Scuba adapter for fills at local fire dept.

My best friend is a volunteer firefighter. He has offered to fill my tank for me, but neither of us know which adapter is needed.

Up till now, I have been using a local dive shop, but both shops in South Austin recently closed.

here is a picture of my tank.


and here is a picture of the tanks at the station.

 
Yep that's a K valve on the yellow tank. I get my fills the same way, however my setup is a Joe B CF tank with a DIN 300 valve with his screw in 1/8 inch male foster fitting. To fill my tank I must remove his adapter with the 1/8 male foster fitting and replace it with a DIN 300 to SCBA adapter I got from R&L, a nice fitting. That fitting terminates in a SCBA (male) fitting that hooks to my FD charging system.

That fitting on the FD tank does look like a foster type fitting, but the 1/8 fosters on my Marauder and my CF tank look distinctly different. Looks like its homework time for you unless someone else here can be of assistance. You are going to have to get one of those male foster like fittings that is on the FD tank to hook to their system for hpa. Once you have that you can work back to your tank.

You are going to have to work back from the FD fitting to your K valve Scuba fitting. Word of advise, be sure you want to continue using that relatively low pressure tank before you start spending $ on a string of adapters. Consider getting a used SCBA 4500 psi fire dept tank with valve off ebay etc. and selling your scuba tank. You will get so many more fills from a 4500 tank than your 3000 psi tank. Shopping for used FD trade ins is a whole new topic. Then all you would need is one of the mystery FD foster like fittings and a SCBA (male) adapter to 1/8 foster (male) fitting to get your tank filled. Once your ebay FD tank is filled remove the mystery FD fitting and screw in a SCBA (male) to 1/8 foster (male) fitting and there you go.

You might edit your post by adding a pic of your current fill setup and any hoses and adapters you have on hand. With that info there might be a short cut using your fill hose to make a simple adapter without breaking the bank on pretty polished fittings.

I suggest you go to several air supply sites, site sponsors first of course, and see what's available. You need to study up on the different valves K, DIN 300, and SCBA.
 
J

If you are the lucky one who won the Boss 30 forget about that K valve tank. That aint gonna work with the FX Boss. You will need a 4500 psi tank. 

The pic you posted is a K valve yolk to unknown (DIN 300?) male adapter. There is very little difference between a male DIN 300 and a male SCBA fitting. I can't tell which one is in your pic.
 
I hate you!

No not really.

Ok, I would be willing to bet $$ that rubber cap covers a male SCBA fitting. So you need to go from the female SCBA fill hose at the FD to the male end of your Scuba K yolk adapter. Do you have any fill hoses? What came with or will come with the Boss setup? You might want to wait on the Boss and see what you get with it and use the time between to study up on the various valves and see what is available on the market. Check with Airtanks for Sale, R&L, and the site sponsors for fittings. You should be able to look up what comes with the Boss. Just remember if you elect to keep the Boss you will be getting a 4500 psi tank. Then you will have the yellow tank and fittings....for sale.

Maybe someone else can pickup where I am leaving off. I gotta go out of town to help my 90 yr old Dad so I'm going off-line for a few days. And he has starlings! I will be taking my 25 Marauder.
 
Ok, one last post.

If that Scuba K valve yolk adapter terminates in a SCBA male fitting you are in business. Just be careful. Your tank is most likely a 3000 tank and the FD fills to 4500. Get your buddy to fill your tank as slowly as possible to keep the heat down. Let it cool then top it off to 3000. If you go from 1000 to 3000 fast you will build heat in your tank. When it cools you will loose 100 to 200 psi off the top where you can least afford it. If you use that fitting be sure it is SCBA and not DIN 300. They look similar. Last thing you want to do is ruin the threads at the FD fill station.
 
Dan25 has given you sound advice. The short answer as to why you will eventually want to upgrade you tank is in the numbers:
  • scuba tanks fill to 3000psi
  • the boss shoots from 3700-2300psi
  • a carbon fiber tank fills to 4500 psi
Your scuba tank will work for now. You'll just get 20 or fewer shots per fill, compared to the usual 40 from a 3700 psi fill.