cascading system

[Ljinks]

anyone have a link to a good site with pictures of a cascade system?

along with good descriptions and a list of items needed to create one?


prices would be helpful too :)


thnks..

[xen_100]

not sure what you mean. what are you wanting to cascade?

[greenkill]

Cascading Fill Stations?

[Ljinks]

wanna build a smaller version fill station preferably portable via a dolly system or something and would like to be able to do about 20 or so 3k fills off it..


was looking for a site with descriptions of parts and such on how to do this..

what hoses/ regulators/ tanks and stuff i need..

that sorta thing

[xen_100]

well a cacading system is simply using more than one tank to fill. you fill off the lowest pressure tank, then fill off the next highest one, etc, until you are full.

do you want to use scuba tanks or industrial cylinders?

industrial cylinders of nitrogen will be the easiest to get alot of fills from. they can be bought at about 6000PSI. all you need is an industrial regulator to bring that down to 3000PSI. obviously if you cascade two of these they will last a LONG time. probebly longer than the 20 fills you stated. the downside is weight and money. they weight anout 150lbs each and cost about $150-200 a year to lease.(doesn't include refills) the highpressure regulator, from what I have seen, costs about $400.

if you go with scuba tanks, then a pair of 100CF 3000PSi tanks cascaded would give you the 20 fills you want. they wold not be 3000PSI at the end of the day, but it wold be close. this method is alot cheaper. you can buy scuba tanks for about $150 each and a fill station for $50. plus scubas only weigh about 40lbs.

the choice is yours.

[Ljinks]

ok besides the industrial regulater from 6k to 3k what else do i need to do a two tank 6k bottle system?

i mean if i call the welding store im asking for what?


2- 6k bottles
1 regulator 6k-3k

some hose?

what about the connector to the hpa tank?

a relief valve of some sort?


is there a particular valve "type" im asking for?

ive heard the words din and k valve thrown out there somewhere?

[xen_100]

I have never done this myself, but i have seen it done on many fields that use this system.

what I have seen is this: the regulator connects directly to the tank valve. this valve is the same type that bulk co2 tanks have. what come out of the regulator is 1/8" NPT threads. so any stealbraided hose that is rated for 3000PSI use will work. just put some sort of bleed valve(3000psi 3-way ball valve would work) and a QD on the end of the hose and you are set.

[Ljinks]

any links to a decent website describing this stuff?


its starting to make more sense but its still alot of mumbo jumbo without pictures

[akscubainst]

http://www.breathingair.com/equipmentcontent/CASCADE5R.pdf

It's a simple concept. I have 7 - 3600psi cylinders and can fill about 30 SCUBA tanks before I have to recharge the bank. This figuring that the average SCUBA tank that comes back to my shop has about 1500psi left in it.

This idea is nice just remember that you'll be taking on the expense of hydroing all of those tanks every 5 years and if you're using SCUBA cylinders they have to be visualed every year.