I have seen a few posts asking various questions about buying compressors.
I am not a fan of “cost efficient” compressors but wanted to shave some cost off a good one.
I ended up buying a used Daystate/Coltri MCH6 230V. I bought it with 56 hours on it. I ran it for another 32 and then started having issues. It started with smelling hot oil, seeing some oil film on the base and finally a loud popping noise coming from the 3rd stage cylinder head area.
A call to Nuvair, and the learning curve is engaged. I learned this compressor should have the cylinder heads of stage 2,3 and 4 rebuilt every 100 hours. The 1st stage I believe is every 500 hours. Not a problem. Parts arrive and I see right off the parts sent do not match the parts removed from the 2nd stage head. Quick email and that problem is resolved. Apparently the unit I bought had a 2nd stage head that was only used for 6 months and a kit to update to the current version is required. There was no way Nuvair could have known.
When I removed the head from the 2nd stage I noticed the head bolts were barely snug and no where near the specified torque. Same for 3rd and 4th stage. I am fairly certain that this was the cause of a copper ring failure on stage #3. When I removed the head on Stage #4 I got a bit carried away and went one step further into the head than necessary and found an O ring not included in the kit that was bad. Ordered a new O ring to be shipped with the new 2nd stage head assembly.
While all that sounds bad, I would like to say that the pump is not overly complicated and easy to work on. Nuvair has been a godsend. Craig has been more than helpful and quite patient. Total cost of parts is right around $500.00. Small price to pay for a valuable lesson. It could have been much worse.
The point of this post is to warn folks about buying a used compressor. Not saying do not do it, but I am saying unless you have fair degree of mechanical intuition, I would warn you away from it. The problem being is that you have no idea who has been working on it or what degree of mechanical aptitude or experience they had. Also no idea of the maintenance performed if any. I wanted to let people to see what may happen if you go the used route and forego the warranty from the factory.
I do not regret having bought this one nor the process that I have gone through with it. I like working on stuff and what I have learned will serve me well in the future.
I am not a fan of “cost efficient” compressors but wanted to shave some cost off a good one.
I ended up buying a used Daystate/Coltri MCH6 230V. I bought it with 56 hours on it. I ran it for another 32 and then started having issues. It started with smelling hot oil, seeing some oil film on the base and finally a loud popping noise coming from the 3rd stage cylinder head area.
A call to Nuvair, and the learning curve is engaged. I learned this compressor should have the cylinder heads of stage 2,3 and 4 rebuilt every 100 hours. The 1st stage I believe is every 500 hours. Not a problem. Parts arrive and I see right off the parts sent do not match the parts removed from the 2nd stage head. Quick email and that problem is resolved. Apparently the unit I bought had a 2nd stage head that was only used for 6 months and a kit to update to the current version is required. There was no way Nuvair could have known.
When I removed the head from the 2nd stage I noticed the head bolts were barely snug and no where near the specified torque. Same for 3rd and 4th stage. I am fairly certain that this was the cause of a copper ring failure on stage #3. When I removed the head on Stage #4 I got a bit carried away and went one step further into the head than necessary and found an O ring not included in the kit that was bad. Ordered a new O ring to be shipped with the new 2nd stage head assembly.
While all that sounds bad, I would like to say that the pump is not overly complicated and easy to work on. Nuvair has been a godsend. Craig has been more than helpful and quite patient. Total cost of parts is right around $500.00. Small price to pay for a valuable lesson. It could have been much worse.
The point of this post is to warn folks about buying a used compressor. Not saying do not do it, but I am saying unless you have fair degree of mechanical intuition, I would warn you away from it. The problem being is that you have no idea who has been working on it or what degree of mechanical aptitude or experience they had. Also no idea of the maintenance performed if any. I wanted to let people to see what may happen if you go the used route and forego the warranty from the factory.
I do not regret having bought this one nor the process that I have gone through with it. I like working on stuff and what I have learned will serve me well in the future.
