Thread Tools

tybrenis · December 27th, 08:14 PM

Hey guys,

I am thinking about buying a scuba tank to fill my HPA tank up at home. I was going to just buy one off eBay but my dad says that we can probably rent an air tank from a welding supply and use that.

I know that'd probably be cheaper, but could I hook up a fill station to the welding tank? I don't know if they have the same fittings as a scuba tank.

Thanks for your help! I need to know by tomorrow, basically.

Torch · December 27th, 08:20 PM

Yea...It might require some additional high pressure fittings though.

Fields have filled using cylinders of Nitrogen gas before HP A compressors were commonly available. One of the fields I played at still does. So, it has been done before.

I only say Nitrogen because I'm not sure what other gases you'll get at a Weld shop...if high pressure compressed air is on the menu get that or nitrogen, whichever is cheaper because they're the same as far as paintball is concerned.

You might try making friends with the Fire Department, they will sometimes, depending on size, have a compressor for filling their breathing air tanks, they're usually 4500psi as well.

tybrenis · December 27th, 08:23 PM

That's the thing - I'm caught between just buying a scuba tank and having it filled at a scuba supply or a firestation, or calling up a welding supply and seeing what they have.

Even if they will lease me a tank, will it be 3000 - 4500 psi? Nitrogen or HPA I don't care, but if it's less than 3000 PSI it's not really worth it.

Also, will they let me change the fittings? How much would the fittings be? Would it be cheaper to pay $75 for an 80 cubic foot scuba tank?

Torch · December 27th, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tybrenis

Even if they will lease me a tank, will it be 3000 - 4500 psi? Nitrogen or HPA I don't care, but if it's less than 3000 PSI it's not really worth it.

Also, will they let me change the fittings? How much would the fittings be? Would it be cheaper to pay $75 for an 80 cubic foot scuba tank?

They'll let you attach fittings onto the valve as needed I imagine, as long as the tank is returned the way it was when you got it. It'll be part of your filling apparatus. Just make sure anything you strap on there is rated for the pressure. Buy good stuff, you don't want to be there if something pops.

I don't know about the cost, I never looked at Air.
When I wanted to get CO2 for a club though it was $50 to rent a tank for a year and $20 to refill it whenever needed. It was 50 pounds of CO2 though so it was a good deal at the rate we would be using it. (Compared to fills at Dicks, the nearest place)

And for what its worth, the Nitrogen we have at work is 3,000 or less I think. It's been at least a year since I've seen one of them used for anything.

Only way to be sure...Call some shops and find out.
Also be sure that a SCUBA/Diving shop will fill the tank without you having a dive certification or license. You might put "Paintball use only" on the tank or something if needed.

**evolkers2003** · December 27th, 09:23 PM

Yes, it pry wont even fill to more than 2000 if you dont have more than a couple tanks. Let me explain. I bought a scuba too. $125 and it cost me $4 to get it filled by a local pb store. It was said it could hold 3000 psi, and it did. However, 1 tank deos not carry enough pressure to get it up to 3000 psi. Lets say you have 500 psi in your tank, you go to fill it up on your scuba and it only fills to 2000 psi, what gives? I thought this was a 3000 psi scuba? It is but it deosnt have enough pressure. You can pry get 5 or 6 2000 psi fills from it before there is almost absolutely no pressure in the tank. But if you have like 4 tanks then you can cascade fill them (you fill your tank on EACH scuba) so basically your filling your tank 4 times or 5 to get to 3000 psi. This is usaully what they do at feilds that dont have a compressor.

**JeSTeR_1269** · December 27th, 09:31 PM

I would just get a tank from a scuba supply and be happy with that.

and can we say HUGE siggy boys an girls?

tybrenis · December 27th, 09:44 PM

Thanks for your help guys, I'm going to call around tomorrow and figure some stuff out. I know about my sig, too... in the process of fixing it as we speak.

**Tomba** · December 27th, 10:20 PM

My dad owns a welding shop and ive done this. It works, the max amount of fill you will get will be 2500, after each one it wil decrease and decrease, you may have to fill after every game. if you have more questions hit me up.

**evolkers2003** · December 28th, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomba

My dad owns a welding shop and ive done this. It works, the max amount of fill you will get will be 2500, after each one it wil decrease and decrease, you may have to fill after every game. if you have more questions hit me up.

Thats why you need to cascade fill them

**Tomba** · December 28th, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by evolkers2003

Thats why you need to cascade fill them

??

is that like with a compressor i imagine. Then thats a lot of money and not worth it.

tybrenis · December 28th, 10:44 AM

No, cascade filling is where you use multiple tanks in order to bring your gun's tank up to the maximum PSI. So, you would use one 3000 PSI tank to bring it up to 2900, then another tank to push it up to that 3000. Each time they decrease, but you will get double or more the fills out of cascade filling rather than using a single tank.

**Tomba** · December 28th, 11:05 AM

oh ok, but then we would have to buy more hookups and stuff, the setup we have now is fine.

**evolkers2003** · December 29th, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomba

oh ok, but then we would have to buy more hookups and stuff, the setup we have now is fine.

If you have more than 1 tank then you can just take teh same fill system and put it one each tank if its not too much of a hassle.

Soul_Fly · January 8th, 02:03 PM

The High pressure cylinders I use at work is 5,500 psig. Use a regulator to step it down as required.

Thread Tools

View more Paintball photos