Compressor to fill 9L bottle.

In order to get longevity from any compressor has a lot to do with how you operate it, Yong Heng for example you need to never start it or stop it under pressure also a good cooling system helps. I replaced the water pump on the one I owned with a Ryobi wet tile saw pump from Home Depot. It didn't pump more water, it was just more dependable than the one that came with the unit. I also would put a bag of ice in the 5gal bucket of water to help with the cooling. I have a 109cu/ft CF bottle and would run the compressor for 30 minutes to top it off from 200 to 250 bar. I used a lot of air filling A 480cc bottle on my Impact. The compressor lasted around a year maybe a little more. I felt for the money I wasn't expecting more. Most of these compressors even the more expensive ones are made in China and re-branded.

After the Y/H died I said F it and bought an Alkin the same fill as the Y/H in 10 minutes. Fast quiet and no stink lol

I've filled four 60 minute scba tanks to 4500 psi from empty with my cs4. I gave it lots of breaks to let it cool down though.

I also recommend getting a one way valve to put between the tank and compressor. This way the air in the tank does not back feed into the compressor while letting it cool down. I have a Best Fittings Valve that works great, but other have made their own my using a male foster fill fitting attached to a female foster fitting.

Poke-E said:

Good idea......

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. . . it is a good idea, but just make sure you have a way to vent the high pressure air on both sides of the check valve . . . .

AlanMcD said:

. . . it is a good idea, but just make sure you have a way to vent the high pressure air on both sides of the check valve . . . .

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If filling a tank, you should have a pressure release on the tank and the compressor has one also, so there shouldn't be any issues.

I would NOT fill a 9L bottle on a small compressor.
BUT ! boosting it back up to 300 say from 250 / 200 BAR,,,,, that i assume would be feasible.

Peashooter said:

I would NOT fill a 9L bottle on a small compressor.
BUT ! boosting it back up to 300 say from 250 / 200 BAR,,,,, that i assume would be feasible.

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It just takes longer, that's all. The lower fill pressures are half the time, but less than half the load. Breaks are still need to taken to manage things, but it is able to be done.

The hardest work for the compressor is actually the topping off of the tank - that is putting the most strain on it, but that is what they are designed for (if it is a compressor designed to fill tanks, which the CX4 is).

I filled my 9L tank with my Shoebox Max compressor just fine. Granted, it took 13 hours of runtime over two days to get there, but it got there. I let it do the first 6 hours pretty much uninterrupted, as it only ended up a bit over 2000 psi at that point. From then on it got more breaks and checks, but they were still about 2 hours a session, which is nothing for a Shoebox.

The CS4 is rated to run about 5 hours continuously putting out air, so it would have very little issue filling a 9L tank in a few limited sessions.

FLgunner said:

If filling a tank, you should have a pressure release on the tank and the compressor has one also, so there shouldn't be any issues.

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Agreed - just don't then assume you could fill a gun with one without making sure there is a vent there in the line between the check valve and the gun . . .

Yeah i have noticed with my 4 CYL compressor that getting from 180 to 250 are easy VS from 250 to 300.
and topping up my friends 12 L 200 BAR bottle from 100 to 200, also a fairly rapid deal VS my 12 L 300 BAR bottle from 200 / 180 and up

AlanMcD said:

It just takes longer, that's all. The lower fill pressures are half the time, but less than half the load. Breaks are still need to taken to manage things, but it is able to be done.

The hardest work for the compressor is actually the topping off of the tank - that is putting the most strain on it, but that is what they are designed for (if it is a compressor designed to fill tanks, which the CX4 is).

I filled my 9L tank with my Shoebox Max compressor just fine. Granted, it took 13 hours of runtime over two days to get there, but it got there. I let it do the first 6 hours pretty much uninterrupted, as it only ended up a bit over 2000 psi at that point. From then on it got more breaks and checks, but they were still about 2 hours a session, which is nothing for a Shoebox.

The CS4 is rated to run about 5 hours continuously putting out air, so it would have very little issue filling a 9L tank in a few limited sessions.

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Didnt they stop making Shoebox? the advantage they had was low rpm so they didnt get hot.

coastal drifter said:

Didnt they stop making Shoebox? the advantage they had was low rpm so they didnt get hot.

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Unfortunately, yes, they did stop making them. But they are a rock solid compressor, and those of us lucky enough to have them are doing all we can to keep them running. I have a Shoebox Max that is 11 years old with over 300 hours on it and it shows no signs of quitting. If it does, I have lots of spare parts, and even a spare compressor - I liked it so much that I bought a lightly used Shoebox F10 that came up for sale (with less than ten hours of total run time on it, including my limited use of it so far) to have as a worst case spare unit in case mine ever dies. The best part is that the F10 came with a stash of some spare parts too, so I think I'm set for the rest of my life with HPA.

When the Yong Heng came out, most people wanted nothing to do with the Shoebox anymore because it was so much slower, and that is what ultimately put it out of business. I view the slow speed as a feature, not a problem - the box is so well designed that it can run on its own as a "set it and forget it" compressor as it simply won't overheat. I typically run mine about 45-60 minutes or so most weeks topping up my 9L and 2L tanks hooked together for a 11L fill while I'm off mowing the lawn or doing some other chore. I come back to it later and it is done and patiently waiting to be unhooked. The Shoebox is awesome . . .