Leaving a CF Tank in the car / winter (cold) weather question

[jdanvers]

Hi guys . . . . pictured is my Air Venturi CF tank that I've had for a couple . . . three years. I purchased it from Pyramid Air. In a nutshell - over this past summer I sort of got into a habit of just leaving it in the car (in shade) as it's handy to have available when stopping at my various farming permissions. It ain't summer anymore and temps are regularly getting down below freezing at night - already down into the teens a couple of times. ( I'm in upstate NY ) Cutting to the chase - I wanted to test / play around with some different ammo with one of my guns earlier today and after having shot through a magazine trying out different speeds seeing if I could get it to group I realized that I was getting a little low on air. I grabbed the tank out of the car and connected it to the gun and filled it up to 250 bar like usual. I closed the valve on the tank and (attempted) to bleed the line so I could disconnect it from the gun. The bleed valve was VERY tight - like - I had to grab a pr. of pliers from my tool bag to turn the damned thing. When it did crack open - it bled air like it usually does - BUT it wasn't like usual. The usual 3 to 5 second "blast" of air being bled out of the line kept "blasting" - 5 seconds, 10 seconds . . . . I closed it quickly. Suspecting - I looked at the gauge on the gun and yeah - the 250bar that I had put into it was now down to 200. (?? What???? ) I cracked the bleed valve again - same thing - the damned thing wasn't bleeding the line - it's just dumping air back out of the gun.

Long story short - I was tempted to just try and pop the fill port valve off of the gun but was frankly "afraid" to do that - I didn't want to mess with a charged fill whip so . . . I had no choice as I couldn't get the damned line to bleed - I just opened the bleed valve and let the gun drain . . . . a full tank of air in the gun - just poof. Gone. {sigh}

Any of you ever seen or experienced anything like this before? Is it possible that moisture / condensation (something) may have gotten into the valve / bleed valve (whatever) on my tank and 'frozen' it rendering it flaky or inoperable? Needless to say I'm back home now and the tank is in the house - I may connect it to the same gun in a few hours after its come up to room temperature and see what happens.

 

[Healthservices]

What gun? I think it maybe the valve in the fill port not closing rather than the bottle issue. Or maybe some junk got in there. I had my fill port valve stick open a couple times on my bsa

Allen

 

[airgunmike56]

Sound to me like you had a little water froze in the valve, Don't take much, Back when I got my 1st carbon fiber tank and was trying to get it filled with no luck, A group of firemen told me the worst thing for your tank is the sun, heat and the cold.

 

[Geezerhood]

I have had the check valve on the gun stay open more than once if I don't open the bleed valve quickly and fairly wide open. If you opened it slowly or a small amount, that could have been the problem. I didn't see any mention in your post as to how fast the bleed valve was opened.

Also, if the air in the tank was still very cold, as it passed through the gun's check valve it could have hardened the O-Ring / seal enough to allow air to get past it.

 

[jdanvers]

@Geezerhood - yours sounds like the most plausible. @Healthservices - rti prophet performance ( 1 not the newer 2 ) @airgunmike56 - agreed. Laziness on my part, I know I shouldn't have been leaving it in the car during summer months but ... I kept an eye on it, left the windows cracked open a bit so it didn't get too hot in there ...

I'm with family now doing the turkey thing .. will play / look at the thing later when back home.

 

[beerthief]

probably a good thing your busy , give everything a chance to equalize the temps .
Maybe turn your tank upside down and open the valve ? moisture escape ? ??

 

[rcs9250]

When I read the instruction book for my FWB Piccolo pistol the manual advised against using a hand pump to fill the removable cylinder. I called UA with some questions and asked about the hand pump filling on the Piccolo. They said that when filling from a tank the air shuts off quickly, but with a hand pump the air stream is slow and the valve can stick and when attempting to bleed line you lose all air. Your sceanario is a bit different than the Piccolo but it does sound like, as suggested by Geezerhood, that something in your guns tank valve is sticking open. My money is on it working once warmed up.

 

[Gerry52]

NOT leaving your tank in the car is a good habit to get into. Why subject it to extremes of hot or cold. THINK on the safe side & don't forget that we expect them to hold 4500psi of air SAFELY, which means we have to do OUR part.

 

[Ezana4CE]

@jdanvers i think @Geezerhood hit the nail on the head. What you described sounds like it has nothing to do with the tank. I experienced this with my Prod. The check valve in the male foster fitting stick and I was advised to ether try dripping some sort of Crosman silicone oil in there or to replace the fill fitting. I replaced the fitting and problem solved. That bleed screw can become problematic over time though. As @Gerry52 suggests, it’s probably not a great idea to leave your tank in the car. Have to consider the effects on the rubber and plastic parts.

 

[jdanvers]

Thanks for all of the feedback guys. After getting home last night ( and several hours worth of time for the tank and gun to both equalize with house temperature ) I was able to fill the gun, and the fill line subsequently bled off, like normal.

 

[Geezerhood]

Good news!