I've been wondering about whether I should modify my little Aerotechnica Coltri MCH-6 compressor. It is such a nice, compact little gas operated compressor, and only weighs about 75 lbs. I bought it for only $200 from a garage sale in Michigan. Aside from the condenser tower, it was in such good shape I don't think it was ever used very much. After fixing the condenser tower, servicing the Briggs and Stratton engine, and putting a BPR into the fill whip, it works perfectly. Fills tanks at about 3 cfm or better. Heck of a nice little compressor.
I originally had this fantasy idea of renting one of the kitchenette rooms up at Fortune pond, taking a week long vacation to dive the pond, and refilling my tanks from the little Coltri MCH-6 so conveniently. BUT... The reality is that refilling more than one tank at a time on site is loud and slow... We end up having to listen to the engine running all day long especially if there's more than one diver to fill tanks for. Time better spent either diving or visiting with our buddies. We all have accumulated enough tanks that we just bring enough full ones so we don't have to refill any on site.
It still makes sense if I stayed for a weeks vacation but that has never materialized. I have made a point of filling tanks at home with this little Coltri... Just because I like to play with it. But I have to have a good breeze to blow away the exhaust fumes. And since I have a Rix and an Alkin that run exhaust free via electric motors, the Coltri isn't getting used much.
I was thinking of converting it to an electric motor so it could get used more often. And THAT probably wouldn't be such a big deal except for the fact that it's kind of a collector's item (IMHO)... One of the first years Coltri was making them back in 1980. And it's such a neat, compact unit. So what do you guys think? Should I keep it as is or convert it to an electric motor? Hewre's a link to a YouTube video
[youtube]https://youtu.be/CXp-0TzuIOo?si=dq0RYMoM9Qc7BGvM[/youtube]
