I'm wanting to buy a altaros booster pump I'm curious on how long it will take to fill a 45 min tank SCBA from 3000psi to 4500psi.
Altaros booster pump 45 min SCBA tank fill times
- Thread starter anonymous_.457
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I own an Altaros.
Fill times depend entirely upon two things......the CFM of the first stage (shop compressor) and how you set the air restrictor feeding the Altaros unit.
If your concern is speedy filling, the Altaros is likely not the best choice for you.
I've got a combination of an 80cf SCUBA, a 19cf SCUBA, a 45 min and a 60 min SCBA and I'll run the Altaros for 12-14 hrs to top the SCUBAs off to 3100 from 2500-2600, and the SCBAs up to 4500 from 3400-3500. Ie to get all four tanks back to max.
I've probably got the best #s for the 60min SCBA and it's 4-6hrs to take it from 3400-3500 up to 4500.
BUT I have the restrictor set in a manner that the shop compressor is resting about twice as long as it's running for each cycle. I'm running in a very conservative manner, to try to eke out the greatest possible longevity from the shop compressor. 20 gallon compressor that's around 5cfm if I remember correctly.
Slow and easy avoids heat and let's more moisture drop out of the air in the low pressure blow outs prior to the Altaros.
Again, just asking this question might be your sign that the Altaros is not gonna jive with your mindset.
Fill times depend entirely upon two things......the CFM of the first stage (shop compressor) and how you set the air restrictor feeding the Altaros unit.
If your concern is speedy filling, the Altaros is likely not the best choice for you.
I've got a combination of an 80cf SCUBA, a 19cf SCUBA, a 45 min and a 60 min SCBA and I'll run the Altaros for 12-14 hrs to top the SCUBAs off to 3100 from 2500-2600, and the SCBAs up to 4500 from 3400-3500. Ie to get all four tanks back to max.
I've probably got the best #s for the 60min SCBA and it's 4-6hrs to take it from 3400-3500 up to 4500.
BUT I have the restrictor set in a manner that the shop compressor is resting about twice as long as it's running for each cycle. I'm running in a very conservative manner, to try to eke out the greatest possible longevity from the shop compressor. 20 gallon compressor that's around 5cfm if I remember correctly.
Slow and easy avoids heat and let's more moisture drop out of the air in the low pressure blow outs prior to the Altaros.
Again, just asking this question might be your sign that the Altaros is not gonna jive with your mindset.
Ok so I'm kinda confused because my shop compressor says 3.8 cfm at 100psi but 4 cfm at 90psi so would it be best to run my shop compressor at 90psi and the booster pump wide open how fast would it fill a 45min scba tank from 3000psi
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I doubt you will get a direct answer, as your shop compressor is on the lighter duty side for what you ask, so nobody will have done it. But you can approximate it from what Frank said - basic math is all that is needed . . .
His best guess was 4-6 hours for a 60 minute tank filling from about 3400/3500-4500 with a 5 cfm compressor at ~50% duty cycle.
1) Your tank is ~75% as big as his.
2) Your fill is ~50% bigger than his (you want 3000-4500 psi)
3) Your compressor outputs ~80% of the air flow as his (shop compressors are rated and compared by output at 90 psi).
4) You want a 100% duty cycle and he uses 50%.
Put that all together, and you should end up at about 70% of his value, so roughly about 2.75-4.25 hours for a fill.
But there are a few problems with doing that:
1) Your shop compressor is absolutely not rated for that kind of duty cycle. You will cook it, and it probably won't last past a handful of fills before it dies.
2) As it runs, the shop compressor air output will get higher and higher, and will begin to carry a LOT of water in it to the booster pump. I expect that it will overwhelm the pump, as they probably are not desinged to be fed that high an incoming water load (just an educated guess, as I don't have a booster myself - but I do have a full manifold set up with water traps for my own shop air system).
Do know that these booster pumps can easily run at 100% duty cycle, but they need an appropriate air supply to run that way - something like a big 220V 3 horse 60-80 gallon compressor like you'd find at most auto repair shops, and an appropiate cooling loop with water traps for the amount of airflow. Edited to add: With that kind of an air supply, it would also likely run about 5 times faster for you too.
In the game of HPA, ideally we want reliable operation (long life / low maintenance), fast fills (big tank fills in well under an hour), and affordability (much lower cost than full dive compressors) in our air supply device - at best we can only get two of those three in any choice out there . . .
His best guess was 4-6 hours for a 60 minute tank filling from about 3400/3500-4500 with a 5 cfm compressor at ~50% duty cycle.
1) Your tank is ~75% as big as his.
2) Your fill is ~50% bigger than his (you want 3000-4500 psi)
3) Your compressor outputs ~80% of the air flow as his (shop compressors are rated and compared by output at 90 psi).
4) You want a 100% duty cycle and he uses 50%.
Put that all together, and you should end up at about 70% of his value, so roughly about 2.75-4.25 hours for a fill.
But there are a few problems with doing that:
1) Your shop compressor is absolutely not rated for that kind of duty cycle. You will cook it, and it probably won't last past a handful of fills before it dies.
2) As it runs, the shop compressor air output will get higher and higher, and will begin to carry a LOT of water in it to the booster pump. I expect that it will overwhelm the pump, as they probably are not desinged to be fed that high an incoming water load (just an educated guess, as I don't have a booster myself - but I do have a full manifold set up with water traps for my own shop air system).
Do know that these booster pumps can easily run at 100% duty cycle, but they need an appropriate air supply to run that way - something like a big 220V 3 horse 60-80 gallon compressor like you'd find at most auto repair shops, and an appropiate cooling loop with water traps for the amount of airflow. Edited to add: With that kind of an air supply, it would also likely run about 5 times faster for you too.
In the game of HPA, ideally we want reliable operation (long life / low maintenance), fast fills (big tank fills in well under an hour), and affordability (much lower cost than full dive compressors) in our air supply device - at best we can only get two of those three in any choice out there . . .
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What has been said above is pretty accurate. You need A LOT of source air to run the Altaros. It uses at least 80% of the air to move the piston back and forth, and the rest gets filled to your tank.
I ran mine with a CAT 10 gallon 5.3 CFM @ 90PSI compressor. I will tell that to get any decent speed with fills from 3000-4500 on a 9L tank would create a ton of water in the lines. I was getting like 6-8 hours for a fill and I had to start using multiple water separation and dessicant stages between the compressor and the Altaros. We're talking like 3-4 cups of dessicant and it was soaked at the end of a full fill.
There was one guy here who chained 3 of these CAT 10 gallon compressors together and was getting decent fill times and less moisture. But at this point you've spent about $800 on the Altaros and then $1200-$1400 on 3 stage one compressors plus all the hosing and fittings plus water separation, plus dessicant. You add it all up and you are easily $2500 deep on the Altaros booster. At this point you should be considering alternatices like a Daystate compressor of other units which will fill your tanks in minutes versus hours and are of a higher quality which will last.
Short of it is that you need a high volume dry air source to feed the Altaros. Otherwise it'll take you days to fill a tank.
I ran mine with a CAT 10 gallon 5.3 CFM @ 90PSI compressor. I will tell that to get any decent speed with fills from 3000-4500 on a 9L tank would create a ton of water in the lines. I was getting like 6-8 hours for a fill and I had to start using multiple water separation and dessicant stages between the compressor and the Altaros. We're talking like 3-4 cups of dessicant and it was soaked at the end of a full fill.
There was one guy here who chained 3 of these CAT 10 gallon compressors together and was getting decent fill times and less moisture. But at this point you've spent about $800 on the Altaros and then $1200-$1400 on 3 stage one compressors plus all the hosing and fittings plus water separation, plus dessicant. You add it all up and you are easily $2500 deep on the Altaros booster. At this point you should be considering alternatices like a Daystate compressor of other units which will fill your tanks in minutes versus hours and are of a higher quality which will last.
Short of it is that you need a high volume dry air source to feed the Altaros. Otherwise it'll take you days to fill a tank.
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Yeah, that's not enough for fast operation of a booster - you might think it is beg, but it is really just a home shop compressor. I don't mean anything bad by that - mine is similar to yours, but I don't use it for continuous duty on anything. Here is my compressor, which does all I need really well: https://www.harborfreight.com/air-t...t-vertical-shopauto-air-compressor-57336.html
When we say a "big compressor" is needed to run a booster fast, we mean something like this - or larger: https://www.amazon.com/Compressor-Vertical-Campbell-Hausfeld-CE4104/dp/B00AJUHOQE/
And even then you'll need a long manifold/dryer system with multiple traps/drain points to get the air quality where you need it.
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12 is better, but that has to be at 90 psi. To be a 12 CFM unit, it must be running on 220 volt - 110 won't get it there . . .
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I used to run a bostich pancake compressor set at 110 psi going to a shoe box booster and one water trap for 10 hours at crack and purge tank once in awhile to get rid of moisture and a small cotton trap otherwise I never had trouble with water it gets pretty humid here in the Midwest next to the upper Mississippi
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Nice I live in Mississippi my buddy uses the shoebox compressor for his big bores he lives in Georgia those shoebox compressors are amazing too it's a shame the Chinese compressors put them out of business....
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Mine takes about 55 minutes to go from 3400 to 4500, I don’t let my tank get to 3000. When it won’t give me a full 250 bar fill on my guns, I fill it back up.
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Yes it is otherwise I probably would still own it for a spare
Mainly I filled a 90 cu in with it which was about a hour to top off
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