With refrain to the snarky I guess. Iain

 

[Guy Kuo]

Thanks, Iain. I already purchased a new Bauer Jr for my very limited air gun needs. It's overkill for sure, but a lovely machine.

I asked here about the Komptec because this is probably the most highly concentrated aggregation of serious compressor users - people I can trust to know what they are talking about.

Getting info about the Komptec's provenance and history is of interest to me because that "other" community of high pressure air users would benefit from a machine that slots into about a $2000 gap between true dive compressors and strictly airgun compressor like a Shoebox. While that gap may seem laughably small to the divers, it is a sizable one for air gunners.

I'm lucky enough to afford a Bauer Jr for topping off a single 97 Cu Ft carbon fiber tank from 4000 backup up to 4500 twice a month. It's a pitiful need compared to a diver's, but I wanted the extra clean dry air for my equipment. Not all are able to justify making the full leap. Hence, I investigate what was new to me as a possible contender. Personally, I think an airgun compressor ideally provides the same level of clean, dry air as for breathing. Our tanks face the same or higher pressures (typically 4500 PSI fills)

Thanks for filling in a little more about the Komptec. It's good to know.... assuming of course the info actually is about the Komptec.

 

[iain/hsm]

The Bauer, Coltri and Rix have another important feature to consider when choosing a brand.
Re sell value secondhand and a high disposal value and demand.

Franky after my first discussion on here earlier regarding the air gun and paint ball market
I dont think another so soon would go down too well.

As for the design sufice to say you are at the high end of possible for a 3 stage compressor, at attempting ambient to 4500 psi

The design loading and presure balance for the Bauer and Coltri I cannot state, but for the Rix its 5000psi

Now the air gun paintball market has the advantage in that pressure compression is rarely from ambient hence the claim for not using a 1500psi BPR regulator for filtration but to claim 8000psi is a joke for reasons I wont go into now.

The Komptec I can confirm is the old Monsam block, its good engineering to achieve a cheap contruction design and for that it works well, the availability of spares and the domination of Bauer was it's downfall maybe Komptec can pull it off but in the air gun compressor market to me it seems ignorance fasion and style prevail, that and being cheap.

Speaking personally I think discussions on this forum about paint ball et al should be discorouged, we know where they are so to speak and to my mind Scubaboard as a forum for divers would be well placed to distance themselves from this plethora of fashion, imported junk and jamming up this forum section for divers with there "help me with my scrap junk for paintball questions" Iain

 

[Guy Kuo]

I apologize if asking a question here is discouraged unless one is a diver. The same separation of groups also exists between airgun and paintball. Although a sharing of information is useful, one does sense the airgun community looking down their noses at paintballers.

That said, thanks Iain for what you were willing to share. There is nowhere else I could have gotten the Monsam block information.

Guy
A lowly, non-diver

 

[iain/hsm]

Hey don't apologise to me no need.

But from my position you must understand that any comment I make in forum regarding air compressor are from a professional divers perspective purely for divers.
To produce a breathing air or compressed breathing gas to be used under pressure has a much greater responsibility and consiquence if the advise given is wrong or misunderstood.

It has nothing to do with looking down our nose, far from it but its a totally different application and consequence.
In my position the two (divers/airguns) don't mix and cannot be tolerated on a divers forum for fear of mistake given or wrong advance taken.

You may have noticed we are engaged in a similar discussion on a previous post, the consequence of paint ball junk compressors from China.

As far as Mohnsam is concerned they were originally designed as a divers compressor so valid in context within a divers forum in my book.

If you need to take up any further references regarding Mohnsam (spelling now corrected) then the following references may help.

INGENIEUR-BÜRO MOHNSAM

As for confirmation the Komptec is a Mohnsam the following below:

http://eu.komptec.com/manuals/Komptec_Compressor_11_15.pdf

Kind regards

Iain ( a lowly ex commercial diver retired )

 

[Guy Kuo]

Thanks for the links, Iain.

I totally agree with your assessment that a compressor designed without the air quality, endurance, and flow rate needs of divers should never be used for supplying breathing air.

Going in the opposite direction is actually a reasonable and good thing. Clean, breathable, dry air is ideal for airgun use. The lesser compressors are sometimes used, but they create risks to equipment and safety. Precision airgun HPA is at a higher service pressure than paintball. (We warn air gunners not to use fittings designed for paintball due to their lower working pressure limits) Most air rifles require at least 3,000 PSI to completely fill. The more advanced ones fill to 3600 PSI. As a consequence, we keep our tanks continually at high pressures for the air to be even useful. That 4,000 to 4,500 PSI air is in SCBA tanks. The only difference is that the fill adapters and flow valves for rifles instead of breathing. Moisture getting into the tanks and lines is just as deleterious as for SCUBA equipment. Whether the tank is intended for breathing or air rifle usage, it's just as deadly if it fails under pressure. Particulate and hydrocarbon contamination also fouls our equipment. If the hydrocarbon is flammable and it is at HPA pressure, it's an explosive risk to air gunners.

So, yes a dive compressor is pretty much ideal for air gun usage. The very characteristics that make a compressor acceptable for breathable air make it very good for airguns. The differences are that you CAN get a way (for a while anyway) with a bit less stringency so long as one does not promote corrosion and explosive contamination. Ideally, one would strive for breathing quality air. It's not absolute, but definitely desirable.

I went with a dive compressor (Bauer JR) because after purchasing a "junk" compressor I was horrified by the shortcuts taken in water separation, filtering, and hydrocarbon control. I am very happy I made the jump. I'd have every air gunner use a breathing air level compressor if money were no object. Reality can't be overcome and air gunners will continually try to find something cheaper, but good enough.

A low end, diving compressor might be ideal. Airgun air volume needs are very small compared to diving. Personally, I will probably run my Bauer Jr for 10 - 12 hours / YEAR to meet my needs. 3 CFM is fast enough that I can top off a tank in a reasonable time. My run time is short enough that a low duty cycle Bauer Jr should stand up to my usage easily. A lower end dive compressor that is priced like a Komptec AND produces breathing quality air and has adequate lifespan is the holy grail for air gunners. Basically, find something with good quality air, but trade off absolute max hours lifespan for lower cost. This is only reasonable due to the lowered total air volume needs compared to diving.

There are some air gunners with much higher volume requirements, and they do go for a full scale, big boy, dive compressor.

I have been asked to testi a new design (Chinese) compressor that is about to be released. The details of that unit are not important to this discussion, but It was while pondering its market slot that I learned about the mysterious Komptec.

Thanks again for the links re Komptec. It might be a winner for air gun usage even if it is only an "also ran" in the diving arena. If a 3 CFM dive compressor can reach 50 - 100 hours without a rebuild and delivers breathing quality air it is in the running.

Dive compressor <---- Ideal for air guns too. It's the level one should strive towards.

 

[anothergerman]

Hi,

for the Komtec KT 90 I can tell something.

Searching a lot in the net, talking to people in different forums and so on I choosed 2 years ago buying one, but the KT 70 type, wich is the smaller one (smaller Piston on 1st stage and lower rpm speed).
The reasons for it:
- Good price
- Low Price for spare parts
- No parts (like springs, valves, Piston-Rings) have to be changed after some years like f. e. Bauer where you have to change parts every 2 years. Those parts only have to be changed after 500 hours. Good for me, because my compressor runs only 30 to 40 hours a year, so 500 hours means for me no regular partchange.
- Very small
- Good housing, no hot or moving parts can be reached – good for me, because I have kids at home and you don’t know what they are doing when you are outside.
- Simple design, if you don’t have two left hands, you can do the service by yourself. There are no special tools needed, like f. e. Bauer
- The filter can be filled by yourself very easily, then it’s very cheap and you can change molsieve and carbon more often to be always save with the air quality.
- The design of the block is about 30 years old, no rocket-science, but bulletproof.

But if you think about one, you should note:
- It’s a small company, there’s no service-net like Bauer; you should be able to service it by yourself
- Maybe longer delivery time, it’s possible that they produce the compressor after your order, when there’s no one on stock (I waited some weeks)
- Maybe longer delivery time for spare parts; I choosed to buy the main spare parts to have them at home
- Check oillevel before every start, there is a noticeably consumption, as someone else wrote.

I’m happy with this “small-block”, runs fine.
As someone wrote, it’s the same like the old Mohnsam Mini, later sold as Komptec Minni classic an now, with a full housing it's called KT50/70/90.
A short time it was also sold under another brand called IDE T70 EM with a very nice pipe-frame, but this version is not longer available for buying, only for rent: Mietkompressoren - BAVARIA KOMPRESSOREN

For my decision this description of the Mohnsam Mini was also interesting:
Compressor – Learn to Dive Today Blog

 

[Guy Kuo]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I was pretty gun shy about asking for any more information after the initial rounds in this thread. Much appreciate your hands on insights.

 

[Bill_Komptec]

Good discussion about Komptec and the KT-90. We at Komptec are working to expand our presence globally. I appreciate Garibaldi's comments. Komptec services the European market from our facility in Rodgau. I'm setting up a formal US operation based in California, with warehousing also on the East Coast. We now offer the Komptec compressors in the US, visit us at Komptec.com.

As the thread points out, these are designed for diving air. They are German designed and built units. Others with an interest, please drop me a line and I'll provide more info.

Regards, Bill