Matching my California tools compressor for my F10 Shoebox

[Wayne52]

When I got the 2010A compressor it would start to fill back up at about 89psi and stop at about 110 psi.  It was advertised as 120psi max so I wanted the max and the minimum I wanted more.  What I did was first increase A which will bring the start fill up and then I adjusted B so that the max pressure would be 120psi.  I've got mine set from 95psi-120psi.

First off when adjusting it would be a good idea to turn adjustment B back a half turn because adjustment A will bring both pressures up and after that you can fine tune the output pressure (B).

                                                           

[FuzzyGrub]

Thx.  That is where I want to run mine at.  The  CAT video didn’t cover the other adjustment.   

[Wayne52]

John there's a lot of the ultra quiet compressors out there since the California tools started using them and they're all derived from the same Chinese parts I'm sure.  No doubt you could probably go by this same adjustment on quite a few of them.  A good example would be the new ultra quiets that Harbor Freight is selling now, I even seen  where their 135psi one already has a coupon for less than $160 that someone showed here on the forum. 

[FuzzyGrub]

John there's a lot of the ultra quiet compressors out there since the California tools started using them and they're all derived from the same Chinese parts I'm sure.  No doubt you could probably go by this same adjustment on quite a few of them.  A good example would be the new ultra quiets that Harbor Freight is selling now, I even seen  where their 135psi one already has a coupon for less than $160 that someone showed here on the forum.

The CAT is good enough for my Max.  A stock max wants an 85psi input, for the clackity clack shut-off.  Mine has been modified with the adjustable pressure shut-off like what is in your F10.  I run it in the 90-95psi input range.  Any higher and the motor on the SB starts to get too hot. 

I bought the CAT 4610S a year or so ago.  Still lots of life left in her.   

[Wayne52]

My F10 seems to gobble up the 120psi pretty fast, it would be worth it to have a bigger tank.

[FuzzyGrub]

My CAT is the two tank version, and has a low cycle rate with the Max.  The two steel tanks have more surface area than a single 5gal one, to provide better cooling.  I run it inside, and get very little condensation, though.  I only fill 90ci tanks, so no long runtimes. 

[Wayne52]

John my F10 shuts off at about 4200psi, I've thought about turning it up to 4500psi but not real worried about it.  Yesterday I filled my 88CF SCBA from 3300psi up to 4200psi in about an hour.  I am also going to order the stuff to make a fill line for it with a good pressure gauge in it to give me a better idea of the pressures that I'm working with because the gauge's on the SCBA's aren't real accurate.  The SCBA that I've been using exclusively with my Shoebox reads really low but the other tank reads much more accurate.

[bandg]

That certainly seems fast.  I had no idea these compressors were capable of that rate of fill.  I was thinking that they needed to run overnight to complete such a fill.  Impressive.

[FuzzyGrub]

I agree, good fill times for that size tank.   

[Taso1000]

Wayne,

You could add more air capacity with an external air tank if you wish.  I bought one of these when they were $25:



I picked the aluminum tank version of my CAT compressor in the hope that the aluminum would help dissipate more heat.  CAT also sells external aluminum and steel tanks:

5 gallon aluminum



10 gallon aluminum



You can pick the steel versions of the tanks in the same listing.

Amazon also has some JEGS branded aluminum tanks that are less capacity but cheaper:



I connected my steel 5 gallon into the loop but thought I was running the compressor outside of it's design limits.  The compressor was running much longer and the heads were getting much hotter than when it was filling its own 2 gallon tank.  Since it was creating more heat in the compressed air I abandoned the idea.

Thanks,

Taso

[AlanMcD]

Wayne,

I think that you'll find that the SCBA gauge is not that accurate and is giving you bad readings . . . .

if you really are filling from 3300 to 4200 psi in about an hour into an 88 cf tank, then you are getting a little over 17 cubic feet compressed out of your Shoebox in an hour (900 psi fill of 4500 psi capacity is 20% of the 88 cf = 17.6 / hour), and that seems too high.  After all, the F10 is for 10 cf per hour . . . .

[Wayne52]

Alan I'm sure that you're probably right because my start pressure for the SCBA was probably much higher than what the SCBA gauge read.  I should start using my other tank because it's got a more accurate gauge on it.  I noticed that a long time ago when I'd get both of them filled at the Dive shop, he has the output set to 4600psi because once the tanks cool down it'll be closer to 4500psi.  What I did was use the tank that I was getting air from at the time to start filling with the Shoebox but never paid much attention to which one it was.  Once I get low on pressure in this tank I'll switch over to the other SCBA to get better readings.

Either way I'm very happy with my setup so far because it's getting me the air I need very nicely and I see no need for a faster compressor. I simply won't be shooting that much through the winter or even the summer for that matter to warrant a faster compressor.

[Wayne52]

I sure am happy with my shoebox so far, I found out that I wasn't actually filling to 4200psi, it was reading on a gauge that I installed 3800psi, I turned up the output and now it's filling to about 4100psi, I might turn it up some more but for now that's good enough for me.   I think that since I've been running it, it has quieted down quite a bit since it was brand new.  Also yesterday when I topped of the 88cf tank to 4100psi I happened to notice how cool it was running as well.  I'd say that by how quiet and cool that it's running right now it will probably be a long time before I need to do anything to it, especially if I'm meticulous about lubing it correctly.

[mcoulter]

Excellent!  I'm right there with you  :-)  I know everyone is different, but these seem really underrated to me.   I have known about them for years and thought feeding it with a compressor would be a hassle, but it's really not a big deal.     I feel bad for the guy who runs the company, but I bet at the $550 price, he'll be selling more of them.

[Wayne52]

Thanks Matt !!! I've conversed back and forth via a few emails with Tom the owner, he seems to be a heck of a good guy.  I never inquired why he dropped his price so much but I can imagine why with the price of the cheaper Chinese air compressors on the market now.  If the price of the Shoebox was still over a grand I probably would have bought the Omega Air Charger and with the Omega I'd have to be on top of the water cooling also so in a sense I think things will actually work out better with the Shoebox. 

Since buying and using the Shoebox I've studied up on it, the only thing on them that will probably wear out will be the o rings , I think there's about 4 spare o ring kits that come with it too.  The fact that there's an exploded view available for them is also really nice too.  Good videos on how to take them apart to replace o rings are also out there on youtube as well.  I've seen a lot of positive feedback on these compressors as well.

I admit they're probably much slower than the competition out there but after all I don't need anything really fast, just the ability to reliably fill the two 88 cubic foot SCBA tanks that I have.