This is my current refill situation. The tank is out of hydro and I do not know anyone in the area that has a compressor...to refill on the regular. Given the current set up what are my option in terms of a smaller tank? I have been thinking about the smaller carbo fiber paintball tanks...Only looking to fill a tank to 3000 psi.....refilled a PROD.... What kind of adaptor would i need to transition into that they of tank.? Any and all information would be great.
Benjamin Tank options
- Thread starter AAC98881973
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You can also try local fire stations. They won’t care about hydro dates. Not every station has an SCBA fill station but every department does have one or more and they will direct you to whats station(s) has it. It’s Captains discretion if they will do it but most are really cool about it and don’t care. And it will be free. Plus they will fill you to 4500 PSI to give you more fills on you PCP. Your tank is the right connection for most fire station connectors unless they are running quick connectors like MSA or Survivor.
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San Diego County is surely different from San Bernadino. I tried 7 different fire stations, & I'm an ex-firefighter, & NONE would fill expired tanks due to liability. Granted, it was 8 years ago, but it's probably gotten worse, not better. That's why I made the choice of "air independence" a long while back.
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To refill your own tank. Theyre cheaper than a bottle, yours still has safe service life in it I think but not dot life (they haven't changed the rules yet). You may be able to spend less, and not rely on fills elsewhere.
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I couldn't get mine filled in date anywhere and I'm between you two. Ends up the bottles were filled at a central location. So I toooled up to fill all sorts of out of hydro bottles.
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Responsible shops won’t hydro-test carbon fiber wrapped SCBA tanks that are beyond 15 years from the date of manufacture. At least this is my understanding.
There are a few AGN threads discussing the life of SCBA tanks. Here’s one
SCBA Tank Life
I know a SCBA fiber wrapped, 66 cf tanks can’t be filled or hydrotested after 15 years. But, how long can it be filled “at home” with a compressor? Is it good indefinitely?
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OP doesn't state the mfg date, only that it's out of Hydro. If tank is older than 15 years no one can LEGALLY hydrotest.
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There was some legal work on getting us 30 yrs like the rest of the world iirc, my experience from paintball prior to my life in pcp guns was that If your tank was set to be retired you could get one more hydro in a certain window of time before that date and stretch it a little technically and after that the hydro places would drill a hole in your cylinder no matter what.
Im not advocating for anybody to do anything, but I'd rather have a Sci or luxfer cylinder at the end of it's life than a Chinese one personally. Sure I have Chinese ones in sub 1L sizes but those don't worry me like 88cf+ I know how strict luxfer is on their stuff and I even made the carriage that holds the resin applicator rollers for the carbon filament at their plant
Im not advocating for anybody to do anything, but I'd rather have a Sci or luxfer cylinder at the end of it's life than a Chinese one personally. Sure I have Chinese ones in sub 1L sizes but those don't worry me like 88cf+ I know how strict luxfer is on their stuff and I even made the carriage that holds the resin applicator rollers for the carbon filament at their plant
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If you know you have a convenient and reasonably priced place to get your tank filled then and only then does it make sense, in my opinion, to buy a DOT approved tank. My issue is just that the technical basis for the DOT regulations was never great and has now essentially been disproved. The Navy proved that the regulations are grossly conservative. But they are laws and commercial establishments that fill expired tanks could get in trouble.
If you do not have place to get your tank filled, then I don't see why it makes sense to pay extra to get a DOT approved tank. A Chinese tank approved to European standards or an expired fireman's bottle seems to me to be a better way to spend money. Tests have demonstrated there is a lot of margin in carbon fiber reinforced tanks. The biggest cause of failure in Navy tanks was damage to the threads of the tests caused by hydro testing. No injuries no catastrophic failures. LOTS of experience.
Until somebody forces DOT to pull their head of their behind we are stuck with this silly situation.
If you do not have place to get your tank filled, then I don't see why it makes sense to pay extra to get a DOT approved tank. A Chinese tank approved to European standards or an expired fireman's bottle seems to me to be a better way to spend money. Tests have demonstrated there is a lot of margin in carbon fiber reinforced tanks. The biggest cause of failure in Navy tanks was damage to the threads of the tests caused by hydro testing. No injuries no catastrophic failures. LOTS of experience.
Until somebody forces DOT to pull their head of their behind we are stuck with this silly situation.
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Well said. Meanwhile I can still go swap a welding cylinder out at get something that's been in service since the 40s. Thread damage has been the only composite cylinder failure mechanism I've seen, and hydro will do it.
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Guts looking at that picture tells me that is not a carbon fibre tank I could be wrong the OP can clairify looks like an aluminum scuba tank
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OP:.. “What kind of adaptor would i need to transition into that they of tank.? Any and all information would be great.”
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