Drain moisture from tank

Shoulda just got Nitrogen for the intake on the compressor about 10 psi
Air is 80% nitrogen. Essentially air is dirty nitrogen contaminated with mostly oxygen and water vapor from an hpa airguns pov. With the pure nitrogen, do you get a 4ft tall cylinder full from a gas shop, similar to the arrangement with propane? Or do you have your hpa bottle(s) filled at a shop?
 
I’m a big advocate of using nitrogen. No compressor hassles, no water and an FPS boost because pure nitrogen is lighter than dirty nitrogen (air) and therefore more energy is devoted to moving the pellet. Gets me 2-3% more speed in all my PCPs.

I get the largest available tank from airgas which is advertised as 6000psi but is usually around 5000psi. I bought a reg from their catalog for 800 plus a few bits to convert to a male foster and pay around 250/year for the tank. I transfer from the airgas tank into a portable Air Venturi carbon tank, filling to 270 bar and then use that to fill the guns. Once the airgas tank gets to 230 bar, I switch it for a fresh one, typically once a year. For me the cost is a wash given that I’ve got three dead compressors from the past few years. The nitrogen reg is 3 years old, and I suspect it will outlive me. It fills the smaller tank very slowly and is a breeze to use.
 
I’m a big advocate of using nitrogen. No compressor hassles, no water and an FPS boost because pure nitrogen is lighter than dirty nitrogen (air) and therefore more energy is devoted to moving the pellet. Gets me 2-3% more speed in all my PCPs.

I get the largest available tank from airgas which is advertised as 6000psi but is usually around 5000psi. I bought a reg from their catalog for 800 plus a few bits to convert to a male foster and pay around 250/year for the tank. I transfer from the airgas tank into a portable Air Venturi carbon tank, filling to 270 bar and then use that to fill the guns. Once the airgas tank gets to 230 bar, I switch it for a fresh one, typically once a year. For me the cost is a wash given that I’ve got three dead compressors from the past few years. The nitrogen reg is 3 years old, and I suspect it will outlive me. It fills the smaller tank very slowly and is a breeze to use.
If you want more speed use helium instead, but costs and leaks more. :)
 
yes if it has a cga 580 valve and is in test .
Just got off the phone with the gas supply store. Ez peasy. A 7litre? Tank full filled with nitrogen is less then $300- new tank. $60- to refill. Here's my plan. Fill my 7 litre hpa bottle with nitrogen every other fill. This will keep everything nice and happy.
 
Just got off the phone with the gas supply store. Ez peasy. A 7litre? Tank full filled with nitrogen is less then $300- new tank. $60- to refill. Here's my plan. Fill my 7 litre hpa bottle with nitrogen every other fill. This will keep everything nice and happy.
Every other time just gives you dry once and potentially wet the next time. Once water is in your tank, nitrogen is not going to take it out.
If you want to switch to dry nitrogen, use it for every fill.

If you want to ensure that all moisture is out of the tank, use an AC vacuum pump and draw it down to 30 inches of vacuum. At that point any water in the tank will boil into vapor and be drawn out by the vacuum pump.

The idea of inverting the tank and venting will get some water out but not all of it.
 
If you are using a fire department scba tank the valve has a straw that will prevent the water from being expelled. I'm planning on removing the valve and taking the straw out of 1 of my scba tank. My biggest problem is my compressor will end up taking 6-7 hrs to fill from 0 to 4500. Our volunteer fire departments compressor is broken and who knows how long it will take before they fix it. I'd do the other one but I can't get the valve loose, I tried.
 
Norm, search my post on the GTA about frontloading Dry Nitrogen into your compressor. I guess I was the first to use N2 to feed a YH compressor, so I have been doing it that way for several years now. There is no reason to turn in a half full cylinder when you can run it through your Tuxing basically, using it as a booster. If that is more work/expense than you desire then at least buy a couple of those gold Tuxing desiccant dyers off ebay. I have not heard of any complaints about them so I assume they are effective?
 
People can say what they want to say but the only way you ACTUALLY KNOW your air is dry is either inspect the tank and gun internals periodically or get some fancy test equipment to hook to the output of your compressor. Otherwise it’s a guess that your filter is actually doing its job. I have to believe for the most part it isn’t a gigantic problem or we would read more cases of completely wasted guns and tanks. I wouldn’t do what you suggested OP but I would just remove the valve on the tank and inspect the inside with a bore scope or something. That will tell you if you have a moisture problem.
 
Would it work to cool an hpa tank filled to 250 to 300 bars via compressor at 70°f, then chill to say 35°f, invert the tank, crack the valve and let any condensation out of the hose.
Maybe I should try it. Is there a reason not try this? Thanks
Update. Shortly after this post I added a high quality air dryer from Joe Brancato at Top Airgun. The air/ oil separator on the Omega Air Charger does a good job, but here in southern Vt it gets wicked humid in the summer. A stitch in time saves nine. Thanks for all the helpful advice.
 
I really want to see that 30" of vacuum, :) physically impossible to do that, 29.92 inches of Hg. is a perfect vacuum at sea level, same as outer space and reduces with altitude. Sorry just being a little pedantic. Water in your air is the enemy. Pressurizing the intake air of your HPA compressor is an issue, keep the infeed air less than 10 PSI to avoid overloading the pump, pressure on the piston makes starting amperage too high. My shop air has a built in desiccant dryer, that air has a dewpoint around -100 f or thereabouts. I put a male air line QD on the HPA pump and feed it with around 10 PSI of my shop air. So far so good, no evidence of any moisture. Clean dry air is critical to protect your guns.
 
I modded my compressor to cool down HP circuit. But that made it "sweat". While topping up my SCBA tank, now I have to vent the system more frequently but my HP air that goes to tank is cooler and never had moisture in tank.

View attachment 340624
I have considered doing something similar.

As for testing for moisture. I wonder if you could use some Cobalt Chloride test strips. They change color in high humidity, so maybe if you were to bleed a small amount of air across the strip, it might provide verification that the air in the tank is dry or not.

Just a guess, but I might try it when I am home next week
 
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When I use the Line line air/oil separate trap, it takes forever to fill even my Bottle on the AvengeX. I have to fill the filter before I can get any air to my bottle. Compressor temp rises and I have to shut down. Have to bleed of the pressure in the trap before I can restart the compressor. Then it's like starting all over again. Any suggestions?
Ten Beers and I have been discussing this with regard to filling SCBA bottles. I do not know of a simple way to leave the filter pressurized yet have the ability to connect-disconnect the filter. Compressor side must be bled for compressor to start, by design our 8 mm QD's prohibit connecting or disconnecting under pressure. Gun side must be bled as well. Shuttle type valves can work in low pressure applications. An input check valve on the filter would allow retaining pressure yet allow stopping the pump and bleeding pressure for restarting. That resolves your issue simply. A check valve is a one way only valve, like a diode if you know electronics. Point the arrow on the check valve toward the filter on the input end of the filter. I did a fair amount of pneumatic circuit design in a former life, low pressure (100 PSI) only however. Retired now and the Dyslexia is getting worse...I read this solution through three times. :)