DGX now selling Lenhardt & Wagner compressor

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Bauer K-14, Mako 5407, I have no issues in the USA with the Coltri, in Libya YMMV, Ingersoll Rand newer than 10 years old, I stay away from Eagle, Max-Air, and anything I can't pronounce.

In Libya the choices are, Bauer, L&W and Coltri I guess. There is a Turkish brand that may serve as a second backup compressor.


what's your tolerance for break-downs?
Not much. There are very few, if any, qualified compressors techs here. It has to be most durable and reliable compressor.

It gets very hot here in the summer time, up to 47C/117F.
 
In Libya the choices are, Bauer, L&W and Coltri I guess. There is a Turkish brand that may serve as a second backup compressor.



Not much. There are very few, if any, qualified compressors techs here. It has to be most durable and reliable compressor.

It gets very hot here in the summer time, up to 47C/117F.
Heat destroys compressors. If possible, I would look into a water cooling system, even something simple with coils that run in a water jacket cooled with a garden hose. You'd be amazed how cooling the air another 10C will make your filters and compressor last much longer.
 
Heat destroys compressors. If possible, I would look into a water cooling system, even something simple with coils that run in a water jacket cooled with a garden hose. You'd be amazed how cooling the air another 10C will make your filters and compressor last much longer.

if you can get the air cold enough, your filters have a near infinite life as the water will condense out of it and take damn near everything with it. Obviously still need to convert some CO to CO2, but all of the particulate etc. will drop out with the water. @cool_hardware52 had a really slick system on his big Bauer with refrigerated coils and said during the winter in Pasadena he had to be careful or the drains would turn to ice blocks. Be relatively inexpensive compared to the cost of filters to get a chest fridge/freezer, full with water and put the coils into the fridge. Run the fridge with the compressor with some recirc aquarium heads and the between stage cooling will keep the compressor happy, and the final stage cooling will keep the filters/tanks happy
 
I will say this you have to be very careful adding water cooling to an air cooled compressor design.

From my position too much cooling at the approach side (or the intake side of the interstage valve) off the cooling coil can cause water condensing inside the valve itself so much so that hydraulic forces can push the head off the compressor or in a process called hydraulic lock.

The correct compressor design allows for a little heat in the heads to avoid water condensing in them and also the heat ensures long valve life. It’s a question of design and balances.

Cooling and condensing water interstage is fine but needs careful consideration and water separation prior to the interstage inlet valves. Although cooling on the after cooler side downstream before the final chemical filter is fine the cooler the better as described above. But I just wanted to raise awareness that its not as easy as you may at first think. And its way off this topic
 
Typically, Americans do not shop for reliability, quality, or any other variable aside from price. So the question you can answer might be "what is the best 6 CFM compressor I can get that will give me a minimum of grief, with long service intervals and a large sump so I only have to change oil once a (insert time here), that has dealer support for parts and service, and has easy to source long lived filters". That is not a question an American would ask, to my eternal sorrow.

An American would ask "what is the best (with no indication as to what they consider best) compressor I can buy for (XX) dollars."

Of course, the second question is completely subjective and totally depends on the asker's value, which is obviously price point.

So an American sees something he feels he can afford, he buys it, and his sorrow comes along later when he has to change filters every 11 fills or he has to change oil every 2 months or whatever.

Someone in the third world values a compressor that can run thousands of hours and he has to remember to order valve service kits at some point. Someone making his living with a liveaboard dive boat values the same thing.

This is not the Americans I know and work with, the highest of talent, of skill and determination to take project after project and work to a resolution of the highest quality, reliability and maintainability. You just have to look at what American engineering has accomplish to see this principle of determination at work.

Why the heck American divers turn their backs on good quality built product and throw good money away at the 3rd world for junk and trinkets just to save a dime on the doller and get hosed five grand for a two grand product I will never ever know. Ignorance, willful stupidity or just plain lazy to learn I dont know but our collective responsibility here as fellow divers is to make sure sufficiant knowledge is transferred over each to another for each and every on of us to have enough information to make an informed choice starting with the objective.
Reliability Availability Maintainability.
 
I will say this you have to be very careful adding water cooling to an air cooled compressor design.

From my position too much cooling at the approach side (or the intake side of the interstage valve) off the cooling coil can cause water condensing inside the valve itself so much so that hydraulic forces can push the head off the compressor or in a process called hydraulic lock.

The correct compressor design allows for a little heat in the heads to avoid water condensing in them and also the heat ensures long valve life. It’s a question of design and balances.

Cooling and condensing water interstage is fine but needs careful consideration and water separation prior to the interstage inlet valves. Although cooling on the after cooler side downstream before the final chemical filter is fine the cooler the better as described above. But I just wanted to raise awareness that its not as easy as you may at first think. And its way off topic

Yea but in Libya that interstage water jacket is going to be toasty, if it doesn't evaporate away first :p

Personally I found that the supplied fan on my Alkins is really terrible. The "blades" are highly inefficient and don't even blow on the relevant parts like the 3rd stage cylinder head. I added 2 boring old desk fans to my setup and dropped my head temps ~10C in summer, 140f down to 125f or so. In winter I don't use them, getting the oil to warm up is enough of a challenge in my 40F (4C) garage.
 
Yea but in Libya that interstage water jacket is going to be toasty, if it doesn't evaporate away first :p

Personally I found that the supplied fan on my Alkins is really terrible. The "blades" are highly inefficient and don't even blow on the relevant parts like the 3rd stage cylinder head. I added 2 boring old desk fans to my setup and dropped my head temps ~10C in summer, 140f down to 125f or so. In winter I don't use them, getting the oil to warm up is enough of a challenge in my 40F (4C) garage.

We could discuss Alkin compressors on another post if you like also why the fan doesnt always work too well on the Alkin when compaired to say a Rix the two polar design opposites. Number of blades tip speed and blade angle are all critical on high RPM or overdriven fans yet so many fitted to scuba compressors are off the shelf made in China general purpose plastic fans most of which are at approaching "stall"

One consideration for you is that most compressor designers have to consider the noise aspects of the fan to be within certain dB limits for sales and marketing purposes. Sadly performance is a trade off.
But for the purposes of engineering design consider this. The Rix SA-6 $97 eight blade black Mil spec zero degree pitch angle fan with it's eight individual secured curved machined impeller blades is the best of the best. Yet the white six blade moulded 30 degree pitch angle $15 fan is the one prefered by customrs and Rix sales alike. LOL Go figure.
 
Let's discuss it here. What do you don't of them and why? (don't be shy).

Hahah not before you answer my post to you and admit 30% mark up for the dive shop selling the L&W is correct. LOL Post number 40

No seriously I'm under instruction on the compressor section of the forum to remain on topic I got banned the other month for wandering off topic and I also had half my posts and photos removed off the IWR kit post a week or two back and I'm still not allowed to get back in it. All I get is a "You have insufficient privileges to reply here" message. So shy it is I'm afraid. LOL
 
Anyway, back to the thing here, is there any data to suggest that the filter life for the L&W is materially worse than other competing compressors in the same size range? Most of the small, portable compressors have a short filter column, which leads to an extremely poor filter life.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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