Does everyone elevate their pcp guns above the compressor? I have seen a few YouTubers by now with compressors hooked up to rifles. Strings of filters in some cases and in many cases if not all the rifle was at the bottom and not elevated in any way. It bothers me everytime I see it. Remember gravity and elevate your weapon so it’s above the compressor , the compressed air in most cases is pumped in slow , gravity will keep it in whatever filter you are using. If you put the rifle lower than the compressor any liquid water in the pressurized line is going to the bottom where your expensive rifle is at. I arrange my tri pod for prone on the floor and elevate it a few inches above the compressor before filling it, you will get relatively dry air even with that Mickey Mouse 2 inch filter that comes with most portable compressors. Depending on how you are set up it’s a good way to see if you’re getting a lot of liquid water as it will come out of the bleeder valve when you shut down. That alone can save you some trouble I figure. Just thought I would throw this out there in case it might help someone. Happy shooting everyone.
A stupid question
- Thread starter Panzerfaust
- Start date
Not stupid at all, actually quite astute. YES, it is a good idea to keep the gun higher than the fill line and compressor. I used to use three GX CS2 compressors and with only a relatively tiny moisture filter, to fill several pcps. After a while I opened the air cylinders on all eight of my pcp rifles and then opened the GX. What I found was the guns were pristine, with not a trace of moisture anywere. The GX on the other hand had rust in the gauge block, the check valve block and the tiny filters in the GX itself were stained brown from rust.
I had always been careful to keep the pump below the gun, with the fill line running up to the gun and apparently it worked well here in WV, in my air conditioned garage. I concluded that if I had opened the pump and kept it cleaned up, say once a month or so, there'd be no future rust problems. As I'm and HVAC business owner, I had N2 on hand all the time, so it was a no brainer to ditch all the filters and save the money spent on keeping a larger filter stocked with cartridges, and simply feed by compressor nitrogen, problem solved. At ~9 psi, the compressor fills a tad faster and no moisture, a win win situation.
I had always been careful to keep the pump below the gun, with the fill line running up to the gun and apparently it worked well here in WV, in my air conditioned garage. I concluded that if I had opened the pump and kept it cleaned up, say once a month or so, there'd be no future rust problems. As I'm and HVAC business owner, I had N2 on hand all the time, so it was a no brainer to ditch all the filters and save the money spent on keeping a larger filter stocked with cartridges, and simply feed by compressor nitrogen, problem solved. At ~9 psi, the compressor fills a tad faster and no moisture, a win win situation.
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No questions are stupid i have bin doing it by accident the entire time because i have a fill station and thats the way its set up great point
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I’m right beside you in Virginia. I’m able to do automotive service work on ac systems, the place near me will remove all the Freon for nothing and the rest is really fairly simple if you can follow a procedure list and use your brain a little. so I understand the basic concepts. I also own a vacuum pump.I figured I could pull a vacuum on my gun tanks as sort of a maintenance type of thing every now and then.I actually didn’t consider how these tanks are put together , a person can literally disassemble them , that should have occurred to me. I’m glad you replied, thank you. That makes me feel much better about those tanks in general. I was considering nitrogen, I already have 2 tanks for a tig and mig welders. I could easily get an extra tank for shooting. I will have to look into how much more this hobby is going to cost me now
I got a big bore rifle , AEA Megalodon, I was very surprised at its accuracy, it would be more enjoyable if I could tether it at the bench. I don’t have a ton of free time, so limited shots hasn’t bothered me much. I need to work out some hold overs at longer ranges. Tethered would make that much easier to do. I’ve almost recovered from the initial whack to my wallet from getting started with these pcp guns. I’m trying to decide on a smaller caliber, maybe something accurate and regulated 25 caliber or I’ve seen some really accurate 30’s demoed on YouTube. I’m not really keen on going below 25 cal. I have those covered already really. I’m waiting on someone to develop some sabots to send 357 from a .495 50 cal, it has to be just a matter of time. My brain is working overtime on how I can make them myself. I made a decent moderator starting with a muzzle brake I got for the rifle , I set up five tight baffles for the slug to pass through , cone shaped to strip away the air from behind the slug as it exits. It is fairly effective but it weighs a ton , I used on hand materials so it’s thin walled steel pipe. I’m going to attempt to copy it using lighter material. I don’t care about noise, it’s removing the turbulence at the muzzle being my main goal. Sorry to go on and on. Thank you for your reply.Upvote 0
If you are pumping air and are using an appropriate desiccant drying filter, then no - there is no need to have the gun at the highest point in the fill chain. Once the air has passed through the desiccant, there will be no more condensation to concern yourself with, so relative height would be irrelevant.
The basis of the idea is that having the air flow path go vertical will result in any condensation draining back down the line to the low point. With that in mind, it probably makes sense to have the desiccant filter above the pump as it will last longer if it does not have to deal with liquid water. But after the filter it won't matter.
And anyone using a powered compressor really should have a desiccant drier in the path to whatever is being filled - gun or tank.
The basis of the idea is that having the air flow path go vertical will result in any condensation draining back down the line to the low point. With that in mind, it probably makes sense to have the desiccant filter above the pump as it will last longer if it does not have to deal with liquid water. But after the filter it won't matter.
And anyone using a powered compressor really should have a desiccant drier in the path to whatever is being filled - gun or tank.
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I'm with Alan. I don't fill my guns directly from my Yong Heng I use it to fill a bottle and fill the guns from that. My air lines flow upward to the two air filters and then downhill to the bottle. If I filled a gun it would be about at the level of the bottle. I know moisture condenses in the lines going to the filters because I open the valve every 5 minutes and moisture comes out. But after the filters there better not be any moisture. I have never seen signs of it and I have taken most of my guns apart for other reasons so I think I would have seen it. You don't need your guns above the compressor if you are feeding them dry air. But you can reduce the load on your filters if you slope the lines going to them back to the compressor and then vent the lines as you fill.
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I wouldn't place a ton of trust in inline air filters. I'm not saying they don't work, but I am saying they don't work like magic. First, is hold up time, it takes a bit of "dwell" to give the dessicant time to absorb moisture.
Second, if you look at the cotton filters in the GX, for instance, they get soaked and this is the way to stop the bulk of moisture from reaching your gun.
Third, before compressor filters have been shown to work very little. Filters on the high side work marginally better.
The real question is just how much moisture airguns can handle. Unless you use air from a scuba fill station, the air will have some moisture in it, but I believe it is minimal if you do your part. That means blowing out moisture occasionally, line, bottle and/or pump below the gun, etc. Pumping in a cool environment, where relative humidity is lower will also help, like a air conditioned garage. I believe if you're vigilant, and keep up with maintenance, then the problem is minimal unless you live in tropical humid environments.
As I said before, if you can feed nitrogen to your compressor, then that is the way to avoid all the hassle of filters and such. A 40 cu/ft cylinder costs about $17 to refill, and for me, shooting a lot, lasts more than a month, sometimes a lot more.
Second, if you look at the cotton filters in the GX, for instance, they get soaked and this is the way to stop the bulk of moisture from reaching your gun.
Third, before compressor filters have been shown to work very little. Filters on the high side work marginally better.
The real question is just how much moisture airguns can handle. Unless you use air from a scuba fill station, the air will have some moisture in it, but I believe it is minimal if you do your part. That means blowing out moisture occasionally, line, bottle and/or pump below the gun, etc. Pumping in a cool environment, where relative humidity is lower will also help, like a air conditioned garage. I believe if you're vigilant, and keep up with maintenance, then the problem is minimal unless you live in tropical humid environments.
As I said before, if you can feed nitrogen to your compressor, then that is the way to avoid all the hassle of filters and such. A 40 cu/ft cylinder costs about $17 to refill, and for me, shooting a lot, lasts more than a month, sometimes a lot more.
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Thanks for your response, I use one I bought separately and the small one that came with the compressor. I made the post actually because I know there are people using just that small filter with the gun on the floor. Even in conditioned air that situation can leave you with a wet fill probe. I’m new to these pcp guns, the second time I filled the rifle tanks that happened and I wanted to kick myself for having that gun on the floor below that compressor. Since the additional filter I ordered arrived and that has been less of a concern. Also, everytime I post on here I get back information I didn’t expect as a result because of people like you. I normally learn one or two more things about all this in general. I’m really enjoying the pcp rifle, more than I thought I would. Thanks again for your reply.
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I’m going to check on an additional tank Monday. I like the idea of using nitrogen , I don’t exactly follow “feeding it to the compressor” , well I follow it , I just lack the technical knowledge to visualize what you are doing exactly. You are doing something different than the way I thought it worked. What I had in my mind was a regulator on the tank hooked to the fill probe the keep the gun tanks charged at the regulated pressure.
Thanks for your response, I never considered opening the bleeder valve occasionally. I like that idea. You guys are great for gaining knowledge from. Thanks again for your reply.
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Thank you for your response. This hobby is much more envolved than I was expecting . Not a bad thing, just requires proper set up to get the most out of it I guess. Thanks again for your response.
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Nitrogen is the way. You need a tank a 40cuft would be a good start, also need a regulator that you can set to about 10 psi or a flowmeter at 20cf hr
a piece of hose from the regulator w/fittings for you compressor all compressors have a single air intake port most that I have seen are 1/4" npt inlet
The GX cs2 need a 1/2" fitting for the handle intake, Tuxing ,Yong Heng and gxcs4 are all 1/4 inch.
let me see if i have some pics
a piece of hose from the regulator w/fittings for you compressor all compressors have a single air intake port most that I have seen are 1/4" npt inlet
The GX cs2 need a 1/2" fitting for the handle intake, Tuxing ,Yong Heng and gxcs4 are all 1/4 inch.
let me see if i have some pics
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I guess somebody had a bad experience with an inline filter. All I can say is I use a stock YH "tampon" type filter first followed by a medium sized filter with the plastic inner cartridge filled with color changing dessicant and I see no signs of moisture in my guns. The dessicant changes color but it does it slowly taking more than 6 fills to change enough I replace it. I change out the tampon after each tank fill. It obviously gets some oil and in the summer I can squeeze moisture out of it. My compressor is in an unconditioned space and it gets really humid here in SC. But still no signs of moisture in my guns.
Nitrogen is advantageous because it does not hold or transport moisture. Air is mostly nitrogen but the oxygen we need transports moisture. I agree feeding the compressor pure nitrogen would resolve any moisture concern. I would still use the stock YH filter to catch oil, however.
Nitrogen is advantageous because it does not hold or transport moisture. Air is mostly nitrogen but the oxygen we need transports moisture. I agree feeding the compressor pure nitrogen would resolve any moisture concern. I would still use the stock YH filter to catch oil, however.
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Nitrogen vs air has nothing to do with holding water. How much water vapor a container can hold is dependent on the vapor pressure of H20 at a given temperature and the volume of the container, pretty much independent of the other gases in the container. The reason a tank of nitrogen doesn't have any water is because you paid to have a tank of Ni filtered to a specific purity from a air vendor. You can buy O2, C02, and Argon tanks without water too.
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