Pressure rises to dangerous levels on FX Royale 500!
I took the 500 to work for some derodentifying. Got 5 squirrels and a rabbit before it was time to get on with the chores. Being as it has been hovering around 100 degrees, I cover the windshield and sunny side window, leaving the shady side window open a bit. Really quite dark, but with a vent, so I figure the 500 will be OK.
Wrong! The hot parking lot must’ve heated up the whole vehicle beyond what the vent could cool. When I got in, after work: “Crap, it’s hot in here.” I put my hand on the 500 air tank; it was hot. Triple dog dare crap! The pressure gauge was way over red line. From 210 bar to quite a bit over 230 bar, as in the gauge looked pegged/maxed. 😯
After piling a bunch of stuff between the 500 and me, I drove the car through the rural roads with all the AC vents blasting on the 500. It was back to 210 bar when I got home. Fortunately, a bit of target shooting and a squirrel blast-through showed the seals and workings of the gun were OK.
Anyway, with the summer heat getting nasty in places, a word of warning to PCP owners in hot areas: the tank pressures can rise a hell of a lot more than you’d think, even without the sun shining on the air tanks.
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I had a Royale 500 in the car last week and it was around 100Ë™ outside. It wasn’t in direct sunlight and was only filled to around 200 bar, when I got home I found it was around 220. I’m no longer taking any pcp’s out if the weather is going to be that hot.
What state are you located in?
I bought an ice chest to keep my tank in, just in case.
Thanks for the input guys. Better I keep the pcp guns at home for awhile. The ambient air temp was/has been a bit over 100. In the vineyard parking lot (full sun), about 200 x 300 feet, it’s gotta be around 115-120 degrees. I know cars can reach 160-175, with the sun on ’em. I had a crate of fairly sturdy plastic pots melt and warp to unusable in an old Toyota which turned into a solar oven. Bet those temps are not healthy for scopes, either.
At our greenhouse/nursery we designed a soil sterilizer from a twin-wall fridge glass door and a black, wooden box. It melted a German compost thermometer, so I used an oven thermometer. At about 1:30-2:00 in the summer afternoons, it reached 185 degrees(in the damp soil) and kept that for hours. We used welder’s gloves to slide off the lid; it was too hot to touch. Could’ve made pot roast in that thing, but it smelled of cooked soil. A solar still would likely work great out here, slow, steady and stealthy. mmmm, distilled libations…..with ice…… 😎
Well unfortunately there really isnt a good way to keep a PCP or air tank in a parked car in the summer unless you leave the AC on.
I doubt your rifle was in much danger though, as you kept it out of direct sunlight.
Hot summers is one reason I use Nitrogen instead of air. A lot less pressure variation due to heat. Thats why the mililtary uses it in the SR71 tires, that aircraft heats up to the point the tires can blow up if filled with air.
I kinda doubt Ill have trouble regardless, I do not fill above 2800 psi with any of my rifles.
id think some of the rise in pressure would be due to the gauge heating up aswell . so it probabaly was not as much . … but thats just a thought as i have no clue what you gauge is made like .
That tube would have to get a lot hotter than that to blow Bogman, but if it is a unregulated gun, you would have had a serious case of valve lock.
I filled my FX Royale 500 carbine to 230 bar all the time. And there is a factor of what 3 or 4 for a safety barrier.
I have heard of scuba tank pressure relief valves blowing due to heat tho. Scba tanks on the other hand are designed to take a lot of heat, remember what they are desiged to do, go into fires.
When I heat up the shroud on my Royale to compromise the epoxy used, I used to take the tank off, now I just shoot it down to around 160 bar and then wrap the tank with a cool wet cloth, the gauge seldom even registers a change in pressure.
Regards,
Roachcreek
Anyone had an hpa tank blow due excessive heat?
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I’m in central Virginia, which breaks 100 degrees often and over 95 just about every week during mid summer.