scuba tank fills

[SmokeTest]

Now this is funny because I lived about 7 years in the Kent, Renton and Auburn areas back in the late 90's early 2000's

That is funny. Also, I lived in Auburn Alabama for 5 years (college). Now that's a *(&^ of a lot of coincidences.

[Bullit]

In the highlands and metro area,  the FD stations aren't too hip about filling tanks, unless you know someone.  The Dive Shop is only for divers.  You might try Goulds and see if they have an avenue for you.  None of the welding/gas suppliers have sufficient pressure clean air for use.  But you may try calling them to see if something is available.  It is dim in the Louisville Metro for the guy off the street.

[Norm_m]

A 6000 PSI Nitrogen tank from a welding/gas supplier  is a great way to go. You'll never have a moisture issue using nitrogen to fill your PCP.


Norm

[Bullit]

Exactly...  I know you can get that in the metro.   Might ask for a rental to try it out... times are tight.

[CSSWormy11]

Now this is funny because I lived about 7 years in the Kent, Renton and Auburn areas back in the late 90's early 2000's

That is funny. Also, I lived in Auburn Alabama for 5 years (college). Now that's a *(&^ of a lot of coincidences.

...born, raised, still in this area...lol.

I called the local shops, but they don't appear to fill above 3000 psi.  Funny thing is, we used to have a Paintball Field in Opelika and another heading up 431 halfway between Opelika and Lafayette.  Hard to believe those shops never gotten any Paintball customers.  My mother knows a few firefighters and I think I work with a few guys that are volunteers.  I may have to start askin' around.

[avator]

Now this is funny because I lived about 7 years in the Kent, Renton and Auburn areas back in the late 90's early 2000's

That is funny. Also, I lived in Auburn Alabama for 5 years (college). Now that's a *(&^ of a lot of coincidences.

...born, raised, still in this area...lol.

I called the local shops, but they don't appear to fill above 3000 psi.  Funny thing is, we used to have a Paintball Field in Opelika and another heading up 431 halfway between Opelika and Lafayette.  Hard to believe those shops never gotten any Paintball customers.  My mother knows a few firefighters and I think I work with a few guys that are volunteers.  I may have to start askin' around.

It's a drive for you but, old George at SeaDivers in Ozark can fill ya for $5. He also does the vis and hydro. He even gave me a loaner while the hydro was being done. He filled the loaner for $5 and told me to use it until empty and pick mine up when I brought it back. It's about a 40 min trip for me, one way.

[racvt]

Hey everyone, I know this has been discussed about a million times but I am new to PCP. I'm looking for information on scuba tanks. As far as what size to use, where is the best place to find one. I know the size of the tank will affect how many fills you get out of one. Any info on this would be greatly appreciated.

size,type and pressure will determine the number of fills.


if you're running a lower pressure pcp (1500-2000psi) a large 3000psi scuba tank would work fine and give a halfway decent amount of fills,
but would be big and very heavy.

but if you're running a higher pressure pcp (3000psi) then a large (88cuft) scba 4500psi tank would suit you better
(and they are much smaller and lighter with many more fills than scuba)


i myself prefer the large 88cuft 4500psi great white tank from joe brancato  ( www.airtanksforsale.com )

but he has smaller sizes also,
and like others have said in past threads,
if you try to piece together a fill tank of the same quality of what he offers,youll end up paying more than his prices.

so it boils down to what gun youll be using,
how much youre going to shoot it,
and where you can get it filled.

alot of people get fills from a dive shop,as did i at first,
but i got sick of driving the 80mi round trip to get it filled,
and then having to pay for the fill on top of the gas money i had already spent.

so i got the firehouse adapter for my tank,
and i get my fills at my local fire station,and they fill for free 

I will have to check with the local fire station here, that seems the way to go,

[CSSWormy11]

It's a drive for you but, old George at SeaDivers in Ozark can fill ya for $5. He also does the vis and hydro. He even gave me a loaner while the hydro was being done. He filled the loaner for $5 and told me to use it until empty and pick mine up when I brought it back. It's about a 40 min trip for me, one way.

That is quite a drive for me, so I made some calls over to Columbus, GA and found a shop over there that fills to 4500 psi.  I can do the 3000 psi thing here for a Scuba tank to start out, but is $280 for the tank setup and free lifetime refills a good deal?  It's $8 a refill if I buy a tank from elsewhere and take it to them.

[avator]

Depends on who's lifetime, yours, theirs or the tank's? If it's a brand new fiber tank then it has a 15 year life. If aluminum then it will last forever as long as it passes yearly vis and 5 year hydro tests. Also, does "complete tank setup" include the valve, yoke and fill whip? If all that is good then is don't sound too bad to me. I have a 100cf 3300psi aluminum tank. The calculator show us getting around 340 fills to 1500 psi on our FDPCPs. I never really kept track to confirm this. I do slightly overfill our guns and we lose air with the 36" whip with every fill when you unhook it.

[CSSWormy11]

If it's a brand new fiber tank then it has a 15 year life.

They did make mention of this.  I wasn't aware that Carbon Fiber had a lifespan, but, my question on that, is it safe to use past 15 years?  Same question for the Aluminum and Steel tanks.  If they don't pass the Hydro, can I continue to fill them myself if I'm using a Shoebox or Freedom 8 up to 3000 psi?  If not, could I fill them to a lower psi and continue to use them?  I know nothing about this stuff, so I'm curious about the safety aspect.

On a sidenote, I apologize to the OP for hijacking this thread.  I really only meant to chime in that I was from around the Auburn area as well.    I hope you are finding some of my questions useful, otherwise...sorry...lol. 

[rualert]

If it's a brand new fiber tank then it has a 15 year life.

They did make mention of this.  I wasn't aware that Carbon Fiber had a lifespan, but, my question on that, is it safe to use past 15 years?  Same question for the Aluminum and Steel tanks.  If they don't pass the Hydro, can I continue to fill them myself if I'm using a Shoebox or Freedom 8 up to 3000 psi?  If not, could I fill them to a lower psi and continue to use them?  I know nothing about this stuff, so I'm curious about the safety aspect.

On a sidenote, I apologize to the OP for hijacking this thread.  I really only meant to chime in that I was from around the Auburn area as well.    I hope you are finding some of my questions useful, otherwise...sorry...lol. 

     There has been much discussion on the CF high pressure tanks and the 15 year life span imposed on them by the US DOT. These same tanks are listed in the UK for double the life, and I have seen many filling them with a Shoebox / Freedom after the 15 year expiration. As for using a scuba tank that fails hydro, you most likely won't get it back, if it fails a hydro the tester will most likely drill a hole in it, and may even just dispose of it. If they won't pass the hydro test, they are a bomb waiting to happen. I have read, and actually verified a couple of accounts of scuba tanks made within a specific time frame, (sorry I don't remember the years) that had a structural issue. The two accounts I verified just happened to be those tanks. One was being filled in a scuba shop that used a cold water tank to submerge the tanks in while filling, this saved the life of the person filling that tank. The shop sustained a good bit of damage. The other one, you may have read about was a gentleman in Florida who was a master diver. He was carrying one of his tanks out of his apartment to head out on a dive, when it exploded it killed him, and destroyed the apartment. So don't use a scuba tank that won't pass hydro, and inspect both types for any visual damage to the outside. On SCBA tanks carefully inspect the carbon fiber wrap for any signs of damage or cuts. The only account I have ever read of an SCBA CF tank blowing up, was due to it being exposed to chemicals that degraded the carbon fiber wrap. This tank belonged to a fire department, they had been out on a training exercise, and the tank had been placed in the back of a pickup truck that had chemicals spilled in the bed of said truck. When the firefighter returned to the station and re-filled the tanks, they were then stored in a fire trucks side storage bin. Thankfully no one was around the truck when that tank let go, it cause serious damage to the truck, and the building. Just remember high pressure air is dangerous, and take caution when dealing with it. SCBA tanks (CF 4500) are the strongest, and I know people who fill them well past the 15 year DOT standard. Normal scuba tanks as long as they pass visual (Yearly) and Hydro (every 5 years) are good to use basically forever.

Just my 2 cents, and in my area most scuba shops will fill to 4500 PSI, and tag our tanks for Air gun / paintball use and don't require a dive card.

Casey

[CSSWormy11]

     There has been much discussion on the CF high pressure tanks and the 15 year life span imposed on them by the US DOT. These same tanks are listed in the UK for double the life, and I have seen many filling them with a Shoebox / Freedom after the 15 year expiration. As for using a scuba tank that fails hydro, you most likely won't get it back, if it fails a hydro the tester will most likely drill a hole in it, and may even just dispose of it. If they won't pass the hydro test, they are a bomb waiting to happen. I have read, and actually verified a couple of accounts of scuba tanks made within a specific time frame, (sorry I don't remember the years) that had a structural issue. The two accounts I verified just happened to be those tanks. One was being filled in a scuba shop that used a cold water tank to submerge the tanks in while filling, this saved the life of the person filling that tank. The shop sustained a good bit of damage. The other one, you may have read about was a gentleman in Florida who was a master diver. He was carrying one of his tanks out of his apartment to head out on a dive, when it exploded it killed him, and destroyed the apartment. So don't use a scuba tank that won't pass hydro, and inspect both types for any visual damage to the outside. On SCBA tanks carefully inspect the carbon fiber wrap for any signs of damage or cuts. The only account I have ever read of an SCBA CF tank blowing up, was due to it being exposed to chemicals that degraded the carbon fiber wrap. This tank belonged to a fire department, they had been out on a training exercise, and the tank had been placed in the back of a pickup truck that had chemicals spilled in the bed of said truck. When the firefighter returned to the station and re-filled the tanks, they were then stored in a fire trucks side storage bin. Thankfully no one was around the truck when that tank let go, it cause serious damage to the truck, and the building. Just remember high pressure air is dangerous, and take caution when dealing with it. SCBA tanks (CF 4500) are the strongest, and I know people who fill them well past the 15 year DOT standard. Normal scuba tanks as long as they pass visual (Yearly) and Hydro (every 5 years) are good to use basically forever.

Just my 2 cents, and in my area most scuba shops will fill to 4500 PSI, and tag our tanks for Air gun / paintball use and don't require a dive card.

Casey

Thanks for the info!

[avator]

My tank has also been labeled as "NOT FOR SCUBA USE" by my fill station and I don't have to have a dive card either.