Medical oxygen cylinders for on-board air?

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Timpanogos Slim

Timpanogos Slim

10 Year
Joined
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Location
Orem, UT
Anybody try these? The 'E' size is only 4.5" outer diameter so i wonder if i could put a whole bunch of them above the spare tire.

of course I'd have to find them cheap.

I hear they typically have a 1/2" or 3/8" NPT thread on the neck, so all I'd have to do is remove and throw away the original regulators, then make a manifold out of brass fittings.

No water drains so i would have to run a water separator and then a dryer between the compressor and the tanks. OTOH aluminum doesn't rust.

They are rated for 130 bar, so 120psi OBA is no sweat for 'em.
 
Timpanogos Slim said:
Anybody try these? The 'E' size is only 4.5" outer diameter so i wonder if i could put a whole bunch of them above the spare tire.

of course I'd have to find them cheap.

I hear they typically have a 1/2" or 3/8" NPT thread on the neck, so all I'd have to do is remove and throw away the original regulators, then make a manifold out of brass fittings.

No water drains so i would have to run a water separator and then a dryer between the compressor and the tanks. OTOH aluminum doesn't rust.

They are rated for 130 bar, so 120psi OBA is no sweat for 'em.
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I don't see why not. I have been collecting old cylinders to make some air system eventually, also for oil fillers and what not.
 
Good idea. I have an old CO2 cylinder from a rescue raft that I planned on using for the same purpose but it has a very odd size fitting that I have yet to figure out. Might have to go the same route as you.
 
Medical oxygen cylinders are normally filled to 2000 psi, so they should be fine for straight air up to the same pressure. Because of the critical nature of medical oxygen you will find that very few regulators fit these tank valves, however any oxygen regulator that has a DISS fitting automatically reduces outflow pressure at the fitting to 50psi. Never thought of using old O2 cylinders this way, and I don't know how you'd fill them using the standard O2 fill port. I'm using an old SCBA tank from a firefighting air pack on my rig, but it does not last but one fill-up. I almost think the tank threads on the O2 bottles are left hand threads but I might be thinking of the regulator connections on the larger H-size tanks. By the way, you can get brand new aluminum E-size O2 cylinders for about $100. D-size ones(smaller) run about $80, and I bet used ones on e-bay are probably way less than that. Hope this helps.
 
If you look real hard, the new ones are aluminum, weigh just about nothing compared to the old iron ones.
They are exactly the same size, just more user friendly, and they won't rust for you east coast rust bunnies.
 
yotaslave said:
Good idea. I have an old CO2 cylinder from a rescue raft that I planned on using for the same purpose but it has a very odd size fitting that I have yet to figure out. Might have to go the same route as you.
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co2 is usually cga320. but you probably knew that. if that tank is new enough to be hydro tested (well, ultrasonically tested) it might be worth more to some homebrewer, if it can be fitted with the standard cga320 or has it already.

artech said:
Medical oxygen cylinders are normally filled to 2000 psi, so they should be fine for straight air up to the same pressure. Because of the critical nature of medical oxygen you will find that very few regulators fit these tank valves, however any oxygen regulator that has a DISS fitting automatically reduces outflow pressure at the fitting to 50psi. Never thought of using old O2 cylinders this way, and I don't know how you'd fill them using the standard O2 fill port. I'm using an old SCBA tank from a firefighting air pack on my rig, but it does not last but one fill-up. I almost think the tank threads on the O2 bottles are left hand threads but I might be thinking of the regulator connections on the larger H-size tanks. By the way, you can get brand new aluminum E-size O2 cylinders for about $100. D-size ones(smaller) run about $80, and I bet used ones on e-bay are probably way less than that. Hope this helps.
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Yeah i have no intention of trying to use an o2 regulator. I would clamp it in a vise and completely extract the original fitting, then install an NPT nipple. i hear tell they are NPT, not sure if they are reverse thread, but these things can be purchased anyway.
 
I don't see the point since a "normal" 5 gallon tank will run around $40 and will have the right fitting already. E cylinders (the 2-feet tall oxygen tanks) hold like 1.2 gallons.
 
Where do i put the 5 gallon tank?

. :Sent by pneumatic tubes
 
O2 tanks can take way more pressure than the regular air tanks too, so the small size holds a surprising amount of air if you can squeeze it in there.

http://www.truckspring.com/Search.aspx?p=-tank&a=Manufacturer:Sloan

I was thinking of trying one of these underneath where my spare tire crossmember used to be. I'd like to convert the air conditioner compressor over to an air compressor for oba too, but that's down the road. I saw one rig on here that had small air tanks mounted on the roof rack to run a big air horn, that was kinda cool...
 
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nukegoat said:
I don't see the point since a "normal" 5 gallon tank will run around $40 and will have the right fitting already. E cylinders (the 2-feet tall oxygen tanks) hold like 1.2 gallons.
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The cheap five gallon cylinder's are limited to ~135 PSI - which is what? 45 gallons of air? I don't know how big the E cylinders are, but if they hold 1.2 gallons at atmospheric pressure, then at 2000PSI they hold 165 gallons?

Someone better versed in Boyle's law could give the correct #s...point is the smaller tank at higher PSI will hold significantly more air than the 135psi limited five gallon tanks. In addition to being smaller - and more dangerous. :)
 
tirewater said:
The cheap five gallon cylinder's are limited to ~135 PSI - which is what? 45 gallons of air? I don't know how big the E cylinders are, but if they hold 1.2 gallons at atmospheric pressure, then at 2000PSI they hold 165 gallons?

Someone better versed in Boyle's law could give the correct #s...point is the smaller tank at higher PSI will hold significantly more air than the 135psi limited five gallon tanks. In addition to being smaller - and more dangerous. :)
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Yeah but where do i get a 12v 100% duty cycle compressor that will do more than about 120psi?

I've considered OBA a few times but have never been happy with tank mounting options. Maybe with a body lift i could stick a 5 gallon pancake above the frame in the rear driver's side corner, where the tailpipe isn't on 93-on. Short of a rear bumper with swing-outs the spare is going to stay where it is.

the E size o2 cylinders appealed to me because they are skinny and available. I realize i would want half a dozen of them, which is a pricing concern.
 
It's about the potential right? :) 2000psi in 6 or so tanks may last you a year? Once a year go to the local airgas & fill them up. Although I wouldn't want 6 2k psi air tanks positioned all around my body in case of a wreck. :)

Timpanogos Slim said:
Yeah but where do i get a 12v 100% duty cycle compressor that will do more than about 120psi?

I've considered OBA a few times but have never been happy with tank mounting options. Maybe with a body lift i could stick a 5 gallon pancake above the frame in the rear driver's side corner, where the tailpipe isn't on 93-on. Short of a rear bumper with swing-outs the spare is going to stay where it is.

the E size o2 cylinders appealed to me because they are skinny and available. I realize i would want half a dozen of them, which is a pricing concern.
Click to expand...
 
tirewater said:
It's about the potential right? :) 2000psi in 6 or so tanks may last you a year? Once a year go to the local airgas & fill them up. Although I wouldn't want 6 2k psi air tanks positioned all around my body in case of a wreck. :)
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hm, what psi are folks getting in scuba and paint ball tanks that are specified for regular old atmosphere?
 
Don't know about scuba tanks but the tanks firefighters wear run either 2200 psi or 4500 psi, and they even have a new one that has 5500 psi. Those tanks can take some real abuse too, I've seen some get the s*** beat out of them and they didn't fail. Of course, if the valve fitting gets sheared off you are in for quite the ride!
 
I think the beating a 190lb person can put on them is a lot less than a 6000lb truck dropping down on them. It's possible you will never have an issue but I don't want to be behind you when you do lol

...via IH8MUD app
 
I just figured out the answer to my slow rig...
 
But folks put 20 gallons of gasoline on a swingout without a second thought? That's about 20 sticks of dynamite worth of BOOM right there, even more if it vaporizes before it ignites.

Can't worry about everything man. You'd never leave the house(although you're actually 10 times more likely to be injured in your house than outside it...just sayin'...;) )
 
Timpanogos Slim said:
Where do i put the 5 gallon tank?

. :Sent by pneumatic tubes
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I'd put it in front of the fuel tank, behind the transfer case crossmember, to the side of the transfer case. Easy enough to protect and access.
 
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