Got me a Tank

[JOHNNY QUEST]

i went to the local scube shop and talked with them a bit and they are willing to play ball with me..
 They had a used 80cf aluninum tank with a valve that will wouk with the new fill station I have comming from Joe/cuz..
  Its 10-08 hydro'd and vis.  100.00 bucks out the door..  I guess thats a good deal...
 It won't be long now that I can fill my S410C and get some shootin done....
 Life is good now.. I have had this beautifull weapon for a month now and have only held it...

[TCups]

Randall:

Great.  I know you can hardly wait.  Joe Santa Cuz is fixing me up with a AA S410 and a tank too, but I have already been informed that they are to be promptly gift wrapped and put under the tree without even opening the boxes.  So I will have to wait a bit, too.  It should be worth it, though.  BTW, I wonder if Joe does gift wrapping?  

[kirby999]

$100 is about average for a used tank . The real value you've gotten is the relationship you've established with the scuba shop. Now when you go back for a "top off" ; it's not a refill, because once a tank reaches 2500psi it not as useful to an airgunner, depending on your rifle's fill pressure ; talk with your scuba shop owner and ask if he will top off your tank up to 3200-3300psi since all you're using it for is air gun. My local scuba shop will, if I catch the owner there . It makes a difference in number of fills you'll get. kirby

[DanoInTx]

....Santa Cuz got to me too....hehe!!!  But I did things a little differently and bought my new AA S200 for myself, so no under the tree for me!!!

[DanoInTx]

Good deal I'd say, need to get me one of those one of these days too...the pump has got me down:(

[melloroadman]

Before I bought my compressor the dive shop that I bought my tank from knew my needs as well . What I would do was drop the tank off one day and not pick it up tell the next day . That way the owner would fill it when I dropped it off , then she would hit it again to 3250 psi before she went home , then when she came to work the next day she would hit it again , and when I picked it up she hit it again . It took my fills from 6 to 12 -13 fills for my big bore . The compressors they have are high cfm rated and really heat the air . When the air cools down there is a lot of room for more . The low cfm of my compressor is 3.5 cfm and I don't have that type of issue . It takes 10 minutes or so but the air and tank are still cool when I am done . Marvin

[kirby999]

I was wondering why you were selling off everything. When's the new rifle due? kirby

[JOHNNY QUEST]

guys I just wasn't willin to pump this thing up.  I really love the gun and Gene did me right after a little nego.
 Its a crying shame i let her sit a month with no air in her tho..  But allas I have many toys now and the new NV scope has had me occupied and somewhat entranced.. Its some cool stuff.. It may be going on the S410 tho.  that tx is just sooo heavy and the 410 is so light..   Hmmm just thinkin ...
 I should be in the air by thursday now and get me some plinkin time on my sweet baby.....

[only1harry]

That's great Randall!  You will love filling from a Scuba.  I 'm looking for a 2nd tank now that I have 2 PCP's.  I was looking on line and found brand new Aluminim Luxfer 80cf tanks (like the one I have now) for $139-149 shipped!  They also come with the valve.

One thing you have to be careful about is the manufacture date of the tank.  Alum. tanks by law have to be disposed of after 20yrs.  The built date is stamped on the tank.  How long do you have on that tank before it's time to get another?

The scuba shop owner also fills mine up to 3200+psi so I can get more fills.  He told me he fills it twice because he deals with a lot of Paintball people and airgunners so I have to wait 45-1hr usually.  I go to Dunkin Donuts and hang out there which is a block away.  I usually get 12-15 fills which is 2.5-3 tins of pellets for me.  
Waiting 24hrs is probably the way to do it but it 'd be hard to convince someone to do that for you unless you paid extra I would imagine.  Not all Scuba shops have powerful compressors that get your tank hot.

[kirby999]

The fiber wrapped tanks have a life that is mandated by law . I was told by my scuba dealer as long as the aluminum or steel tank passes the hydro test every 5 years and the visual each year , the tank is usable , fillable, and safe . I googled and found this interesting page for Luxfer aluminum tanks made of a specific alloy .  http://www.deep-six.com/PAGE66.htm One paragraphAs long as these older tanks are properly inspected and requalified as required by U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and Luxfer, you may continue to use them. DOT requires that the tanks be requalified every 5 years. In addition, Luxfer requires that the tanks receive a visual inspection by a properly trained inspector and an eddy-current test at least every 2½ years. (Please note as well that an annual visual inspection is a standard practice in the U.S. scuba industry, and Luxfer endorses this practice for all scuba tanks, not just those made from 6351 alloy.) Even these are still usuable if you follow the guidelines set by Luxfer . all other alloys and steel tanks are still usable as log as they pass the hydro every 5 years . kirby

[kgatwork]

kirby999 - 11/24/2008  8:37 AM

 The fiber wrapped tanks have a life that is mandated by law .  I was told by my scuba dealer as long as the aluminum or steel tank passes the hydro test every 5 years and the visual each year , the tank is usable , fillable, and safe  .  I googled and found this interesting page for Luxfer  aluminum tanks made of a specific alloy .    http://www.deep-six.com/PAGE66.htm    One paragraph  As long as these older tanks are properly inspected and requalified as required by U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and Luxfer, you may continue to use them. DOT requires that the tanks be requalified every 5 years. In addition, Luxfer requires that the tanks receive a visual inspection by a properly trained inspector and an eddy-current test at least every 2½ years. (Please note as well that an annual visual inspection is a standard practice in the U.S. scuba industry, and Luxfer endorses this practice for all scuba tanks, not just those made from 6351 alloy.)  Even these are still usuable if you follow the guidelines set by Luxfer .  all other alloys and steel tanks are still usable as log as they pass  the hydro every 5 years . kirby

I have 3 older tanks that have very few dives.  When I went to get one hydro'd that was first hydro'd when it was manufactured back in 93', the shop I went to told me that my tank was made from the batch of bad aluminum and they would not send it out for hydro.  He told me they were worth $10 as scrap.  Lucky I didn't take his word for it and did some research and discovered that my tanks were outside the date for the bad aluminum tanks.  I went to a different shop and they have the tank out for hydro now.  Apparently there's a misconception of which tanks can and cannot be hydro'd by the dive shop operator(many apparently won't be bothered to check), so be careful when buying old used scuba tanks.  The only manufacture that did not make 6351 tanks were catalina.  My tanks were made by Cliff Div the east coast division of Catalina that did use 6351 aluminum until July 1990.

[JOHNNY QUEST]

mine is a luxfor with a man. date of 2-83.. that makes it 25 years old and the hydro on it is 1 month old.  I bought it from a dive shop and they will fill it for 5 more years that would make it 30 when its due for its next hydro..
 100.00 for 5 years is good for me..

[TCups]

So here's a rookie question:  With a new 80 cu ft tank filled at the local dive shop, how many fills and how many shots will the AA 410 be good for before I have to top off the tank again?

[kgatwork]

JOHNNY QUEST - 11/24/2008  11:37 AM

mine is a luxfor with a man. date of 2-83.. that makes it 25 years old and the hydro on it is 1 month old.  I bought it from a dive shop and they will fill it for 5 more years that would make it 30 when its due for its next hydro..
 100.00 for 5 years is good for me..

You have a good shop.  I should have noted that this bad aluminum tanks are only on the DOT warning list and there is no actual recall, but from what I've researched many dive shops in the US will avoid these older tanks.  Anywhere else in the world they will perform the appropriate test.

[melloroadman]

You might find this helpful Tommy.Marvin
http://www.airhog.com/steel_tanks.htm