question on air tanks,

[Dave18]

currently scoping out air sources before I buy a gun,

I see all the scuba tanks ect, and see the costs, and wonder why we never hear about using the air tanks from a weld supply place, (which I have a inside line on stuff),

any reason I cannot use regular tanks ???

[GARD72977]

You can use any tank that holds 3k PSI. I would want at least 4500psl. There are guys that use 6000psi nitrogen tanks. The cost of regulators and fill hoses get expensive quick. Those big tanks aren't mobile.

If you already have a tank and regulator you will just need a fill those.

[GARD72977]

One more thing. The airgun tanks have a slow fill valve. This just slows down how fast you fill your gun. It makes it easier to get to a accurrate fill pressure.

[Greg S]

Go with a CF Tank. You'll get more fills between trips to the dive shop than a standard aluminum tank a 3500 psi. The weld tanks are only filled to 2300 psi I believe and the are kindy awkard to handle.

[georgerkahn]

Just as a possible alternative... When indoor (gunpowder-propelled) shooting became verboten at a club I belong to, the alternative was to switch to -- for winter shooting -- PCP air rifles. My choice, which I *do* regret maybe 2% or 3% , was to buy a Hill air pump and an extra air cylinder for my PCP rifle. It was indeed the cost effective way to go. The only "bad part" it -- for this 70-yr-old -- is it IS a bit of a work-out to fill the cylinders to requisite pressure. In my case, I c-clamped a hinge to my drill press table, with a 7-foot (scrap) angle iron also fastened to the now-free half of hinge. I slip a nylon cable-tie to "connect" Hill pump handle with the aluminum angle iron, and -- albeit it takes between 12 and 15 minutes to do -- I get each cylinder filled -- time is now greater than effort . I didn't want to spend the bucks to deal with tanks; there are no evenly remotely fillers close to commercially fill them if I had; and, they have a finite life before needing to be periodically hydro-statically tested (what fellow in welding store told me). I bought my Hill pump on-line from Pyramid Air -- again, you may wish to explore your pros and cons re using a pump rather than a tank. Good luck!
geo

[rsterne]

Whatever you do, absolutely DO NOT USE OXYGEN to fill a PCP.... Any residual oils inside the gun can combust and explode if you do.... While Argon is "safe" to use, the performance is poor.... Stay with Nitrogen or Air.... Many welding tanks are only filled to 2300 psi, which obviously won't fill a 3000 psi airgun.... You can buy Nitrogen in 6000 psi bottles, but they weigh 300 lbs.... So the answer to your question is "maybe", but make sure you use the correct gas, and that your tank is safe at the pressure you want to fill it at....

Bob

[ebner glocken]

I bought a couple of scott SCBA tanks off of ebay. They're out of the 15 year service date but the condition is good and they work fine. Plenty of them on ebay.

Ebner

[georgerkahn]

The wife of a close friend was putting air in one of her low auto's tires, and the portable air tank fragmented! The shrapnel from this tank took the meat -- e.g, skin, muscles, and all - from her wrist to elbow on her left arm. She was most fortunate that after almost three months of treatment at a 175-mile distant hospital she was transported to, between extensive graftings and surgeries, she did not lose the limb, and has 30%-50% use of it -- this after two and one-half years! NOTE: the portable tank had a 200psi rating and Rick, her husband, believed the pressure when it blew was in the eighty psi range! For PCP use, the pressure range on filled tanks is from two THOUSAND, five hundred to THREE THOUSAND p.s.i.. There is a reason why tanks are being sold on eBay... If/should you go that route -- PLEASE do yourself and others a big favor and have them hydro-statically tested!!! The "service date" is there for a reason!!!
geo

[lead-1]

I bought a couple of scott SCBA tanks off of ebay. They're out of the 15 year service date but the condition is good and they work fine. Plenty of them on ebay.

Ebner

As georgerkahn said those SCBA, SCUBA and I would say any pressure tank needs to be inspected by code, both Visual at X amount of years and Hydro-statically every X amount of years. That was something our VFD had done religiously, no sense in chancing a blowout that could seriously wound or even kill someone.
Also and especially if it is a fiber wound tank, it is possible for a fiber wound tank to have interior damage and look ok on the outside if it had been hit on the edge of something. Please have it tested.

[ebner glocken]

My bad, perhaps I should have told a bit more. No way would I have a tank with 4500 psi in it without being inspected and tested. In the circle of people I associate with this is a nonissue. As long as the tank has been treated reasonably well and has not been exposed to solvents, ect 99.9% of them out there will pass inspection just fine. I don't believe any of us have a 20 year old tank we are going in and out of burning buildings with. It does help to know the history of the tank, many of them are cycled very little in the 15 year service life. They hang on a wall in case of an emergency to escape with and are used once a year for training (these are the ones you want to find). The guys that scare me are the ones that have a almost new tank they store on a shelf right under a jug of acetone.

Yes, any tank that holds this kind of pressure is a potential bomb, treat it with due respect.

Ebner

[clodhopper]

Thanks Ebner,
I was that guy yesterday, yes a pint can of acetone is stored above where the tank sat. Sure the can was closed, but gravity is so darned persistent.
The tank is moved away from there, while a more secure storage plan is contemplated.

[igolfat8]

I started out with a 4500 psi hand pump which I got off FleaBay for $35 delivered. It works ... BUT ... its a cardio work out. If you have a weak heart or fear of a heart attack while exercising you might want to consider another option. I considered buying a large tank and then having a local fire department fill it but that is not always convenient. After much deliberation I purchased a small portable CF Benjamin tank, direct from Crosman, using a 25% discount code which is AGNATION . Then I purchased Yong Heng 120V 4500 psi compressor from FleaBay for $180 and it works GREAT!!! It takes 7 seconds to fill my PCP rifle from my compressor or I can fill my CF Benjamin tank in about 5 minutes. If I am shooting at home, I fill my rifle direct from the compressor and if I am out hunting. I put my CF tank, in a Thrift Store, $2 book bag / back pack and top my rifle off in the field. I have no regrets and would do it all over the same, except going the hand pump route.

[Dave18]

wow, talk about lots of good info, ok, heres where Im at now,

got the grandkid a crosman challenger, for the local 10m shooting sports group, now he can leave the stock and sights set for him instead of wasting range time fiddling with what ever gun he got given,

as to the scuba tank end of things,semi local place (2 hr drive)will not refill unless you have a divers cert, and tank has been tested ,

the one guy that gets the tank filled for the club, uses the local firedept to recharge that tank, which is fine, but I was looking being a little independent than relying strictly on one angle to recharge your air source, at the clubs place,

as to the welding gas supplier, they only carry air in the larger tanks, that are at 23-2500psi depending on what the temp is, and the price is below a scuba tank , (which runs 325 used around here, through people I know), , without the filling hassles, this is worth a lot in some ways, considering the stink eye looks I got when asking around about getting a scuba tank refilled, with some local fire dept people and a 10 minute talk till they understood I really was not going to try diving with it, if I had one,

so that's where im at right now,

[ebner glocken]

Getting the "stink eye" is annoying to say the least, this is why I bought a compressor about the same time the first tank was bought. When you're independent you don't have to explain yourself to people that know less about what you're doing than you do. Yes, the shoebox, tank, and hose was a bit of an investment at first but has paid for itself in my opinion already. It's saved me countless trips to get a tank refilled not to mention explaining that the tank (even out of date) has been inspected by people most likely with far more credentials than anyone associated with your dive shop, fire dept, ect. They wouldn't believe me if I tried to tell them. That alone was worth the few hundred bucks for the compressor, the added ability to do it from home was icing on the cake. The more I can do from home the less I need to explain myself of my "need" for such services.

Ebner

[nvreloader]

+1 for the Shoe box compressor, I have an F-10 and it has performed like a champ,
filling 3- SCBA tanks to 3000+ psi, for almost a year now, every couple of weeks,
and I just added 2 different pellet molds from NOE, now I don't have to depend on anyone again..... except myself.

Well worth the funds spent, IMHO.

Tia,
Don

[2wheelDuke]

I think it really depends on the dive shop. My local shop is aware of the non-breathing uses for compressed air. He even sells a sticker that'd go around the tank that clearly marks it as not for diving use. I'll see if I can link it.

It's from XS Scuba, part number ST220. Any scuba shop should be able to order them if you don't want to buy online.



https://www.divers-supply.com/xs-scu...a-sticker.html

Airguns are getting popular at my range, and not just with the kids. Although we do have some serious youth competitors now.

[RP]

I am not sure of the pressure but the CO2 fire suppressors for electrical panel are a thick wall alum tank. Fellow was over at the house when I was firing them off so I could remove the valves and use the tanks for other things around the shop and asked about them since he has a Air Rifle. I offered him a few of them but he had a couple already and did not know if the threads would work for a reg valve, I shot a few well the boys shot a few just to see them take off and they seemed to have a good amount of pressure.
Now if they hold the pressure and the treads are right to change the valve you could pick them up from the guy that services them they are scrap most of the time when they go out of date since a new one is about the same cost of the test here.

[clodhopper]

CO-2 runs under 2000 PSI.
A lot of air gun shooters are wanting 4500 PSI, with the safety factor, the discarded tanks might hold 4500.
But the money saved on a tank is pretty minor compared to serious injury or death.
Probably cheaper to buy a tank than just repair an air tank size hole in a wall or roof.

[Dave18]

an air tank size hole in a wall or roof.

,got me laughing, back in the early 70s, worked at a aluminum boat company welding up the boats, on their quote welded line,

think it was a helium mix tank , someone on a forklift bumped our tank rack, heard the tanks bumping together we all know the sound, and as I was lifting my lid, (back before the fancy auto lenses) heard some crashing, then the most awful loud ping and roar, kerboom , then silence, dust in the air I could not see more than a few feet, and this bright spot where the wall was, turned out the tank exited through the wall(standard block wall, it busted about 4or5 blocks I think), bounced off a car in the parking lot, and was still rolling down the road when I got outside,

one of them things you never forget, and the reason you make sure the chains are hooked on a bottle skid, along with a new respect of what a tank can do, also had some spots on my legs that looked like you had hit with a sand blaster, took a while to heal up, along with getting the dirt festering up out of the skin, should have hd pants on that day instead of shorts, but being summer and no air conditioning , you could only run a fan below the jigs, otherwise it blew the gas off your weld(tig welding)so shorts made life a lot nicer on hot humid days,

little things in life, LOL,

[TCLouis]

Joe B, one of the guys that sells tanks and needed additional pieces says, not to buy a tank from him or anyone else until one has a source of refills available.
Depending on the gun, 2,000 psi gun you can get by with a 3,000 psi tank, but get the 3,000 psi guns and one needs the 4500 psi rated tanks.
Find air source, tank supplier, then a gun.

Any idea what gun(s) you are scoping out?