which bottle 'strategy' with new compressor

I started airgunning about a year ago. First a springer, then it didn't take long till I got my 1st PCP (FX Impact m3 pre-owned). At first I didn't want to invest too much so I bought a shoebox compressor (new warrior). It was pretty good for my needs although a bit slow. However fuses burnt a few times, and now since yesterday something is wrong in the compression block so no pressure build-up anymore. I might get it repaired under warranty, but I'm a bit fed up with it and will sell it once repaired.

Hence I just bought a serious compressor from Coltri. This should be a different beast... I hope so at least for the price difference ;-) I do have a few questions though related to how I should use if for filling. It's a 100l/min compressor, so pretty fast.
  • Is it a good idea to fill up the PCP guns straight away from the compressor? It should only take 1 minute something. But wouldn't it cause a lot of wear and tear on the compressor to pump often for such a small volumes?
  • I suppose getting a SCBA tank is a better plan. I have an FX impact (250 bar max) and Leshiy 2 (300 bar max). If i want to use them untethered I suppose I need large tanks if I want to fill the guns a few times close to their max capacity?
  • or is it wiser to take a smaller bottle and top it up more frequently?
  • tethering to a large bottle while shooting sounds a bit tedious to me, but I might be mistaken?
So the question is: what kind of bottle(s) would you recommend me? I shoot at home in my garden, so portability to the range is not really an issue.
 
I started airgunning about a year ago. First a springer, then it didn't take long till I got my 1st PCP (FX Impact m3 pre-owned). At first I didn't want to invest too much so I bought a shoebox compressor (new warrior). It was pretty good for my needs although a bit slow. However fuses burnt a few times, and now since yesterday something is wrong in the compression block so no pressure build-up anymore. I might get it repaired under warranty, but I'm a bit fed up with it and will sell it once repaired.

Hence I just bought a serious compressor from Coltri. This should be a different beast... I hope so at least for the price difference ;-) I do have a few questions though related to how I should use if for filling. It's a 100l/min compressor, so pretty fast.
  • Is it a good idea to fill up the PCP guns straight away from the compressor? It should only take 1 minute something. But wouldn't it cause a lot of wear and tear on the compressor to pump often for such a small volumes?
  • I suppose getting a SCBA tank is a better plan. I have an FX impact (250 bar max) and Leshiy 2 (300 bar max). If i want to use them untethered I suppose I need large tanks if I want to fill the guns a few times close to their max capacity?
  • or is it wiser to take a smaller bottle and top it up more frequently?
  • tethering to a large bottle while shooting sounds a bit tedious to me, but I might be mistaken?
So the question is: what kind of bottle(s) would you recommend me? I shoot at home in my garden, so portability to the range is not really an issue.
It’s generally better for your compressor to run a bit longer filling a couple of big CF tanks than a bunch of quick squirts. Remember to bleed off moisture and to CLOSE your bleed valves when done to avoid ambient moisture from shortening your filtration system’s lifetime. Change your oil and filters often!
 
First, I'll say you don't want to be filling guns directly with that fast a compressor - too hard to control the fill level and risky to the guns in terms of overfills if you get distracted. You will want to fill a tank (or tanks) with the compressor, and guns from the tanks.

I'll offer up that I really like where I am in terms of air supply right now - I did not plan on getting to this point, but sort of evolved into it. I am using both a large and a smaller tank with my compressor.

My compressor situation is a bit different, in that I run the true Shoebox compressor (I have both a modified Max and a back up that is an F10 with an F8 pulley slowing it down a bit for longevity). These are reliable tank fillers, but are on the slow side - while your compressor puts out 100 l/min, mine puts out about 4 l/min (most of the smaller direct-fill compressors are under about 10 l/min, some well under that). But the Shoebox is a great "set it and forget it" unit, and I fire it up and go about other chores or hobbies and come back to it when it is done - sometimes long after it is done because I actually forgot about it - so I do not see the speed of it as a drawback at all, given that I have other things to do in life besides shooting.

I started with my Shoebox over ten years ago filling a 6.8L tank, and it worked very well for me, but that tank was almost a "thing" on it's one to carry out to a shooting bench. After a few years I bought a small "Guppy" tanks from Joe Brancato, which is about 2 liters - and that worked so well for my needs (at the time) that I pretty much stopped using the bigger tank (it is on permanent loan to my father now, and I fill it as needed but he shoots a lot less than I do).

Then a few years ago I bought a Huben that I liked to fill to 300 bar (and later added another high fill gun) and suddenly the ~2L tank was not so great - with 200 bar guns, I'd easily get a dozen fills before needing to stop to refill the tank, but now suddenly it became about about two fills and then I was into partial refills. I went from refilling the tank once a week or two to every few days, sometimes multiple times in a day. While that will be faster for you, it is still an unwanted break from shooting (my refill time from ~3800 to 4500 psi was about 20 minutes, so not horrible as breaks go - the break itself was the issue).

So late last year I added a 9L tank, and I have settled into a situation where the big tank stays in my workshop near the compressor and it acts as a personal "air bank" for me like dive shops use (although obviously much smaller). I don't haul it around with me, although I could easily take it with me for an extended shooting trip away from home (like you, I pretty much just shoot at home). I keep an EdGun Easy fill on it, and I typically refill my Huben and Sidewinder directly from it, leaving the smaller tank for the other 200 bar guns and to take out to the bench outside on occasion for the high fill guns. When the smaller tank gets down below 4000 psi, I can top it off quickly, easily, and quietly from the big tank without firing up the compressor at all - 100 psi out of the big tank raises the smaller one by 500 psi - so that is quick and easy.

Now I'm back to running the compressor every week or so rather than every few days - the total run time is the same, but it is so much easier to manage, and everything is more enjoyable this way.

So bottom line, having both a big and a small tank together works great. Of course you don't need to buy them both at the same time as either one will do the job - just not as well as both together. And if you do end up with the two tank, I have found that an air line splitter like the one from AirTanksPlus works great to fill both at the same time, adding even more convenience to the process, plus it can also be used to cascade fill with the two tanks if you are really trying to maximize air efficiency (like if on on a hunting trip). I'll add that I am happy with the 9L tank, but given how little I move it around, the 12L might have been even better for me - but if you go that big, you'll likely want to get the smaller tank first. I think about 2L is the sweet spot for that size, but 3L could work well too. My small tank fits in the 5 gallon bucket I use to haul gear to the bench when shooting there, so that is nice.

Good luck in your decision, and happy shooting!
 
thanks all of you for helping me out! I appreciate your comments and information.

So first thing that seems clear is indeed not charging the airguns directly. A powerful compressor could likely overshoot the maximum capacity. So bottle it is. Probably a large bottle to start (i was thinking 9l, as 12l seems less practical and less common to find in stores). This would allow for longer runs of the compressor.
@Gerry52 I get indeed that tethering is tethering regardless of the size. But i was referring to the size for portability: a small i.e. 2l tank is more practical to lug to the garden than a large 9l one. So for tethering I'd prefer a smaller one. But as per @AlanMcD 's comment, better to start with a big tank and expand later on in the smaller ones.

@AlanMcD thanks for elaborating on your practice. You're right about the speed I guess. My current shoebox puts out about 10l/min. It bothered me a little to be honest because it forced 15min recharging pauses in my shooting. But with a bottle in between speed is indeed not really an issue. I choose my to be compressor not for speed but for reliability and capacity to fill larger bottles. The air line splitter is a good idea as well as it would reduce the need to fire up the compressor for smaller charges.

So I guess I'll start with a 9l tank, and save up for a 2 or 3 l tank a bit later on. With an Edgun Eazy, that looks like a good practical solution
 
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