question about scba tank
Well I have my talon on order. after doing a bunch of reading on pumping, i’m beginning to wonder if I’d be better off with a scba tank. I have found a few 4500 PSI 45 minute tanks for under $100. They state that they are good untill 2013.
do the scba tanks go bad? you just have to throw it away in 2013? or can it be re-certified?
What would I need to convert the scba tank into a refill tank for the talon?
Would it be better/cheaper to use nitrogen gas insted of air?
about how many refills would I get with the 4500PSI tank?
Where would be some places to look for refills, I don’t know any firemen
Thanks.
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Anyone know what I would need to convert one of these scba tanks for use as a refill tank for my talon?
Carbon fiber tanks have a life of service and after that are destroyed.
Even so $100 for 5 years service is cheap enough.
Yes you can use air or Nitrogen with the same output more or less.
Fill calculators are linked to Airhog site ……
Good luck
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Actually you’ll need two adapters to use these tanks.
First off, to get the gas out you need a CGA 346 connector (sometimes called ‘hand tight’) to screw into the tank. This is connected to a vent valve block with a guage. The fill adapter for your gun (in this case the tank) screws to that. Usually there’s a short hose.
You can get the bits and build one yourself, but for the same sort of bucks you can get a built and tested one from Mac1 (who has used SCBA tanks with that sort of time left for about the same money). I bought mine from Joe B when I bought a 66 CF tank from him.
BTW, there’s a chance they may remove the lifespan limit on these guys, as long as they continue to pass hydro test (every 3 years). They just don’t seem to be wearing out like folks thought. Even if they do, the valve is about half the cost of a new one, you can have it pulled and put on a fresh bottle.
The bad part is HPA fittings and stuff are expensive. The CGA fitting alone is over fifty bucks. The whole adapter is going to run a bit over a hundred, probably.
Another option is a CGA to K valve adapter, usually under a hundred. It lets you use the common and much cheaper SCUBA fill adapters, like the AF factory unit.
Filling is another issue. Unless you have access to a firehouse, the sporting goods store doesn’t do Fire Fighter stuff. You need the (same) SCUBA adapter or something that ends in a male QD so they can fill it like a big Paint Ball tank. Generally guys put QDs on their hoses anyway so they can swap fill adapters between different PCP types so at most a male/male adapter (cheap) does the job with the rest of your fill rig (basically how I get my SCBA tanks filled).
Why not give Tim a call, he can set you up fine. Even sell you a tank at a good price.
Doug Owen