SCBA Tank Purchase?

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Woodwreck

Woodwreck

Member
Apr 19, 2022
32
28
Washington, United States
My cheep Amazon air compressor is having some real issues filling up my Vulcan 3. So I just purchased a YH (I hope) and would like to get a SCBA tank. My question is were would be the best source to pick up a used tank? Looked on ebay but not sure what condition they are in and seems like a gamble. Or is it better to just bit the bullet and get a new one, if so were is a good source for one and what would be a good size for the YH to fill? Never had a tank before so any help suggestions would be great.
Thanks,
WW
 
starlingassn said:
go to your local fire stations,
ask them if they have any scba they can get rid of,
all the ones ive got have been between a $20 and $50 donation,
plus they keep filling them for me.

might have to hit up a few before you find one that has any to get rid of,but its worth it :cool:
Click to expand...
I have tried this but was told by my one fire departments to go the city fire Marshall and they said they don't sell old equipment. Might need to try some others.
 
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Both of the scba tanks I've bought off eBay have been good. The latest one was surplus from the navy and beyond it's 15 years. The other one still has until 10/24 until it hits it's 15 years. Since you will have a young hang you can fill your PCP from it and just keep your eyes open for ones available on eBay that people have bought from.
 
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I paid about $100 for a recently expired tank on ebay. It works fine. The inexpensive fill set I got for it didn't work at all, however. I ended up spending nearly $200 on the fill set but it works very well. My tank is a 45 minute Scott SCBA. I don't shoot a lot every day but I usually only have to refill my tank about once a month. The YH will do it in 15-20 minutes going from ~3000 psi to 4000 or a little more. I think a 45 minute tanks is 66 cubic feet.
 
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You can also buy the Chinese tanks new if you don't mind them not being DOT certified. I recently purchased a 9L and just finished filling it tonight actually. I currently have 3 tanks. Two Us tanks 45 min, one has about a year left before the 15 year life, another that i got a crazy deal on a new DOT tank and is new (2019 date). Then the last Chinese one. Looking at the new Dot tank and the Chinese one they both seem to be the same quality at least from the visual aspect.
 
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I purchased mine from Jking here on AGN, he uses quality components. He has one up in the classified now:

SCBA Fill Assembly

For sale, a new SCBA (Fireman's TanK) fill assembly. Consist of a hand tite CGA347 female fitting, inline tee, liquid filled 5000# gauge, inline SS bleed off valve, 3' Ralston 475bar (.08" ID/.20 OD) microbore hose with a genuine Foster quick connect on the end. Can assemble in a couple of...
www.airgunnation.com www.airgunnation.com
 
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I got my fill set from Joe Brancatto (sp?). I am completely happy with it. I think "stickman" fill sets are also high quality from the research I did. I use the Scott valve that came with my tank to release the air. With the spring removed do you don't have to push (or is is pull) on it, it is easy to control. The much less expensive Chinese fill set I tried first leaked pretty bad at the interface to the tank. When I asked, others indicated they'd had similar issues. Some solved them well enough they continued to use the set, many just bought something better.
 
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I have a brand new 12 liter Chinese CF tank from ACECARE. It looks very good inside and out. It came with a nice tank valve complete with a bottle pressure gauge. It also has a fill set attached to it. That fill set swivels and consists of a microbore fill whip with female foster fittings on both ends. The swivelling fill valve also has a pressure bleed knob and a fill gauge along with a male foster fitting. This included whip is identical to 4 other whips I have laying around. I went to fill my FX Crown, which has a male foster fitting and the ACECARE whip and my other identical fill whips do not latch on to the Crown male foster fitting. This is a very dangerous condition and it has happened to me before with an extended foster fitting I bought from DonnyFL. The problem appears to be on the Crown end. Not all Foster fittings are the same and I'm not sure how to order or discriminate between the ones that work and safely latch and those that do not. This is problem others have encountered as well. I can measure the differences, but I would have to completely disassemble the Crown. So I'm hoping others have found a solution. Please let me know if you have found a solution.
Thanks in advance,
Steve
 
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Steve,
Seems like the simplest solution would be to contact FX, explain your problem, and ask if they can supply or recommend the proper female foster fitting.

I see that Air Tanks Plus has an extended fitting and states: "This is needed to fill PCP airguns that have a recessed fill port like the FX Airguns do."
airtanksplus.com

Male Quick-connect with Female Quick-connect XL Adapter – Stainless Steel

Longer FX friendly female quick-disconnect fitting. Used to fill PCP airguns with recessed fill port like the FX Airgun. No Tools Required
airtanksplus.com
 
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Woodwreck said:
My cheep Amazon air compressor is having some real issues filling up my Vulcan 3. So I just purchased a YH (I hope) and would like to get a SCBA tank. My question is were would be the best source to pick up a used tank? Looked on ebay but not sure what condition they are in and seems like a gamble. Or is it better to just bit the bullet and get a new one, if so were is a good source for one and what would be a good size for the YH to fill? Never had a tank before so any help suggestions would be great.
Thanks,
WW
Click to expand...

I bought a used 60 minute Scott SCBA off eBay for $90 shipped and the fill station in the photo below for $43. So far, working perfectly with my Yong Heng. It took 2 hours+ to fill it from empty, but only 15 to 25 minutes to top it off to 4400 PSI. With plenty of ice in the bucket and Rislone? coolant efficiency additive, the temp gauge on the Yong Heng never went over 47 C on the tank top off. Trying to hit 4500 seems to take forever so I stop at 4400. The valve on the Scott tank is super easy to use, just remove the spring under the knob so you don't have to push the knob in to turn it off. That locking feature can be a bit tense if it engages when you are trying to stop the air flow as you reach max pressure in the gun.

1669011535210.png


18.13 said:
I bought one off ebay for $15 shipped from Alaska guy must have just wanted to get rid of it
Click to expand...

I bet he wished he hadn't listed it that cheap when he found out it was going to cost him $40 to ship it.
 
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