Omega has arrived!

[USAF Vet]

UPS delivered my Omega yesterday.
Today I unpacked the compressor and did a preliminary check of the contents.
The packaging was very good. The compressor was in a fitted Styrofoam container which in turn was inside a heavy, honeycomb cardboard container with a fitted lid.

When I opened the cardboard container, I found the fill whip and the accessory/rebuild parts bag laying on top of the Styrofoam container. Dave's review stated his parts were inside one of the covers.

Both liquid containers (Blue Ice & antifreeze) were empty and their contents were spilled inside the zip lock bag with the tweesers and pump grease. The sealed bag of rebuild parts were OK. I called AoA and they immediately mailed replacement containers of both. While talking with AoA, I asked what the ratio of water to Blue Ice & antifreeze should be. They said the 2 containers were to be used along with purified water when doing a complete drain and refill of the cooling system.
In Dave's review he said he added both to the cooling system and topped off with water before running his compressor.
The Operating Manual does not say anything about the use of these additives.

Inspection of the unit showed no evidence of damage. The hour meter was 0.0 hrs. I could see water recirculating through the refill cap when the unit was turned on.

The Operating Manual says to attach the whip WITH THE SEAL. The only thing I could find was a compression disk inside the output port. Since the whip with my unit was sitting loose on top of the styrofoam container I'm not sure if there is supposed to be an O-Ring at the base of the male connector or not.
I would appreciate any feedback about the seal.

Overall, I would say the Omega was well packaged, except for the loose packaging of the whip and accessory bag.
The only problem has been with the liquid bottles leaking.
I'll second Dave's comment about the "Operating Manual". It leaves a whole lot to be desired. I would have expected better for a compressor with of this price.

Operating results to follow.

[USAF Vet]

Yesterday I ran the Omega for the first time.
I wanted to become familiar with the operation and check out the Omega and my new Air Venture tank.

The Omega was set to fill to  2800psi. This is the fill pressure I'll use to direct fill my Marauders.
The empty AV tank was attached using a male - male foster adaptor and the compressor started. It took 12 min for the whip and tank to build to 1000psi and the compressor gauge to start to register. (1000psi is the minimum the gauge will register.) The 2800psi cut-off was reached at 31 minutes. As expected, the tank was quite warm but the Omega only slightly warm.
 It was at this time that SWMBO declared lunch ready so this was a good time to let everything cool and check for any air leaks.

Tomato Basil soup and grilled cheese - in addition to being the household commander, she is also a good cook and best friend!

The tank and compressor gauges had remained the same so there were no air leaks. The tank had also cooled. The tank valve was closed and the air bled from the whip assembly. The tank valved was opened and the compressor was reset to fill to 4500psi and restarted. It took an additional 25 minutes to fill the whip and tank to 4500psi.

Comments:
1) I'm well satisfied the the Omega. Operation was straight forward, once understood
2) The Operating Manual is TERRIBLE. Anyone paying $1800 for a compressor has a right to expect far better. If not for Dave's review [urlhttp://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=82476.0]it would have taken a few calls to AoA, I highly recommend you download the review and make it a part of the "Operating Manual".
3) The empty liquid containers referenced above were replaced by AoA via Priority Mail.
The Operating Manual refers to installing the whip and SEAL. I could not find a seal for the whip anywhere. A PM to Dave and he checked his setup and informed me that no seal had been used. Thanks Dave!
4) With the few issues mentioned, I am well satisfied with the Omega and recommend it to anyone who's requirements/needs justify the purchase price.
Ron

[ezman604]

Ron, thanks for the update and review. Glad you are up and running. This definitely proves they should do a little better in the packaging of the liquids and also a MUCH better job on the owner's/maintenance manual!!!
I have a couple of comments though. My gauge starts reading at 0 and reads almost instantly when starting a fill. I watch mine charge the whip and can tell when the pressure equalized with the device I am filling. It doesn't wait till 1000psi before reading. If it looks similar to MY gauge, then I would say you have a stuck needle or a defective gauge/regulator.



In the picture above (bad example for what I'm saying ) I'm in the process of charging my Katana directly. I watched the gauge climb from 0 psi. I just happened to snap the picture when it had reached 1300 psi.
And I believe mine took a lot less time to charge/fill. Twelve minutes to charge the whip and build to 1200 psi? I can test but I believe mine would reach that level in roughly 3-4 minutes tops. I would make sure all connectors are tight. And that the bleeder is closed completely. What interval do you have the water purge set to? Did it kick in and how many times during that 12 minutes?

[USAF Vet]

My gauge looks identical to yours and I'm not sure if it stuck but, probably not.
I was trying to check everything at once and it got confusing at times.
Old man in wheelchair trying to learn new tricks!  :-\  ???
I will try to be better observant when I fill my Prod & Mrod  later today.

About the water purge. It is set as in the attached picture. It was almost impossible for me to read. I see now it wasn't proper and I'll have to reset them.
One thing I seem to remember was that I heard an air leak on compressor start up and I checked all the fittings and bleed valves on the compressor and AV tank while the compressor was running. I could still hear a slight air leak but, shortly after, it stopped and pressure started to build. I'm not sure why this was so. Could this have been as a result of an improper setting of the water purge?
What is the proper way to use the purge test button? No indication in the Operating Manual.

I would appreciate any comments or assistance to help a relatively new convert to "The Darkside".

[USAF Vet]

Additional Information.
Purge properly set to 3 min, 3 sec. and now working properly.

Charging 3300psi, 80cf scuba tank:
Charge set to 3200 psi
Tank and Omega pressure equalized at 2200psi per Omega gauge
After 30 min pressure only increased to 2600 and did not seem to want to increase.
Observed that in addition to  the normal "washing machine" noise from the Omega a consistant click or soft clank was heard at what seemed to be compressor rotation (less than 1 sec)
Every time it happens the gauge needle jumps. This occurred at initial compressor start up.
Help please!
Ron

[travels4fun]

Additional Information.
Purge properly set to 3 min, 3 sec. and now working properly.

Charging 3300psi, 80cf scuba tank:
Charge set to 3200 psi
Tank and Omega pressure equalized at 2200psi per Omega gauge
After 30 min pressure only increased to 2600 and did not seem to want to increase.
Observed that in addition to  the normal "washing machine" noise from the Omega a consistant click or soft clank was heard at what seemed to be compressor rotation (less than 1 sec)
Every time it happens the gauge needle jumps. This occurred at initial compressor start up.
Help please!
Ron

Ron,

Have you given Airguns of Arizona a call? They should still be open and I'm betting they could help you out. Worth a shot.

Scott

[ezman604]

Ron, sounds like you have a leak somewhere. First off, I was wrong about the water purge system. I listed the operation of the controls backwards.
The duration between purges is the right control and the length of the purge is the left control. And the TEST button, is just that. It tests the duration to let you know where you have it set.
I just connected my 4500psi cylinder to top it off after an afternoon of shooting. When I closed the bleeders and opened the valve of my cylinder, I had 4000psi. I cranked the Omega and after about 10 minutes (and 4 purges) I'm at 4200psi. I have set my between purge times up a tad, the humidity is not that high today.
But again, I believe you have a small leak somewhere that needs to be looked at.
Mine does also have a small click/clank as the compressor works. The needle does jump with each one of these strokes.

[USAF Vet]

Everything may be working properly!!

I connected the 3300 psi, 80 cu ft scuba tank and the pressure equalized at 2600psi.
Started Omega and did the soapy water thing to check for leaks. Found slight leak at the whip - output port.
Tightened the connection. Had to turn whip connector about 20-25 degrees with quite a bit of effort. The leak seems to be fixed.
Filled scuba tank 2600 to 3300 - 1 hr, 23 min.

Connected the 4500 psi, 90 cu in. Air Venture tank.
Fill 0 - 90 cu in, 31 min.

I think this now looks pretty good!

Thanks VERY much for the help!
Ron

[jeff76]

just placed my order for one today.  I also bought this http://www.ebay.com/itm/Survivair-scba-cylinder-/201286746159?nma=true&si=D0kB8sDfX%252Fr57m%252FOic6qhmGfzzI%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557


so what fittings do I need to fill it?

[ezman604]

You have 3 years left on that bottle. Check with TimmyMac1 for the SCBA fill whip. And then you are set!!!

[jeff76]

was that a good deal for the bottle?  I saw one that looked to be in just as good condition that had an expired hydro date for less than half that price.

[ezman604]

You really can't go by the hydro date. A hydro test is required every 5 years. What you have to watch, and the price should reflect, the years of remaining shelf life the CF cylinder has. They have a shelf life (as determined by the D.O.T.) of 15 years. The manufacture date of yours is 09/2003. So it is good till 09/2018. Three years for that much money? Debatable.

[jeff76]

so after 15 years they are junk.   I could see that if they saw lots of use and where beat up, but I don't see how they just magically become unsafe after a set amount of time if used sparingly and kept well.  what are the odds of a tank in good shape that is 20 years old rupturing during normal operations?  seems slim to me.

[ezman604]

After 15 years you will not be able to get it hydro tested or filled at a D.O.T. approved fill station. Take it up with the powers to be.
http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/pv_obj_cache/pv_obj_id_29E43D48CB314DC6AAEBDC15867880838F430100/filename/cffc_std.pdf

Reading through this, it appears the manufacturer COULD do some extensive testing and get an extension that would double the shelf life to 30 years if they submit the test. But why would they? That would mean they would sell fewer new cylinders.