CO2 air tank things

A

Alexa

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
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49
columbus indiana
www.appetite4adventure.com
Hello All,
Ive been seeing all of those Co2 tanks that are for airing up tires etc- being in the food service industry I happen to have a few of those tanks with regulators etc hanging out around my office- how do those tanks differ from the ones sold for tire stuff?
 
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Hokie_Rover

Guest
Food service tanks don't have cool paint jobs and stickers.

Honestly, I've used the tank from my kegerator many times with no problem whatsoever; got all the hardware I needed from Lowe's for the fittings, and mounting hardware from Tractor Supply. There _may_ be an issue with the regulator, if you wish to run air tools, the Pepsi-branded regulator might not go high enough ... also, I guess you'd have to bear in mind that if you fill up the tank at a welding supply shop, as many people do, that it won't be safe for food use anymore.
 
A

Alexa

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
167
0
49
columbus indiana
www.appetite4adventure.com
Co2 tank

I think the property of Coke sticker is pretty cool... My regulator goes up to 100psi. What all do I need to buy at lowes to make it work? I would like to run my air tools off of it but I guess I didnt think there would be enough juice in one to do the job.
 
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JeffreyDV

Guest
Alexa,

Would you be interested in selling one of those regulators. I have a nice tank but no regulator. I agree that property of Coca Cola is pretty cool stick.

Jeff
major Coke fan
 
koby

koby

Well-known member
Mar 26, 2004
902
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Orange, CA
koby.sigmadata.net
My guess is that the soda regulator will freeze closed and will not sustain high levels of throughput after continuous blowing.

Therefore I would think that your soda regulator would not be good for the job.

The nice thing about my Power Tank regulator is that it maintains high flow even after extended periods of time, like after filling up 4 tires.
 
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Hokie_Rover

Guest
Koby,
Not to try and exhibit any kind of one-upsmanship, but the drink-supply regulator I use on my tank aired up 8 tires in a row without freezing up (sizes 33 and 36 inch, 4 of each, from ~12-15 psi each -- and this performance did surprise me, I thought it would have run out of juice before being able to fill them up).

In retrospect, drink company regulators are made to run almost constantly, to keep a CO2 unit charged where they inject CO2 to the syrup, so I don't think the continuous running will be a problem unless at very high pressures; if lots of airing up, or lots of use of air tools is desired, then I would suggest using the Power Tank. However, if LOTS of using the air tools is desired, then get a reservoir you can fill by using an engine driven pump.

Alexa,
I literally bought a kit: it consisted of standard fittings, teflon tape, nozzle attachment, nipple attachment, etc.

Just my opinion and experiences,
-Alan
 
koby

koby

Well-known member
Mar 26, 2004
902
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Orange, CA
koby.sigmadata.net
Alan, have you tried running air tools off your regulator?

How much CFM do you get out of that regulator?

I suspect if you are using a beverage regulator, it is not necessarily high flow, so it will have less of a tendency to freeze up versus more high flow applications.
 
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Hokie_Rover

Guest
Craig,
I haven't tried running air tools off of the regulator. I'd hazard a guess that the one I ended up with is a standard regulator, since the beer supply shop I got it from didn't make it out to be anything special. That said, I think you're right in that there isn't much need for high flow applications for a regulator sold through a beverage supply store; for beer applications you never need to turn it up past about 30 psi (even if you're using it to carbonate your homebrew), and certainly don't have to have high CFM -- I'd think anything nearing 100 psi would cause the regulator to want to freeze up over time, and it's my understanding that those are the pressures needed for air tools.

I honestly don't know the throughput numbers for the regulator I've got, sorry. It's still primarily for beer making and drinking purposes, and turns out to be very helpful for airing tires back up when out and about on the trails.

Alexa, if all you need right now is a way to air up tires and maybe run air tools in a pinch, go with the beverage regulator. I think Koby makes a very valid point that this setup is not ideal for air tools, or for high throughput applications (may take a little while to air back up). Financially though, it'd be almost silly not to give it a whirl, since you have a tank and regulator. I would think, too, that a welding supply company could sell you a high output regulator comparable to those that Power Tank sells.
 
koby

koby

Well-known member
Mar 26, 2004
902
0
Orange, CA
koby.sigmadata.net
I only express concern about settling on the beverage regulator because a CO2 tank can be much more useful than for just airing up tires.

http://www.expeditionexchange.com/ics2/DSC02541.jpg

In this pic, the bead of the front driver's side tire had been broken on the trail, and we needed to reseat the bead.

After cleaning the bead out, we were able to reseat it using a Power Tank.

This was after using an impact wrench to remove the wheel, and before using the same impact wrench to put the wheel back on.
 
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Hokie_Rover

Guest
But is there anything about the power tank itself that is different from a normal CO2 tank? Doesn't the only real difference lie in the regulator?
 
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