Question on compressed Air

Joe Friedrich

Joe Friedrich

Member
Why does one use compressed air from Scuba shops compared to lets say a welding supply house?

I will assume one uses a different compressor over the other.

Thanks.......Joe
 
I don't know any welding houses that sell compressed air. They do sell high presure nitrogen which works fine but comes at 6000lbs so be VERY careful filling your gun. Scuba is also dry and debris free (certified for breathing). This protects your gun from rust and clogged valves.

EDIT!!! Joe as an old racer, I'm sure you know this but for the others reading this...Nitrous oxide and Nitrogen are two different things...do not use nitrous oxide in your airgun....
 
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Don, Thanks. We used the big bottles from a welding house filled with nitrogen using a regulator to fill the bottles on the paint ball guns many years ago. There are welding suppliers here that do furnish Compressed Air.

Without talking to them more, i don't know what kind of compressor they use, and how they filter the air if any. I did not think about the possibilities of contamination, Thanks.

Don, if one was looking to purchase a compressor, what would you recommend?

Thanks.....Joe
 
Do a search for Alkin or Airetex (American importer, Bruce Dodson). I had one for several years and it gave very good service. Not a 100% duty cycle commercial machine but very solid. About 2500$ On a budget, Mil Surplus flame thrower compressors but you have to be willing to build it yourself...seperators, motor, gearing. high presure tubing...I really wouldn't reccomend that route for someone just getting into this.

http://www.airetex.com/w31.html
 
Joe.

My advice; call Allen and get his opinion! He's been doing this for years as one of the top airgunners in the world and would know more than most anyone else on the subject, plus, for some reason I'm assuming he fills his own tanks. I may be wrong, but that's at least where I'd start.

Dave
 
Don Thanks, you have a good point. Was curious so i searched last night and found compressors from the paint ball sites, good reading and information. They are pricey and you are right about spending that kind of money just starting out.


If there is enough interest here, its something to look at down the road.

Dave, Thanks and will give Allan a call.
 
One problem

If a club were to furnish a compressor so shooters could refill their Scuba Tanks, or the Cyclinders, they would also have to do the same for CO2 owners. I don't think any club can afford that.
 
Stopped by at the only Dive Shop within 25 miles of here this P.M. and had a chat. They said that their fill capabilities only went up to around 3400 psi, but gave me the number for a Paintball & Laser Tag Center that is just opening in the area and said it was their understanding that the new place would be able to go all the way up to the 4500 psi for filling Carbon Fiber tanks to the max. In fact, I guess the compressor was just being delivered today.

If you're running with a Carbon Fiber tank and needing the 4500 psi fill-ups, look around your areas to see if there is a Paintball facility rather than Dive Shop.

Dave
 
CO2 is really quite easy. Any soda pop deliverery truck delivers canisters of co2 to their customers every day. I paid $20 dollar deposit (one time cost) and $11 for an exchange (about once a year). This tank will not have a syphon tube in it so you need to turn the tank on its top to fill your gun with liquid. I dealt with the truck driver but you could work the same deal with any local soda shop (they stock several at all times so they can exchange when one runs out).
 
Don, if you start to read some of the English mags and look at Field Target reports you will see Co2 is not used for lots of reasons in high quality systems. Hint... there's a reason all that vapor exits the bore of a paint ball gun and it ain't good if you're trying to put pellets in one hole.
Joe, Anshutz and Steyr make compressors as well, they're not cheap, but you can get them.
I'll tell you though, for anybody in reasonably close proximity to a dive shop the SCUBA tank approach works well, you can get one hell of a lot of fills to around 3000psi on a gun, if your a fanatic you're talking about a trip every 3-4 weeks.
 
The reason you see that white mist is because they are poorly designed and tuned. Most have been stepped on to increase power by someone that doesn't understand the valve. Reading Brit rags won't get you any good information as there mind set about their power limit and the power of the State to come down on them for modifying something has kept them in 20 year old technology. They have some great shooters but US equipment is vastly superior to theirs. The USFT is designed to work in a presure range of from 1700 down to 1200 PSI. It could be valved to work on CO2 and deliver the same 20fpe...probably more consistently than now with a capacity for 5 or 6 hundred shots between fill ups. The only down side would be temperature sensitivity. CO2 is not a bad thing, it just has some ground rules that keep it from working for our purposes. Horses for courses...

Edit: I don't think Anchutz or Steyr maike a compressor but rather market under their name a motor driven bicycle type pump that will fill a gun but will not fill a tank. If you hook it to a tank, it would take two days to fill and the pump would burn up before it got the job done.
 
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Not actually related and you kinda had to be there..

The nuclear plant where I was employed had a breathing air compressor that filled to 3000psi - dried and filtered. The compressor skid was about six feet square and the dryers were banded to the wall above the fill station. A daily checkout of the system was on the list of things to do - checkout and fill any empty bottles. Checkout consisted of oil level, starting the compressor, verify that it shutoff at 3000psi and then fill the empties. It was a four stage compressor and the stages looked like a wedding cake. I started it up and realized that I forgot to check the oil first. Rather than shut it off, I leaned over the components reaching for the dipstick at the exact moment the final stage head gasket blew out. It didn't go quietly...sounded like dynamite and I was sure I was dead. Didn't actually have to change underwear but I did go check.
 
Air from dive tanks is dryer than air from pumps due to the water traps on the filtration system, so you will have less moisture being pushed through you firearms, where compressed air not for breathing purposes will not have this additional filtration. Most dive compressors these days are capable of 5000psi fills if you adjust the blowoff valve. Cost for small dive compressors are approx $2500 for a coltri-sub or approx $3000 for a bauer and with both of these units you would want to fill a dive tank and decant from it. My advice get the biggest dive tank you can with approx a 3500psi working pressure and visit a dive shop when you need to fill it. My steyr air pistol was easier to fill than its co2 predecessor due to not having to freeze cylinders prior to filling, and not having to weigh cylinders and it did not giving me any grief in hot weather and the dozen+ dive tanks I have at home made it easier to.
 
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cumbo said:
My advice get the biggest dive tank you can with approx a 3500psi working pressure and visit a dive shop when you need to fill it.
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I'd have to disagree with the 3500psi suggestion, get one rated to 4500 (steel or CF) you will get way more 3000psi fills. The metal tanks are around $170 from airhog.

Regards,
MM
 
As a newbe that may get started in Air Gun BR, I have a couple of questions. How much air in Cubic feet or cubic in. does an air rifle hold on a fill and at what pressure (psi).
 
Every gun is different. Size of tank, opperating pressure, efficiency and output all play into the equation.
 
I've never had a problem

tim said:
Dive shops generally will not put much more than 300psi in a tank do to liability
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If the tank has current hydro certification there is no liability. I believe the trend in diving is to go to 4500psi tanks for longer bottom time.

Regards,
MM
 
The psi has nothing to do with bottom time. Bottom time has to do with how much cubic ft. of air your tank will hold. Back in the late 70s when I was diving I used double 50 cubic ft. tanks for a fill of 100 cubic ft at 1800 psi
 
The higher the presure, the more cubic feet of air at one atmosphere can be put in the tank. Many dive shops do not want to invest the money in a new compressor that will go to 4500 psi. Most paintball shops, have newer compressors that will go that high. Check your local area and see what is available.
 
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