First airtank experience 🙁

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SuperiorSounds

SuperiorSounds

Member
Jan 13, 2020
13
5
VA
This whole situation has been one for the books, and I want to share my experiences with a few places. 

I recently bought a mint condition Daystate Redwolf HP as my first air rifle. I am a buy once, cry once type guy on most things.

I had been doing my reading on tanks before actually buying my rifle and I knew I wanted an Omega 100 HP3. Getting it refilled would be somewhat a hassle so I wanted all the volume I could get to minimize travel times.

When it came time to buy it, to my surprise there were none in stock anywhere! I searched and searched, and eventually came across a Top Air Guns site that claimed to have them. I was hoping to shoot about 2 weeks from that date, so I emailed them about availability, they confirmed they had them "In stock" and ready to ship. I purchased it that night Jan 20th, and even paid for expedited shipping.

3 days passed, no shipping updates, it was coming ground so I expected a week delivery time. I emailed to see if there was a tracking number for the order, I got a reply email stating the following "I set up your order Monday night order yesterday so it could ship today… it won’t make it to you by ground until Tuesday or Wednesday of next week." No big deal, I'll just wait it out.

I then got an email from ups, for an order coming from Arizona. Airguns of Arizona to be exact. Top air guns did not have them in stock and the delay in shipping was because AOA showed them out of stock as well. It was drop shipped, arrived on the 30th, it was gorgeous on arrival, and I was happy!

I had already done my research on dive shops in my area and the closest one that could handle a 4500psi fill is 1 hour from home, but only 30 minutes from my place of work, good enough!

I took it there the first chance I got, Feb 6th after sending them photos of the exact valve to confirm they could fill it for me. I got there, they had enough pressure in their bank, I'd get it filled and be on my way in just 15 minutes! Unfortunately, they immediately noticed a leak. It was in the bleeder assembly. They said they'd handle it but unfortunately I couldn't wait as long as they needed so I left it. They drained it, applied thread tape, attempted to refill it, only to find another leak. This time in the tank pressure gauge.

I Immediately emailed TAG, got a response back the next day that a replacement valve would be shipped immediately. It came in, the new one had significantly more thread sealer on it, I dropped it off to the scuba store the next day. They had some misunderstanding in removing it, I called AoA, spoke to Rick who was absolutely more than happy to help. He explained to me the process, I relayed the info, they got it swapped, and filled on Tuesday, I finally have it back today!



I'm just a little disappointed that;

A. I wasn't told the entire truth about Top Air Guns inventory.

B. I bought what I thought was the absolute best Air tank I could get and had these issues when I found absolutely nothing bad about them online. 

Sorry for the long rant, if was just a bummer of a first experience in the air gun world. 
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I hear ya. 

I had a similar experience with purchasing a "made in America" anchor for my boat. The company told me they had them in stock and ready to ship. I was going to be passing through their area on my way to my sailing destination and asked if I could pick it up to save the shipping cost and they agreed. I paid in advance and it was supposed to be waiting for me. I called when I left home and they confirmed the anchor was ready and waiting for me when I would arrive 3 days later. Upon arriving, they informed me the anchors were overdue in arriving, and they would refund me my monies within a "timely manner". After a lively "discussion", they admitted they no longer manufacture the products in the states and have a facility in China. I was gone for 7 weeks and when I returned home, I still hadn't received my $180 refund.

#1 They misrepresented their product.

#2 They lied about their inventory.

#3 They lied about my refund.

Lucky for me I paid for the anchor with my credit card and was reimbursed. 

That boating supply company is no longer in business. 






 
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It sure is frustrating when you do your research and put out the big bucks for quality and these issues come up. I have had big expectations get deflated from similar issues when making big purchases. Best advice I can give is to just take a deep breath and be thankful that it’s not worse than it is and move forward. It’s not worth the worry in the grand scheme of life.


Congratulations on a nice rifle and getting set up to enjoy it! It’s great to be able to have such nice things available to us AND to be able to afford purchasing them. So many others out there have a tough time just keeping a roof over their heads and their families fed. We have it good!
 
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I expect you can look forward to a few more transactions like that. It looks like I am not the only one after all. This is the way 25 to 50% of my airgun and accessory purchases go. Things that I receive are defective, things are not what I ordered, things are held up because they were really out of stock, things are held up in route for weeks for no reason or what I receive is broken in transit. If I send a something back what I receive in return is in worse shape than what I sent out. Poor Poor me I live in the first world where these kinds of things matter? ;^) I forget sometimes that they really don't. But the addiction tries to make it seem otherwise.

You have a nice air rifle and an great air set up congrats.
 
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Cautionary tale about high pressure air tanks. i use to scuba dive and a buddy asked if he could use my tank to fill up his tire, I said sure but be careful. I had it set up with a hose already so that i could inflate inner tubes underwater for salvage work.

He said that his tire stood up, got wider then stood up again right before it blew up in his face.

Sorry if off topic but with your hassle it reminded me of the story.

Maybe you can try the local fire department to refill your tank. If it's a volunteer department then a few bucks thrown to them for beer always seems to work.

I just looked at tank prices and WOW, why are they three times what a scuba tank costs?
 
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Hmmm...I'm looking at buying a tank here very soon too.

I'm hoping for the best..! Hoping for people that "know" their product, and can relay that information to me.

Please...check it "before..." you put it into the UPS/USPS/etc. truck..!



Mike
Click to expand...

Aloha Mike,

if your looking for the best air tank that’s hard to say which one is the best because of the price differences. 
I went with a JB tiger air tank, with the slow fill valve and dual gauge set up and his longer hose with foster fittings on both end so that I wouldn’t have to worry about having my air hose drag on the ground. I was really impressed that I also bought a guppy tank that fits in my back pack when out hunting in the lava rocks, I can refill my cricket or slayer several time after those missed shots. Yes JB air tanks are more expensive but to me it was well worth it. 
Aloha, Keone
 
Upvote 0
Hmmm...I'm looking at buying a tank here very soon too.

I'm hoping for the best..! Hoping for people that "know" their product, and can relay that information to me.

Please...check it "before..." you put it into the UPS/USPS/etc. truck..!



Mike
Click to expand...

Aloha Mike,

if your looking for the best air tank that’s hard to say which one is the best because of the price differences. 
I went with a JB tiger air tank, with the slow fill valve and dual gauge set up and his longer hose with foster fittings on both end so that I wouldn’t have to worry about having my air hose drag on the ground. I was really impressed that I also bought a guppy tank that fits in my back pack when out hunting in the lava rocks, I can refill my cricket or slayer several time after those missed shots. Yes JB air tanks are more expensive but to me it was well worth it. 
Aloha, Keone
Click to expand...

Kaeokini -

I didn't mean I was looking for the "best" air tank. There is no such thing. Everyone has reasons that their choice is the "best".

That comment or word, is better taken as..."I hope I don't have problems..!" Like..."best wishes"..."best luck".

Mike




 
Upvote 0
Cautionary tale about high pressure air tanks. i use to scuba dive and a buddy asked if he could use my tank to fill up his tire, I said sure but be careful. I had it set up with a hose already so that i could inflate inner tubes underwater for salvage work.

He said that his tire stood up, got wider then stood up again right before it blew up in his face.

Sorry if off topic but with your hassle it reminded me of the story.

Maybe you can try the local fire department to refill your tank. If it's a volunteer department then a few bucks thrown to them for beer always seems to work.

I just looked at tank prices and WOW, why are they three times what a scuba tank costs?
Click to expand...

SCBA tanks are 3 times more expensive than scuba tanks because they hold 4500 psi vs. 3300 psi or less for a scuba tank in 1/3 the size. Look at a cutaway of an SCBA tank and you'll see that it has an aluminum bladder inside for weight reduction. In order to protect the firefigther who wears a 4500 psi tank on his back, it has a thick wound layer of carbon fiber thread around it to protect the wearer from a catastrophic failure. In the airgun world, you get 4 times the fills for 1/3 the overall size and 1/3 the weight of lugging around a scuba tank. Bottom line is that they cost more because they hold more pressure in less space and are more expensive to manufacture. I started with an aluminum 100cf scuba tank that held 3,300 psi for my fill source. I quickly learned that it was a PITA and not suited for my purposes. Scuba tanks are great for divers, not great for air gunners.
 
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