Following on from my air rifle thread, many modern rifles use air bottles instead of springs to propel the pellet along. Most people fill these from a tank that is filled at a dive centre or similar. You can buy stirrup pumps for the same job but I was wondering if there was a low cost electric pump that could handle 230bar (yes, about 3,000 psi)
There are (were?) a couple sources for small pump units that would eventually fill a divers air bottle off wall current. I have not been following the SCUBA diving magazines for some years, and that is where I saw them. I do not recall even if they were capable of 3K psi or if they topped out at 2600.
Slightly larger than that and you are looking at an investment of several thousand dollars to be free of the local dive shop. There was mention a while back on an American airgun forum that revolved around a deal that one of the posters had made for some surplus, gasoline powered (IIRC), compressors that would reach the pressures required.
Many of the purchasers were buying them because they could not access a dive shop, or the dive shops would not sell them air without a valid dive certification, among other things. They were still in the same price range as a well kitted out, top of the line PCP rifle.
Breathing air grade compressors are pricey, and there is little call for those kinds of pressures outside of breathing air use.
Some good replies there, thanks gents. I thought that since you could get those tiny compressors that will pump up your car tyres in about a week, something similar might be possible for this application - powerful but takes an age (I take the point about the breathing air grade)... might do some research into the stirrup pump idea!!
Anyone remember offhand what old citroen hydraulics runs at? 2000 psi comes to mind. Take an accumulator sphere, use the gas side for your air and compress it with the positive displacement hydraulics pump, adapting the citroen plumbing? I expect a 1 HP motor would drive it. It goes without saying that there is quite a lot of stored energy there if something goes wrong.
I have a friend who just uses an industrial gas bottle to do his ..not sure if it's air or co2...but a 4 foot high bottle will last for a couple of years . see your friendly pub landlord :) barring that it's =A32500 for a scuba bottle compressor.
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