scuba tank to fill pb tank question

[dark blade]

I just bought 2 scuba tanks for $20... a steal, i know.

My question is not about how to fill the tank from the scuba tank, i know how to do that. My question is what details can anyone give me about the tanks? the only things i know are that they are steel tanks and probably 72 cubic foot.

the first tank is bronze colored with no labels and has the markings

DOT 3AA2250
39474
Dacor
1370pst

the next tank is gold and has inspection stickers and hydro stickers and is marked as follows

DOT 3AA2250
HJ 193745
3 70+


Can anyone tell me anything about these tanks? output pressure? actual cubic foot? max pressure capacity? I would like to know something about them before i start using them to fill my highly pressurized fiber wrapped bombs known as paintball tanks

[BigEvil]

Im not sure on the numbers, but most scubas are 3000psi. I forget the standard sizes, but there arent too many variations IIRC. Most likely they are out of date and need to be hydroed. Your best bet is to bring them to a dive shop that does fills so they can be inspected.

To fill HPA tanks off of them, you need a special manifold. They are not expensive or hard to find.

[dark blade]

ya i know most are 3000 but i know some were 2250 or 2400 or something odd like that. Also, i know that they were just tested and both passed but i did not see any stickers on the bronze tank so i got confused.

I also know about the yoke attachment to fill from, i have one in the mail on the way :)

[xero28]

The "2250" means that the max pressure is 2250 psi. Most scuba tanks are either 2250 or 3000 psi. Take a look around the tanks, there should be other numbers punched in it somewhere. This will be the hydro dates. They are usually stamped one below the last (first one on top, then each consecutive one below that). It will be stamped with month first then year, just like aluminum paintball tanks (at least that's what I've always seen). They don't use stickers for the hydro dates. They need to be hydro'd every five years and visually inspected every year. The visual inspection will be a sticker with a month/year punched out. I'm sorry, but I don't know what the other numbers mean.

[sffudapparel]

Probably 80 sq ft / 3000psi

Tanks must have a K - valve on top so you can use this

http://cgi.ebay.com/Scuba-Refil-Stat...item563257fbff

Take them to a scuba shop for hydro/vis inspection

[dark blade]

ok so now i know its a 72cf 2250psi output steel tank... anything else i need to know about the tanks?

oh, and they have reserve levers so im going to guess i should just keep those in the down position when filling...

[xero28]

ok so now i know its a 72cf 2250psi output steel tank... anything else i need to know about the tanks?

oh, and they have reserve levers so im going to guess i should just keep those in the down position when filling...

Yeah, not much more to it really. Just as long it's in good hydro/visual you should be good to go. I don't know how the reserve lever works. I've got a tank I got from my father in law that's in for hydro right now that has one of those valves. I think I'm gonna try and take it in and put a newer valve on it. A friend of mine said that they (the valves) can be had for cheap, some dive shops will even just swap them out for you. That's what I've been told, we'll see if it actually comes to fruition.

[Redic]

ok so now i know its a 72cf 2250psi output steel tank... anything else i need to know about the tanks?

oh, and they have reserve levers so im going to guess i should just keep those in the down position when filling...

you are correct in keeping the k-valve dowm, that way you get full output pressure

next make sure they are in hydro no scuba shop will fill them if the are not

and for future note only Aluminum scuba tanks are 3000psi ( Big E )

[athomas]

2250 psi scuba tanks aren't much good for filling paintball tanks. They don't start with enough pressure to make them worth while, and they are a lower volume tank as well.

I have two 80cf 3000 psi tanks that I use in tandem. My low pressure tank fills first and then I top off with the higher pressure tank to maintain a higher pressure capability. When my lowest pressure tank goes below about 1700 psi, I get it filled and the high pressure tank, which is now down to about 2200psi becomes my starter tank and the new 3000psi fill becomes the top up tank and the cycle continues. If you only start with 2250 psi, you'll never get above 2200 psi, even on the first fill. It'll only get worst from there.

These tanks will do for testing and playing around, but will not be good for games if you shoot any volume of paint at all during a game.