I have been asked numerous times if owning a compressor would save a diver a lot of money or cost a ton per fill. I thought I would post this information just to set the story straight.


Operation and maintenance ... the cost of running a compressor has been greatly exaggerated. For filters, it is about $1 per fill. For oil, it is $12.95 for an oil change on the Coltri MCH6 and you do that about every 50 fills which is another $ 0.26 per fill. Then the 100 hour maintenance (valves, relief seat, drain valve seats, inlet filter) is about $150 and that adds another $2 to the cost of your fill. Without adding in the cost of the compressor itself, you are at $3.26 per fill.

Equipment ... if you want to add in the cost of the compressor, it should give you 1000 hours of operation with care before incurring major overhaul costs. That adds another dollar to the cost of the individual fill. On the $3290 Coltri that means that your fill is about $4.26 for a standard 80.

Power and/or fuel is a HUGE variable depending on where you are in the world but you can plan on anywhere from about five to seventy five cents per fill.

Now, that said ... will you save a lot of money buying a compressor? No ... unless you dive a LOT.

Is there an advantage to owning your own compressor then? Sure ... convenience. Even if you trust your local dive shop's air, they aren't always open when you need them. In addition, there is the air quality factor. You know the quality of the air that you are pumping because you take care of changing oil and air filters regularly.


Now, with all that information, does that mean that compressors are for everyone? NO WAY! In order to operate a compressor you need to be willing to learn something about how they work, how to operate them safely, how to maintain them and how to tell when they need service. And we all know that divers in general don't read directions.

OK ... I think I have covered what I intended.