Yong heng owners-tell me your ways

[Bladebum]

so I just picked up a yong heng compressor to top off my tank with. I've been reading and watching videos on proper ways to run it as well as other things but I still have questions.

I'm using ISO 46 for the oil, should be OK correct?

When your tank is full, can I shut down compressor,  close tank and bleed line? One source said that it was bad for the compressor to shut it off under load, so you should crack the bleeder,  shut machine off and THEN close the tank...except I won't be doing that again because I'm filling the tank through the fill hose and I lost 20 bar by the time I closed the valve.

Lastly, is it normal for these do put off an "exhaust" of some sort? The garage i ran it in had some pretty powerful fumes after its maiden run for 10 minutes...is that normal, maybe for the first run or two or no?

I'd appreciate your guys and gals input on these topics as well as any tips for this thing. They're not overly expensive obviously but I'd definitely like to maximize longevity as much as possible by running it properly.  Thanks everyone!

[Bob Pratl]

Don't push it beyond its limits. Don't let it overheat. Add an external radiator/fan and keep the oil clean. I have gotten 3+ years out of it and it's still going strong.

[avator]

2 years and running my Vevor (Yong Heng knockoff).
I fill guns only.
I watch the temps.
I connect to gun, turn the pump on, start the compressor, then close the bleed screw.
When the gun is full I stop the compressor, bleed the fill hose then let the pump run until temp returns to room temp.
I use a large Folgers coffee container. If the water gets too warm, I simply dump and refill it.
I use the black inline filter from MRodAir.
If you're getting oil fumes, check your oil level. Make sure it's not over full.
I'm sure others do things differently, that's ok too.. this is how I do it and it works for me. I paid about $200 for this thing and I feel like I got my money's worth and some. If it fails tomorrow, I'll repair it or buy another.

[squirrel_hunter]

  filling tanks may cause it to heat up some,takes breaks when filling tanks.i fill rifles only.the AW 46 hydraulic oil will be just fine but the oil gods will tell you different.

[Fate]

Josh, here are two threads that will provide every answer to your curiosity about the Yong Heng and its clones. But the user base has many others. There is no shortage of information about these compressors.

i own a Yong Heng. I have a bigger water pump, an external fan, a sealed 4 gallon container of distilled water with water wetter/conditioner in it directly beneath the compressor, a large LED work light focused on the compressor, and use synthetic ATF as my compressor oil (oil gods cringe here). I have a dedicated line from the electric panel to power the setup.

Oil fill level is very important. It is supposed to be filled up to but not to exceed the 2/3 full point of the center fill indicator. Never to the top of it, nor lower than that. I note the color of the oil at a fresh fill and change it when any change in color is observed. I check both level and color before and after every use.

I use the supplied filter primarily, but have a bigger, more complex filter as well. Since my little filter never gets wet and only after many fills shows any sign of contamination by oil etc. I rarely use the larger filter. I'll plumb in it later, but its larger volume adds 15 seconds to the fill time, which at this point seems unwarranted. Still, it's a good idea and it'll be added when I get around to it.

I only fill my one gun and I can't imagine having a PCP without it or an equivalent HPA compressor. i've filled the gun many many times, often several times a day, rarely only once. I've only had the YH two months and changed its oil once. My HPA setup is inside an air conditioned and dehumidified room, probably accounting for my lack of any indications of water reaching the gun.

To use it, I turn on the light and plug in my water pump and listen for the returning flow's burbling, turn on the fan, attach the air line to the gun, ensure both vent screws are open a turn, turn on the compressor, close the low side vent then close the high side vent... and watch the compressor's gauge closely... because it only takes a few, 30-45, seconds to reach my 3000 psi fill. As the needle approaches that 3000 psi mark I have my fingers on the high side vent and when it's there I open the vent, then reach over and open the low side vent watching and noting whatever vapor vents. Then I remove the fill line from the gun and, noting the temp gauge, I shut the compressor off. About a minute has elapsed during the process. I leave the water pump running but turn the fan off. When sometime later the temp has returned to ambient I unplug the water pump and turn the light off.

The low side vent screw tended to unscrew itself due to the compressor vibrations, so I put a little patch of Vibratite VC3 on both vent screws at the point on their threads that are just inside when they're almost closed. No more vibrating loose vent screws now.

The threads:

https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=123440.0

https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=126349.0

[avator]

Disclaimer; Not intended to ridicule or question the replies thus far to this thread...

Josh...
If I were you I would ask responders to qualify with how long they have owned the compressor they now have in use, if they fill gun, tanks (size matters) or both. And how often they fill each.

[Ribbonstone]

MAybe 3 years of use.

1. Only direct fill the larger volume rifles,so it likely never gets run more than a few min. at a time.  Sporatic use as I still fill the little ones with a  pump.
2. Oil is the life blood of the unit..read though those disccusions.
3. Compressor gauge is always a little ahead of the gun's gauge when running....pretty darned close when shut off.
4.Only up-grade was to a bit better water pump.

[squirrel_hunter]

 over three years for my unit,i fill rifles only.i use the AW 46 hydraulic oil...average fill time 49 seconds and temp never above 48c...if my unit would happen to die or blow up(ha-ha)I have a spare yong heng to put into service...other than the FX rifles the yong heng has been my best PCP addition...

[Ribbonstone]

Blame my mother for the water pump up-grade.....just never got too comfortable dropping a 110V AC cord into a bucket of water.  Didn't seem to need more water flow  in my use.

Certainly are not "forever" compressors.

No problem thinking of ways they could be better.....pretty big problem thinking of ways they could be better AND cheap.

[Bladebum]

Thankyou all for the reply thus far! Fate, thankyou for those thread links,  I went over and read page after page and forgive me but I still couldn't find the certain info. I also think I need to clear up some things here so I might get the info I feel o need.

I bought the standard version of the compressor,  I wasn't aware of the differences between that and the hard cover version, but I do not have a low pressure side unit/bleed valve. Only the high pressure bleed.

I ordered a desiccant filter off of ebay and plan on using that for extra protection. 

I haven't seen anyone talk about fumes from these compressors yet, so I'm wondering if I may have oil/manufacturing oils on it that are burning off when it gets hot? Still not sure but they filled the garage up pretty good.

Also, I'm only topping off 74 cu ft tank, no gun filling. I'm hoping this will maximize time before a rebuild is neccessary.  It worked very well filling the tank from 220 bar to just under 300 in about 10 minutes.

Lastly, how do you guys terminate your filling cycle? I'm not sure how turning off the compressor , closing tank valve and bleeding line could be bad for the unit. Please tell me if I am wrong here!

[avator]

First off.... in my opinion, if your compressor is filling your garage with fumes, you have too much oil in your compressor.
When I first got my MKII compressor I over filled it with oil and it filled my shop with a cloud of fumes. After I drained and filled it properly the fumes went away.

[Bladebum]

First off.... in my opinion, if your compressor is filling your garage with fumes, you have too much oil in your compressor.
When I first got my MKII compressor I over filled it with oil and it filled my shop with a cloud of fumes. After I drained and filled it properly the fumes went away.

Thankyou Bill, I will drain the oil and refill. The oil turned darker after the initial run so needs changing anyways

[avator]

There is a sight glass near the bottom front of the compressor. It has a red dot in the middle of it. Just be sure the oil level is not above the red dot. It don't take much oil at all... not even a quart.
You can see the sight glass just above the drain plug in the picture below.

[superchikn]

Or is the insulation burning on a wire?
As far as shut down procedure I can not speak with any authority,  but when I top off my SCBA tanks I close the tank valve, quickly bleed the pressure at the high and low side, switch compressor off and disconnect hose.  I let the pump run until temps reach normal.
I have had mine for two years.  I have filled my 30 and 60 minute SCBA tanks from empty in steps.  I top both of them off plus the smaller baintball tanks I have.  When at home I fill the guns directly from the compressor.  I run Royal purple oil.  I do not remember which one at the moment, I am at work.

[Ribbonstone]

These little ones don't seem to ever reach normal (ambient) so long as they are running....I'll shut off the compressor, leave the pump running.

[Fate]

Josh, you haven't mentioned temperature... does yours have a temp gauge? You do know that 65c is the max temp it should see, right? What was the temperature at the end of your tank's fill? High temperatures will shorten the compressor's life, best case, or ruin it worst case.

What capacity is your water supply? Especially with only the little pump it should be a minimum of 5 gallons.

The low side that yours doesn't have is a cyclonic water/oil filter. It removes those contaminates before it gets to the high side and thence into your gun/tank. The little filter is inadequate at removing said bad things without that feature, so you're probably adding water and oil to your air tank... so extra high side filtering and water removal measures, like a HP desiccant filter is a necessity for you.

Should you have a specific question on something like your Yong Heng and casual parsing threads or the GTA search function doesn't find what you need, there's a better way to search. Go to Google, type site:gatewaytoairguns.org into the search bar with your query immediately after it. It works great.

[Bladebum]

Josh, you haven't mentioned temperature... does yours have a temp gauge? You do know that 65c is the max temp it should see, right? What was the temperature at the end of your tank's fill? High temperatures will shorten the compressor's life, best case, or ruin it worst case.

What capacity is your water supply? Especially with only the little pump it should be a minimum of 5 gallons.

The low side that yours doesn't have is a cyclonic water/oil filter. It removes those contaminates before it gets to the high side and thence into your gun/tank. The little filter is inadequate at removing said bad things without that feature, so you're probably adding water and oil to your air tank... so extra high side filtering and water removal measures, like a HP desiccant filter is a necessity for you.

Should you have a specific question on something like your Yong Heng and casual parsing threads or the GTA search function doesn't find what you need, there's a better way to search. Go to Google, type site:gatewaytoairguns.org into the search bar with your query immediately after it. It works great.

Yessir, it has a temp guage and it got to about 55c. I have a 5 gallon bucket and I pit two block ice packs in with it. Water was luke warm at best.

After I unboxed I realised mine did not have that low pressure side and immediately ordered a dessicant filter. The compressor has only run the one time for 10 minutes so I wasn't too worried knowing the next time I'll have that filter..with that said, I checked and felt the little filter in the line after and the "clean" side didn't have any moisture or oil that i could see/feel. Future fills will have the filter.

Thanks again Jeff, I will give the Google search a try for future!

[Bladebum]

Or is the insulation burning on a wire?
As far as shut down procedure I can not speak with any authority,  but when I top off my SCBA tanks I close the tank valve, quickly bleed the pressure at the high and low side, switch compressor off and disconnect hose.  I let the pump run until temps reach normal.
I have had mine for two years.  I have filled my 30 and 60 minute SCBA tanks from empty in steps.  I top both of them off plus the smaller baintball tanks I have.  When at home I fill the guns directly from the compressor.  I run Royal purple oil.  I do not remember which one at the moment, I am at work.

Good to know thanks for that info! It seems that with maintenance and care these little compressors last quite some time. Exactly why I'm making sure to do things as best as possible.

[Bladebum]

There is a sight glass near the bottom front of the compressor. It has a red dot in the middle of it. Just be sure the oil level is not above the red dot. It don't take much oil at all... not even a quart.
You can see the sight glass just above the drain plug in the picture below.

Thankyou Bill, I was aware of the fill window as that is what I used solely to check the fill level. I filled it just to the top of the red dot. Like I said, the oil did turn a darker color so ill be changing it out before next run and make sure the levels are correct as ot seems to be pretty important with these.

[avator]

Yep, these things came from China, who knows how long they may have sat upside down in a shipping container or warehouse.