Scuba Tanks

[SlartyBartFast]

To bad it is aluminium.

Why? That's what the majority of paintball tanks are made with.

Sure there were problems with old tanks back in the 80's but things have evolved a little since then.

[seanpeek]

Why? That's what the majority of paintball tanks are made with.

Sure there were problems with old tanks back in the 80's but things have evolved a little since then.

That was kind of a joke for all the divers out there. I like to dive with steel tanks. I don't have anything against aluminum. I use catalina 80 for my deco cylinders. 4300 psi in steel would be negative after the dive rather than positive like aluminum. I am guessing that with that much pressure there would be a lot of positive when it is empty. More weight.

I was joking about the haskel too. It is still a pain to tote around three SCUBA tanks. Filling is the easy part. Also, you can't get a 4300 psi tank like the one mentioned above for just $100 more. At the end of the day, starting from scratch, I would guess that it would cost more than $500 to get set up with a cascade system like mentioned above. 80/3000, 102/3500, and the tank mentioned above 4300psi from Luxfer. Add in all the fittings and valves. So, probably even more. I think that keeping it simple is plenty good for most of us. Remember, the original post was asking if a 92/3200 is a good deal for $100 and if it would work fine for him. In my opinion, absoultly.

[Mer]

If the tank is not filled to 4500 psi, it is not filled to its potential volume (what ever number that is). The argument still stands, the higher pressure the better.

Definitely!!

No argument here, higher pressure = more air = more shots = more fun!!

I have 2 scuba tanks labeled 1 and 2. Tank 1 is the "volume tank" and is always the first fill. This one does the bulk of the work. Tank 2 is the "topper" and gets the pressure up to or really close to 3000 psi. Using this method I can get about 6 fills that are really close to 3000 psi. Quite a bunch after that. I just had to take my 2 tanks in for hydro, inspection and fills. $78 total for the pair and I'm good to go.

Take Care,

Eric

[seanpeek]

Definitely!!

No argument here, higher pressure = more air = more shots = more fun!!

I have 2 scuba tanks labeled 1 and 2. Tank 1 is the "volume tank" and is always the first fill. This one does the bulk of the work. Tank 2 is the "topper" and gets the pressure up to or really close to 3000 psi. Using this method I can get about 6 fills that are really close to 3000 psi. Quite a bunch after that. I just had to take my 2 tanks in for hydro, inspection and fills. $78 total for the pair and I'm good to go.

Take Care,

Eric

I know how expensive those damb tanks can get. Sometimes on long deco dives I will use 6 tanks including my argon suit cylinder. Every year they all need hydro. One suggestion, you can look at the DOT website and find retesting facilities in you area. These places usually charge way less than a dive shop will. I pay about $15 a cylinder. Including my paintball cylinder.

[SlartyBartFast]

I was joking about the haskel too. It is still a pain to tote around three SCUBA tanks.

Completely agree.

Lost in this discussion is how much paint is shot per game. You only need enough air in your tank to shoot the paint you carry on to the field.

[ColdFuzion]

Someone posted the area formula above, but was wrong. A cylinder is '2(pi radius^2)+(2 pi radius)height'... And, that is a good price on both tank and fill station. Where I play every other weekend (1 weekend at field one, other at field two), we bring SCUBA tanks, and it works fine. You just have to fill more often.

-Cold

[Mer]

Volume of a cylinder is pi x radius squared x height.

http://www.equationsheet.com/eqninfo/Equation-79.html

Eric

[jenarelJAM]

sry, been neglecting this thread for a bit, well here goes

the 4300 psi tank is *just* out of my price range (cough cough) and even the $100 tank might be out of my price range, because I have to pay off somewhere between $50 and $100 in debt to my folks first. the tank should not be around for long(i dont knwo if its even still there, might already be gone) but the guy selling it is nice and offered to let me put a down payment on it to reserve it(not sure if i already mentioned that above?)
i think that cascading is a great idea, but i dont care much about getting the full 3000 psi every time. as long as I can get enough air for one game, i can fill it up again at the end of the game. as far as getting the money from my friends, it will nto become a major money-making idea, because i only have a few friends who use hpa(more on the way). most still use co2 and spyders. also, I don't go paintballing super often, though i try to go every couple weeks, but my friends go far less often, because they dont ref, and are paying for paint and admission out of their own pockets. basicly i have to cycle my friends... hehe. a couple of em play one week, a few others 2 weeks later, 2 weeks later, another group, 2 weeks later, the first group has saved up enough money to go again, etc. the main reason i want the scuba is so that if i play at other fields than where i ref at, i can take paint(free), take my own air(saving $10 or so each time) and just pay between 10-20$ for admission, and shoot a case of paint. a few times of that and it saves me alot of cash. the biggest problem, is getting the cash upfront in order to buy this tank before it geos off the market.

thanks again for all the great and helpful posts above, keep posting, its fun learning all this stuff.

[seanpeek]

Good luck hunting. Just to break it down one last time. Higher pressure = more gas per game. Higher volume = more fills. Hope all this helps. Thanks for such a good thread!

[jewie27]

You have got to be kidding.

Open valve 1, close valve one. Open valve 2, close valve 2. Far too much work.

And how can you compare ~100$ for second SCUBA and a few more dolars for fittings and valves with a mulit-thousand dollar booster?!?

Slow filling is best and safer. Don't open the valve all the way at first.

[funeralplanner]

Okay, what about this.....

Rent one of the big 4-5 foot tanks and fill from those. A 3 or 5 year rental is 100 bucks or something and a fill is 15 or so. I'm not sure of the pressure is why I'm asking about this method. Might have to put a regulator on the tank, and those aren't cheap. Just wondered if anyone has done this.

FP

[alooney11]

i would get those tanks man, having air is crucial.

[jenarelJAM]

alright, just put my $50 down payment on the tank today. now i owe around 130$ to my mom, dad owes me around $20, friend owes me around $20, and i have a spyder imagine package w/ misc ups and parts that i'm going to sell for $130 on craigslist.org. hoping i can sell it within a week or two, that way i wont even need to work for my dad at all and i can finish the down payment. then i've got to save up for a ~$40~ fill station. is the HSL fill station they have at pbgear.com any good? it would make it quite easy because among myself and friends, we probably need over $55 in spare parts (ss hose, fill nipple, paint, tank cover etc.) and then we get free shipping.
when i went to the scuba shop today to reserve the tank, i thought he said the tank was actually a 95 cf tank. my other info was also wrong, the tank is rated for 3400 psi. is there such a thing as a 95 cf tank? or is my hearing playing tricks on me?

[seanpeek]

Then i've got to save up for a ~$40~ fill station. is the HSL fill station they have at pbgear.com any good? it would make it quite easy because among myself and friends, we probably need over $55 in spare parts (ss hose, fill nipple, paint, tank cover etc.). My other info was also wrong, the tank is rated for 3400 psi. is there such a thing as a 95 cf tank? or is my hearing playing tricks on me?

Well, I don't know a ton about all the bells and whilstles on fill stations. I do know that I bought mine off of ebay for $16 + shipping. It was brand new and I think it works great. I did't need anything else. Not sure what a SS hose would do except give you some mobility while filling. Check out ebay, you might find something for a little less.

a 95/3400 sounds a little strange. I am guessing that it is a 102/3500. This is a very common Pressed Steel tank. It is possible that the tank is rated for 3400, but I don't recall filling anything rated like that. One thing about HP tanks (higher than 3000psi), they are required to have DIN valves. This is different that a Yoke valve in the sense that you need to screw the sealing o-ring into the tank valve to fill. A yoke will have a smaller bolt that is designed to screw againt the back of the valve and hold the seal in place. You will need to buy a fill adapter to make the DIN valve compatable with the HP fill station you get. Those can be a bit expensive. Check out ebay for a used one. Make sure you look at the tank rating for the exact pressure. You don't want to get something below 3000psi.

Check out this link for info on how to read the numbers on the top of the tank:

http://www.scubatanks.us/markings.htm

The ones you want to look for are the 3AL M124 for Bar or the 3AL #### (4 digit number) in the case or your tank 3442 for PSI. Good luck and keep the questions coming.

[ultralight]

JAM, you should also try to sell yourmarker package on pbn and AO.

everyone else, don't go to dive shops to get your tanks re-hydroed (sp?). look up carbonic gas in the phone book. if they don't do hydro testing then they can tell you who does. i got my 80 cf aluminum tank hydroed for $7.50. dive shops are the most prolific wallet rapists i have ever seen. 2.50 for a tank o-ring? c'mon.