New Hatsan Lightning

[Bigragu]

Having listened to the Bigragu and his infinite wisdom I'll take a poke at the upgrade. Like he says, look at the first line from the coolant pump. Is it at a 90 or inline. The first lightnings had 90 degree fittings the later ones have in line fittings. I believe mine is the upgrade. (looking at your compressor from the fill end for the hydraulic fluid the piston head on the right should have a straight fitting on the back side. In the photo above it's on the opposite side of the 90 fitting on the right.)



I noticed in earlier video's this fitting was a 90.

I might be full of water. Please feel free to let me know.

Thanks

I've almost checked everything off the list. But hey, I plugged it in for the first time in a quiet shop. Suddenly I'm hearing voices. It tells me it's okay to operate. Is this just me or are other people having the same experience and if so where was the warning?? "Caution can cause extreme hallucinations".

Dave







thats funny, Dave! Kinda cool hatsan designed that compressor to have a voice to give you the green light to turn it on. At first when I heard it I just thought it was some sort of “greeting” like Alexa says when she’s first hooked up. Then one day, I made the mistake of filling my tank, stopping to check on something. I accidentally unplugged the compressor(had too many things going on at the time). Now mind you, I never purged all the air from the compressor, just turned it off and accidentally unplugged it. 

So, I plug it in, and never heard the girls sexy voice telling me all was good. I flip the compressor switch on and nothing happened, and thankfully I quickly turned it off. Realized what I did, I shut the power off, bled the air out, plugged it back in, then all of a sudden miss sweets pipes in, telling me it’s ok to turn it on. Wow! I realized then it was actually a safety function, instead of just another pretty face.., I mean, voice.

heres another safety feature I like a lot. Try turning on your compressor with out turning on the cooling fan switch on first. It will not turn on. Great job, Hatsan.



just realized something. I need to give her a name.

 

[Bigragu]

The one thing I physically changed on mine, mainly due to my OCD and the worry that during storage either I or someone, can walk by and hook on to the fill line and yank something loose or snap it at the block, I installed a female quick disconnect on the block and popped in a dead head plug to keep dust out. The fill whip is now rolled up and hanging next to the cord on powerful magnets with hanging hooks that I found at Home Depot. 

My fill whip now has a male QD at the block connection end, and a female QD on the opposite end that connects to the tank or gun. I went a step further and sourced a 90 degree stainless fitting with 1/8” NPT male and female ends, ordered stainless male and female QD fittings with 1/8” npt threads and hooked those up to the 90. So, now, I have the option to either connect that 90 degree set up right on the discharge block of the compressor, then the fill whip, or use that 90 on the other end when filling up a gun like my PRod with a moderator. It’s easier to connect to the PRod fill port with a 90 set up if a moderator is installed.

i like choices, lol

 

[Bigragu]

Oh, and Dave, thank you for clarifying your coolant fitting upgrade. Your explanation was dead on. If any compressor you get has the 90 fitting, contact Hatsan and let them know you’re inquiring if yours has been upgrade. What they’ll do is ask you to send them a pic like the one shown above, and you’ll get your fitting along with instructions to install it and a $50 gift card to buy anything from Hatsan’s website.



To answer the question that was asked about added filtration- only when I fill my tank do I use a separate filter. Probably don’t need to, but I like to be worry free of any fluids getting into my tank, particularly oils. I got that small gold filter that hatsan shows in their website. It’s about 5” in length and has the dense, rolled, cotton media that’s really meant to catch oils. The one I got I found on eBay, but it looks exactly like the one hatsan carries. Mine also came with like 6 spare filters. 

As far as actual moisture, I’m confident that the auto purge does the job, along with the air bleed screw. The moisture that shoots out of the auto purge is a lot. You can’t tell until you actually place a catch container to see the amount. I inquired to hatsan what was a sufficient time to set the auto purge, and they said like every 15 minutes. Well, most of my fill ups are around 12-13 minutes long when topping off my tank, so I did one better and set it for every 5 minutes. It won’t hurt anything, as the compressor won’t lose air pressure during a purge. 

 

[sigp220]

Okay, the next set of questions and things I've learned.

We'll start with the humor. I received my compressor oil, filled it to the proper level. Then ran the test cycle. Double checked everything. (I'm a smoker mind you, this will come into play). I shut the bleed valve and the pressure started to build. I'm watching time checking pressures building. Then it dawned on me this thing is generating a huge amount of pressure. (having read horror stories I'm really get nervous). I'm over the gauge watching temp. and pressure. Then it happened. It PURGED and auto shut down. Needless to say when it purges off the top of that tool cart it's loud and there is a burst of air. The sparks and the smoke from my cigarette added to the blast. a new level of scare. The gray hairs have been coming naturally and the lost mustache hair is not a thing.

I've also added the extra filtration just to be safe. My OCD.

For my questions, when should I do the first oil change.? I'm ready to do it now. 30 min run time.

It took 15 minutes with three 5 minute purges to fill a guppy tank. Outstanding. Then drained the guppy and did a quick refill in less than 5.

Bigragu I'll let you know what I name her.

Dave

 

[Bigragu]

Dave, first oil change is after 20 hours of use, going off of memory as was stated in the instructions. Then, every once a year after that? Can’t remember. I know the coolant is every year also, but can’t remember if an hour usage was tied in to that, sorta like an oil change interval in a car. At any rate, hatsan specifies this in the manual. 

Because of my “OCD” thing, I own a label maker, and created labels in 1/8” tall lettering stating reminders of change times and stuck them on the sheet metal access cover doors that cover the major players. One label on the coolant access door for the coolant, one on the end that accesses the drain plug for the oil, etc.

Ha! I took my time and carefully measured the ounces of coolant and distilled water, and made a label for that, lol, so the next time I know exactly how many ounces of water and coolant it takes to make a perfect 60/40 blend. 

I guess my thinking, as I’m getting older is, if something happens to me and my son inherits all my stuff, he’ll have an easy life as I’ve basically written a how to manual for most things in my life. In a world where manufacturers today provide little to no instructions anymore(probably due to paper costs), I mean, why not provide instruction if you can, right? It really irks me when I buy something, like an iPhone, and no instructions come with them, lol.



Dave, or anyone here that plans on changing their oil out way sooner than the specified 20 hours just so you feel the need to get the factory gunk out(understandably), then use cheap the cheap synthetic oil from Lowe’s or Home Depot for that, and save the Amsoil for the regular intervals.

 

[Bigragu]

Re read your last post, Dave. Sounds like yours is running sweet. By chance, have you checked the factory digital gage to see if it’s calibrated? There’s a step by step how to in the owners manual, and it’s not easy to decipher thru it the first time. Took me 3 times of slow reading to understand, then to top it off, made my own notes so it’s easier the next time around.

So far, most folks have found their digital gage to be off a bit. Mine was off almost 200 psi. I was wondering why when filling my tank it purged and auto stopped right at around 4250 psi on the tanks gage, but the compressor was set for a 4500 psi fill.

If you decide to go thru the calibration steps, just make sure your using a known good gage to compare to. I sourced a liquid filled 0-5000 psi two inch round gage with a 1/4” npt connection, and also sourced a stainless 1/4” female NPT to male QD fitting, so I can pop it right into the end of the fill whip. Found both those items on eBay.

 

[bandg]

Early break-in oil changes is something I'm fond of. Might be wasting my time but seems any garbage in the system might be flushed out after an hour or so of running.



Bigragu-did you consider trying to turn the aluminum block 90 degrees to get the output line to lay within the frame? Seems it should be entry at top and exit on the side so no other fittings to worry about? but not sure how that block attaches at the bottom and/or sides.

 

[miamiguy2017]

SigP, if you haven’t got your coolant yet, get Zerex GS100, lol. Made for high heat diesel trucks. It meets the Hatsan compressor requirements, and distilled water cause it’s not premixed. Go for a 60/40 water to coolant mix. 70/30 would be okay, too. My temps during summer have yet to go past 180 degrees, and this time of year, 140 degrees.

can you post a picture of what its supposed to look like after the cooling upgrade please?

Ha! I haven’t gotten around to replacing mine yet, lol. Contact Hatsan, thru a service form that you fill out on their hatsanusa.com website. They will guide you on what’s needed and how it’s suppose to end up.

do you think this upgrade would make a noticeable difference in the temperatures?

 

[Bigragu]

Early break-in oil changes is something I'm fond of. Might be wasting my time but seems any garbage in the system might be flushed out after an hour or so of running.











Bigragu-did you consider trying to turn the aluminum block 90 degrees to get the output line to lay within the frame? Seems it should be entry at top and exit on the side so no other fittings to worry about? but not sure how that block attaches at the bottom and/or sides.

I cant remember if I even opted to look on how to spin that block around. The weighing factor with me was upsetting the hard air lines and causing leaks that I may not be able to stop, and the last two times I contacted hatsan on service work due to a faulty item, they want to see pics. If they see I moved that around, I could have voided my warranty, in their eyes, which is understandle.

thats why I just chose to put in a female QD instead, and with a dead head plug on it, it’s dust free for sure.

 

[bandg]

Understandable. Hope it is working well and thanks for the regular input.