What are the pros and cons of using nitrogen instead of air? What plumbing do I need, the gun has a QD Foster fitting? Is it just a matter of opening the tank valve and filling the gun to 3000psi and then shutting off the tank valve?
Bill
Bill
Nitrogen instead of compressed air.
- Thread starter WNYBill
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The nitrogen will be "absolutely" dry. Otherwise it is just 20% more nitrogen than you get from pumping air. The purity might get you something, but should generally be the same performance as air.
Fittings, you'll probably need a gauge to come off the tank valve, if you bring a hose to the welding supply shop, they can probably get you close. Might end up needing an 1/8" NPT adapter to get to your fill whip but I'd guess they can sell you everything else you need.
You might consider feeding regulated N2 into a compressor, once the tank gets below your desired fill pressure, no more filling guns directly. The compressor could pump until the tank is empty and always hit your fill pressure.
Fittings, you'll probably need a gauge to come off the tank valve, if you bring a hose to the welding supply shop, they can probably get you close. Might end up needing an 1/8" NPT adapter to get to your fill whip but I'd guess they can sell you everything else you need.
You might consider feeding regulated N2 into a compressor, once the tank gets below your desired fill pressure, no more filling guns directly. The compressor could pump until the tank is empty and always hit your fill pressure.
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I think he’s looking for a real basic layman’s guide to setting up a system using rental tanks. I am too.
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If you have a compressor for HPA then its easy as all compressors have a single inlet for intake. At that point all you need is a std tank of N2 and a regulator, hose and some fittings
If you want to fill from a bottle then its much more complicated as you need a 4500 or 6000 psi tank a 500+ dollar regulator a VERY heavy tank 3- 5 hundred pounds these are almost always rental only tanks.and cost more to fill and rent.
If you would like more info let me know, this is a pic of one of my setups using GX-CS2 and a n2 tank
If you want to fill from a bottle then its much more complicated as you need a 4500 or 6000 psi tank a 500+ dollar regulator a VERY heavy tank 3- 5 hundred pounds these are almost always rental only tanks.and cost more to fill and rent.
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The best thing about this is NO Water NO Oxygen NO co2 this will make you compressor last longer and your guns will shoot faster and no crappy air.
Where I live its common to have 85 - 95 percent humidity outside and 45-55 inside.
A lot of people think that air is just fine or that breathing air is dry IT IS NOT unless you buy Aviators breathing air.
Where I live its common to have 85 - 95 percent humidity outside and 45-55 inside.
A lot of people think that air is just fine or that breathing air is dry IT IS NOT unless you buy Aviators breathing air.
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Peetroaio is right, However, it appears as if there is a lot more to it than a hose and fittings.
Bill
Bill
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No cons that I am aware of. I have been using Nitrogen in my FX guns for many years. However recently I have went the throw away compressor route.
Step one: Contact your local welding supply and find out if they have 6000 PSI bulk tanks and their cost for yearly rental. Usually around 200 bucks more or less. Also different main tank valves are used in various locations of the country. You need to find out what type of main valve your local supply uses.
Step two: Top gun or Joe Blanco sells a simple nitrogen fill assembly and he has them for the various main valves fitted to bulk nitrogen tanks. Which is why you need to know which one you need. The valve and gauge and hose assembly mounts to the nitrogen tank and has a standard quick disconnect fill adapter on the hose and or you can put whatever 1/8 fitting you desire on it. To fill your rifle simply open the main valve slowly and watch the big gauge on the assembly . You do not need a complicated super, dual stage regulator assembly. I have been doing it this way for years. This nitrogen fill assembly has went up in price since the first one I purchased for 40 bucks, and it is now 190 bucks. I have been using mine for over 15 years with no problems, I do however yearly replace the actual fill hose, as I do not want to experience a whipping about busted hose trying to kill me.
So nitrogen is a great and dry source of power for any airgun. As for cost, 200 yearly rental, 80 bucks refill x 3 per year on average and generally to a private residence they do not deliver and you have to transport the bottle. Some residential areas do not allow any compressed gas period, regulations vary place to place. So that is 500 bucks a year plus 200 for the fill assembly or 700 the first year.
Beats the cost of a good compressor as even a GOOD compressor is not very reliable and with constant use will die.
Or if you fill just the gun the cheap throw away 400 dollar compressors cost about the same and they will generally last around 20 actual run hours. So at 3 to 4 minutes to fill an airgun you will get around 250 fills . Hint, walmart now have cheap compressors with extended warranty plans, so you can always buy one and when it dies go buy another one while you wait the two months it takes them to ship it off to be fixed and always have one that works.
Total yearly cost is about the same, with Nitrogen long term costing more. Used to be a good deal until the cheap throw away compressors with extended warranty programs became available. As for total fills yearly, it is all about the same depending on your airgun. I have bottle tanks on my airguns so 60 fills per nitrogen cylinder x 3 is 180 total per year for the cost of 240 bucks ,plus the 200 yearly rental, hence bottom line is that little cheap throw away compressor now wins the prize.
I have went throw away compressors myself this year. I bought one at walmart last fall and it is still going and when it does die I will return it to them to be fixed and buy another one. Then when the first one is fixed it will be on hand when the second one dies and so on. And long term this is the cheapest solution of them all. They work well and fill a bottle gun in around 4 minutes. As for all the worry about moisture, I have not seen any problems as mainly filling only the gun and running only 4 minutes it does not have time to build up much moisture. Just about the time the compressor gets hot, the gun is full. As for nitrogen shooting faster, Grin....do not believe all you see with a blind ear, or is that HEAR? It is the outside relative humidity that can affect pellet speed. 30 percent humidity pellets travel a bit faster than in 90 percent humidity. However this is all exterior related to the elements and mother nature. Bottom line it is not enough to even dwell upon.
Cheers
Kit
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For about $1000 you can get you a Altaros booster and 120cf nitrogen bottle. Pick up a used regulator on fleabag and your in business. This is provided you have a decent air compressor. Never worry about moisture again. You can pull that nitrogen bottle down to 100lbs before refilling and it’s about $12.
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But Joe I don't want to run my shop compressor for 7-8 hrs straight so I use a 300 $ GX and run it for 5 minutes, my shop compressor cost 800 bucks and if I ran that kind of duty cycle I'd have to replace every other year.
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My shop compressor is over 20 years old and it does not run continuously anyhow. You seem to be happy with your setup and I’m not trying to change your mind. Also aviators breathing air as you call it is 100% oxygen and their bottles are filled with a gas booster that works just like the one I use.
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Is this referring to compressed nitrogen gas, or bottles with liquid nitrogen? Asking because I have the bottle of gas used for A/C systems or filling offroad shocks.
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