6k Nitrogen tank

Well guys truth be told even the 4500 psi bottles are just as dangerous. Like everything else there is proper use for the toys that we play. Regardless if its 6k or 4500 or 3k. It can kill us if something bad was to happen.
Even big rig truck tires filled at 120 psi will knock you off your feet when it blows. They even build safety devices to fill those and rules to fill and deflate those.
Yes handling these high pressure devices do scare me a bit.
 
Just keep the safety cap on the N2 tank when it's not in use. I used N2 for about a year and it's great. I rented my tank from a welding supply company and the owner said he has been in the business for years and over time he has dropped many of 6000 psi tanks off of trucks and otherwise and have never damaged one. So if you are worried, just remove your reg and put the safety cap back on after each use.
 
I purchased a set of gauges that Joe supplied from his air tanks for sale site online. Leased a pair of 6000 psi nitrogen tanks from a distributor in St. Louis Missouri. They deliver and service my needs for my garage. The tanks are extremely heavy, like 350 lbs each so I let them handle the tanks upon deliver and pick up. They are chained to the wall next to my cascade system of three 97 cu ft air bottles I used to fill with my Omega Super Charger. I now charge all my bottles with the nitrogen and have had zero moisture problems in my airguns. Still cheaper than than buying another HPA compressor as well and no maintenance until it is time to Hydro the three Great Whites. I have been drawing down the the nitrogen tanks at a rate of one bottle replacement every 12 months. When a bottle gets down below 1800 psi I dedicate that bottle to filling automobile, truck tires and paint ball tanks. What I have is overkill but occasionally some of my old paint ball buddies come by for a little combat and they all leave with full bottles and tuned up paint ball guns. Works for me...
 
Are there any FX owners currently using Nitrogen? What has your experience been. I’m currently looking to spend $2,000 on a compressor, Would take a lot of Nitrogen bottle and fill ups to equal that. Even considering the connecting valve.

There is a big factor in this equation that rarely gets referred to in this Nitrogen vs. Compressor comparison. Nitrogen rentals and regulators are a sunk cost. If you purchase a quality brand dive compressor, you can use it for years and still recoup a large percentage of your purchase price. Nitrogen tank rentals return zero percent of your investment. There is no black and white "this option is better than that" but don't forget that a good compressor might cost in excess of $2,000 but 10 years or more later it's worth at least half of what you paid initially.
 
Are there any FX owners currently using Nitrogen? What has your experience been. I’m currently looking to spend $2,000 on a compressor, Would take a lot of Nitrogen bottle and fill ups to equal that. Even considering the connecting valve.

There is a big factor in this equation that rarely gets referred to in this Nitrogen vs. Compressor comparison. Nitrogen rentals and regulators are a sunk cost. If you purchase a quality brand dive compressor, you can use it for years and still recoup a large percentage of your purchase price. Nitrogen tank rentals return zero percent of your investment. There is no black and white "this option is better than that" but don't forget that a good compressor might cost in excess of $2,000 but 10 years or more later it's worth at least half of what you paid initially.

Humdinger, all valid points that I have not but will take into consideration. I appreciate your insight. 
 
@Hollowpoint- Actually, I too made a mistake. It was getting pretty late last night and I must've been sleepy. I've since corrected to CGA 677, as you say. I wanted to correct that right away before anyone bought the wrong regulator for these high pressures. It is CGA 677 as Hollowpoint says! Definitely *not* the standard SCBA fittings (which are 347). Apologies for the confusion. @Rey - I live in Massachusetts, about 25 miles north of Boston. It is fairly easy to get industrial and scientific things in this area since there is a big city close by. @Brian10956 - I've been filling my 6.8L tank to 4500 psi. Once the big nitrogen cylinder drops under that, I'll just use it to fill to whatever pressure it can and top off the rest of the way with my YH. Good question as to what to do once it drops below about 2800 psi. One thing I'll probably do at that point is run an experiment I've been wanting to do - going to try boosting the input of the YH to see how much that speeds up filling. Just have to re-thread the air input port to something useful. If that works (which it should), I'll just set the regulator to about 150 psi and feed the YH with it. @Eaglebeak - While I wouldn't recommend it, I suppose technically if your fittings don't leak and if they are designed to handle the repeated stress of cycling up and down between atmosphere and 6000 psi, then it would be functional. But the 6K cylinder tank valve is very heavy duty (pic attached) and not conducive to tiny manual adjustments. It's really an open/closed valve. I've never had much success at cracking open a big gas cylinder valve. The regulator is expensive, but as many people here have stated, these high pressures can be dangerous. I'd consider the regulator expense a sunk cost - buy it once and don't think about it ever again. I have regulators in the lab that are 15 years old and still functioning like new. Here is a pic of the N2 tank (red) setup attached to a 45-min bottle via microbore hose. The regulator on the grey UHP Ar tank behind the red nitrogen tank is at least 15 years old and still working perfectly (it's for a 4000 psi tank with 200 psi output).
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Sorry for the thread revival. @prfssrlee I'm planning on going with 6000psi N2 for my air source. I'm trying to "build" my regulator assembly. Please correct me if I'm wrong...I see from the tank valve, you have the CGA 677 nipple, into the regulator inlet, inlet and outlet pressure gauges (on their respective ports), then a bleeder on the outlet side of the regulator, and then the fill hose. Is that a pressure relief valve too (at the bleeder)? Or is just a capped off end of a thru bleed valve?

Is the bleed valve necessary? I don't see a bleeder on our forum sponsor's CGA 677 regulator/fill hose assembly, which is why I ask.
 
Brian Liquid nit. comes in a 10lb to 600-700lb it is contained in a special tank ,your 6k nit is gas form. The only other tanks that have liquid in them is co2 & acet. For the noobs use the right reg.for these high pressure tanks, its nothing to mess with. do not attempt to use without the ( PROPER GAUGE).Before you turn the tank on release the handle or nob that controls the outlet pressure.gauge should show( o pressure)when you turn the tank on stand to one side not in front of the gauge & turn it on slowly then you can adjust pressuse. when your done turn tank off release all pressure from gauge then turn out pressure control nob. make sure tank is attached securely to wall & if you have kids around take the gauge off & put the steel cap back on. just my 2 cnts


Sorry again....not sure why there isn't multi-quote on here. @kayaker or anyone that has HPA experience (I'm totally new at this). I am seeking clarification on the above steps for correctly filling from a 6k tank. Is the following sequence correct (assuming the regulator assembly is already correctly attached to the N2 bottle valve)?

  1. Close the N2 tank valve (it should already be closed)
  2. Close/decrease the N2 tank's regulator pressure to zero (it should already be there)
  3. Open N2 regulator output bleeder (if one is present, to empty the fill hose and relieve any pressure that may be there....even though there shouldn't be any pressure, as the regulator would have bled this off when it was decreased to zero....at least I think that's how the reg works....is this how it works?)
  4. Close N2 regulator output bleeder (if one is present, and you just opened it)
  5. Connect smaller tank, or gun to the fill hose
  6. Slowly open the N2 tank valve (keeping face out of the gauges, in case they decide to blow)
  7. Slowly increase reg pressure to the desired fill pressure of the tank/gun that was connected in step 5
  8. Once full, close N2 tank valve
  9. Close/decrease the N2 tank's regulator pressure to zero
  10. Open the N2 output bleeder (if one is present....and again, won't decreasing the regulator to zero already bleed this off?)
  11. Disconnect the smaller tank/gun
  12. Close the N2 output bleeder
    [/LIST=1]

    Thanks for any input.
 
My two cents-

I started working for a welding equipment manufacturer 30+ years ago. Today, I still routinely buy over $10,000 worth of specialty gasses for work- hydrogen, helium, nitrogen, and air. I would not think of using these gases on a home-made, or cobbled together regulator. The one we are currenly using cost several thousand dollars in 2017.


Just a suggestion, contact your local Airgas store and tell them what you want to do. They will set you up right, and safe. They will provide instructions on how to use the equipment you purchase, and they will be the ones delivering the replacement tanks.


(As an aside, tank rental in my area is currently running $.23 cents to $.48 cents a day depending on the gas.)

It’s not just your safety you will be protecting by going the extra step, it is the safety of your family and friends, as well.


 
Thanks for the advice. I'll consider using the industrial gas supplier...but I suspect they will gouge even more than others.

I'm looking at alternative sources. Plus I doubt my local industrial gas supplier will have a fill hose. But I will continue the conversation with them, to see.

Not trying to be a jerk....there is a link on the first page of this thread, to a <$300 regulator....looks like the same regulator that a forum sponsor sells....but I'm not sure. There's two versions available (6000 psi outlet, and 5000 psi outlet.....both are 6000 psi inlet). And here is another example of the same regulator, with gauges: https://www.nuvair.com/storage-regulator.html
 
Nuvair is a very reliable company, and has the expertise to set you up.

Also, as far as gas suppliers you should shop around. I actually just finished that process for this year. Out of three different gas suppliers there was a significant disparity in the actual gas costs. We stayed with one which had a higher initial cost of gas, but free pick/delivery of the cylinders. With deliveries coming in every week and delivery costs of $45, plus hazmat fees, it adds up.
 
Just for clarity, Nuvair is not my supplier. I'm in a kind of remote location, and only have one choice for supplier that will deliver 6000 psi. I was just illustrating that regulators are available (that my ignorance thinks will do the job) and not cost 1000's of dollars....like my gas supplier wants to sell me. I'm sure it's an awesome regulator....but it's way more than is necessary (in my ignorant opinion).

Sorry again. Not trying to sound like a jerk....but no matter how I type it, I read it as me being one.
 
I ended up getting the regulator from August Industries (reg is linked on page 1 of this thread). I also got most of the rest of the parts needed, with the same order. I could have spread it out, and saved some money on the gauges (and maybe the fittings), but I like the dial faces on the August/Wika gauges, and shipping from 2 or 3 places would have actually made the grand total cost more.

So....CGA677 nipple, into reg inlet, reg has 2 ports for gauges (one for in pressure, one for out pressure), so two gauges, 2" long male x male NPT fitting on reg outlet (to give some hand room for the line valve), into a line valve with a captive bleed valve.

I have an NPT to BSP adapter (Best Fittings) to attach the fill hose to the line valve. Other end of fill hose will have a quick disconnect.

For me, the 6000psi N2 is roughly $100 annual rental for the tank, and roughly $80 something to fill it, plus a very small fee to deliver it to my door.

prfssrlee never responded but, it does not look like there is a line valve on that setup. I am filling from 6000psi directly to my gun, which is why I went with a regulator, and a line valve, and a bleed (my bleed is integrated into the line valve). I don't have a carbon tank to fill.
 
This is what I used until my local supplier raised the bottle rent on the 6000# nitrogen bottle. It has 10000# needle valve to control the flow to the air rifle and a drain valve to drain the pressure from the line. I just closed the needle valve, opened the tank valve then used the needle valve to raise the pressure on the gauge to what I wanted then closed the needle valve and the tank valve and opened the drain valve.

Thank you.

Wayne



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