[Vwdiesel] Propane Tanks and Shop Air

[Area31 Research Facility]

I have a 100 lb. propane bottle here with air fittings and guage on it to
fill tires and stuff away from the compressor.  I never fill it above 120
PSI.  I have never inverted it or thought about accumulated moisture inside.
Hmmmmm.

Rob



----- Original Message -----
From: "Val Christian" <val at swamps.roc.ny.us>
To: <vwdiesel at vwfans.com>
Sent: Sunday, April 17, 2005 7:43 AM
Subject: [Vwdiesel] Propane Tanks and Shop Air


> Mentioning a propane tank last night reminded me of a discussion
> a couple of weeks ago, with one of my friends who races cars.
> I was telling him about an accident at the airport where someone
> filled a freon tank (with air chuck/gauge adapter) to 175#.
> The tank was rusty, and thin, and blew, taking part of his
> fingers.  After that accident, I started buying Blitz air tanks
> (5 gal for $12, 7 gal for $14 here), and retired all of my Freon
> tanks.
>
> We then talked about plasma cutters, and I was asking him how he
> handled the air load.  He has a large 50's vintage compressor, with
> a 65 gallon tank, so I expected a no-sweat answer.  What I got was
> a little different.
>
> He bought a 100 #  propane tank ($80), and plumbed it with a quick
> disconnect.  He then attaches it to his air system, out in the shop.
> (His compressor, like mine, sits in a warm dry basement.)  The extra
> tank acts as a big capacitor close to the load.
>
> There's some risk with all of this.  Once or twice a year, he inverts
> the 100 # tank, and blasts the moisture out.  Also, his compressor
> will run to 180#, so he tweaked things down, and put a relief valve
> for 150# on the tank.
>
> We also compared dryer strategy.  Similar approaches.  A dryer
> coming out of the tank at the compressor, after entering the shop,
> and a final one near the air usage.
>
> Now here's the gem...when he goes to the track, he just disconnects
> the 100 pound tank, throws it into the truck, and takes selected
> air tools.  Said that he can change about 5 tires with one tank.
>
> The final beauty is that once they had an overnight, and couldn't
> find someone with a full sized compressor who would let them mooch
> a tank of air.  So they connected a little 12volt compressor and
> let it run for a long time.
>
> Val
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