Carbon fiber tank size comparison chart

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Humdinger

Humdinger

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Jun 3, 2015
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Charlotte, NC, United States
All of the different units of measure used for carbon fiber tank sizes and fill capacities can be confusing. This comparison chart lists the commonly used carbon fiber tanks. The first two columns show interior volume of each tank size in liters and cubic inches. The third column is the air capacity for each tank size filled to 4500 psi. A few airgun dealers advertise that their tanks hold more air than competitor brands even though the internal capacity is identical. The two most common sized tanks sold are the 6.8 liter which actually holds 66 cubic feet of air at 4500 psi and the 9 liter tank that holds 88 cubic feet at 4500 psi. Their 6.8 liter and 9 liter tanks are sold to fire departments as 45 minute and 60 minute breathing air tanks.

The small 90 cubic inch tank is commonly sold for paintball but is also sold for PCPs. The 110 cubic inch tank is the most popular compact tank size. The 2 and 3 liter tank sizes are sold on Aliexpress and Ebay. The 4.5 liter size 30 minute tank is included for comparison but only available from Ebay or vendors which sell used fireman's tanks. The two most popular carbon fiber tanks sold by airgun dealers are the 414 cubic inch, 6.8 liter 45 minute fireman's tank, or the large 550 cubic inch, 9 liter 60 minute fireman's tank. The only sources of 12 liter tanks is from Aliexpress or some European dealers.

The chart below compares them by size and air capacity in ascending order of internal volume and air capacity at 4500 psi. This chart will help to compare the sizes and units of measure used on all of the popular carbon fiber tanks.

tanksizesrevised.jpg
 
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This great thanks much for the clarification it will bring.

What about the 97cubic foot Great White he says it is 550 cu inches so that makes it an 88 cu ft 60 minute tank?
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The numbers on the chart tell the tale. My purpose in posting is to clarify size differences in real world numbers. Six inches is six inches regardless of someone calling it 16 centimeters.

Scott and Luxfer are the two largest fireman's tank vendors in the U.S. Both have charts showing that their 550 cubic inch 9 liter tanks hold 88 cubic feet of air at 4500 psi or 60 minute fireman's rating.
 
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I had pretty much already decided it was like that. I don't know why he says 97 cu. ft. unless he measured it at a higher pressure for some reason.

Guess it is a moot point anyway cuz I have have been using it for over a year now and it werqs just fine.
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Years ago the first vendor to target our market was Airhog marketing their 88 cubic foot 9 liter carbon fiber tanks. Then the Great White vendor claimed his 9 liter tank held 97 cubic feet. Then the Arizona vendor came along and claims their Omega 9 liter tank holds 100 cubic feet. Marketing hype. All sell the same sized tank.

Same thing happens in air gun marketing. You can buy a 1200 foot per second $99 airgun at Walmart. In fine print it says shooting ultra light pellets that nobody would ever use. Put a lead pellet in the same air gun and it's 650 fps. Marketing hype.
 
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When I calculate the estimated compressed volume of a particular sized bottle I just multiply the liquid capacity in litres by the pressure in BAR and use a conversion table to convert cubic metres to cubic feet.1 BAR is = to the pressure at one atmosphere so 310 BAR or 4500 psi is 310 x atmospheric pressure. Using this method gets you close to the 98-74 CF that the one up brigade advertises for their 9-6.8 litre bottles. There is another factor that needs to be allowed for which is the noncompressible value. I haven't bothered to look into how it exactly decreases the space but I think it is about 1.1 which you need to divide the total by. When this is factored into the equation you come out with figures that match Steve's table above.
 
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Good Info here. Thanks for posting this!

I don't have any experience filling air tanks! Years ago a job duty was to recover SF6 insulating gas and put it in cylinders. Once we had a problem filling to weight before reaching the max pressure. Testing the gas we would find that our gas was sometimes down to 75% purity. After looking into it with many experts what we were experiencing was a non compressible something in the tank. Something I tried (this was before it was considered a greenhouse gas) was just open the valve blowing the contaminant into the atmosphere. It didn't take much, then I could fill that bottle to the bottle fill weight. 

I have seen folks post about a concern with moisture in their bottle. I have wondered if purging may work for a wet air tank. Safety needs to be followed of course.
 
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i have a tank that is about 11.5 inches x 4.5 inches across (13 inches dia) i like to know the about how many ci it is???



also I'm looking more information on the valve air america raptor rex 9473 or can i make up something like this pic 3

one more thing thank you all for any help you can give....
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Empty the tank and remove the valve. Fill the tank up to the threads with water, then pour the water into a large measuring cup and see how many liters it holds. Then use the chart at the top of this thread and convert the amount of liters to cubic inches. That is a small tank and appears to be 90 cubic inches capacity based upon your dimensions.
 
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I just purchased my 1st PCP rifle last week. Air Venturi Avenger 22 caliber

I'm shopping for compressors now and am also contemplating a tank. There are a butt-load of these on eBay but no indication of volume.

Would you lend a hand and help me determine how many cubic feet or inches are in the tanks, please.

Scott 4.5 SCBA 4500psi Carbon Fiber 45 min tank Cylinder 2005 | eBay

Thanks in advance,

John
 
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I bought four of these or similar @ auction sale from a fire-station many years ago, so that means the stamp expired many years ago as well.

I did not bother sending out to re-certify but I got myself a YH compressor instead.

How many fills to the gun? I don't know...a lot...a pure guess maybe 15-20 refills to drop from 4200psi to 2000 psi at that 180cc volume ??? Why don't YOU calculate :)
 
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I found this useful info on the Carleton tanks. Shows the model number and the CI displacement.
Carleton PTD Paintball products include:

Part No. Capacity Pressure Material

6139 45 ci 4500 psi fiberglass
6121A 68 ci 3000 psi fiberglass
6205 88 ci 3000 psi fiberglass
6115A 114 ci 3000 psi fiberglass
6226-DOT 45 ci 4500 psi carbon fiber
6226-HSE 45 ci 4500 psi carbon fiber
6151-DOT 68 ci 4500 psi carbon fiber
6151-HSE 68 ci 4500 psi carbon fiber
6262-DOT 72 ci 4500 psi carbon fiber (stubby)
6196-DOT 88 ci 4500 psi carbon fiber
6196-HSE 88 ci 4500 psi carbon fiber
6241-DOT 88 ci 4500 psi carbon fiber (stubby)
6190 114 ci 4500 psi carbon fiber
 
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Humdinger said:
All of the different units of measure used for carbon fiber tank sizes and fill capacities can be confusing. This comparison chart lists the commonly used carbon fiber tanks. The first two columns show interior volume of each tank size in liters and cubic inches. The third column is the air capacity for each tank size filled to 4500 psi. A few airgun dealers advertise that their tanks hold more air than competitor brands even though the internal capacity is identical. The two most common sized tanks sold are the 6.8 liter which actually holds 66 cubic feet of air at 4500 psi and the 9 liter tank that holds 88 cubic feet at 4500 psi. Their 6.8 liter and 9 liter tanks are sold to fire departments as 45 minute and 60 minute breathing air tanks.

The small 90 cubic inch tank is commonly sold for paintball but is also sold for PCPs. The 110 cubic inch tank is the most popular compact tank size. The 2 and 3 liter tank sizes are sold on Aliexpress and Ebay. The 4.5 liter size 30 minute tank is included for comparison but only available from Ebay or vendors which sell used fireman's tanks. The two most popular carbon fiber tanks sold by airgun dealers are the 414 cubic inch, 6.8 liter 45 minute fireman's tank, or the large 550 cubic inch, 9 liter 60 minute fireman's tank. The only sources of 12 liter tanks is from Aliexpress or some European dealers.

The chart below compares them by size and air capacity in ascending order of internal volume and air capacity at 4500 psi. This chart will help to compare the sizes and units of measure used on all of the popular carbon fiber tanks.

View attachment 448893
Click to expand...
Hello @Humdinger

Thank you very much for this easy to read and understand chart.

ThomasT
 
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