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This is a tough question............I have extensive experience with a RiX
SA 3................it is available for sale if you are
interested.............I now have a new Bauer Junior 2 from Brownies
........................the reason is the fact that the RIX has been less
than fully reliable up to this point..........it disassembled itself twice
and has been rebuilt since than..............the first failure was the
thrust bearing, the big one on the bottom that maintains the units
alignment, when it exploded the third stage rod went and then the third
stage piston was ejected at a high velocity out of the back end, it bounced
off the basement wall and was found a few feet away, part of the driving rod
was found fused to the carpet, apparently it was a bit warm. After
replacing this and the bearing rod unit on the third stage the next failure
was 10 running hours later when the bolt holding the third stage rod to the
big rotating disk that transfers the rotating energy to push the piston
sheared off. Once again the third stage piston was ejected at high speed
out of the back end, having learned from the first experience I now had a
deep layer of card board behind the unit and this captured the piston
preventing it from bouncing off the wall. I was able to use it again.
After several hours that can best be described as trying............the
sheared bolt was removed from the unit, more replacement parts were ordered
from Rix and it was again rebuilt..........................Now I bought it
as a used unit so it probably had a lot of hours on it.......since then I
have replaced everything on it that is worn and it is now operating quite
well...........I have also gone through the learning curve needed to own a
steam engine of this design............I also no longer feel like dealing
with not knowing if I will have gas for a dive or not so ergo the purchase
of the Bauer...........................
I have always operated the Rix remotely...........i.e. the fill station
is in the garage and the compressors are in the basement with power switches
at both locations.........it has been an excellent safety
measure...................
When I first bought the Rix I purchased it because it is oil
less......Nest pumps it own mixed gases...hey what a deal don't need a
filter right........wrong.........despite a complete cleaning of the unit
after purchasing it.........the gas it produced smelled really
bad................well this was fixed with a filter tower and additional
water seperator.............so much of the advantage of oil less......
Oil less does not mean lubrication free..........you need to grease the
rear rod end bearings on a regular basis, every couple of hours. When it
operates some of this grease gets sprayed behind the unit......its very much
like a steam engine...the other reason for the card board behind
it.............
The third stage rings are only rated for 100 hours of use and need to be
replaced...............in favor of the unit this is easy to do but still a
bit of a pain and a reoccurring cost.
Another lesson learned is the fan on the unit does not appear to provide
adequate cooling so use a supplemental unit.
If I was you I think I would give Robert a call and get a Bauer from
him, these units have an excellent reliability record and should be a lot
less frustrating...........of course the Rix SA 3 is available and may at
this point be reliable..........or it may not................it does not
come with any warranty.
Now a question....?????????....assuing that no one wants to buy the
Rix...............this is probably unlikely........based on the above but
than you never know ...................in addition to having it as a backup
we have also considered using it as a booster pump for HE.........has anyone
ever tried this with any degree of success?????????????
JOE
-----Original Message-----
From: Glenn E Goettler <geg@li*.co*>
To: cavers <cavers@cavers.com>; techdiver <techdiver@aq*.co*>
Date: Wednesday, December 29, 1999 12:21 PM
Subject: RIX compressors
>i was wondering if anybody out there has had any experience w/ RIX
>compressors, particularly the SA-6 model. i'm looking at getting one for a
>small fill station, and would appreciate hearing about reliability, ease of
>maintenance, longevity, etc. if you're currently using one, i'd also be
>very interested in how you've set it up (what filters, etc). thanks
>
>---
>Glenn Goettler Liquid Earth
>geg@li*.co* http://www.liquidearth.com
>
>
>
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