paintball air compressors

[paintball72]

ive been looking at getting some sort of fill system for compressed air for when i have a bunch of people over to play on my farm. ive looked at scuba tanks but have decided that if i could find a compressor for 1k or so it would be a better investment. ive been looking at prices on site's and dont think im going to find anything close to my price range so before i give up i thought id bring it to you guys and see if i missed anything. im looking for a compressor that can fill to at least 3000psi higher is better but definately not needed because im sure higher psi=higher price. thanks in advance

[Hilltop Customs]

IDK about much about the compressor, but be4 decideing on scubas take a look at bulk air tanks...sucbas are nice because they are relatively small and easy to move around, but bulk tanks will let you get many more fills, and some are rated above 3000psi....the only trouble is moving them around.

We have 2 scubas, and even having all our tanks filled, and scubas topped off....by the end of the day we are dropping below 2k max fill...closer to 1.5k or 1k if no one is using co2. 2 scubas cascading works great, but all it takes is one person to base fill off the wrong tank and your screwed.

[punkncat]

HPA compressors are very high. You will not even come close to a beat up used one for that price.
I second the notion that you will want to look into bulk tanks. Welding suppliers and even beverage suppliers commonly have the hook up, places like Holox, Airgas, Sidney Lee, etc. Many of them will require a very large deposit and tank rental, as well as in some cases needing some manner of referral. Many of them will bring a truck around to swap tanks for you when you get low. Add a fill station on top of that for about $350-400.
Scubas work well also. You can buy tanks with more fill capacity than 3K. The trick is finding a place that will fill them. Local Scuba shop does it for me, and I have heard of some people having theirs filled by the local fire station.
Scuba tanks generally run about $140 new for an 80ci, and bit more for a 100 with a 3k capacity. Fill stations are about $45.

[Hilltop Customs]

$140 new is a great price...I think I paid 150 for mine 5 years ago....Ive seen places selling the 80cf 3000psi tanks for $275

I just had to get mine hydro tested...$110 was the cheapest I could find for 2 tanks hydro and visual+2 "free" fills.

[punkncat]

$140 new is a great price...I think I paid 150 for mine 5 years ago....Ive seen places selling the 80cf 3000psi tanks for $275

I just had to get mine hydro tested...$110 was the cheapest I could find for 2 tanks hydro and visual+2 "free" fills.

I might be mistaken...seems like the scuba shop is carrying them for 140 new and around 80-90 used according to how much hydro is left and condition.
He charges something like 40 to hydrotest which includes the visual and a fill. He has also been doing this deal where you could buy a five card of fills for something like $15, where they are normally 5 a piece.

I really need to get back up there, its been well over a year and both my tanks are out of visual now.

[Spider-TW]

I've seen one field that uses an army surplus compressor. Idk how much it cost, but it should be cheaper than a new industrial. It's run with pretty poor filtering and the exhaust (gas or diesel) gets into the intake because our regulators would get fine black dust in them from one day of play.

[paintball72]

ok i might end up going for the scuba tank. get one scuba and a fill station and when i have more spare cash ill look back into a compressor.

[Don Carnage]

I picked up a 4500 fireman's SCBA tank for $125. Way easier than a Scuba tank in my opinion.

It's just a 30 minute tank. I have no idea what the cubic volume is. But I ran about 3 cases through it on one fill with an A-5 double-trouble at D-Day this past year, and that thing is a gas hog.

[paintball72]

where did you get that? and what did you use to convert to a5 compatable fittings?

[trevorjk]

if you want to get the most out of your money (although this will cost far more then 1k)

get 2 bulk 4500psi air tanks.
high pressure compressor
and a booster
regulator

use compressor to fill tanks.
have both tanks open and let them equalize.
regulate air coming out of air tanks to compressor to around 1500-2000
have booster fill the air tanks.

this way, you dont over work your compressor. air tanks store air. compressor flash fills to 1.5-2k then takes 30 seconds to a minute (depending on tank) to fill the rest.

[Jaan]

Tanks and a booster is how my local store does it.

The booster can take a 3000 psi pressure and boost it up to 4500psi. You'll just need an additional 120 PSI input to do it. It's kind of neat the way it's done, it works on leverage. On one side you have a 3000 psi input and a 120 psi input. The 120 psi input drives a large piston that pushes a small piston which boosts the 3000 to 4500.

Here's a couple...

http://www.americanairworks.com/airboosters.html

So, where's your farm?

[paintball72]

So, where's your farm?

southeastern nebraska we raise turkeys but one this piece of property weve got about 50 acres of unused land that we play on and on a old turkey pad (where a barn used to be) ive been digging trenches and building walls and towers for about a year now in my spare time so its about done, its probably 120yards by 70yards. its pretty fun

oh and thanks for all of your help guys i really appreciate it.

[SkinnyHare]

southeastern nebraska we raise turkeys but one this piece of property weve got about 50 acres of unused land that we play on and on a old turkey pad (where a barn used to be) ive been digging trenches and building walls and towers for about a year now in my spare time so its about done, its probably 120yards by 70yards. its pretty fun

oh and thanks for all of your help guys i really appreciate it.

post some pics!

[ThePixelGuru]

I've seen one field that uses an army surplus compressor. Idk how much it cost, but it should be cheaper than a new industrial. It's run with pretty poor filtering and the exhaust (gas or diesel) gets into the intake because our regulators would get fine black dust in them from one day of play.

Wow, and you still fill off of that?
Guess I'm just cautious about my HPA...

[Spider-TW]

Wow, and you still fill off of that?

Not any more.