One of the problems I encountered using 6000 PSI Nitrogen is turning in and exchanging a more than half full tank. The benefits of having a ready source of clean and dry air are great enough to me that I was willing to accept turning in a tank with air still in it. However, once these Yong Heng Compressors price dropped to $200 delivered, I got to thinking I could feed the N2 into one and use it to boost the gas and top off my smaller 30min scba tanks to 4500psi.
Do not use IORMAN foster fittings off Amazon. The description on their Amazon listing is not exactly accurate. It has a blurb in the details that the working pressure is 3000PSI but the big description that comes up during a search says 3000-5000 psi. And it says paintball in the description and I mistakenly associated it with HPA. Every thing else is perfect and the system works really well.
Doing the math I determined 20-25psi would supply enough gas through the 1/8" tubing I was planning on using. The first hurdle I had to overcome was reducing 4000psi in my bulk tank down to 20-25psi. The solution came from Palmer Pursuit who makes regulators for paintball guns. I called the company and talked to the owner Craig Palmer about what I was trying to do and he directed me toward his Inline Stabilizer with 1/8" NPT ports. $93
https://palmerspursuit.com/collections/regulators-1/products/inline-stabilizer-regulator-3
Below is a list of the other parts and pieces to put this together.
From Ebay
Chemlube 751 half gallon synthetic COMPRESSOR LUBRICANT Diester ISO 150 $55
From Amazon Prime
1ea 1/8"MIP Air gauge $13
Foster quick connect fittings came from https://airtanksplus.com/
Do not buy IORMAN foster fittings off Amazon as they failed at 4500 psi and in the fine print says working pressure is 3000psi
From GlowShift.com
7/16-20 Male to 1/8-27 NPT Female Thread Adapter $11
From Lowes
2ea 1/4" comp to 1/8" MIP Brass fittings $4
25ft EZ-FLO 1/4-in Inner Diameter x Polyethylene Tubing $8
$410 Total
Operating Procedures
I called Craig Palmer and he recommends I set my Primary Reg to 1000psi or below so that the target psi is in the middle range of the Stabilizer. The stabilizer acts like a booster in reverse. It brings the pressure down in a ratio base on input. I don’t necessarily know the difference between a stabilizer and a regulator? When I first contacted Palmer I explained what I was wanting to do and this device is what he recommended.
The key is to leave the low pressure bleed partially open. So to get things going start the machine with both bleeds open. Open the target tank's pressure against the check valve in the male foster connected to the YH Filter. Then introduce the N2, adjust the flow on the stabilizer where the motor starts to drag and back off a bit and air is still exiting the LP bleed. Then close the high pressure side and the pressure will build until the check valve in the foster connection to the target tank opens. When max pressure is reached open the high side bleed then turn the machine off, then shut off the N2.
What I learned is the target psi on the stabilizer is about 20 psi. The burst disc are specked to be 1mm and they are more like .27mm. I had to double up the disc to keep it from popping the disc. One other small issue I have to overcome is the low pressure bleed screw vibrating loose since it isn’t tight. I’ll have to fig something up to make it snug in the fitting when left partially open.
1.jpg (111.19 kB, 481x640 - viewed 4 times.)
2.jpg (119.66 kB, 481x640 - viewed 1 times.)
3.jpg (111.61 kB, 480x640 - viewed 1 times.)
4A.jpg (116.68 kB, 480x640 - viewed 1 times.)
4.jpg (50.41 kB, 689x324 - viewed 2 times.)
Do not use IORMAN foster fittings off Amazon. The description on their Amazon listing is not exactly accurate. It has a blurb in the details that the working pressure is 3000PSI but the big description that comes up during a search says 3000-5000 psi. And it says paintball in the description and I mistakenly associated it with HPA. Every thing else is perfect and the system works really well.
Doing the math I determined 20-25psi would supply enough gas through the 1/8" tubing I was planning on using. The first hurdle I had to overcome was reducing 4000psi in my bulk tank down to 20-25psi. The solution came from Palmer Pursuit who makes regulators for paintball guns. I called the company and talked to the owner Craig Palmer about what I was trying to do and he directed me toward his Inline Stabilizer with 1/8" NPT ports. $93
https://palmerspursuit.com/collections/regulators-1/products/inline-stabilizer-regulator-3
Below is a list of the other parts and pieces to put this together.
From Ebay
Chemlube 751 half gallon synthetic COMPRESSOR LUBRICANT Diester ISO 150 $55
From Amazon Prime
1ea 1/8"MIP Air gauge $13
Foster quick connect fittings came from https://airtanksplus.com/
Do not buy IORMAN foster fittings off Amazon as they failed at 4500 psi and in the fine print says working pressure is 3000psi
From GlowShift.com
7/16-20 Male to 1/8-27 NPT Female Thread Adapter $11
From Lowes
2ea 1/4" comp to 1/8" MIP Brass fittings $4
25ft EZ-FLO 1/4-in Inner Diameter x Polyethylene Tubing $8
$410 Total
Operating Procedures
I called Craig Palmer and he recommends I set my Primary Reg to 1000psi or below so that the target psi is in the middle range of the Stabilizer. The stabilizer acts like a booster in reverse. It brings the pressure down in a ratio base on input. I don’t necessarily know the difference between a stabilizer and a regulator? When I first contacted Palmer I explained what I was wanting to do and this device is what he recommended.
The key is to leave the low pressure bleed partially open. So to get things going start the machine with both bleeds open. Open the target tank's pressure against the check valve in the male foster connected to the YH Filter. Then introduce the N2, adjust the flow on the stabilizer where the motor starts to drag and back off a bit and air is still exiting the LP bleed. Then close the high pressure side and the pressure will build until the check valve in the foster connection to the target tank opens. When max pressure is reached open the high side bleed then turn the machine off, then shut off the N2.
What I learned is the target psi on the stabilizer is about 20 psi. The burst disc are specked to be 1mm and they are more like .27mm. I had to double up the disc to keep it from popping the disc. One other small issue I have to overcome is the low pressure bleed screw vibrating loose since it isn’t tight. I’ll have to fig something up to make it snug in the fitting when left partially open.
1.jpg (111.19 kB, 481x640 - viewed 4 times.) 2.jpg (119.66 kB, 481x640 - viewed 1 times.) 3.jpg (111.61 kB, 480x640 - viewed 1 times.) 4A.jpg (116.68 kB, 480x640 - viewed 1 times.) 4.jpg (50.41 kB, 689x324 - viewed 2 times.)
