co2 tank vs.Nitrogen (1 Viewer)

[KNUCKLEDRAGGER]

why co2 and not nitrogen ?

 

[Kief]

$ maybe. Where do you get Nitrogen? CO2 is readily available. Nitrogen would actually be the best, CO2 tends to contract at cold temperatures. Nitrogen shocks don't foam the oil as bad... how that would apply to tires beats me,

 

[Poser]

I would say primarily cost, and as far as availability goes, I am not aware of a place here in MN, that supplies CO2, and not other gasses also, not to say that they are not abundant someplace else...

Will look into the diff in cost on Monday, and post back, as I will be getting a nitrogen cyl for the shop to be able to charge shocks...


-Steve

 

[Pin_Head]

The big difference is volume of gas. CO2 under pressure is a liquid and the amount of gas is much larger than the volume of liquid. For the same size tank, you get a lot more gas with CO2. The other difference is that N2 comes pressurized to about 3000 PSI, while CO2 is about 800. Both gasses are pretty inert for any purpose we have.

 

[Junk]

Isn't there a huge difference in size of molecules too, making CO2 much better than H? Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought the size of the H molecule would be too small.

 

[Rice]

H molecules??? Nitrogen (N2) is a diatomic gas (atoms always paired together) so molecular size would be on the same order as CO2. Like Pinhead said it's not only cheaper but in liquid form you can pack lots of it into a small container. Under very high pressure nitrogen holds together well (plus is inert) so is well suited for gas shocks.

 

[Outback]

Poser,

Check the yellow pages for a welding supply shop. They always have CO2 on hand for a shielding gas. They can fill your tank. The next place to "price shop" is a fire extinguisher service business. I use American fire and safety here in OKC for all my fills. And, if you're really spunky, check with small, independent beverage service companies that do "hot shot" CO2 fills for restaurants and bars. These guys can also fill your tank and usually do it for less. I found one of these guys that did it for $8 a pop!! But, you had to catch him at his fill station at about 8:00am on certain days -- if he was even there -- to get a fill. Too inconvenient for me so I pay American Fire $11 for fills.

Good luck.

Jody.

 

[Poser]

Jody,

My comment was about the availability of nitrogen, vs. CO2, saying that I have found nitrogen everyplace that I have found CO2. Not that I could not find a place to procure the products.

Thanks tho...

 

[Bobsbash]

I use nitrogen myself. The welding shop I go to has both co2 and nitrogen readily available for around the same price. The setup cost initially was the around the same price also. The main reason I went with nitrogen is I also offroad race and the truck uses nitrogen filled shocks. When you fill the tires up co2 expand and contracts alot more than nitrogen. I believe for every 17 degrees of temperature change there is a 1psi change with co2. Not a big deal for offroading but if you race street that can end up being a big issue. Also with a co2 tank it needs to stand upright but with nitrogen the tank can be laid down. Just my 2 cents.

 

[hammerhead]

I also have the nitrogen instead of Co2 for similar reasons. Been racing motorcycles most of my life and use the nitrogen in shocks. In a pinch I've used it for tires, air tools and even blown a carb out trackside.