CO2 system for running air tools and filling tires

This is a Co2 tank that can be used for off roading, for running air tools or filling tires, setting beads etc.
The parts of this OBA system consist of
10 pound co2 tank with regulator,($30 at rogers sale)
two 1/4" quick disconnects ($1 each at rogers)
15 foot hose ($10 at harbor freight)
Air chuck($2 at harbor freight)

Total cost less than $50

The cost of a store bought unit is between $169-$300
If your wondering about rogers it is a huge flee market in rogers, Oh http://www.rogersohio.com/openair.html
and harbor freight is http://www.harborfreight.com
and my website http://www.deathblog.co.nr

Comments

[kaianuanu]

I have a 10lb co2 tank just like that but dont know where to fill it. Where do you fill yours and how much does it cost?

[btucker6]

You can get any CO2 tank (with a current hydro date) filled at any welding gas supply for just a few dollars.

[126andy]

I'm planning to mount a 10lb co2 tank system inside my 2001 Ford explorer. My question is: Do I need to worry about having it in there in the summertime when the temps rise as far as having them explode? I'm new to all of this co2 tire filling but it looks like it will be much better than air.Thanks for any input.

[bigern71]

depend on where you live I live in MI and have kept full CO2 tank in direct sun for hours just don't put it anywhere where it will get over 120^f

[musick7]

If you use something Like a PaintBall Nitrogen air tank it will last Much Longer! The style of tank your using holds about 2000 psi. Paintball gun tanks Yes there small But ones like http://www.zephyrpaintball.com/product/PB-PMI-904500/PMI_Ultra_904500_Compressed_Air_Tank.html This are 4500psi 90ci Look at it like this a Paintball gun uses around 300+- to shoot one Ball. Your not going to be using anywhere near that more like 90psi to drive the air gun. A paintball gun tank of this size will last a good long while! And much smaller it could be mounted in a glove box if you wanted!!!

[Kiteman]

When doing extreme off-road stuff in Iceland, they use butane to re-inflate tyres that have been knocked off their rims by climbing live volcanoes. A quick squirt into the tyre, chuck in a match and the expanding explosion actually re-centres the tyre on the rim. I think it's something to do with spending 4 months of the year in darkness...

[killerjackalope]

actually they only use it to seal the tyre bead back to the rim, and it's not just in iceland, we did it all the time for larger stubborn tyres except with easy start and anything burning, usually a ball of paper. Then we came up with a blaster... It's basically a fast opening ball valve a reservoir and a nozzle shaped to fit between the bead and rim with zero damage, It also can quickly be combined with a traffic cone for an excellent shotgun style cannon and it could blast clean a small room in a second, just wear ear protection like plugs or you'll not hear for a long time...

[Kiteman]

Quick, do an Instructable!

[killerjackalope]

Which bit? I'm not down at work anymore... However If I find the bits I'll quickly cobbled together the blaster, I has many uses inluding fire extinguisher for any non liquid, the decompressing air cools the fire and condenses alot of water vapour so the fires die, liquid invariably just flies away. If I get a chance I will... I wonder If I could adapt deo and a car tyre, that would be far more useful to everyone because then a foot pump could be used to raise the pressure. they havn't enough power or CFM to seal a bead and neither do most car compressors, those nitrogen/carbon dioxide tanks however can do it. I also can make a traffic cone into many different things, a bottle rocket launcher, a cannon, a jousting weapon for skateboards, a satellite (well I got it pretty far), a flamethrower, a nice lampshade, part of a racing game involving a hill childrens cars (yeah we were fast kids), a skiboard thing and a beach trailer (very hard and very very scary....)

[Kiteman]

I meant the blaster, but it sounds like you have the makings of a series there - 101 things to do with a traffic cone.

[killerjackalope]

The blaster's easy, I could do one on building that dead cheap.... Yeah I have the makings of two series, one on traffic cones and the 'like an absolute psycho' series which will be the general misuse of power tools to save time and cause destruction in amusing ways... I could do a homemade blaster from many objects, also a new one, DiY keg tap, I just found out a keg I have has a lot of guinness in it, I always assumed sea water from getting it from the sea (it was floating past my house.) but nay I pushed the valve with my lamp by accident and there's now guinness on my ceiling...

[mtxe]

that is only if the tire comes off the rim.(you can do it with starter fluid, or carb and choke cleaner as well.) in off-roading we deflate the psi to get a bigger foot print and more traction

[killerjackalope]

These work really well and are recommended for racing/sport involving high vehicle speed etc because the Co2 is completely clean of dirt etc, that and it's unreactive with zero water so rims hold up much better, plus if you use 3000psi rated tanks one fill goes a long way and it's not as heavy as a decent compressor... Though if you use one off roading or working I really suggest a small cage over the end valve assembly on the bottle, if these things bust lose it's just plain scary, not to mention hella cold behind it...

[JamesRPatrick]

Take a look Deathblade.

[BorisTheSpider]

Great device. God awful video. I'm going to try to get a setup like this sometime. Should prove quite handy. Where do you go to get it filled?

[trcdrunner]

I too run a CO2 tank when offroading - much faster that any plug in air compressor.... Maybe even faster than some Viair systems....

I like the gages, but offroad they may get smashed up:) Unless your taking it off after use.....

I found and run a similar to this http://www.tellico4x4.com/product_info.php/cPath/909_979/products_id/18742

Just a thought for any other offroaders.... its a 150psi regulator - no gages just open your valve....

[thematthatter]

my friend has a setup like this except without a regulator for filling up CO2 tanks for paintball in the field. the paintball shops charge $2 apiece for recharging a bottle, even if its a 12 oz or 20 oz bottle his setup uses one of them tall welding bottles full of CO2, it cost him $15 to $20 to refill it

[cpotoso]

Why not simply buy a compressor that can be plugged into the car power adapter? I have one (cost less than $10) and it takes some time to inflate a tire (a minute or so) but it never runs out of air!

[mtxe]

If you want a pump DO NOT* get one that plugs in to a "power adapter"(or cigarette lighter... you are probably confused) they will not fill a tire fast and because of the low amount of amperage they can use.

If your cheap get a Master Flow Tsunami MF-1050 (or at CostCo: Q-maxx Mv-50)

30A
120psi
72 lbm(liters per minute displacement)

and even a 30A pump takes more than a minute (even on my daily driver with 32x11.50x15 on it takes more than 3 min.

*sorry for the Caps

[DeathBlade]

If it is the small cheap type of compressor(the ones that plug into cigarette lighters) that I'm thinking of it will take alot more than a minute to refill a flat tire, and even then there too small to run air tools.

[fegundez1]

i dont understand.how long will you be able to run tools?cost of refill?why not air?

[DeathBlade]

The cost of a refill for my tank on my mig is $7 USD and that is a 20 pound tank, this is a 10, and as for run time I just used it this morning to run a impact wrench to change 4 tires and fill up a set of 31x10.5 tires to 30psi and the tank was already half empty. I even just ran a air hammer with is no more than 10 minutes ago, but the pressure was dropping so I think the tank is just about empty.

[lwatcdr]

Al Gore doesn't need to sweat it because the CO2 comes from the air and not from burning fossil fuel. This is what people call CO2 neutral. Why CO2 instead of air? CO2 is a liquid. You can get a lot more CO2 in a tank then just plain air. So a small tank will run your power tools longer and or inflate more tires than a tank of just plain air of the same size. You can use it too cool your soda as well :)

[tradergordo]

Al Gore wouldn't like this! :)

[walkthewalk]

Be careful. Your regulator may freeze and not work properly if you dispense too much CO2 too quickly.

[LasVegas]

Question: Why CO2, instead of air? Air's a lot cheaper isn't it?

[mtxe]

to fill all your tires with air after offroading would take a much bigger tank if you have beadlocks running single digits psi while off-roading is quite common

[sam]

What kind of pressure is the CO2 filled to in the tank?

[trebuchet03]

The critical point for CO₂ is 88.8 degrees F -- where the pressure will be 1080psi - you don't want to go over that temperature as what happens here is hard to figure out.

40^oF -- 600psi
72^oF -- 860psi
80^oF -- 970psi

These are the vapor pressure numbers based on CO₂'s heat of vaporization (pressure increases approximately logarithmically with respect to temperature increase -- a 1:10 ratio).

---

Keep in mind, pressure has nothing to do with "how much is left" when it comes to liquid storage. It's going to stay at a given pressure (assuming constant temp) until ALL of the liquid CO₂ is gone.

[DeathBlade]

I think the pressure of the gaseous co2 is 800 PSI with liquid Co2 in the bottom, but I might be wrong

[trebuchet03]

Nice :) For anyone wondering, CO₂ tanks can be refilled (or tank swapped) at welding supply shops :)

And when buying a regulator second hand... if it leaks a little, don't worry :) They can be rebuilt very easily - usually just needing a bit of gasket paper.