I just bought a new Pasche small, 1-cylinder compressor to replace my 40 year-old Badger diaphragm compressor. It has a reservoir which is something that I wanted, and a pressure regulator/filter/water trap unit. First of all, the instructions (or lack thereof) didn't mention that you have to lift the adjustment knob on the regulator to release it for adjustment. I almost wrecked it trying to force it. Second, when I did figure that out, the adjustment nut was so tight in the zero-pressure position that I needed a Channellock pliers to release it.
Then something wasn't working right. When I adjusted the regulator to, let's say, 20psi, the air was bleeding out of the gauge body (or it seemed like that's where it was coming from) that the compressor never was able to fill the reservoir and shut off as it should. I know the pressure switch is okay because it did shut off when the regulator was set to zero pressure. It would run, quietly, and you could hear it loading up and then it would shut off. As I raised the pressure to 40, it bled even more. It appears that the gauge itself has an air leak inside.
Does anyone have familiarity with these Chinese regulators? How are they supposed to work? I'm taking it back to my LHS where I bought it on Friday and see what's going on. They have another regulator in stock so if the reg is defective we'll be able to switch it out. It is about 2/3 quieter than that old Badger unit.