Compressor Question

[Alaska-Herb]

It appears as if I may need to make the jump to owning my own fill station. Can you folks point to a shop of 2 that carries dive compressors so that I can start the shopping. I am hoping in the great NW area because shipping is already going to kill me going to AK
What I hope to have
Portable (somewhat)
Gas powered
HP capable
Around $4,000 to get started

Let me know if you think that I am dreaming or if you have ideas. I have resources locally that I am pretty sure I could trade compressor use for education on the operation and service of the station so I am not too worried about that.

Thanks for your Help
Herb

[Jeff Pack]

Ray Contreras, rayzplace.com is the one I know off the top of my head, but he has a more direct site for his compressor stuff.

[Nwbrewer]

Not sure if it does HP fills, but saw this today - http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/spo/3063135859.html

[CaptnJack]

If you are looking at new (and you could with your budget)
http://www.bauercomp.com/en/sales

Cali contact info for West Coast sales at the bottom of the page.

[Dmitchell]

The last compressor I shipped up (mine) was $200 to Seattle and about $75 to Juneau on AML. So $275 isn't bad when the rest of the world pays $200.

I would make every effort to stay away from the little guys. ~$3500 but you only get like 18 hours on a $65 filter. 18 x 3.5 cfm = 3780 cubic feet. Round that to 50 fills you are paying $1.30 a fill just for the filter. Factor in heat and humidity and the filters don't last that long.

Mine has a 50 hr filter at 4.5 CFM and only a $30 filter.

[Jeff Pack]

There is also the Jim Sheldon Compressors which are well reviewed... But he's in Colorado I think.

Didnt someone just have a RIX SA6 for sale?

[CaptnJack]

Jim Sheldon rebuilds govt surplus compressors. He's in KS.
http://www.sheldensportinggoods.com/

[Alaska-Herb]

thanks for the help everyone you got me started anyone else have input all the information and idea the better.

I would hope to get new or recondition as my learning curve is not huge but it will still be there, so I would hope not to have to jump into it for repairs right away while I am still sorting out the maintenance part of life

[kdupreez]

+1 for Ray at Coltri - He was out here at the show last year and have fantastic products.. (He is also here on this board as rcontrera )

Also look at American Airworks, they sell new and have some decent rebuilt compressors for sale as well.
(new are also Coltri rebranded)
http://www.americanairworks.com/usedcomp.html

Nuvair also sells the coltri rebranded compressors
http://www.nuvair.com/

And of course like Richard said, If you want the best and money is no object, go for a Bauer
http://www.bauercomp.com/en/products-so ... uba-diving

And there is a dude in Florida that runs "Blue Grotto", met him when I taught a fundies class there in January. He is a nice enough guy and he buys, rebuilds and sells compressors.

http://www.divebluegrotto.com/auction/worthington.html (there are tons more thats not on this list)

And you can always keep an eye out on Craigs List..

Be warned though, that buying used and not knowing exactly how to shop (i.e. look and inspect before you buy) could end up costing you a lot of time and money to rebuild..

good luck!

[camerone]

Not sure if it does HP fills, but saw this today - http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/spo/3063135859.html

Wow, that Coltri looks battered to pieces!

As an aside, any of the little compressors are going to need a better filter. What the manufacturers think of as "appropriate" translates into "joke" for the real world. If you care about things, you'll add somewhere between 16-30 inches of additional filter canister, a priority valve, a humidity and CO monitor fitting, and a variety of plumbing. So, budget plenty of extra for the filtration... $500 to $1000 of that budget will have to be spent that way to provide decent filtration. You can get away with less with a Rix, but you pay for other things on that compressor, so I think it's a wash...

For that matter, repackables are _always_ better than cartridges. Way cheaper, and it's a no-brainer operation to pack them...you pay an awful lot for the convenience of having Lawrence Factor / Bauer / anyone else do the work for you.

I run a little Coltri (Nuvair rebranded.) I have a 24" stack afterwards; the onboard filter is little more than a desiccant that I repack often to ensure the main filter stays in good shape and lasts longer... I can get a long time out of the main filter if I am good about changing the onboard every few hours and keeping the system under pressure 100% of the time.

[sitkadiver]

Herb,

For the record, you would make a great dive shop owner.... Just sayin.....

[rcontrera]

Thanks for the nice comments, Guys!

That Craigslist compressor is an old Nautica branded Coltri. If you look close at the picture, you can see that it doesn't have any of the upgrades that were done in the 90s ... replaceable inlet filter (this one you had to change the whole assembly), stainless steel intercoolers (this one has mild steel which translates to RUST!) and pressure maintaining valve. What you don't see is that it also doesn't have the carbon fiber first stage valves. In addition, this is about 20 years old so it is recommended that you replace the filter housings.

I am a dealer for Bauer but a distributor for Coltri/Nuvair and both companies have a compressor in your $4000 price range + or -. I try to keep the Coltri small compressors in stock an just special order Bauers. Plus, I offer free Continental USA shipping to board members so yo would only be paying from Seattle to AK.

Now ... all that self promotion stuff done ... you will find that the small compressors have small filtration systems as well. With the little guys, you will have no problems getting Grade E with the installed systems as long as you are just using it to pump up a few cylinders a week. Plus, if you do the required service, you will end up paying about $2.50 per fill in maintenance supplies. By adding additional filtration, you will get better air for longer and can pretty much guarantee yourself Grade E or better.

Hope that helps.

[Alaska-Herb]

thanks for the help everyone you got me started anyone else have input all the information and idea the better.

I would hope to get new or recondition as my learning curve is not huge but it will still be there, so I would hope not to have to jump into it for repairs right away while I am still sorting out the maintenance part of life

Dave the last I heard you were opening a dive shop in Sitka and had already selected the location. FYI I already dive and own a boat, and have college student so I don't need any more buckets with holes in it to pour money into

However if we can get a fill station set up at my Jarvis street storage locker that would be sweet.

I appreciate all the information folks. and Ray I believe I will be calling you soon