Portable air?

[flyer615]

Okay gang. I know that some of you have used cans of compressed air before. I also know that it's not really a good substitute for an air compressor. Recently, however, I have come across a different was of using CO2. I'm sure some of you are familiar with paintball and its weaponry. Well, the Kobalt company has come up with a way to use the refillable co2 canisters from paintball guns. These are 20 oz. with around 1200 - 1500 lbs. of pressure (they also make a 9 oz. tank). My question is: If I'm thinking about doing some "walk around" temp tattoos, how long might a tank of this kinda stuff last?

Here is the link to it. Click me, click me. (http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=166441-61735-J-6901-100&lpage=none) Tell me what you think.

Edit: They claim up to 1500 shots from a nail gun.

Ken

[shawnsairbrush]

Flyer I do the tats with a scuba tank filled with air and it will last about a day and a half.

[Full Blast]

Wow thats a cool lil cylander!.... DOnt know how long it would last though.

[flyer615]

I was just thinking that, if they held up for awhile, they would be perfect for a sporting event or several hours at a festival. I think it costs about 3 bucks to get a 20 oz tank filled (that's a 9 oz in the ad). It would sorta make a walk-about tattoo set-up. At the very least, it would mean that there would be less stuff to haul around.

[kontraktkillah]

Ok you may and I stress may get maybe 1.5 to 2.0 hours out of a 20 oz cylinder. If you decided to go that route. #1 the bottle needs to be upright at all times or a ton of moisture will escape into your equipment. UNLESS you have a Anti-Siphon tube installed into the cylinder then it can lay on its side and no moisture will escape. Most paintball shops should be able to install the Anti-siphon tube. I used to have them installed into my CO2 tanks Untill I converted to compressed air years ago.

[BR@VO]

I have seen those too and wondered about using them for a portable set up? Kinda pricey though when you can get a paint ball marker tank that is bigger for about the same money

[Stang]

I got a CO2 tank from the beer guy. I think it cost $15 to refill it. I've never used it though so I don't know how long it lasts. I bring it along in case my compressor breaks down. Nothin worse then a line of kids wanting to give ya money and the compressor shuts down. We had electrical problems in FLA and I didn't have it with. Lost about $200.

[flyer615]

Well, here's what I'm thinking. It's Friday night. There's a 3-hour football game on the home field. Our local high school games pull in about 2 thousand folks (three to four for the local rivalry). This unit attaches to your belt (regulator, tank, and all). Either set up a small table OR just walk around with it. I could paint a t-shirt with prices and example tat's for the 8-10 that I would offer for the game. I believe 8-10 tat's that would apply to the school would be sufficient (letters, mascot, etc.). I would expect about 50 to 100 customers @ $3.00 for one color and 5-7 for two. I'm just not sure how long the pressure would hold up. I guess the only way to know for sure is to let go of a little cash and find out. :mixed-smiley-020:

[Stang]

Sounds like a good idea. I seen a guy that had a little rolling toolbox that everything fit in. Pop the top and whalla, you're ready for business. Not sure about the prices. Might reel em in with $3 but I would just do a straight up $5 so you aren't messin with change as much, and offer any and as many colors as they want. JMO

[BR@VO]

Depending on the hook up on the reg. you might be able to use larger paint ball containers? I need to go to lowes and check out the hook up

[flyer615]

Depending on the hook up on the reg. you might be able to use larger paint ball containers? I need to go to lowes and check out the hook up

I don't remember if the Lowes ad or the Kobalt website mentioned it, but one of them said that you could use the larger (20 oz.) tank. With the reinforced paintball tanks, you could run 4500 lbs of pressure. I don't know if their number of nail shot count is taking the reinforced tank into consideration. I think I'm gonna give it a try. I've got a couple of tanks left over from my son's paintball days. If I could get two or three hours per tank, I could take a couple of extras with me.

[Bahamut]

This seemed relavent to this thread also so I just copied and pasted....



The thing about CO2 that sucks is... As you draw the vaporized CO2 off the top of the tank it causes the liquid CO2 to evaporate. ANYTIME you vaporize a liquid it causes a cooling effect. It's the same principle for air conditoners, propane powered freezers and chillers. Therein lies the problem with pressure stability from CO2. As you draw from the tank the liquid vaporization causes some of the liquid to freeze (dry ice). If you draw enough volume from the tank the vaporization process cannot catch up with the freezing and this causes a drop in pressure and causes the tank to sweat further hindering the process. As the CO2 being drawn gets closer and closer to the freezing point you eventually end up drawing a small amount of liquid CO2 into the line. This cause a ton of havoc. Condensation in the mixing chamber of your AB is probably the biggest problem. Along with frozen paint and pigment separation. Bottom line... If you're using CO2 you need to use a big enough tank to compensate for the phase change occouring in the tank. A little 5 LB CO2 canister is NOT big enough to support AB. You need to think about at least a 50 Lb tank.

I'm just saying... The more volume of air you draw out of the tank the faster it will freeze on you. With an AB 20 Lb is prob good enuf to overcome the phase change stage. You just need to balance use with time for the tank to recover. Those little CO2 belt thingys are usually used for portable nailers and the like. They use small bursts of CO2 at a time. I think if you strap an AB on it it will work alright for temp tattoos, so long as you don't use it for more than like 30 or 40 sec at a crack. IF you do then the CO2 could possibly be a bit uncomfortable for the person being tattooed, and also you might start having presssure problems.

[sweet loretta]

I know guys you do the walk around sales -

20 oz seems pretty small for or sure - maybe - 1.5 hours.

For tats generally (and there is always and + and - here)

5lbs = 3 hrs
10lbs = 16 hrs
20lbs = 35 hrs