Nitrogen for PCP's

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jland48

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Feb 24, 2016
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I would love to hear nitrogen pros and cons for filling PCP air rifles. I have an Air-Venturi compressor and after a couple of malfunctions I wish I had put my money in nitrogen filling for my guns. I have checked into this and think an air gunner would be a lot more certain that his power supply wouldn't be cut off with nitrogen. The tanks are $190 on e-bay or you can rent and fill your big tanks from either. Just wanted to put this out there in hopes someone familiar with this method would respond.
 
I've been using Nitrogen for the past 6 years. It's not cheap and prices go up every year. I rent the tank from Arc3 gases in Wilmington NC. It's up to $120 year. And it's costing me close to $180 for a change out/refill now days. I've had a tank last me a year and I've had one last just shy of 8 months. Depends on how much I shoot and how many friends come over to shoot. So I figure it's costing me between $300 and $450 a year for Nitrogen, but I have no compressor maintenance to worry about. And no moisture to worry about.

It's supposed to have 6000 psi in it when I get it, but I'm too scared to put that kind of pressure on my gauges? When it get's down to around 3300 psi I start filling my guns directly from the nitrogen bottle instead of filling my scba tanks. Usually I get tired of not being able to use my SCBA bottles and call for a change out before it hit's 3000 psi. They send a fresh bottle out on the delivery truck and change it out for me.

I have it strapped outside just under my metal carport to one of the supports. Got my gauges from Joe Brancato. They cost's close to $200 shipped.

Just depends on where you live for the prices. I've heard of guys getting it for less than half what I pay and some guys having to pay more?

Oh and temperature affects it. On warm days you will have higher psi, and cold days it will be a little lower. Maybe 100 to 200 psi extremes?



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https://youtu.be/wukTckCasfs

I don't do the log book anymore. Got lazy! LOL

https://youtu.be/0oRWnCgdpP0

Hope this helps and good luck!


 
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It’s clean and dry. That’s a big plus. I’ve switched to nitrogen after my daystate compressor needed repairs. I now have two sources and I can use my compressor to fill the tank part way and then complete with nitrogen if I like.AOA repaired my compressor no charge. Makes life easy on the compressor and extends the life of the nitrogen tank.

Not that I am suggesting that’s the way to go but since I have the compressor .

Don’t fill directly to the gun from a FULL nitrogen tank your likely going to mistakenly over fill and damage the gun. 

If you have neither I’d go nitrogen if your prices are reasonable. Last time I changed tanks they charged me $95 but they will not deliver I have to pick up the tank. That’s another story 

Air or nitrogen ain’t cheap. Probably about the same but nitrogen is better for the guns.
 
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Im happy with the decision I made going to nitrogen. Airgas charges me $75 a year rental and $75 a fill. I feel much better about this than having to worry about whether my compressor would last. 

They would deliver to a residence, but are picky about where they will go due the the massive size of their truck. So, I just picked mine up instead and saved on a delivery fee. 
 
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Thanks for all the replies. I have one more thing on this vein to consider. What do you do about the nitrogen you have to leave in the tank when it will no longer fill your tanks or guns? I would like to try using the left over low pressure nitrogen to feed the low side of my Air Venturi compressor. You would be taking the pressure up to 4500psi using the nitrogen as feed stock. My compressor has been mudding up on the low end and that should prevent moisture from being introduced into the product. Do you think this would work?
 
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Thanks for all the replies. I have one more thing on this vein to consider. What do you do about the nitrogen you have to leave in the tank when it will no longer fill your tanks or guns? I would like to try using the left over low pressure nitrogen to feed the low side of my Air Venturi compressor. You would be taking the pressure up to 4500psi using the nitrogen as feed stock. My compressor has been mudding up on the low end and that should prevent moisture from being introduced into the product. Do you think this would work?
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It isn't practical for a couple of reasons. First of all what you're calling "low pressure nitrogen" is stil going to be 2,000 psi or higher and would need to be regulated down to atmospheric pressure (1 bar or 14 psi) to feed your Air Venturi. That's a lot of extra connections and expense for a regulator and hoses just to get dry nitrogen into the Air Venturi. Second, it doesn't address the design compromises which sometimes cause Air Venturi failures. Moisture isn't the only reason they can break. It's still a Chinese two stage compressor design with an inferior design compared to a dive compressor.
 
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Im happy with the decision I made going to nitrogen. Airgas charges me $75 a year rental and $75 a fill. I feel much better about this than having to worry about whether my compressor would last. 

They would deliver to a residence, but are picky about where they will go due the the massive size of their truck. So, I just picked mine up instead and saved on a delivery fee.
Click to expand...

Your Compressor you sold me had the incorrect Motor on it, when I fired it up for the first time it scared the hell out of me, I thought it was going to grenade. One look at the Motor nameplate and I immediately knew it was a Motor for the European market. Contacted AOA and they owned up and said you are right how did you know that :) $200.00 + 2 hours of my time changing out the Motor and it now works great!
 
Upvote 0
Im happy with the decision I made going to nitrogen. Airgas charges me $75 a year rental and $75 a fill. I feel much better about this than having to worry about whether my compressor would last. 

They would deliver to a residence, but are picky about where they will go due the the massive size of their truck. So, I just picked mine up instead and saved on a delivery fee.
Click to expand...

Your Compressor you sold me had the incorrect Motor on it, when I fired it up for the first time it scared the hell out of me, I thought it was going to grenade. One look at the Motor nameplate and I immediately knew it was a Motor for the European market. Contacted AOA and they owned up and said you are right how did you know that :) $200.00 + 2 hours of my time changing out the Motor and it now works great!
Click to expand...

I’ll shoot you a PM, so as not to take away from the nitrogen conversation. That is crazy. It worked perfectly for me and another guy. 
 
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Something not addressed in this thread is the fact that the air we breathe is almost 80% nitrogen and approx 19.9% oxygen. Therefore you fill your gun with nitrogen every time you fill, just not 100% nitrogen. 100% nitrogen is perfect for ALL PCPs, nice and dry. Too bad the costs and availability differ so much from place to place.
 
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