Ok, so any reports on the Hatsan Lightning?

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Got mine two weeks ago. Fill coolant reservoir with distilled water. Fill crankcase with synthetic compressor oil. Attach fill whip. Ran for 15 minutes with bleed valve open to break in. Installed deadhead on whip, closed bleed valve let build pressure to 4495 PSI auto shut off works. Filled 45 min. SCBA from 3200 to 4495 in a little over 15 minutes. Haven’t run it long enough to give a more in depth report. But will report back as I use it through the year. 
 
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Last night I calibrated the compressor gauge to my fill station gauge, very easy to do for this neophyte. Then filled my 45 min. SCBA from 3200 PSI to 4495 PSI in under 10 minutes. So two fills so far, I expect the compressor to continue to work flawlessly. The best part of the whole deal is that I can now shoot and experiment as much as I want and not be worried about how many fills I have left. 

My “true” fill cost were $11 for the fill, gas $10 (60 mile round trip, bad traffic), 2-3 hours of my time = $70 (conservative est.) So at two fills in I’m at $140. I believe the compressor will paid for itself in two years. This was the crazy math I used to pitch my compressor to the wife... it worked!


 
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I had some parts broken in the box for mine... the air breather and the oil breather both were broken out of the box. I contacted Hatsan USA and they shipped both parts to me immediately. Great service. I will tell you that I had one issue that I couldn't figure out, it would shut down at 2K psi or so. I asked a guy on here that I talk to and he suggested it is an electrical issue and that I likely am not getting enough power once it starts to need more for higher PSI. I switched to a 12 gauge short extension hose and it worked flawlessly after that. Once in a while it will not start the compressor right away and I need to turn the switch off and back on again for it to start. Not sure what that is, but it doesn't bother me if it keeps working. Honestly if I had the ability to find a place to fill my tanks, I probably would go with that... filling these things is stressful as I am scared to death of high pressure air and all the fittings etc. For some reason filling my guns is not scary, but tanks and compressors and hoses are... hope that helps.
 
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I got mine a 3 weeks ago. Filled a couple tanks no problem. After a few days did again and it blew up. Sounded like a shotgun. Called and emailed Hatsan. They sent me a return UPS label and are sending me a new one. It was supposed to arrive yesterday, but bad weather delay now arrives Monday. The service dept emailed me said it was a failed head gasket.



I did an initial review, will do a follow up. Overall Hatsan service did right by replacing it AND paying return shipping. Communication was a little slow, but no issues. Im coming from a YH, so this is no doubt a step up.



Mark
 
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Got mine Aug 28th and it was wet inside, but the manual was salvageable. The digital pressure gauge was cockeyed - somewhere along the way pkg had taken a hard shot splitting one side of the box and shocking the pressure gauge bracket to the point it twisted and no longer held the gauge as intended. Fortunately this was a 2 min fix with pair of pliers. That's all that has gone right with mine though. I completed setup up filling radiator tank; used Royal Purple Synfilm 100 compressor oil and ran a 12 min break in. Pressure test was successful. Set up to fill my SCBA tank which was staring empty since I had just received it in the mail. 

Tried to fill a 45 min SCBA tank and temperature hit 195 F in 20 min with less than 2000 psi in the tank. Obviously, I shut the compressor down. Called the service number in the compressor manual and left detailed message and followed up by filling out and submitting the requested customer service form. Receipt was acknowledged by Hatsan via automated email. This was Sept 4th. I finally got a response Sept 10 telling me to "look at my compressor carefully and look inside coolant tank and check circulation". I have not found Hatsan service that helpful and certainly not timely. I did have a radiator fan that was assembled wrong and after telling Service, they told be to fix it and sent picture of the way it should be. Retested and hit 195 F at a little less than 30 min. Slightly better, but still over heating. No mention of my request for an RMA (and shipping label).

Last Friday afternoon, late, Service asked for pictures of the coolant tank where the lines enter and exit and a pic of the inside of the tank with the lid off. Those were supplied Friday night and I'm still waiting for their feedback. Appears I'm now tied up in this product update that was announced late last week.My "kit" is scheduled for delivery today and I'll install an retest by attempting to fill my SCBA again.



Disappointed in the compressor and very disappointed in Hatsan.




 
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Duster that stinks, my compressor got special treatment from UPS and arrived missing two pieces of the outer wooden frame. One of the bolts that holds the heat shield was bent and broke off the support wing it was attached to on the fan. This did not affect operation and Hatsan had a new fan and shield out to me in 5 days.

When you spend this much coin on a product it should work right, right out of the box. Please keep us posted on how Hatsan treats you on this matter.
 
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PerkyVal 

Not defending Hatsan, but they do take the heavy duty box it came in and crate it in a wood crate. Its heavy and if a UPS driver is lazy, anything 100# can get banged up.



I agree with rhe checking it out before they send it, especially since its a brand new product, shame on them for that. My replacement, they said they tested and broke it in. It was delivered today and I get home tomorrow. I guess Ill see.
 
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PerkyVal 

Not defending Hatsan, but they do take the heavy duty box it came in and crate it in a wood crate. Its heavy and if a UPS driver is lazy, anything 100# can get banged up.



I agree with rhe checking it out before they send it, especially since its a brand new product, shame on them for that. My replacement, they said they tested and broke it in. It was delivered today and I get home tomorrow. I guess Ill see.
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I'm glad they crated it well, and yes, we've all seen vids of UPS, FedEx, and USPS people abusing packages. I'm thinking that Hatsan, as well as any suppliers, would be well served to double check imports before they're sent out. 

I'm looking hard at the Hatsan vs the Daystate mostly due to cost. However, if I have to mess around fixing, or sending it back I'll certainly opt for the Daystate purchased from a dealer I trust already.
 
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I watched UPS guy roll mine off his truck letting it drop a few feet to the ground before he put in on a hand truck!!

I've worked a lot with 2 other Lightning owners and the 3 of us all had issues with these compressors. One had his crated back up to ship back cause it had a serious leak. We kept after him - did you check this? Did you check that, lol? But he eventually found something he missed, and that fixed his leak. He filled 60 min SCBA finishing at a steady 185 F after 75 min of run time. The other guy had same kind of fan issue as I did and when he spaced the fan heat shield away from the fan, his was fixed as well. He has also had to replace the digital gauge cause the buttons on his flaked out. We thought mine was fixed when I redid the fan - it did get slightly better, but its still hitting 195 F every time I run it. With Lightning, I've read more complaints than about perfection right out of the box.

I talked myself out of the Daystate due to the cost difference, and I'm paying the price now.

I wouldn't make the same mistake given a second chance! 
 
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I watched UPS guy roll mine off his truck letting it drop a few feet to the ground before he put in on a hand truck!!

I've worked a lot with 2 other Lightning owners and the 3 of us all had issues with these compressors. One had his crated back up to ship back cause it had a serious leak. We kept after him - did you check this? Did you check that, lol? But he eventually found something he missed, and that fixed his leak. He filled 60 min SCBA finishing at a steady 185 F after 75 min of run time. The other guy had same kind of fan issue as I did and when he spaced the fan heat shield away from the fan, his was fixed as well. He has also had to replace the digital gauge cause the buttons on his flaked out. We thought mine was fixed when I redid the fan - it did get slightly better, but its still hitting 195 F every time I run it. With Lightning, I've read more complaints than about perfection right out of the box.

I talked myself out of the Daystate due to the cost difference, and I'm paying the price now.

I wouldn't make the same mistake given a second chance!
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I'm beginning to think you're right.
 
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I also had broken parts, the air filter was destroyed, the pressure gauge was dislodged and the mounting bracket bent and the fan cover and mounting bolts were bent. I fixed the gauge mounting bracket and straightened the fan cover. Replaced the hardware with personal stock, Hatsan sent me a replacement filter assembly.

I did all the startup stuff. The only problem was when calibrating the gauge. The compressor shuts down a couple hundred psi short of the auto stop pressure. I tried calibrating several times but still does the same thing. I'll contact tech support about the issue but I'm not to concerned.

Filled a couple gun cylinders with no issues. This past weekend I connected the compressor to a empty 74 cu.ft.tank.. Fired the compressor up, filled the tank with no problems to report. Max temp was around 165. 
 
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Received one from Hatsan USA Labor Day sale with a cracked engine case! During the break in process it began leaking oil from a top of case.After inspection it had two casting flaws which are not repairable.Coolant leaking from the cylinder head bolts compressor side.Drain plug also stripped and would not tighten yet another leak! Owners manual was poorly packed and had got wet during shipping pages where stuck together and almost unreadable.Contacted Hatsan call tag sent and returned. Obviously not tested before shipping! Requested to please test drive it before shipping! New one showed within a week looks untested. Fire it up and reset button seems little fussy needing reset couple times.Break in ok but hose disconnect stuck in open position after dead heading test . Probably be requesting a new end on the hose.Filled my 88cf tank in about a hour auto purging pressure shut off properly. Hope it last longer then the first. Customer service was good quality?
 
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Received one from Hatsan USA Labor Day sale with a cracked engine case! During the break in process it began leaking oil from a top of case.After inspection it had two casting flaws which are not repairable.Coolant leaking from the cylinder head bolts compressor side.Drain plug also stripped and would not tighten yet another leak! Owners manual was poorly packed and had got wet during shipping pages where stuck together and almost unreadable.Contacted Hatsan call tag sent and returned. Obviously not tested before shipping! Requested to please test drive it before shipping! New one showed within a week looks untested. Fire it up and reset button seems little fussy needing reset couple times.Break in ok but hose disconnect stuck in open position after dead heading test . Probably be requesting a new end on the hose.Filled my 88cf tank in about a hour auto purging pressure shut off properly. Hope it last longer then the first. Customer service was good quality?
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so sorry for the hassle..thanks for posting.
 
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....... Hope it last longer then the first. Customer service was good quality?
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Definitely better than what I'm experiencing!! I seem stuck and an endless series of try this, try that and we'll get back to you in 3 or 4 days. Wouldn't be so bad, but most of what Hatsan Service is asking me to do makes little sense - like drain the tank and re-connect the inlet hose to the pump cause Service thinks it's disconnected.This is in spite of having a full hose diameter return stream coming out of the return hose when the system is running. How do you get a return stream if the inlet hose is not disconnected to the pump??
 
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