Tom Kaye, the legendary paintball designer behind AGD and the Automag has returned to paintball with, in my opinion, the most exciting paintball announcement in the last few years. He has anounced plansto build a miniature paintball air compressor that will run off electricity and a cheap shop compressor (which only will run occasionally) and will be able to fill compressed air tanks to 4500psi. The concept is simple - create a low-power, low-cost pump that will fill tanks to high pressures over a long period of time. Current guesses are that a 68/45 could be filled in about 4 hours. While the slow fill time will mean you can't refill a tank between games, you will be able to fill a tank overnight without paying several thousand dollars as the expected retail price is $300-$400. For those of you who use compressed air, you know how its reliability, consistency and ease of use make it the preferred (and sometimes required) air for competitive paintball. You also know how difficult it is to keep your tanks full when you're not at a professional field. This new compressor solves that problem by allowing you to play (or tinker) where you like and fill your tanks at home. With the expected cost of $0.05 an hour to operate, filling a tank will now cost twenty cents - less than the gas to drive to a paintball field or store.
I will definitely be in line to get one of these when they are released. I'm a big fan of Tom's work at AGD (and still own some of his products) and I'm an even bigger fan of the idea of filling my compressed air tanks without going to a scuba store or paintball field. The mini-compressor is still several months from production, but you can view a video of a prototype to see what it's all about.
Q: How much will it cost? A: Currently the target price is 3-400 dollars retail but this could change.
Q: How fast will it fill a tank? A: It will fill a 68 cubic inch tank in about 4 hours to 4500 psi.
Q: I hear it needs another compressor? A: Yes, it needs an 85 psi input from a shop compressor for maximum fill rate. If you don’t use a shop compressor it will take 6 times longer to fill a tank.
Q: What shop compressor can I use? A: Almost ANY shop compressor that puts out at least 85 psi at 1 CFM or more will work fine. The mini-compressor takes very little air and a shop compressor will only kick on a few times. Small shop compressors are so cheap it didn’t make sense to try and build one into the mini-compressor.
Q: How many CFM does the mini-compressor use when pumping? A: It takes about 0.04 CFM which is nothing.
Q: Can I use a compressed air tank instead of a shop compressor? A: Yes you can. Some thing like a portable air tank for filling tires should work but it needs to be big enough to maintain some type of pressure during the 4 hour fill time.
Q: Can I fill a scuba tank? A: Yes but you have to provide a fill hose and attachment fittings. I estimate it will fill an 80 cubic foot scuba tank to 3000 psi in about 24 hours.
Q: Can I use a low pressure scuba with a regulated output to 85 psi to feed the mini-compressor? A: Yes but we don’t recommend it because a high pressure regulator is more expensive than a small shop compressor that can be bought new for 80 bucks.
Q: How much noise does it make? A: Not that much but its not completely silent. Its less noisy than your mothers sewing machine.
Q: Does it turn off by itself? A: Yes but the pressure is preset at the factory. You have to buy either the 4500 or 3000 psi model.
Q: What else do I need to get to make it work? A: To keep the cost down we only supply a stainless nipple output from the compressor. This is the same nipple you find on your paintball markers tank. You need to get a hose to connect what ever type of tank you have, scuba, paintball, pellet gun, to the compressor.
Q: What size is it? A: Its about 16” wide, 12” deep and 6 ½ inches tall. The picture on Facebook shows a pencil for scale in front of the compressor.
Q: When will it be available? A: We are making the pre-production prototypes now and hope to have the first run out within two months.
Q: Is there any water or particle filtration on the mini-compressor? A: No there is not to keep costs down. You can put a water trap between the shop compressor and the mini-compressor if that’s a concern.
Q: How much electricity will it take? A: It will cost less than 5 cents an hour to run the compressor.
***** update 2-16-10 *******
Q: Can I put say 1000 psi into it to make it fill faster? A: No not 1000 psi because it will overload the first piston and stall the motor. It will probably handle up to about 100 psi or a bit more which will give you a faster fill.
Q: Will it be sold in Europe? A: YES, working on the distribution now.
Q: Does it have a degas valve to disconnect the tank? A: Yes, the knob to degas the line is directly above the output port. You screw it in to release the pressure.
******* update 2-17-10 ****** Q: Will it be convertable from 3k to 4.5k? A: No, there are too many liability issues.
Q: Any safety features built in? Yes, there is a standard replaceable burst disk built into the compressor. The shut-off system is made to shut down if the spring breaks, if the lubrication gets too low and increases the friction, or if there is an overpressure in the first stage. If your filling a paintball tank, there is a backcheck valve there, and two others in the compressor to prevent 4500 psi from getting back into your fill compressor.
Q: Who is behind the design and production? A: Tom Kaye owner of Airgun Designs is responsible for the development of the compressor. He is getting back into the paintball business after 5 years in retirement.
Q: Is Tom Kaye looking older? A: Yes but he can still kick your ass!!
