Thinking of buying a compressor...

[Spray25]

I'm considering buying a compressor for filling my own tanks. I have looked a bit at the Max Air 35. I can't decide gas or electric. Also what is the general opinion of these compressors? Is there a different one I should consider? Lastly where is the most economical place to purchase a compressor?

 

[Mverick]

I'm kinda wanting one too and would like to hear others answers.

Are you planning on using it to travel with you or for home. I want to take it with so I'm interested in a gas model myself. Kinda hard to plug it in at the hotel. Usually they get upset about that.

 

[omar]

Why?

Are you fed up with the morons at Boise Water Sports?

The Max-Air has been described as a disposable compressor by some.

I have an I-R type 30 (had to look at the label Pug ;-)). It will run all day every day. A RIX, Bauer or similar will work as well.

If you are looking to save money forget it now. A compressor requires filters, oil, and TLC. If you want it for portability than a gas is a must. But it always seemed silly to me to have a gas driven compressor because of the possibility of getting the CO/CO2/TPH etc into the breathing gas.

omar

 

[Spray25]

Omar,

I'm not familiar with I-R, please tell me more. Where did you buy it?

I'm not doing it to save money. It's all convience. I've wondered about the gas models to. The portability would be nice, but I don't want to suck up the exhaust.

 

[The Chairman]

The most trusted name in pneumatics.

 

[Spray25]

Thanks Doc, so where is the best place to look for one? What can one expect to pay for filters etc.. for on going maint.?

 

[The Chairman]

I defer to Omar and the Pugster... I just know the company from being in the Automotive field for 30+ years!

 

[omar]

A good oil/water seperator is ~$500, a 32" filter tower is ~$900, a hyperpure tower ~$1200.

Media for the grade E tower is $75 which lasts for 14,000 cuft. the hyperpure filter is $75 for 7,000 cuft. A good synthetic oil is $6-8 qt. You only need 2 max.

A fill whip, manifold, lines, storage bottles and gauges also add a lot to the cost. In the end the cheapest part of my setup was the compressor.

I got a rebuilt one with new 5HP electric motor for $2,500. An okay deal. It has a specific setup that I needed/wanted. It has very good interstage coolers with fins on the lines which are wound around the fan. This cools the gas significantly. It also has cast iron heads which handle the additional heat that it is subjected to from running a helium mix through it.

omar

 

[Rick Murchison]

Originally posted by omar
I have an I-R type 30

Omar,
I've got to be missing something here... Iwent to the IR site & the type 30 they had there has a max output of 125 psi...
Thanks,
Rick

 

[Uncle Pug]

Well I do have a final filter moisture separator but really don't need to change the filter nearly as often as others might... don't need a hyperpure filter either to pump nitrox... and I don't need synthetic oil... don't need any oil... and they said that running trymix through it I would be replacing piston rings at 40 hrs but so far 90 hrs and still pumping... I do have an extra 3rd stage piston/ring set ($100) ready to slip in (easy to do) when the time comes and a set of rings to put on the old piston I take out so it will be ready for a back up.

The RIX SA6B is a great compressor and I could power it with a Honda gas engine if I wanted it portable but I really like running it with a 5 hp electric....

One of the guys that works for RIX has both an SA6 and and SA3... he runs the SA3 with an electric motor because at 3 cfm it is too slow to have a gas engine banging away for a bunch of fills... he uses the SA6 with a gas engine because it is twice as fast and they don't have to put up with the noise as long... something you might want to consider if you are going portable... how long can you stand to listen to a small gas engine... how long can the other campers or boaters put up with you too?

I will say that Omar's I-R is probably a lot quieter than my RIX... because the RIX doesn't have a crank case the backs of the pistons, the rods and the swash plate are exposed to ambient air and I think that is why the thing is louder that similar output compressors.