| Author | Message | ||
     Carter Simcoe (Carter) Senior Member Username: Carter Post Number: 2263 Registered: 04-2002 |
So I've got a trail air, bought it used and haven't filled it yet. Believe it or not I haven't been able to find anyone who will fill it, all the welding and beverage places just exchange. There is a dive shop and they fill tanks so the question is does anyone know if I can get it filled there??? I know they what they fill it with won't be pure CO2 but as long as it inflates my tires I don't care what it is. Does anyone know if the tank should hold the same amount of dive air as CO2?? (I'm not scuba certified but I think they will still fill it because I know some people that get paintball shit done there, plus I wouldn't last very long underwater trying to breath out of a tire chuck  ) Thanks guys | ||
| Alyssa Brown (Alyssa) Member Username: Alyssa Post Number: 82 Registered: 01-2003 |
I have no idea, but your post made me smile... just picturing someone trying to breathe underwater with a tire chuck. | ||
| John Moore (Jmoore) Senior Member Username: Jmoore Post Number: 588 Registered: 10-2002 |
I just spoke to my sister in law who is a scuba instructor, she said they use regular air for tanks. She told me she has a low pressure adapter for her tanks that she can use to fill her tires if need be. Try them out, I bet they can help. | ||
| Carter Simcoe (Carter) Senior Member Username: Carter Post Number: 2264 Registered: 04-2002 |
Thanks John, thats good information. Glad I could be of assistance Alyssa | ||
| david summers (Texmoto) New Member Username: Texmoto Post Number: 34 Registered: 12-2002 |
Carter, Using air in the tanks will only give you a fraction of the volume available if you put CO2 in the tanks. Under (enough) pressure, CO2 becomes liquid, but more importantly for this application, it's volume is greatly reduced. In simple terms, when filled with CO2, your tank will inflate alot of tires. With air, only a few tires. I too had trouble finding a shop, but eventually found a welding supply shop in a nearby town who would fill my tank. BTW, try calling a medical gas supplier. Many surgical tools are run by compressed CO2. Hope this helps. David | ||
| Carter Simcoe (Carter) Senior Member Username: Carter Post Number: 2271 Registered: 04-2002 |
Are you talking air like your shop compressor could charge it with?? Or air as high preasure as a scuba place is going to charge it. I don't know too much about this but I do know that those two are totally different animals. | ||
| Carter Simcoe (Carter) Senior Member Username: Carter Post Number: 2272 Registered: 04-2002 |
Not trying to second guess you, just trying to make sure. | ||
| Erik G. Burrows (Erik) Member Username: Erik Post Number: 201 Registered: 04-2002 |
The tanks used for liquid CO2 storage couldn't hold anywhere near as much pressure as a SCUBA tank (3000-5000psi). They're made to be just strong enough to keep enough pressure to keep the CO2 liquid. Besides, a SCUBA shop won't fill any tank you bring them unless you're SCUBA certified, for safety reasons. I don't know where you are Carter, but arround here a company named Praxair can supply any and all compressed (and liquified) gassses you can think of. If they're not near to you, try looking up companies under 'industrial gas supply'. | ||
| Carter Simcoe (Carter) Senior Member Username: Carter Post Number: 2273 Registered: 04-2002 |
Well I was pretty sure the side of my tank said rated for 3000 (thats the only reason I was considering this) maybe it was 300 or something I'll go look in a minute. Yeah this place is a little ghetto, they fill up some of my buddies paintball stuff and they aren't scuba certified. I think as long as it doesn't look like a scuba rig they will do it, this place isn't high on the list of concerns for whoever enforeces that stuff. I'll give the 'industrial gas supply' search a try, thats a good idea. The more I think about it the more I think that even if the tank will hold it I dont' want that much preasure back there. There has to be a place that actually fills the things somewhere with all the welding, fire extinguishers, and soft drink machines around here (I've asked them where they send theirs off to but its a pretty good drive away) | ||
| Carter Simcoe (Carter) Senior Member Username: Carter Post Number: 2274 Registered: 04-2002 |
Ha, thanks Erik. Found a gas supply place in the phone book, they even have CO2 listed in their yellow pages add!! I'll be there tomorow. | ||
| Erik G. Burrows (Erik) Member Username: Erik Post Number: 202 Registered: 04-2002 |
Good, you're right, you don't want a permanently attached 3000psi tank sitting in the hot sun in the back of your truck! | ||
| michael burt (Mikeyb) Member Username: Mikeyb Post Number: 198 Registered: 03-2002 |
hey carter... since you have found a place...it may be too little to late, but scuba fills will do little to help inflate tires...a "regular" sized scuba tank, even filled to max pressure only holds 80 cubic feet of air (about the size of a phone booth) (and that is exacly what it is...regular air). since the CO2 liqifies, as stated above, its volume is MUCH greater than 80 cubic and will be much more helpful at filling (many) tires and will be much more stable inside a hot car. believe me, you don't want to see what a filled scuba tank will do when it lets go. mike | ||
| Carter Simcoe (Carter) Senior Member Username: Carter Post Number: 2278 Registered: 04-2002 |
yeah I finally got all that figured out. apparantly these particular paint ball guys use it because they think it shoots better than co2 or something... don't ask me I don't know anything about it. I was just confused as to exactly what scuba air was I guess, thought it might be stored differently. hey I'm not a chemist. Thanks for all the help guys, especially Erik. | ||
| joshua Frances (Joshua) Member Username: Joshua Post Number: 168 Registered: 10-2002 |
<Michael You think a SCUBA tank will do some damage? I saw a "k" cylindar of o2 let go, after it fell 4 feet off the loading lift on the back of the delivery truck.Snapped the Valve cap, and valve stem clean off the tank. It skimmed and rolled ( in a very fast forward motion i might add) for about 300 feet or so, and hit the side of a CVS pharmacy. Now I have a better appreciation for what the Iraqis are seeing when they watch one of our missles fly into a buidling. | ||
| Todd Juneau (Toddxd) Member Username: Toddxd Post Number: 84 Registered: 11-2002 |
Scuba Tanks... I have seen an in-store security camera video tape of a scuba tank destroying the store like a missle. Apparently a customer was carrying in some tanks for a fill over his shoulder, luckily it was about 10 minutes before the store closed and there was only one employee in the store and no other customers. the guy dropped one of the tanks backwards right on the valve, it snapped it at the neck of the tank and went of like a tomahawk! It ripped the store apart and ended up shooting out one of the glass doors into the parking lot and embedded into a car door. The sad part is it killed the customer and severly injured the employee. I am a PADI Dive Master and learned about this in a safety seminar. I don't recommend anyone using a scuba tank for anything other than diving. Driving offroad with one of those would make me feel pretty uncomfortable. | ||
| traveltoad (Traveltoad) New Member Username: Traveltoad Post Number: 32 Registered: 11-2002 |
Changing the subject just a little... I was told by someone that CO2 is bad for rubber (tires). It accelerates the drying out/cracking etc of your tires from the inside. True? | ||
| Bill Bettridge (Billb) Senior Member Username: Billb Post Number: 746 Registered: 02-2002 |
CO2 does not significantly affect vulcanized rubber compounds - period. The ozone attack from just being outside does more damage in a day than CO2 could in a year. Bill | ||
| D. Chapman (1hank1) Member Username: 1hank1 Post Number: 132 Registered: 02-2003 |
I have a good friend who ownes a restaurant, he gave me a Coka Cola C02 tank. When ever I need it filled I just take it back to him and he exchanges it for me. All I had to buy is a regulator and an air hose. It came with 800psi, on a hot day it has about 1200psi, and I have filled my tires (255/85/16) 4 times with it and the needle has only moved about 50psi (cold). | ||
| Blake Luse (Muddyrover) Senior Member Username: Muddyrover Post Number: 810 Registered: 02-2002 |
if they fill paintball guns they'll fill yours. Fire safety supply stores do it to. Might be a bama thing though to have one. lol. | ||
| michael burt (Mikeyb) Member Username: Mikeyb Post Number: 200 Registered: 03-2002 |
i am so paranoid of scuba tanks that even though i will strap one on my back, i will not stay in the store while they fill mine...i have seen some shops just slide the tank in a plastic garbage can filled with water. not the kind of protection from a bursting tank i want. | ||
| Erik G. Burrows (Erik) Member Username: Erik Post Number: 203 Registered: 04-2002 |
SCUBA tanks very rarely explode. When they do, it's either because they were overfilled, or because they had a defect. I always make sure to get my tanks visually checked, and hydro-tested on schedule, and when the shop or boat fills it, I always keep an eye on the pressure gauge. A lot of shops will fill a 3000psi tank to 3200 just so that it'll cool off to 3000. Ask them not to. A slow fill, with a top-off a few minutes later is the best way to get a fill. Also, a can full of water isn't bad. The water will do a good job of absorbing the explosive energy. Keep the inside of your tank dry, and keep it in hydro. You're a lot more likely to get struck by lightning, or by another car on the way home from the dive shop. |
