Fill your own tanks....way cheaper than a compressor

[mark99]

Forgive me if these posts are meant as jokes, but I don't think the purpose of that device is for filling scuba tanks.

That pump is used to fill air pistol and rifle cylinders which are significantly smaller than scuba tanks. The scuba tank is mentioned because those tanks are taken to matches and used to fill the rifle tanks. Scuba tanks are much easier and convienent to transport than high pressure air compressors. A similar use for scuba tanks is in off-road vehicles to fill tires after airing down at the trailhead or to run air tools for a short time.

That is quite expensive considering the cost of tanks and fills though.

Again, sorry if these posts are made in jest. I can't tell the tone and feeling of posts very well just by reading them.

Don't worry that no one is paying much attention to your post, it is good to see somebody here knows about something more than just diving. Yes these posts are all in jest, we just didn't know what the ad could possibly mean. Thanks for enlightening us.

Welcome to the boards.

 

[Xanthro]

Don't worry that no one is paying much attention to your post, it is good to see somebody here knows about something more than just diving. Yes these posts are all in jest, we just didn't know what the ad could possibly mean. Thanks for enlightening us.

Welcome to the boards.

I'd think plenty of others knew what it was for, but it is still a dumb idea. Paintball and airsoft both rely on compressed air or liquid CO2. It used to be you'd take a scuba tank and fill your paintball cylinders with air from your tank. This is before there were many compressors available at fields.

Now, not only do many fields have compressors, but the PSI of paintball cylinders is 4500, more than a SCUBA tank could hold.

Also, at a price of $400, you'd just buy compressed air for paintball, or upgrade to a better airsoft that uses electrical air compression for that price.

I can't see much of a market for it here in the United States.

 

[Dinictus]

oh and it's also quite clumbsy to put in your bottle the other way around....

WHAT IS THIS THING!?

 

[Jason A]

I just practice blowing really hard at work all day long. Now I'm capable of filling my own tanks to 300 bar from my own hot air. Only problem so far is that my O2 levels are reduced because of inhalation. I'm thinking of going Trimix, but the Helium makes my voice sound funny before I can blow it into the tank.

As a side benefit, I can now do side work blowing up ballons for kid's parties, but I have to be carefull I don't accidently burst them in one breath.

This post was the exception to my statement. I did realize (or thought, I guess, according to Xanthro's next post) that this was a joke. I'm not totally ignorant, just mostly.

Sorry for ruining the mood.

 

[Xanthro]

This post was the exception to my statement. I did realize (or thought, I guess, according to Xanthro's next post) that this was a joke. I'm not totally ignorant, just mostly.

Sorry for ruining the mood.

Not ignorant at all, you immediately knew what the item was used for. Humor is always hard to spot on a message board because we lack non verbal clues.

You're too hard on yourself, no mood was ruined.

 

[fishoutawater]

Ya know? This thread brought up an old memory, and an idea.
I was a crew chief in the Air Force in another life. The C-141 had/has a hand chargeable hydraulic system via a dual action hydraulic hand pump mated to two large piston type accumulators. The accumulator was nothing more than a large cylinder with a piston inside it. On one side of the piston was hydraulic fluid. On the other side was air. When you pumped up the accumulators with the hydraulic hand pump, you compressed the air on the other side of the piston, charging the system. This pressure was used to start the auxiliary power unit, which was in turn, used to start the engines.
Now charging two accumulators to 3000psi was quite a chore, but it didn't take all day. Maybe an hour or so. Great workout.
Now the idea part:
What if one were to obtain such hardware from a surplus dealer somewhere, and used this system for filling scuba tanks? Of course you may not want to use hydraulic fluid as a pressurizing media (toxic to breathe). Mind you that the actual pumping is done at the hydraulic pump. The air in the accumulator is physically separated from the fluid side of the pump, via chevron seals and o-rings. There are also diaphram and bladder type accumulators, but I don't think they can go up to 3000 lbs.
I know it can be done, but I don't remember how many cubic feet of air each one held. You could set up several in series.
It also wouldn't be too hard to fab up a reciprocating arm so you could operate the pump via electric motor.
Any engineers lookin?

 

[Gary D.]

This system would have to have a quadruple filter system on it to eliminate the hazardous gasses.

After the first half hour I'd be discharging hazardous gas on each pump.

Gary D.

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

Ya know? This thread brought up an old memory, and an idea.
//snip//
What if one were to obtain such hardware from a surplus dealer somewhere, and used this system for filling scuba tanks?

Thought you might want to have a look at this. Is that like what you have in mind?

 

[fishoutawater]

Thanks for that 3dent. That is similar to what I was talking about, except the hand pump on a C-141 is for hydraulic fluid only. For my idea, I'd still have to use an accumulator (or two, or three) to store air pressure.
Now I'm wondering where I could get my grubbies on a double action hand pump for gas. Lots of work, but I do that sometimes anyway. Bad habits are hard to give up.

 

[markfm]

I smell a new Specialty course: Air Fill (AF)
This class is designed to teach the certified diver methods of filling tanks. The course consists of two parts:
1) MF -- Manual fill. In it the student will be taught proper operation of the hand pump. Focus will be on maintaining proper hydration during the fill, and introduction to filter checks. Prerequisite: EFR (you may need it)
2) CF -- Compressor Fill. In this advanced segment, the student learns to flip switches, read gauges. Emphasis is placed on proper valve operation (Lefty loosey, righty tighty). As a regional variant, Cave Country CF includes: How many PSI can I really put in this tank?, and Burst disc replacement.
An MF introduction taken as part of AOW may be credited towards the AF certification, at the instructor's discretion.
KA-CHING!