Powertanks in 100's

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BBQ BOY

BBQ BOY

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Nov 26, 2008
Threads
417
Messages
3,724
Location
Charleston, SC
I am interested in seeing how if any of you have mounted a Powertank in the 100. I never really thought about getting one but when my dang breakers in my house keep tripping due to my air compressor I am strongly considering a tank. Not only for wheeling but it would be great for around the house. Power tools, bike tires and even putting it in the RV.
Anyway I will be building some drawers and have been debating wether or not to install it on top of the raised floor or cut a hole in the floor and have the tank recessed.
 
For the garage, it's not that expensive to spank in a local 220V outlet and then have a real compressor that won't blow breakers. Just a thought.
 
I asked this same question a while back and this hare are the responses I got https://forum.ih8mud.com/100-series-cruisers/502849-co2-install.html

If I had plans to build a box I would mount it on the box with a bracket or lay it flat and mount it with quick fists. Cant use it while laying flat but the fists hold it in place quite well and make it easy to remove rather than having to pull it out of a hole.

I built my own system for right at $200 filled. Here is a pic of it installed in the FJ
IMG00012.jpg


They work like a champ and cost about $20 to fill at Airgas, takes only a minute to fill and lasts a good long while. If you build your own, get a good regulator that wont freeze up, found mine on Ebay.
 
Here is mine

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I used spacers to help ensure there is no movement into the window

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Just another thing to worry about having filled before leaving on a trip. Instead of worrying about popping 120VAC breakers in the garage just use your LC as a 12VDC source to run the compressor in the driveway/garage/etc.
 
$12-15 per fill is not very much especially when one tank fill will carry me from April to November....cost of tank is the most. In the big scheme of things it is a very simple device without much that can go wrong....and I wanted the reliability and SPEED when filling tires of a tank and being able to run my impact wrench for changing tires out in trails if needed. If you get a compressor that runs very very cool.....has high enough pressure and CFM to run impact wrench on tire lugs....and fill a 34" tire from 16 to 40psi in about 1 -2 minutes per tire.....then the cost of the air compressor takes a very long time to pay for itself....and then always chance it is going to fail as there is wiring, pump, and hosing maintenance that will be required.

Not so in CO2......

Fill it in Spring one time.....and enjoy yourself. You can tell by weight on simple bath scale how low it is.

I still recommend a 5lb tank over a compressor.....like I said, mine last all summer. In ouray I filled and refilled my 34" tires every day for 5 days and also filled my friends tires a few times and a couple of other people on the trails as well to help us get on highway faster as their compressors were SLOOWWWW. If time is not an issue and will never run air tool then a good deal.

The only exception is what my buddy BMTHiker did...he has an air compressore and two tanks mounted on roof rack....the compressor keeps the tanks filled and he runs and fills off of the larger tanks rather than the compressor directly which improves its use greatly....but then that increases overall costs too.
 
I could have paid for a good 12V compressor with what I have spent on CO2 refills in the past three or four years. I'm just sayin':meh:

If cost is an issue walk, no, run away from power tank. Get a beverage regulator from the local home brew place and buy an exchange tank from the local welding place. With the money you save you can buy a can of Krylon and paint the tank to match your interior plus take the wife out for a nice dinner. While your at the welding supply place pick up a tank mounting bracket, they run around $30, compare that to PT's prices.
Here is the CO2 mounting set up in my FJ40;
DSCN0726.jpg



This is my original beverage regulator and exchange tank set-up;
Dscn1629.jpg

That tank was handy for running the brad nailer around the house but waaay to small for airing up tires.

Altogether I have less invested than a PT without regulator or brackets, even so I wish I had invested the money in a Viair set-up.
 
That is why I did not buy a Powertank...other options out there...cheaper to get a used CO2 tank from a fire extinquisher repair shop....buy your own high quality regulator and then the hose of your choice.
 
I have the Ultimate Air system which came with a mounting bracket. I attached it to my home-brew shelf a while back. Perfect fit and out of the way.
P2120009.webp
 
Before going the CO2 route, I'd suggest checking local refill prices and turn around time. Where I live, nobody does it in house, which means a trip to drop it off and a trip to pick it up. The shop that does refill in house is across a toll bridge and about $20/refill. I should've just purchased an old tank and did the exchange thing.

I would much prefer a sanden/york OBA set-up. Infinite amount of air, does not take up interior space and performance is as good as the CO2 tank.

Anybody want to buy a 10 lb CO2 set-up?
 
hoser said:
Before going the CO2 route, I'd suggest checking local refill prices and turn around time. Where I live, nobody does it in house, which means a trip to drop it off and a trip to pick it up. The shop that does refill in house is across a toll bridge and about $20/refill. I should've just purchased an old tank and did the exchange thing.

I would much prefer a sanden/york OBA set-up. Infinite amount of air, does not take up interior space and performance is as good as the CO2 tank.

Anybody want to buy a 10 lb CO2 set-up?
Click to expand...

Nope. But I'm interested more in OBA setups for a 100.. I love the york setup I've got on the 80, works awesome.

I got rid of my CO2 stuff years ago for similar reasons as stated above. Some love them, not for me.. I'll chug away on my cheap battery compressors in the mean time, clip one on each battery. :meh:
 
hoser said:
Before going the CO2 route, I'd suggest checking local refill prices and turn around time. Where I live, nobody does it in house, which means a trip to drop it off and a trip to pick it up. The shop that does refill in house is across a toll bridge and about $20/refill. I should've just purchased an old tank and did the exchange thing.

I would much prefer a sanden/york OBA set-up. Infinite amount of air, does not take up interior space and performance is as good as the CO2 tank.

Anybody want to buy a 10 lb CO2 set-up?
Click to expand...
Lucky for me the place that fills in house moved back into town and is a few blocks from work. They will do partials so I can always start a trip with a full tank.

That the other down side of exchange tanks, you eat whatever CO2 is left in the tank when you exchange. I have a 5# tank I carry as a spare so I can empty my main tank but that's one more thing to pack and find room for.

I pretty much gave up on CO2 for the 100 and use a $50 harbor freight 12V pump. The tires on the 100 are small enough it can handle it.
 
On the other side of that, there are at least 4-5 places i can go to in Baton Rouge, hand them my tank, they fill it, give it right back to me in about 5 minutes, and the prices i have had so far were
8.72 Welding supply store
14.85 Fire Extinguisher Supply Store.

BR is far from being an industrial city as well.

hoser said:
Before going the CO2 route, I'd suggest checking local refill prices and turn around time. Where I live, nobody does it in house, which means a trip to drop it off and a trip to pick it up. The shop that does refill in house is across a toll bridge and about $20/refill. I should've just purchased an old tank and did the exchange thing.

I would much prefer a sanden/york OBA set-up. Infinite amount of air, does not take up interior space and performance is as good as the CO2 tank.

Anybody want to buy a 10 lb CO2 set-up?
Click to expand...
 
I have had a hard time with refills. I run an aluminum beverage tank. 20#. One bad think about co2 is that they o blow valves in extreme heat.
 
wareagle said:
I have had a hard time with refills. I run an aluminum beverage tank. 20#. One bad think about co2 is that they o blow valves in extreme heat.
Click to expand...
You need to check your regulator, I've had mine in 100 temps all day and never had a problem.
 
Well, getting refills is a non issue for me. I own a restaurant and a Co2 company comes to my restaurant often
 
All I can offer is the CO2 is an OK casual air source for shorter trips. Fine for refilling tires and the occasional impact wrench. But it was always a hassle to get refilled...including the time the idiot that refilled it filled it with too much pressure and it popped the safety valve. That cost me $40 to get recirt'd plus another $20 to get filled again. And just one more thing to hassle about right before a trip.

I ran out of CO2 twice out on the trails. Like I said for shorter runs the CO2 is tolerable. For the longer runs we often do CO2 is just a PITA. Can't get one filled in Moab either!

So it really boils down to, just like everything else, application, application and application. For me and most of my wheeling buddies a Sanden or York is the only way to go. Unlimited high volume air supply; and you will find you use it for all sorts of things you have to deny yourself when using CO2. And you gain the precious interior space back that the CO2 tank took up...and no worries or second thoughts about CO2 purging the O in the cabin in the event of a leak or pressure relief problem.

No one that I know that now has a belt driven air pump wants to go back to CO2...me included.
 
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