Canadian Airgun Forum

I recieved a Shoebox Max about a month ago and decided after nearly 50hrs on the machine to write a review. The Max I have is equipted with hardened rods, cooling fan and belt driven to name a few. After the first 12hrs of use I found I was unable to produce pressure beyond 3200 psi. After a quick tear down of the second piston it was found a nick out of the pressure o-ring. A quick replacing with the supplied o-rings with the unit and I was up and running. The unit has since operated flawless. I finished filling my CF tank 97cfm, and proceeded to fill my shop N2 tank, 236 cfm I believe. From 2000 psi to 4500 psi. The shoe box piston rods were lubed in 2.5 to 3 hr intervals as per the manufactors recomended practices . During this time the pistons never reached over 110F so the cooling fan does its job very well. And the belt drive is much quieter than the chain drive unit. I have since filled guns, and tanks with no problem.

My understanding is the Freedom8, the newest version of the Shoebox is availble. With improvements of electronic shut off, 4ft of additional cooling coils and a higher input pressure for faster fills.

This is a very worth while piece of equipment for those who do alot of shooting and want to be self sufficient with their PCP arms

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May the cry of the pack be with you upon your hunt

Whitewolf

Thank,s for the review. Makes me want to get one.

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If I had only one wish, it would be to be able to "unsay" things.

Definitely getting a CF tank and a Shoebox. Thanks for the review!

Rich

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"The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering."

Bruce Lee

What kind of moisture levels are coming out of the Shoebox? (if any...) Does come with any sort of filters?

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"It's just a springer..."

I can't tell you about the actual, quantified, moisture content of the output, but it certainly can't be any worse than a hand pump operating under the same conditions.... I personally run 25' of coiled airhose after the shop compressor (to allow the air to cool), then a moisture trap, then a 2 gallon pony tank (running at a regulated 85 psi) with a tank drain (and I've never had a drop of water in the pony tank), then two silica gel filters (from Princess Auto) in series between the pony tank and the ShoeBox.... When the gel turns pink in the first filter (and that in the second one is then still blue) I bake all the silica gel to regenerate it, which you can do many times before it "wears out" and you have to bake it every fill session.... At that point I replace the silica gel.... The advantage of doing it this way is that the shop air is already at 85 psi and the humidity has already increased by over a factor of five (from the compression).... and the volume of air being filtered by it (and therefore the flow rate) is less than 1/5th as much.... They therefore can remove the water much more efficiently than a filter on the inlet of a hand pump like a Hill....

Without the silica gel filters (or after they turn pink), when you bleed the ShoeBox using the bleed screw at the bottom of the main block, during the summer, (in the winter, the humidity is very low here) I see a slight spray of mist when I first crack it (and I've seen the same, or worse, from a hand pump).... If the silica gel is blue, never a trace.... I use my ShoeBox to fill a SCUBA tank, and then use that to fill my guns.... When you compress air, the humidity goes up, when it expands, it goes down.... Therefore, the highest humidity will be in the SCUBA tank.... Filling your gun from there will insure the air in your gun doesn't contain liquid water.... You certainly can't say that for a hand pump....

Bob

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Dominion Marksman Silver Shield - 5890 x 6000 in 1976, and downhill ever since!
Airsonal; Too many! Springers, Pumpers, CO2, but I love my PCPs and developing them!
Proud Member of the 2000+fps Club!

Bob - if you periodically turned the scuba tank upsidedown for 5 or 10 minutes then let out a blast of air, would that remove any or all of the moisture from the scuba tank?

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Best Wishes
Daryl

Any machinist,s out there thought of making a hand pump version using a pump handle, like the old water pumps. ?

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If I had only one wish, it would be to be able to "unsay" things.

is it possible to make a hand pump that works the same way ?

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If I had only one wish, it would be to be able to "unsay" things.

The Shoebox does not come with a filter or water trap system. I purchased mine thru Princess auto. A simple inline moisture and filter trap, as well as a desicant filter both were just over $22. The inline desicant filter would last approx 6hrs of pumping, that is when there was a noticable 60% of color change upon the desicant. The 20gal compressor (regulated to 85psi) I have was purged every 2.5 to 3 hrs same time I would grease the piston rods. Little to no moisture mist came from the compressor tank. 25ft hose to moisture trap/ filter 3ft whip hose to desicant filter. And like what was said no different then using a stirup pump.

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May the cry of the pack be with you upon your hunt

Whitewolf

Hand pumps driven by a motor have been done... The problem I can see is reliability, they could easily overheat....

I've tried upending the SCUBA tank and blasting out some air.... never seen any sign of water / fog / frost.... I'm more confident in my system than a hand pump as far as moisture in the gun goes....

Bob

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Dominion Marksman Silver Shield - 5890 x 6000 in 1976, and downhill ever since!
Airsonal; Too many! Springers, Pumpers, CO2, but I love my PCPs and developing them!
Proud Member of the 2000+fps Club!

Thanks Bob.

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Best Wishes
Daryl

I too have seen a video of an automated hand pump. I'll look around and see if I can find it. It turned so slow I doubt it would overheat. I wish I had saved my money on the shoebox and put it towards a booster instead. There is a 7000psi compressor on ebay right now for $1800.