Standup Zone Forum
Stand Up Paddle => Gear Talk => Sneak Peeks, Rumors, and Wish Lists => Topic started by: connector14 on December 09, 2016, 12:46:01 PM
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Anybody using a scuba tank to inflate your iSUP? Just curious....I think if your are careful, it should work well as long as don't overdue it!
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try one like this instead
http://www.harborfreight.com/11-gallon-portable-air-tank-65595.html
This lightweight portable air tank gives you a handy supply of air even when you don't have an air compressor on hand. Ideal for filling tires, sports equipment and other inflation needs, this air tank features durable steel construction, an easy-to-read pressure gauge and a built-in carry handle for optimal portability. For a general purpose air supply, this air tank is perfect for any home shop or garage.
Air pressure gauge
Built-in carry handle
Durable steel construction
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Yes, that should work well too. Easily refilled from a home compressor? (I've got quite a number of scuba tanks,
but something like this might be easier and safer to carry around). Enough volume to fill 2 14ft. iSUPs a couple of times.....do you think?
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Someone better page Pono to do the math. When I inflate my 12'6" from my little 3 gallon pancake compressor it takes quite a while.
Also, I'm not certified but aren't scuba tanks like 3,000 psi? Just video it so I can post to kook of the day when it looks like a Macy's parade balloon.
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3000 psi is pretty common for scuba tanks. Don't think it would take long to inflate a 14ft. iSUP...just have to stop and check the pressure when you get close to the end !
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The first stage regulator of a SCUBA rig will take the tank pressure 500-3000psi down to something like 100-150 psi.
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Someone better page Pono to do the math. When I inflate my 12'6" from my little 3 gallon pancake compressor it takes quite a while.
Also, I'm not certified but aren't scuba tanks like 3,000 psi? Just video it so I can post to kook of the day when it looks like a Macy's parade balloon.
LOL!
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You're better off using a compressor tank like Tom posted. Easy and free to refill to ~300psi if you have a compressor at home and perfectly adequate for filling an iSUP. And you don't have to pay for fills. If you want to use the 500 or so PSI left over from a dive it's super easy to regulate it down to whatever pressure you want. My friend runs his air tools off scuba tanks, but he gets free fills.
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I suppose if I ever to get around to purchasing an iSUP I would be better off to accept that "hand pumping" is part of the "pre-paddle" warm-up and muscle building :)
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I suppose if I ever to get around to purchasing an iSUP I would be better off to accept that "hand pumping" is part of the "pre-paddle" warm-up and muscle building :)
More like pre-paddle blisters. I used to keep a pair of gloves with my hand pump. The first 15 psi is pretty easy. It's getting it to 21 psi that can be brutal.
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Scuba tanks will work fine, a little 150psi, one gallon harbor freight tank won't. There's 10 gallons of air at 14.7 PSI in that tank if you fill it to 150psi. One gallon is about .14 cubic feet. A 12' X 36" X 6" isup is about 18 cubic feet. Just to fill it with air would take about 10 fills of the tank. to bring it to 20 pounds would take about 30.
A standard scuba tank is 80 cubic feet. You can attach a standard gas regulator to an old first stage regulator with a little fiddling. Might be easier to just get a nitrogen bottle and a regulator since scuba tanks have special O-ringed outlet valves that don't fit typical regulators. Or just buy a pancake compressor for 99 bucks at Home Depot like I just did to fill the Red Dragon. I will NEVER fill this thing by hand.
(http://www.ponostyle.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/red1.jpg)
(http://www.ponostyle.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/red2.JPG)
(http://www.ponostyle.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/red3.JPG)
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Thanks....that's the kind of info I was after. I used to dive alot (I was a NAUI instructor for many years) and have numerous dive tanks. And I see that Red Paddle has an adapter that goes into their valve and allows a fill from any conventional tire valve type fitting. And I already have a hose and adapter that fits on the tank and allows putting air into any tire valve type fitting. So all I really need now is to choose what 14ft. iSUP will meet my needs.
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off-roaders needing to fill BIG tires (normal off-road psi is often as low as 2-5 psi) have used CO2 quite a bit.
https://powertank.com/ - they provide nice kids - you can do it cheaper. A 20 pound tank of CO2 is 167 cu-ft . Ponobill's math says that's good. Should fill an iSup fast .
Problem with Ponobill's compressor is 110v ac is needed.
I've wondered if I can bleed off some air from my turbo-diesel Bug - it blows a crap-ton of air at 15 psi - the VNT15 can push 25psi or more too. Hmm.
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Nitrogen is the preferred tire fill for race cars. Certain to be dry and therefore doesn't expand as much as air does with temperature changes. It's about as cheap as CO2--I have a couple of big tanks I carry to the track with me.
It's possible you could tap into your turbo, people have done that for various pressurized air uses. But the air is going to be hot unless you do something spiffy with it. That sudden compression of a large volume of air makes the output side of some turbos about 250 degrees at full boost.
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Hmm....would need a fan on the intercooler for sure - temps won't be THAT high with only 15-20 psi - and it won't be working very hard compared to pushing air into an engine that sucks it in as fast as it can.
:D youtube lolz....no psi to an air bed but still it's super fast...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlstApbEZu0
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Back to the original question; just don't use a SCUBA tank without stepping down pressure with at least a first state regulator or you might freeze a whole in your expensive iSUP.