help me on scuba tank purchasing

[impure]

hi havent chimed in here for a long while. i currently live in an area where there are no local paintball shops within me for at least 45 min and all the shops here(big 5) and such do not fill nitro/hpa. i bought the hsl scuba fill system and am looking for an 80 cu scuba tank to fill my bottle and my teams bottles. i have the wgp 68in. and need help choosing the tank. can i get any scuba tank? the hsl is rated to 3000 psi and i went to the local trigas here and he said i couldnt buy a big tank cause the lowest pressure he has is 4500 psi. i used to have a friend that had a scuba tank and i would fill off it all the time but i didnt really look into it. so what do i get? and look for?

[MANN]

I use scubas. I have 3 of them and it works great. I found that they were cheaper than the big 4500psi tanks, and were also easier to get around. The 4.5k Asize cylinders are very $$$. 3 scubas with fill stations were ~600 bucks, but I will eventlually make my money back, and be able to play with the Xmag anytime. There are roughlt 10-12 people that play with me that use hpa, and we always have enough.

[MoeMag]

For the most part a scuba tank is a scuba tank, usually 80 cu ft and 3000psi. There are a few other sizes... some that are over sized to 120 cu ft if you want a little more but they will cost you.

Most tanks are Al, but there are some steel ones. for diving the steel ones last longer, but they weigh more. Us paintballers should just stick to Al because a lot of the time we don’t have "dive quality" air, thus it has moisture in it that will rust a steel tank.

There are SCBA tanks that are CF wrapped that offer a higher psi (4350psi) but trying to find one of these monsters is kind of tricky and they are really $$$. Then on top of that you need to get a scuba adapter for it so that you fill station will work with it.

Look for tanks with sherwood valves, they tend to be newer and work well with many fill stations. Others may have clearance issues.

They have to be hydro tested just like out smaller pb tanks, most scubas are good for 5 years, about $45-50 to have it shipped and retested by a dive shop. Then on top of that, some shops will require you to have a current annual VIP tag. A VIP is just a simple visual inspection done on the inside of the cylinder by someone qualified to check for rust, water, and obvious damage usually runs $15 at any dive shop.

Thats about everything I can think of at the moment.

[impure]

so should i buy any 80 cu ft tank? as long as it is rated to the right pressure and is tested? and where would i get the tank filled? its a dumb question and i know a lot about paintball but never really put any research into air.

[MANN]

you will need a 80cf tank they are the cheapest. Get a 3000 as the 3200psi are about twice the price. You will have to have it hydroed every 5 years, and each year you will need a visual inspection. You will need to find a dive shop to fill the tank.

In TN it cost 35 to have one rehydroed, and 10 for a visual inspection. It cost 3.00 to fill each tank.

[MoeMag]

I would go with a 80. they are easy to hande and you can find new ones dor about $150 or less at just about any dive shop and some paintball shops. If a paintball shop can fill air, they SHOULD be able to fill a scuba. If not of course dive shops can fill them for you.
I have also heard that some fire stations will fill them for you aswell. Never done it myself, but have heard that from many people. Most places, paintball or dive shops, usually charge $4 for a scuba fill so dont get ripped off.

[impure]

thanks all. i am going to start looking for an 80 cu tank since everyone said it is ok. thanks for all the help and FAST replies. i will also post some picks of all my current setup for you guys to drool over. :D

[RRfireblade]

My suggestion is to buy where your going to fill it. Most Scuba shops sell 'em used cheap (under 100 usually) fully inspected and since they are filling it , there aren't any questions.

I use Alu 'HP' tanks , light weight , fill to ~3400 and run used ~$100.

[impure]

sound good to me thanks

[punkncat]

Just so you know, one SCUBA is not going to give good fills for very long. The first fill will generally be near 2800-3000, but quickly drops off to unusable. Especially if you are using an HP marker....like the mag....

If you get friends to pitch in and get a few, cascade fill with them, then all can enjoy several games of good fills.

[impure]

Just so you know, one SCUBA is not going to give good fills for very long. The first fill will generally be near 2800-3000, but quickly drops off to unusable. Especially if you are using an HP marker....like the mag....

If you get friends to pitch in and get a few, cascade fill with them, then all can enjoy several games of good fills.

honestly, i dont even think i will let them fill unless they pay me like ten bucks. i was the one to buy the fill station and they were all supposed to pitch to get a tank but guess what :mad: they didnt buy or pay squat so they can pay me now if they want to fill :headbang:

[punkncat]

honestly, i dont even think i will let them fill unless they pay me like ten bucks. i was the one to buy the fill station and they were all supposed to pitch to get a tank but guess what :mad: they didnt buy or pay s^!t so they can pay me now if they want to fill :headbang:


I understand exactly where you are coming from.

Look at it like this. Its all win in one way as you can get a few good fills for yourself cheaper than one fill in your HPA tank at most shops. Thats IF they were available in your area...
the downside is that if you have air and none of your friends do, its hard to play by yourself.

Maybe charge the bounty and save it for "get another tank" fund?

[impure]

ya thats true but they can always play with co2. ones got a cocker and refuses to use hpa cause its too expensive and the others got an ion which will also use co2 from time to time. these are both stoners so they really dont care but i am going to be the one laughing when there is going to be a large plumbing prob and the other will be trying to fix computers! :rofl:

[Aslan]

So what if you have a 4500psi HPA tank? You can't get a fill station that will fill it? I mean, if the scuba tank is only 3000psi, then itwill only fill 3000psi tanks or 4500psi tanks up to 3000. Man, I'd love to get a 4500psi fill station, I wonder how much that would run me?

[RRfireblade]

It will fill a 4500hpa tank up to 3000psi.

[Chronobreak]

So what if you have a 4500psi HPA tank? You can't get a fill station that will fill it? I mean, if the scuba tank is only 3000psi, then itwill only fill 3000psi tanks or 4500psi tanks up to 3000. Man, I'd love to get a 4500psi fill station, I wonder how much that would run me?

if you have to ask you dont want to know

they are PRICEY, and most are slow(see the one fro sale has 4 min to get to 4k psi)...while for some people it may be worthwhile for most people it is far from feasible

3k can be filled to 4500 in theory since the burst disk wont go til 5k...but yes the "experienced" fills tation operator will fill it to 3k~

[LFD92]

I have also heard that some fire stations will fill them for you aswell. Never done it myself, but have heard that from many people.

Just to put this rumor to rest, we will NOT fill it for you. DO NOT GO TO YOUR LOCAL FD AND ASK.

I actually built an adapter from spare SCBA parts in our Tech shop (our SCBA tech also plays so he was fine with it, as long as our Chief doesn't find out). I can now attach my tank to the adapter, drop it into our Cascade system and fill it up to 4500psi. I fill it at night on my shift after the Chiefs have left.

[Paintchucker]

Where is a good source for the tank adapter for the scuba tank ???

[Dewok82]

Where is a good source for the tank adapter for the scuba tank ???

Ebay and paintball B/S/T forums. You can usually pick one up for $30-$35.

[tacq]

i got mine at the local fire station fo 35 apiece at the sale just ask them if they are going to sell them any time soon but they will need hydro testing and that is about 25 dollars apiece

[Smoothice]

i got mine at the local fire station fo 35 apiece at the sale just ask them if they are going to sell them any time soon but they will need hydro testing and that is about 25 dollars apiece

Are you talking about the scuba tank or the the tank adapter?

[Dewok82]

Are you talking about the scuba tank or the the tank adapter?

I would say with almost 100% certainty he is referring to the tanks. I don't know of any adapters that need hydro testing.

[p8ntbal4me]

Ive run dive tanks for a while so Ill put my 2 cents here.


*Im assuming you want to fill the tanks and go a while on them*

If you want just 3000psi fills and you want to just attach the whip to your tank and fill:

Your best bet is to get 3 tanks, daisy them together,.. run a whip off a an end of the chain and fill away. Eventually the fills will get a bit smaller,.. but for the most part you will be fine this this. I use this setup in my living room to do gun work for testing and it goes a long time for my needs.

If you want 4500psi fills you need to step your fills and tanks:

Meaning a scuba at 2200-2500psi, another at 3000psi, the last as high as you can get it.

Stepping is time consuming (about 1.5 minutes) but can cut th cost for the need of 3 HP scubas opposed to just 1 and 2 3000s.

I know alot of guys are going to not agree with this, as my needs are not for a player that goes to the field and fills after every game. I use mine for tech work.

I purchased 3 tanks, brand new, color of my choosing,.... for $175 each. Local bought to me. Since I bought the tanks from the guy that does my HP tanks on my guns,.. he gives me discounts on the fills on all bottles I own. If I give him a days notice on 4500psi fills, he charges the 3000psi rate (this is due to the power cost of the compressor he uses. It takes $35 bucks to trip the compressor over every time he needs the 4500psi boost)

I think I spent about 600 bucks total after all the hoses, tanks, and adapters to fill from. Next purchase for me is an Air-Tex gas engine unit for mobil apps. to the field.

Some dive shops wont sell to you if you dont have a certification to dive. There are brands or stickers you can get put on tanks that say "AIR SOURCE USE ONLY! NOT FOR DIVE USE!" These tanks or stickers on tanks mean that you can take them to a dive shop and get them filled, as the insurance company whom carries the dive shop is covered because the issue of misuse of a dive tank filled by them transfers liabilty from them to the owner of the tanks. <---- as told to me by the dive shop, kinda like a hydro date stamp.

The dive tanks do need to be in date as well. Mine have a date stamp on them. If you dont want alot of hassel,.. buy the tanks new. Might be more money, but the dive shop knowing you purchased them from their shop might help you with re-hydro dating them when the time comes. Businesses generally dont want to loose customers. ;)

Im fortunate my local shop is: A) friendly, B) has an awesome compressor, C) plays/played paintball, and D) we think the old field owner of a distant past is a complete (enter a nasty word here) as she has run the field into the ground and we both happen to have built most of the field from the beginning :D

[impure]

i wanted to know if i could use my dads big air compressor for our garage for anything other than blowing stuff away?

[p8ntbal4me]

i wanted to know if i could use my dads big air compressor for our garage for anything other than blowing stuff away?


Well whats the CFM and the max psi output??

If your dad didnt pay around $2500-3000 for it and its about 3 feet link by 2 feet tall,.. Im guessing he has a "home" compressor that runs nail guns, and inflates tires.

HPA compressors larger than the dimentions above are very expensive because not only to they fill super fast, they have bulk cascade tanks attached to them.

Some HPA systems uses compressors like the "home" ones to drive them as an operation source,.. but not a feed source. These are commonly refered to as "Ram Systems". They are less expensive as the Air-tex ones,.. but in my experience they cost just as much after one year of use as they need constant maintenance. <--- the Nitro Duck Ram was the one I had.

[tacq]

Are you talking about the scuba tank or the the tank adapter?
the tank

[impure]

he has a nice compressor. not a two or three foot tall one but more like five feet and its a big tank. big motor, big tank, lots of air

[LS1 WS6]

His air compressor will only go up to about 150 psi. It will not work, not even come close.

[impure]

ya true i think it actually goes higher but thats ok. i plan on going to the scuba shop and picking me up an 80cu ft. tank and start playing again. i just had my tank filled and plugged it in to my gun and it was leakin like a siv i lost 2k psi just fixing leaks and fixed it today i finally just replaced the o ring on my tank after it was torn apart. well i fired my gun for the first time in a couple of years one shot and it flew like a bullet next shot guess what? i ran out of air in my damn tank! so i am about ready to buy me a scuba. i need it to just give me a couple of good fills really, not to continuously fill bottles and bottles. :headbang:

[paint magnet]

Couple things:

You don't need the annual visual inspection if you're not going to dive with it. If you have the "not for diving" sticker or have it otherwise marked, you just need the 5 yr. hydro.

There are a few companies that used to make "boosters" that would let you get a higher pressure fill from your tank. I'm unsure of how they worked or if they would be cost-effective, but it might be worth looking into.

Check your local dive shop, if you have one. They may sell used tanks.

[Railgun]

OK, I didn't read ALL the posts so if I'm saying something that's already been said please bear with me.

I'm a scuba diver as well as a new paintballer. Scuba shops will NOT fill a tank that is not in hydro or that does not have a current VIP (Visual Inspection Program) sticker on it. The shops themselves will do the VIP for you for about $15. Hydro is sent out and is about $40. Hydro is every 5 years on a tank just like HPA paintball tanks. VIP needs to be done once every year or 6 months depending on the area.

Also the scuba shops are not supposed to fill a tank for you unless you have a valid diving certificate. If you can show them what you're doing and why then they may exempt you from this requirement. But don't waltz into the shop expecting that it is your right to have your tank filled. Talk to them first.

The upside is that you won't find cleaner air than from a scuba tank. Even HPA from a welding supply outlet is often not as clean. Scuba air is cleaner than what you breath if you're in a city.

So check with the local shop that you'll be dealing with for scuba air and talk to them. Explain what you're up to. Perhaps even bring in a marker to show them what you're doing.

And FWIW I just got a fill unit for my own scuba tanks. I've gotten about 10 fills of my 68/3000 before it went from the original 2800 down to 2000. I can live with that.

Charge your deadbeat buddies a buck a fill or something like $5 for the day. The second option is the best since that'll prevent them from complaining as the fill value goes down. They just have to come back more often. Just don't get more than you and two others "breathing" off the same tank. That'll easily pay for your refill on the scuba bottle and give you free air for the day plus put a few $ towards your investment.