Tank refill

for me yes same price empty or half full, have heard some people get it for a lower price to fill from 3000 to 4500 psi. It costs me 6 bucks to fill.

Have you tried a paintball shop? The shop I used to get mine charged $1.50 per 1000 psi. It never cost me more than $2-3 per fill.

I can share this, most welding shops don't want to mess with small bottles. They really don't care to keep your business, simply because it does not fit into their business model to support airgunning or paintball applications. It's nothing personal but that is their model. I would suggest as been suggested above, try the paintball shops, they typically charge a very low fee to top off bottles much more in line with what BLACKDIESEL quoted. Dive shops are next in line, establish a relationship with them and they too will try to earn your business. Good luck and sorry to hear you got stuck.

fire stations may help you out also, I have to drive 100 miles round trip to get may tanks filled, 22 bucks wouldn't be too bad for me and not have to spend 3 hours driving and waiting every 3 weeks.

my FD fills for $3. lucky me, us!

Fyi, a lot of SCUBA shops will fill for $8-$15 bucks. Most FD's won't fill unless you "know someone" that'll keep it under the radar. Even donating to their FF association, union or whatever the case may be doesn't help because the fill station belongs to that municipality, as does the "liability" (barf) of filling SCBA cylinders from outside the fire service. Depending on your bottle, IF you can go the FD route, you may need an adapter to convert to the male SCBA thread.

Don't give up! 

On the bright side, the worst case isn't all bad. You end up buying an inexpensive compressor (shoebox for example) and it pays for itself eventually.

Also consider that when you have unlimited "free" air, you do a LOT more shooting! Maybe get into air guzzling big bores perhaps? Charge you're shooting buddies a 6 pack of beer to fill their tanks? Just thinking out loud. Good luck!

Brian

Ok, guys, thanks for all the input. I got it worked out. everything is on smoothie street now!

First off, $22 is a ridiculous price. My local dive shop charges only $9. Granted, I live in San Diego, the Mecca of dive shops, so there is a competition factor in play; but still! Dealing with dive shops is the reason I just bought an Omega Air Charger, and I couldn't be more pleased with it! Plus, I don't really trust those bozos with my $600 Omega 75 cu-ft 4,500 psi carbon fiber tank :-O! I am an avid airgunner, so an on-demand supply of clean, dry compressed air is a must. At $22 a pop, a compressor would be even more cost-effective for you than for me. (My apologies to all the competent dive shop operators out there; but if you were familiar with the dive shop with which I used to deal, you'd agree with my characterization!) 

Yeah, Peter; he said! That's what IB Divers told me (I'm right below Chula Vista, on the border). I explained in detail that I had a 4,500 psi tank, not a lower pressure SCUBA tank. I was assured that it could fill my tank to 4,500 psi. When I went to pick it up the next day at 10 am (as scheduled), the shop was closed. (The knucklehead said he wanted to keep it overnight so he could top it off the next day.) When the doors were finally opened, I discovered the tank had been filled to only 4,000 psi. I bought my Omega Air Charger that day!

I fill mine at a welding shop..............but the owner is also a diver and puts on dive trips. 9 miles away and I leave it one day and pick it up the next. $6 and it gives me a reason to go out for lunch both days.