eBay Air Tank question

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"ztirffritz"Thanks blackdiesel. I just purchased a 65.5 cf tank. A local welding supply shop claims they'll hydro test it for $25. Then I can put together all the fittings or buy them, and I'll still be about $500-$600 ahead of AirTanksForSale.com.
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If you don't mind sharing. What was the manufacture date and price? Do places that fill these tanks refuse to do so after 15 years if that is the expiration, or how does that work?
 
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"elmerfudd"Your craigslist tanks looks to be in pretty good condition. Was it a local fire station selling them or something?
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They were from a Women's Prison emergency response station. They're in great shape with no signs of hard use. The person who leased them to the prison was selling them because he was going out of business. I got the masks and other breathing apparatus too. He had 8 for sale.
 
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"ztirffritz"... That's $550 less than Joe wants, or $450 less than AirHog, for nearly the same thing... so I'll figure it out on my own.

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I like the way you think, and I'm learning from your post, too. I think it's natural for air gunners to want to tinker. I've found fittings and hoses were higher at JoeB's than comparable elsewhere. And AirHog is easier to work with. Got a compressor, now working on the tank set up. Thanks, your comments will help me finish up.


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"blackdiesel"You can build your own for about $60 or buy one for about $150 from Air Hog or Aintanksforless. Check out these videos, they helped me a whole lot when I first started:

Building fill assembly


Using SCBA for air supply


The only down side to the home made fill station for SCBA tanks with the SCBA valve is that you waste a lot of air when you bleed down and disconnect from the system. You might be able to mitigate this by using fittings with less internal volume. Maybe shortening the pipe between the four way and the SCBA tank. Maybe not using a four way by drilling and tapping a three way to install the bleed valve.....

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Just got off the phone with AirHog. I asked for what it would take to set up my tank as close to their 'Whole Hog' package. About $250. If I leave off the 'Getta Grip' carrier, probably about $200. This tank has a valve that has an integral tank pressure gauge which is nice. I should know how much pressure is in it at all times. That would put me at between $330 and $380 for a 65.5cf tank. Oh, and I'll need to get it hydro tested. A local welding supply shop says they can do it for $25. But I also found another place that will do it in 48 hours via mail-order: http://www.hydrotester.com/

So, about $350-$400 total.

If anyone is interested in copying my project, here is the link to the tank I purchased. There are about 300 more of them available. I'm tempted to purchase more of them, build them out, and re-sell them for profit.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/371107005440?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT


 
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I won't share all the links to the things I found because they're mostly from eBay and won't work again after the sale ends. I did find that the AirHog charging kit is competitively priced. I could probably find all the individual components for less, but I'd have to pay shipping for them all separately too. When you tally it all up the AirHog charging kit is the same price as all the individual components. It's actually less if you add in the shipping costs. So I'll probably order from AirHog to save the headaches of ordering from 4 different vendors and hoping everything works. 
 
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Something I like to do with used tanks. Obviously use your own judgment. I like to clean them up a bit. Sometimes they have a slightly yellow tint to them. Plus all the fire carbon and dirt that had built up on them over the years. 

Remove the valve/ regulator assembly to inspect it internally and remove any water that might be left in there. A towel and a vice and a flexible pipe wrench make this an easy task. 

First, I take all the stickers off that are removable. EVEN THE HYDRO. I take a pic of it first for reference, but still remove it. Use a knife and carefully remove the epoxy around it. The epoxy will peel off with ease and leave the hydro sticker and tank in tact. 

Next, using a t-shirt rag and some acetone I wipe it down and remove anything that is not supposed to be there. 

Finally, I use sand paper. Wet/ dry sand paper. Wet sanding is my preferred method and I start in the 600 grit range and work my way up to 2500/ 3000 grit. 

there is minimal removal of material. But still, I do this and everything is fine. I send them off to get hydro tested again after i do the cleaning. 

If I am really in the mood, I add another layer of epoxy/ resin on the whole tank. I use my fishing pole rotator/ spinner, to keep the tank spinning then re coat it. I cure it with Uv lamps and or bake it in the oven depending the requirements of the specific treatment. A buddy asked me to do a gold finish on it for him once so I thew some pearlex gold in there and it came out with a nice gold flake in the clear coat. 
 
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"ztirffritz"I won't share all the links to the things I found because they're mostly from eBay and won't work again after the sale ends. I did find that the AirHog charging kit is competitively priced. I could probably find all the individual components for less, but I'd have to pay shipping for them all separately too. When you tally it all up the AirHog charging kit is the same price as all the individual components. It's actually less if you add in the shipping costs. So I'll probably order from AirHog to save the headaches of ordering from 4 different vendors and hoping everything works.
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You could post a pic to the items and a part name ;)
 
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The hardest part about figuring this out is learning what I don't know yet, which is quite a bit. Usually the U.S. is dominant in most markets, for better or worse, but in the case of airguns there are many different international players, all with their own standards and ideas for how things should fit together. The Brits have a thread standard that is different from the U.S. Standard. The paintball equipment is different than the scuba equipment and the rest of the world is metric. Further complicating things is the fact that all these activities are niche markets. There aren't 40 million scuba divers, there aren't 20 million paintball players and there aren't 10 million PCP air rifle gunners. They're all small markets and they're using much of the same equipment for very different reasons so they all want to go different directions. 

I can either make a bunch of expensive mistakes or pay for the knowledge and experience of someone else who has already figured this stuff out. I'm trying to intelligently straddle that line. 
 
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I just went down and talked to the guy at the Paintball shop where I plan to fill my tank and the valve I am waiting to come in Monday will not work with his fill equipment "Oh yea". He says I need a CGA 347 so he can fill it (fireman tank setup). The one coming that matches my regulator is a DIN Valve. So it looks like I need an adapter or a new valve and fitting for my Regulator. Some day I hope to have this figured out for the mean time they filled my gun again for me so I am good for another 50-60 shots:).

I am leaning towards a new valve so these fireman tanks will also work and since that is what they have for filling here local for me I need to get setup right for them to fill my tanks.

Mike
 
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"ztirffritz"The hardest part about figuring this out is learning what I don't know yet, which is quite a bit. Usually the U.S. is dominant in most markets, for better or worse, but in the case of airguns there are many different international players, all with their own standards and ideas for how things should fit together. The Brits have a thread standard that is different from the U.S. Standard. The paintball equipment is different than the scuba equipment and the rest of the world is metric. Further complicating things is the fact that all these activities are niche markets. There aren't 40 million scuba divers, there aren't 20 million paintball players and there aren't 10 million PCP air rifle gunners. They're all small markets and they're using much of the same equipment for very different reasons so they all want to go different directions. 

I can either make a bunch of expensive mistakes or pay for the knowledge and experience of someone else who has already figured this stuff out. I'm trying to intelligently straddle that line. 

PM Sent
jk
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"PaulWI"Great post! the biggest drawback to pcps is filling the dang thing up.
Can't wait to see what you finally get put together and what your total comes out to. As a pumper I would love to get a tank but can't see paying a arm for one.
Paul.
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SCBA tank (65.5 cf): $130 ($115+$15 s/h)
Regulator: about $150 I am guessing. I've found cheaper options but they look unsafe to me. 4500psi is not to be underestimated. 
fill whip: about $30 I am guessing
hydrostatic testing: about $25-$35 (depends on if I remove tank valve and put it back or have them do it)

so about $400 as of this moment. Might be some surprises coming still,but for now, I'm still several hundred dollars under JoeB's price and $150 under airhog.com. 
 
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Next interesting thing that I've learned: People making the scuba gear have little, or no, idea about the PCP airgun, or paintball, or airsoft markets. If you chase the vendors upstream to the distributors or even manufacterers, it's as if they have blinders on. They're the primary source for this equipment and probably at least a notable percentage of their sales are going to paintball, PCP airguns or airsoft, but they only see, or care, about Scuba. I'm trying to get some information from a vendor about a regulator/bleeder/gauge assembly and he's completely oblivious about what I'm trying to do. It's strange that they would have a market, beating on their door waving money at them and they have no interest in getting involved.
 
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