Bottle or compressor

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Mikelittle8484

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I’ve got a divers bottle what is out of test do I get it retested or do I buy a compressor?
What’s peoples opinions
 
It depends upon your personal situation...

Does a single fill cover your requirements per session, or does your bottle accompany you?
Do you live reasonably close to the dive centre/RFD that fills your cylinder, and how much do they charge?
How long does a cylinder fill last you?

A compressor can cost anything from sub £100 to a couple of thousand. Some are limited to rifle fills only, and others are capable of filling dive cylinders. The ultimate question, I think, is, does the cost justify the convenience?
 
Compressor been a game changer for me but like about said it's what suits your self. I got two an there no real need to pay silly for them either
 
As above, for me the dive bottle was good BUT getting it refilled was a ball ache. 50 min each way journey.
Bought a nomad and a best fittings 500cc day tripper.
Couple of years later the nomad died and so I bought one of the cheaper ones off Amazon.
Keep the bottle filled to top my guns up
 
In fact I’ve had this one a year now. All good still https://amzn.eu/d/4wcC8yb
IMG_2616.webp
 
First off and without sounding like a twat, I would do a search as this question comes up fairly often - will give you further insight

Personally I’d have both - for me it’s not a question of cost or more efficient, it’s about the convenience.

For some people - I’d also say the minority - the cost savings do justify the compressor, but for most it was fall into convenience

I tried the smaller compressors direct to rifles but I always used the cylinder. Now I fill the 12L cylinder weekly and just use that.

If the next thing is recommendations then you need to work out what your scenario is and go off that. Again, quite a few threads (and sticky’s) which go over the various options

If I was starting again I’d probably look at a hills with a 5L bottle. What I would probably end up with is a colitri and another 12L. 😂
 
I wouldn't be without both. I use a lot of air and nearest refill is at least an hour each way. I don't care about the bottle size because with a compressor I fill it anytime. Currently have a Hill EVO310 compressor and a 6.8l CF bottle.
 
TR158 said:
It depends upon your personal situation...

Does a single fill cover your requirements per session, or does your bottle accompany you?
Do you live reasonably close to the dive centre/RFD that fills your cylinder, and how much do they charge?
How long does a cylinder fill last you?

A compressor can cost anything from sub £100 to a couple of thousand. Some are limited to rifle fills only, and others are capable of filling dive cylinders. The ultimate question, I think, is, does the cost justify the convenience?
Click to expand...
I’ve got a 7 or 9 litre bottle I can’t remember but it is out of test I did buy it brand new and getting it tested near me is none existent so I thought I wonder if I got a compressor I could fill my bottle to use for cylinder fills
 
Mikelittle8484 said:
I’ve got a 7 or 9 litre bottle I can’t remember but it is out of test I did buy it brand new and getting it tested near me is none existent so I thought I wonder if I got a compressor I could fill my bottle to use for cylinder fills
Click to expand...
That's a decently big bottle that's done very little, has a known history, and sounds like it will be fairly light use. You don't say if it is currently filled.
Testing intervals very somewhat with use and type of use. The smallest interval is for frequently used dive bottles, refilled maybe 2 or 3 times a day and having trips into salt water. Yours has been dry, and doing nothing. If it has no signs of external corrosion, especially round the neck seal area, I'd be very tempted to use it. Testing involves taking it apart, and there have been recorded cases of faulty reassembly.
So that has to be your decision- does testing bring peace of mind? You will be told, quite correctly, that a bottle is a potential bomb.
Do consider that with a reasonable compressor- Hills or a £ 200 Chinese type and owning one gun, a decent day out might use 400 pellets, needing perhaps a total of 3 fills for the gun. That bottle, filled to just 230 bar, not 300, would happily cater for that. So you'd be working at a decent safety margin.
Whether you get it tested is up to you. Personally I'd buy the compressor, and the bottle is another issue.
 
With cheaper compressors you run the risk of moisture, the more professional compressors used in ranges etc get more use and are likely to have a periodic service too... but like others have said, it depends on your needs and availability of other facilities.
 
I recently got a Hill Evo 310 because I wanted to have the reassurance of being able to top up a cylinder and fill my guns directly without wondering if the guy I was using might withdraw his facility due to personal circumstances. Had he stopped doing it would have meant me going on a trek to a busy large town and after many years of doing a job with loads of driving I don't need the hassle now I've retired. The Guy I was using is great but looking like he might have to pack up doing it and it was still a couple of hours of my life driving there and back to get my tanks filled.

I mainly use my Compressor to do direct rifle fills though I have kept one of my tanks and use it when I'm in a hurry and simply add 10 bar to the tank when doing a rifle fill if it needs topping up which doesn't take much time at all and saves me running the compressor for extended periods. Once I've repeated that process three to four times I have the tank back up to around 270 bar and repeat the process once it drops to around 230. Plus I can still take a tank with me if away from home with a rifle for a couple of days.
 
I’m new to pcp but bought a 3 litre bottle as spaces in my shed is an issue so that ruled out a compressor
Living near the sea there’s loads of places to fill it at around £6
 
When I gave up stirrup-pumping, I went with the cheapest and most convenient option available - the little tuxing, actually the exact one pictured in post#5.

At about £135 it cost less than any bottle setup I could find commercially, and no faff of getting it filled.

They come with the jumper cables to run it from the car, so I could take it to the range but in honesty I don't want that faff (even if it is less than 5 mins) while stood in the car park. I'd just shoot through the effective fill of the pcp then move on to playing with my springers & pistols til I leave & refill it at home.

Because of that I was considering getting a 500cc buddy bottle to do a refill or two al-fresco, but I've bought another pcp rifle instead so I'll probably keep doing as above but with the 2 pcps.
 
Hello, Why not get the Cylinder retested around £50, You have Geof Wilson in Carlisle that fill PCP Cylinders, Although a compressor would save all that hassle, I would phone Geof Wison and see where people get their cylinders tested
 
You would probably be OK filling an out of test bottle with you own compressor (Yong Heng type is the cheapest effective option). The key word in that sentence is 'probably' - bottles with surface valves are tested every 5 years for a good reason! Personally I would get it tested and get a compressor. The test includes a fill.

If I was doing it again I would go with the gx cs2 compressor I have and a 500cc aliex bottle that I also have. I wouldn't get the yong heng I have or the 5l bottle I have...
 
Ratman72 said:
Hello, Why not get the Cylinder retested around £50, You have Geof Wilson in Carlisle that fill PCP Cylinders, Although a compressor would save all that hassle, I would phone Geof Wison and see where people get their cylinders tested
Click to expand...
Geof Wilson’s said they nearest place to get tested is 2 hours drive away so that’s a long drive there and back to get a cylinder tested if I got a compressor would I be able to fill the bottle as no where would fill the bottle being out of test would they
 
colinb said:
That's a decently big bottle that's done very little, has a known history, and sounds like it will be fairly light use. You don't say if it is currently filled.
Testing intervals very somewhat with use and type of use. The smallest interval is for frequently used dive bottles, refilled maybe 2 or 3 times a day and having trips into salt water. Yours has been dry, and doing nothing. If it has no signs of external corrosion, especially round the neck seal area, I'd be very tempted to use it. Testing involves taking it apart, and there have been recorded cases of faulty reassembly.
So that has to be your decision- does testing bring peace of mind? You will be told, quite correctly, that a bottle is a potential bomb.
Do consider that with a reasonable compressor- Hills or a £ 200 Chinese type and owning one gun, a decent day out might use 400 pellets, needing perhaps a total of 3 fills for the gun. That bottle, filled to just 230 bar, not 300, would happily cater for that. So you'd be working at a decent safety margin.
Whether you get it tested is up to you. Personally I'd buy the compressor, and the bottle is another issue.
Click to expand...
One of mine is out of test, the dive center said the first check is purely a visual check! They filled my bottle no problem, its a 12 litre kept in the house not a mark on it. It is very heavy when filled, I also have a 7 litre and a 3 litre. Out of the three i would get a 7litre its easy to fill if you get a compressor. The 3 litre is purely to top up my fac gun if i have a VERY good night. I wish !!!!
 
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an ordinary chinese compressor will not fill a 7 litre bottle probably be ok up to a 1 ltre doing over a couple of sessions.
I have the compressor above and fill a 500cc buddy bottle to take to range or I quite often take the compressor and run it on 12 volt.
 
Wayno-81 said:
As above, for me the dive bottle was good BUT getting it refilled was a ball ache. 50 min each way journey.
Bought a nomad and a best fittings 500cc day tripper.
Couple of years later the nomad died and so I bought one of the cheaper ones off Amazon.
Keep the bottle filled to top my guns up
Click to expand...
I recently bought a 300bar 500ml aluminium bottle and valve/whip from Aliexpress for around £80. I previously bought a Tuxing water cooled compressor for around £135, and an extra line filter for less than a tenner of Aliexpress. I charge the rifle and also the bottle to 270bar and none of my guns shoot great starting over 180bar. I shoot them down to 90bar.

I get 300-400 shots per trip to the range without playing silly beggars topping up to 120 or 130.

The small bottle is much, much more convenient than my 4l dive bottle to cart around, and i can top up the gun tube and bottle in around 10-15 mins including set up and clean down. I’d recommend this approach to anyone.
 
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