My new fill station, it has me leaning towards a compressor now...

[blkbagger]

I have a scuba tank, its too heavy to be portable, I have a ninja bottle, it's my "bug out" air source and I like to leave it full... I also have a nice hill pump... I'm too old for hand pumping... I recently purchased a small used 30 minute SCBA tank, I cleaned it up some and needed to find a fill station suitable for it... I looked on the internet found some junk chrome plated brass stuff from china (NO WAY would I trust that stuff with HPA) and couldn't find any American made fill stations that fit my needs, another AGN Member recommended I try AIrTanksPlus and look at something called a "stik man"... Very nice setup, quite elaborate, too elaborate for my needs, then I stumbled on another product on the AirTanksPlus website, it's called a "Stik Boy" it fit my needs for a small, portable fill station... It's perfect for my Scott Airpack 30 minute SCBA...

Now it has me thinking about a compressor...

Ken

 

[mcoulter]

I just checked and my compressor survey has 292 responses from owners of a bunch of different models. Check it out here:

https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/compressor-survey-results/

And yes, with tanks owning a compressor is just the icing on the cake!



FWIW, after putting the survey together and collecting some responses, I decided that a Shoebox F10 was the best option for me. I have been 100% satisfied with it.

 

[bandg]

I just checked and my compressor survey has 292 responses from owners of a bunch of different models. Check it out here:

https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/compressor-survey-results/

And yes, with tanks owning a compressor is just the icing on the cake!



FWIW, after putting the survey together and collecting some responses, I decided that a Shoebox F10 was the best option for me. I have been 100% satisfied with it.

Thanks again for starting and compiling that survey. Lots of very good information in there.

As to the Shoebox, it seems that the only possible disadvantage to it is the speed. And I say possible because not everyone is concerned with that so it wouldn't be a disadvantage to them. The Shoebox is American made, seems to be reliable, basically simple and easy to use, and service if needed seems uncomplicated. Not a bad combination.

Enjoy your Shoebox.

 

[mcoulter]

Yup. It's slow and you need to feed it with another compressor. I have an old, under-powered oil-less shop compressor that I use to feed it. I'm just waiting for it to die so i can buy a better shop compressor. It should be able to maintain a 120 or so PSI to feed the shoebox. Mine can't do that, so I take an extra penalty in fill speed... but I have grown to trust the autoshut off on it so I just let it run (I'm always within a distance where I can hear it *just in case*).

I contend that it's easier to manage the shop compressor than the cool water supply Yong Heng compressors need.

Oh, did I mention that I posted a "wanted to buy" ad here and got mine cheaply? ;-) 

 

[douger]

looks good 

 

[blkbagger]

I won't be spending my money on a compressor that needs a compressor to function, nor will I spend my money on a hand pump powered by a motor or a real POS "Suck Dung" or whatever it's called from china...

I believe in buy once, cry once... I'm going to try and find a dive rated compressor to fill my SCBA, SCUBA and Ninja bottle, now that I have this very nice portable Stik Boy and Scott AirPack bottle... 

Just my .02

Ken

 

[blkbagger]

I did make one modification to the microbore hose that came attached to my AirTanksPlus Stik Boy, I changed the QD to a long reach type from DonnyFL...

Ken

 

[bandg]

I won't be spending my money on a compressor that needs a compressor to function, nor will I spend my money on a hand pump powered by a motor or a real POS "Suck Dung" or whatever it's called from china...

I believe in buy once, cry once... I'm going to try and find a dive rated compressor to fill my SCBA, SCUBA and Ninja bottle, now that I have this very nice portable Stik Boy and Scott AirPack bottle... 

Just my .02

Ken

Valid for you but not for others.

 

[Alan_B]

Nice setup.

Compressor Stages

One thing I found in my research was that a 4500 psi compressor should be three or four stages. The Shoebox is a three stage where the first stage is a commodity compressor, which is a great way to leverage large scale manufacturing and reduce overall procurement and maintenance costs. The SCUBA and SCBA compressors are three or four stage compressors made for long life and high quality dry air. The two stage compressors have a lot of mechanical stress and inefficiency (generate extra heat) which negatively impacts their reliability and life expectancy.

Even the hand pumps are three or four stages.

 

[bandg]

Nice setup.

Compressor Stages

One thing I found in my research was that a 4500 psi compressor should be three or four stages. The Shoebox is a three stage where the first stage is a commodity compressor, which is a great way to leverage large scale manufacturing and reduce overall procurement and maintenance costs. The SCUBA and SCBA compressors are three or four stage compressors made for long life and high quality dry air. The two stage compressors have a lot of mechanical stress and inefficiency (generate extra heat) which negatively impacts their reliability and life expectancy.

Even the hand pumps are three or four stages.

"Should be three or four stages". I would say that is probably correct IDEALLY. I would also say that IS going to cost more money. The two stage compressors (Yong Heng falls into that category I assume) are indeed under more stress and in general will not last as long as more advanced compressors. But they are inexpensive and many people have used them with success for their level of need. Seems this question is all relative to how much one wants to spend and how much risk they are willing to take with the smaller expenditure. Reports of Daystate failures have been reported and they seem to be regarded as excellent compressors. All relative.

 

[blkbagger]

I blew it a couple years ago, rather, I made a big mistake, a somewhat local dive shop went out of business and I had an opportunity to buy any one of three compressors made for diving and used and maintained by a dive shop, I believe two of them were Alpha Carette (sp?) I just know when I looked them up on the internet I was offered a great price back then and probably could have offered a lil less... I have a pancake style shop compressor, that's not the point, I want a singular self contained source of clean, dry air for my tanks and PCP air guns... I don't want to spend a fortune, not on a compressor nor on repairs... When the Aliens land and zap our power grid, I want to be self sufficient...

Just my .02

Ken

 

[Bigragu]

I have a scuba tank, its too heavy to be portable, I have a ninja bottle, it's my "bug out" air source and I like to leave it full... I also have a nice hill pump... I'm too old for hand pumping... I recently purchased a small used 30 minute SCBA tank, I cleaned it up some and needed to find a fill station suitable for it... I looked on the internet found some junk chrome plated brass stuff from china (NO WAY would I trust that stuff with HPA) and couldn't find any American made fill stations that fit my needs, another AGN Member recommended I try AIrTanksPlus and look at something called a "stik man"... Very nice setup, quite elaborate, too elaborate for my needs, then I stumbled on another product on the AirTanksPlus website, it's called a "Stik Boy" it fit my needs for a small, portable fill station... It's perfect for my Scott Airpack 30 minute SCBA...

Now it has me thinking about a compressor...

Ken

Just got home a few minutes ago from a drive to airtianksplus. Picked up a Stikboy like yours. Always knew of the quality that Gene carries over at Air Tanks Plus. I was at his place two weeks ago when I bough the Regman tethering regulator. I’ll tell you what, that thing is a must have in a PCP enthusiasts fill system set up. No wasting of precious air from constant bleeding after gun top offs. Shoot all day once connected, and you can dial in the sweet spot air pressure for your gun on the fly.



I had Gene make a custom hose for my Stikboy at 48” in length, for the sole purpose of being able to reach my Regman as it sits on my shooting table while the tank is on the ground. If any of you have never dealt with Gene, that dude is up there with the best of customer service folks that you all know. Top notch guy!



I told myself I didn’t need a Stikboy awhile back, as I had already ordered an eBay fill station from overseas for $41. It looked good, all clad in stainless steel, and told myself I hit the jackpot with such a sweet looking fill station at a great price. That’s is, till I used it. The old adage of “you get what you pay for” bit me again, and you’d think I’d have learned that after 57 years. Yeah, the fill station looked good, with it’s liquid filled gage and knurling on the tightening knob, but it would not keep air! Leaked like a sieve, and upon close inspection I see the end of the tip whee the metal rolls down, it wasn’t formed correctly and the edges were all jagged and upon tightening down into a SCBA tank it only tore the O ring. My next step was to try and polish the edges, but to no avail. So, I sent Gene an email and old him he cursed me when I was there two weeks ago getting the Regman, and I was admiring his Stikboy and Stikman. I told him I already had an eBay fill station on the way so I didn’t need one, and he looked at me, smiled, and said, “ oh, you’ll be back for one of these, trust me, lol”. Well, he was right! I will never ever go cheap on HPA parts again. Ever.

Pics of the ebay junk fill station, and of the second O ring, all cut up like the first one. Never even got to top off a gun.

Stikboy now all the way!