I have the same compressor and started blowing air into the coolant line with only about 2 hours of run time. I will put the oring you recommended to see if it last longer.
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TUXING 4500PSI PCP Air Compressor Review
- Thread starter bthurman
- Start date
A quick and simple filter tower mod, to simplify filling tanks and hopefully improve the air quality: the rigid steel tube with compression fittings replaced with a couple of quick connect fittings and flexible hose. Note: the fitting in the stage 2 tower has a check valve in it, the one in stage 1 does not. This does a couple of things:
I also run the Stage 2 filter with molecular sieve media only, no silica gel desiccant and charcoal.
Oh and the thread size for the fittings is M10x1.0, not NPT or BSPP!
- Allows to purge the stage 1 tower without depressurizing stage 2 (and the tank connected to it).
- Allows for quick filter media changes without having to mess with wrenches and getting the compression fittings to seal every time you do it
- Seals Stage 2 when not in use, making sure the molecular sieve media in it does not suck in the moisture from Stage 1 when sitting idle between fills to hopefully make your media last a little longer. And you can bet there is always moisture in Stage 1.
I also run the Stage 2 filter with molecular sieve media only, no silica gel desiccant and charcoal.
Oh and the thread size for the fittings is M10x1.0, not NPT or BSPP!
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I just had a short chat with Tuxing through their website. They're currently recommending that folks in the U.S. purchase through their Amazon store.
Now the question still exists. Is the 032 model still the best sub $1000 compressor for us airgunners?
Now the question still exists. Is the 032 model still the best sub $1000 compressor for us airgunners?
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I have had mine for just about a year now. I only have about 10 hrs on it. Runs like a top. I am really specific about service intervals. If the oil, seca 500, starts to get a little dark in color I change it. I changed my cooling water, and water wetter at 10 hrs, flushing the system with just distilled water, draining then filling it again. My only issue was the gasket at the end of the motor where the oil site glass is leaked like a sieve, and the oil drain bolt leaked. Once those items were taken care of she purs like a kitten.
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It wasnt the site glass, it was the actual cover assembly, just ordered a new gasket from ali express. The drain plug I just went to the hardware store and got a rubber washer.
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So now that I am able to get easy access to the inside of the towers, I tend to service the filters more often. What I've been seeing with this compressor is that the cotton filter in the first stage does absorb quite a lot of moisture and oil during normal operation, and simply purging the tower does not let all the moisture out. You really need to change the cotton tampon often, swap it with a new one and let the original dry. If you let it sit there soaked between fills, then you're basically humidifying the air that goes into the molecular sieve filter on on your next fill, which is kinda counterproductive.
I am not huge fan of this design anyway, a huge tube filled with cotton, and I've been considering replacing it with that orange Chinese coalescing filter, but I figured I'd try something else first.
I've designed a 3D printed baffle to put at the bottom of the first stage tower, with the shorter cotton filter on top of it (i simply cut the original tampon in half). The idea is to provide an additional stage of filtration before the hot humid oily air coming out of the compressor hits the cotton filter. I've tried a couple of things, this is the one that seems to work best so far and does not self destruct when you purge the tower. First the airflow is forced closer to the walls of the filter tube, giving the moisture an additional opportunity to condense there, then it enters a small cyclone chamber inside before it exits and hits the cotton filter. I was very surprised to see that it actually worked! All the garbage now stays south of the baffle, keeping the cotton filter dry and clean. I just just did a run filling up my Mini Wingman from empty to 300bar plus topping off two guns with 500 cc and 350cc reservoirs from 100 to 300bar. Immediately pulled the cotton filter, totally dry, not even a spot of oil.
This is how the baffle and filter look with 1 hour of runtime or so.
The main limitation is that you still need to purge the 1st stage every 5 minutes or so to release the moisture, there's not a lot of room inside to hold it. Not a big deal.
A work in progress, dimensions are not ideal, this is simply a tight press fit inside the tube. Will probably add o-rings to the design and reprint in a more suitable material...
Thoughts?
I am not huge fan of this design anyway, a huge tube filled with cotton, and I've been considering replacing it with that orange Chinese coalescing filter, but I figured I'd try something else first.
I've designed a 3D printed baffle to put at the bottom of the first stage tower, with the shorter cotton filter on top of it (i simply cut the original tampon in half). The idea is to provide an additional stage of filtration before the hot humid oily air coming out of the compressor hits the cotton filter. I've tried a couple of things, this is the one that seems to work best so far and does not self destruct when you purge the tower. First the airflow is forced closer to the walls of the filter tube, giving the moisture an additional opportunity to condense there, then it enters a small cyclone chamber inside before it exits and hits the cotton filter. I was very surprised to see that it actually worked! All the garbage now stays south of the baffle, keeping the cotton filter dry and clean. I just just did a run filling up my Mini Wingman from empty to 300bar plus topping off two guns with 500 cc and 350cc reservoirs from 100 to 300bar. Immediately pulled the cotton filter, totally dry, not even a spot of oil.
This is how the baffle and filter look with 1 hour of runtime or so.
The main limitation is that you still need to purge the 1st stage every 5 minutes or so to release the moisture, there's not a lot of room inside to hold it. Not a big deal.
A work in progress, dimensions are not ideal, this is simply a tight press fit inside the tube. Will probably add o-rings to the design and reprint in a more suitable material...
Thoughts?
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I just looked at the link you posted. i am assuming all you did was remove the check valve for #1 tower?
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Well, these green factory o-rings are officially garbage. This replacement failed exactly after 4 hours, same as the original.
Viton o-rings are in. Also replaced the high pressure piston rings for a good measure, as the top two were starting to show wear. Kind of disappointing for only 8 hours of runtime. On a positive note, the HP piston looks clean, not a lot of carbon deposits at all, looks like Seco 500 is doing its job. Refilled the cooling system with distilled water+water wetter for now, the compressor now runs noticeably cooler than it used to with the 50-50 antifreeze mix, like 20-25F cooler under the same conditions. Well let's see how long the damn thing lasts before the next rebuild.
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If you can create a vortex and slow the air down it'll condensate on the Alum walls, I'd imagine the best thing is to chill the snot out of the first filter. I'm still trying to get the darn things off, I'm going to have to get brutal or use a bit of heat to expand the tube and hope for the best.
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Yeah I'm thinking of adding a fan to cool the fist tower and the coiled stainless tube that feeds it. Can't hurt.
The baffle works great. With it in place, there is no need to open the first tower too often. The cotton just stays dry and clean. Should I release the stl?
I would not go too crazy with heat on the aluminum tube that contains 300 bar... I got mines off using a pipe wrench. Marred the finish on one tube a little, oh well.
The baffle works great. With it in place, there is no need to open the first tower too often. The cotton just stays dry and clean. Should I release the stl?
I would not go too crazy with heat on the aluminum tube that contains 300 bar... I got mines off using a pipe wrench. Marred the finish on one tube a little, oh well.
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Yeah, the pipe wrench was going to be almost my last resort, , it wouldn't take too much heat to expand the tube, a quick blast with a propane torch should, in theory do it, only need a few ten thousands of an inch, unless they locktite'd the sucker. I put a Molecular sieve as my 3rd filter, luckily I live in a low humidity area anyway so it helps. Well it was, today it's 52%.
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Strap wrench slipped.
It's just a bad design to have the o-rings placed at the very end of the pressurized tube, allowing moisture and crud to accumulate in the threads. Not to mention that the threaded portions are thinner and therefore weaker. Looks like the tube is beefy enough for this not to be a problem, but still.
When you reassemble, put LOTS of silicone grease on the threads. Makes it much easier next time.
It's just a bad design to have the o-rings placed at the very end of the pressurized tube, allowing moisture and crud to accumulate in the threads. Not to mention that the threaded portions are thinner and therefore weaker. Looks like the tube is beefy enough for this not to be a problem, but still.
When you reassemble, put LOTS of silicone grease on the threads. Makes it much easier next time.
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Yeah, I tried a strap wrench and it just wasn't happening, I wasn't horribly worried about it, I did check #1 AFTER I FINALLY got the caps off and only the first 3/4" had any sign of moisture and it wasn't bad for 5 hours. I drain every 10 min, just crack the drain a tiny bit until the moisture stops. I never did get the cap off of #2, I needed a much larger hammer on my 12" wrench and 3 hands. i didn't want to screw it up too badly. Now that I think about it, I may, when I get them open, take out the filters and squirt a TINY bit of Tai-Flow down there and let it do it's thing for a few days.
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it's fluoride based got a bunch of these from china
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does anybody know what is that thing, looks like a voltage selector?
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