so, I took my new Joe Brancato White Shark tank to be filled at the closest paintball store to me in Minnesota. Luckily they do go up to 4500 PSI. Any rate, they say they have never seen a tank that large, and it will need a fair bit of time and few attempts to get it up to pressure so that they can give me a cool fill at dead on 4500 psi. So I left the tank overnight, and the quote for a complete fill is like $30. All I can say is that it won't be too long before I get my own compressor with those prices. Is this normal pricing? I thought others were getting $7 fills from some places??? Using the air tank calculator site, I will get approximately 20 X 230 bar fills on my BSA Scorpion SE if I refill the rifle once it gets down to 100 bar. The US spec .25 caliber Scorpion I understand will get around 30 to 40 full power shots which is only 800 shot total best case scenario before I have to shell out for another tank refill. Granted, it won't be a complete fill at that rate, but still. I was not anticipating $30 a fill!!
Vintage paintball PCP tank fill - sticker shock!
- Thread starter amoxom
- Start date
Your next fill probably won't be as high because they won't be filling it from the very bottom, you will take it in when it gets to 3000 or so, I would assume so
so it wont take them as long to fill it.
so it wont take them as long to fill it.
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"A complete fill is like $30"
Amoxon:
This price seems a little steep to me...Ask your local Fire Department, sometimes they accept donations and will fill it up for you...
Consider getting a compressor...A basic 4500 psi $650.00 Shoebox will be enough, and the good part is that these compressors are so good and easy to maintain that you don't need to spend thousands for a scuba compressor...The Shoebox can be overhauled every 100 hours or so for about 6 dollars and you will do it in 10 minutes..You can store it ANYWHERE...
You will additionally need a small shop compressor as a first stage before the Shoebox (less than $100 US at Home Depot)
There are other self contained more sophisticated units on the market, but the cost triples and the maintenance is much more expensive and complicated and are not as portable and simple as the Shoebox...
Compressors are one of those things where "SIMPLE IS BETTER"...
Then there are the Dedicated SCUBA compressors, these are the best but those are in a different league at over $3500 -5000 US
There is nothing like not depending on anyone for filling up your air cylinders...
Regards,
AZ
Amoxon:
This price seems a little steep to me...Ask your local Fire Department, sometimes they accept donations and will fill it up for you...
Consider getting a compressor...A basic 4500 psi $650.00 Shoebox will be enough, and the good part is that these compressors are so good and easy to maintain that you don't need to spend thousands for a scuba compressor...The Shoebox can be overhauled every 100 hours or so for about 6 dollars and you will do it in 10 minutes..You can store it ANYWHERE...
You will additionally need a small shop compressor as a first stage before the Shoebox (less than $100 US at Home Depot)
There are other self contained more sophisticated units on the market, but the cost triples and the maintenance is much more expensive and complicated and are not as portable and simple as the Shoebox...
Compressors are one of those things where "SIMPLE IS BETTER"...
Then there are the Dedicated SCUBA compressors, these are the best but those are in a different league at over $3500 -5000 US
There is nothing like not depending on anyone for filling up your air cylinders...
Regards,
AZ
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I was having to pay $26 for fills regardless of size or how full my tanks were. I did find my local volunteer fire dept was willing to fill for free and I made donations and worked at their fund raisers in return. I ended up buying a compressor and it is the best investment I have made. I go thru alot of air, so I bought a bigger/faster unit for convenience, but as stated above, the shoebox is a wonderful unit.
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So, I picked the tank up. $32 with tax. They said if I come back and fill it once it gets down to a point I cannot charge my gun, it will only be $15 to $20 next time round. So a little better to eat that cost, but a compressor is still in the future for me. I want to be self sufficient..
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My ShoeBox is running as I type this. Filling my Tiger Shark tank. I love being self sufficient! It was well worth it!
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Wow my ass is LUCKY !!! I have 2 aluminum tanks , local dive shops only charges 5$ each . It's the reason I can't justify a pump or carbon fibre tank .
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"So how long will a shoebox take to fill a 90 cu ft Great White from 3000 psi back to 4500?"
About 2 beers watching a good movie !!...
Who cares!...Turn it on and let it work while you do other things...Nothing to worry, It stops automatically and Tom sets those compressors very accurately.
I have never really cared about faster fill ups but I estimate it takes about 2.5 - 3 hours on mine to go from 3000 to 4500 ...From 0 to 4500 I timed it once and it took a tad over 9 hours.
Regards,
AZ
About 2 beers watching a good movie !!...
Who cares!...Turn it on and let it work while you do other things...Nothing to worry, It stops automatically and Tom sets those compressors very accurately.
I have never really cared about faster fill ups but I estimate it takes about 2.5 - 3 hours on mine to go from 3000 to 4500 ...From 0 to 4500 I timed it once and it took a tad over 9 hours.
Regards,
AZ
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First off I would look around for another source of air. If they are the only game in town......then they are price gouging you just a bit. They basically told you they don't know what to charge since it is the biggest they have ever seen, right? So they might be willing to work with you on this in the future?
You might ask them what they are use to filling, in other words the size of bottles they use in paintball. Go home do your calculations of volume and pressures and figure out their price per cubic ft per psi. Then apply that to your tank and you would have some leverage to help them understand that their price is a little over the top...maybe.
I use to charge $5.00 to fill 80 cuft tanks from 500 to 3000psi when I had a commercial compressor. This was certified Grade E air tested monthly so it was expensive to pump. I was not getting rich but it was covering my costs. This should give you some feel for what it takes to maintain a high end commercial grade high pressure compressor.
My local paint ball shop charges me 2.00 per 1000psi, regardless of the tank size. I informed them that they are losing money on my 100cubic foot steel 3500psi tanks since the volume is so large. I explained that when they fill that tank from 0 to 3500 psi that $3.00 was not enough to charge me. Yeah I know what your saying, but I don't want to take advantage of them, and want them to stay in business so I don't have to buy another compressor. Anyway we settled on a slightly higher price based on the volume and pressures they were providing based on their normal size bottles for paint ball. I think topping off tanks for about 2.00 to 4.00 per 1000 psi is pretty fair. Depending on the volume of the tank of course.
Point being it might work out to apply this technique to your situation and see if you can get the price down on your side?
good luck.
You might ask them what they are use to filling, in other words the size of bottles they use in paintball. Go home do your calculations of volume and pressures and figure out their price per cubic ft per psi. Then apply that to your tank and you would have some leverage to help them understand that their price is a little over the top...maybe.
I use to charge $5.00 to fill 80 cuft tanks from 500 to 3000psi when I had a commercial compressor. This was certified Grade E air tested monthly so it was expensive to pump. I was not getting rich but it was covering my costs. This should give you some feel for what it takes to maintain a high end commercial grade high pressure compressor.
My local paint ball shop charges me 2.00 per 1000psi, regardless of the tank size. I informed them that they are losing money on my 100cubic foot steel 3500psi tanks since the volume is so large. I explained that when they fill that tank from 0 to 3500 psi that $3.00 was not enough to charge me. Yeah I know what your saying, but I don't want to take advantage of them, and want them to stay in business so I don't have to buy another compressor. Anyway we settled on a slightly higher price based on the volume and pressures they were providing based on their normal size bottles for paint ball. I think topping off tanks for about 2.00 to 4.00 per 1000 psi is pretty fair. Depending on the volume of the tank of course.
Point being it might work out to apply this technique to your situation and see if you can get the price down on your side?
good luck.
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The closest place for me is 45 miles away, and they charge $25. The worse part is, it takes 2 or 3 days, so I have to make 2 round trips. Maybe I should buy a compressor, and go into business!
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+1 my local dive shop fills my steel 3500psi for $3.50. Bought a 10 fill pass for $35. Unfortunately, they also charge the same for my 90ci pack bottle. They can usually only get to 4200psi on that bottle though.
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But if you have a gun that needs pressure up to 232bar what choice do you have?! A scuba fill at 3000 will not get me anywhere....
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Steel scuba tanks are 3441psi and my shop will overfill 10% because it's for an Airgun. When cooled I get around 3500psi. Barely useable for your 232bar fill but it fills a Marauder a bit much until I get down to 2700 and then I use it to fill my Discovery until it's down to about 1500.
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What gun needs 232 bar just to shoot ??! 200-100 bar on my Cricket is 50 shots . Even at 2700 psi its still good for 40 shots till it falls off regulator
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There are several types of "steel" scuba tanks out there, and depending on the exemption number that the tanks were produced under they can have different filling and Hydro testing requirements. As GLPalinkas noted there are a series of steel tanks that the DOT does allow a 10% overfill till the first hydro if memory serves, then after the initial 5years of service it should only be filled to rated pressures. I'm going from memory here on that one since I don't have any tanks that fall into that category anymore.
IT is best to research the DOT exemption number that is stamped on every steel tank. Such as 3AA DOT E9791-3500 TP5250 8-91
Breaking down the code the 3AA means it is a steel tank. DOT is Department of Transportation, the E9791 is the DOT exemption number that the tank specification it was manufactured under. The 3500 is the PSI fill rating of the tank, and the TP5250 is the hydrostatic test pressure that is used to test the tank every 5 years in order to remain certified. The 8-91 is the original date of manufacture.
Don't confuse the TP5250 with what you can fill the tank with air. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS.
Other tanks depending on when they are manufactured will have different "hyrographics" stamped on the neck, so do some research on the internet as to what you might have on your steel tanks.
My point here is with a steel tank, not all steel tanks are made equally, and not all steel tanks can be filled to the same working pressures.
IT is best to research the DOT exemption number that is stamped on every steel tank. Such as 3AA DOT E9791-3500 TP5250 8-91
Breaking down the code the 3AA means it is a steel tank. DOT is Department of Transportation, the E9791 is the DOT exemption number that the tank specification it was manufactured under. The 3500 is the PSI fill rating of the tank, and the TP5250 is the hydrostatic test pressure that is used to test the tank every 5 years in order to remain certified. The 8-91 is the original date of manufacture.
Don't confuse the TP5250 with what you can fill the tank with air. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS.
Other tanks depending on when they are manufactured will have different "hyrographics" stamped on the neck, so do some research on the internet as to what you might have on your steel tanks.
My point here is with a steel tank, not all steel tanks are made equally, and not all steel tanks can be filled to the same working pressures.
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Found another location locally that does fills for $6.50 much more easy to swallow than $30 now the need for a compressor is a little less. I may get a spare tank instead. Something like a tiger shark as a reserve.
the place in Mn is called FantaSea Scuba based in Burnsville.
the place in Mn is called FantaSea Scuba based in Burnsville.
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