hey GW for the life of me i cant find 3/4 valve for a 50#. can you point me in the right direction or they only available on 100#?
Refrigerant recovery cylinders
- Thread starter Trichgnomes
- Start date
hey GW for the life of me i cant find 3/4 valve for a 50#. can you point me in the right direction or they only available on 100#?
GratefulOne
Member
Before you buy a new valve make sure you can get the old one out. There is a special wrench made for it. The factory sealant will make it very difficult if not impossible. I have had some success removing factory sealed plugs and valves using large air driven 3/4" impact wrenches and lots of heat. I have also had ones I could never get out.
You can pay a service to switch them out as well. At the end buying a 100 tank with a drain is probably easier.
You can pay a service to switch them out as well. At the end buying a 100 tank with a drain is probably easier.
WW builds commercial units and only uses only the 100# tanks.
You could have a valve replaced on a 50# tank, after vacuuming out and back filling with nitrogen, before using a propane torch to heat the joint and soften the thread sealant.
I dont know why i didnt think of that. Spent so long yesterday getting a valve off lol.
GratefulOne
Member
The sealants used on valves and plugs are often designed to require heat for removal.
shortwave360
Member
The 50 lb MasterCool tank I just bought seems to have a limitless amount of debris in it. Tiny grains of black silt keep showing up during the rinses. There seems to be no end to it and it has me wanting to switch to a larger/better SS tank.
BrainChild
Member
^Hey that sucks, but thanks for sharing. Did you buy the tank brand new? Why do you think a larger tank would be better?
I'm using my 6" welded base spool tank with no problems yet. I've had the time of my life putting this lil system together and learning to run it. I've learned so much...I think a lot of you more mechanically inclined folks would have no problem putting together a SS tank that was safe. You can get hemispherical lids with dip tubes now.
I'm using my 6" welded base spool tank with no problems yet. I've had the time of my life putting this lil system together and learning to run it. I've learned so much...I think a lot of you more mechanically inclined folks would have no problem putting together a SS tank that was safe. You can get hemispherical lids with dip tubes now.
GratefulOne
Member
Hemispherical lids don't really matter for Tri-Clamp systems. The flat lids hold more pressure than the Tri-Clamp connections. Tri-Clamp systems don't meet standards for storage or transport.
shortwave360
Member
The tank was bought new from Amazon.
From my understanding the larger surface area of liquid/cold butane helps condense the recovering butane back into the tank and helps speed the process up. I wouldn't know if it actually works yet though! lol
We looked at the spool style and have been discussing it a lot with my partner. We had a tough time deciding when we bought the current 50lb unit. Cost was really the factor that lead us to where we are now. We've been weighing our budget more on efficiency of the dollar spent and have been reminded that budget options sometimes don't save money but end up costing.
shortwave360
Member
At this point everything we do is modeled after the WA I-502 regulations. I have a feeling the fire marshal would have caught that pretty quick. We were looking at the DOT style tanks that seem way out reach at the moment.
Have you heard if there is any validity that the Manchester tanks are better in terms of quality and cleanliness? Is it really just a crap shoot if you end up with a lot manufacturing debris?
http://www.mantank.com/products/refrigerantcylinders.htm
GratefulOne
Member
I can't speak to quality or cleanliness. I can say for sure the Robinaire tanks are made by Manchester. Don't think they are any better since they cost more.
BrainChild
Member
I've got a new 30# Manchester tank on the way from century tool, good to hear most y'all don't have any problems. My 6" spool tank holds has been around 10-15 psi after burping all that gas, and hasn't leaked...but for long term storage and topping off for runs hard to deny the benefit of a legit tank. Hard to believe there isn't a stainless option available.
justintime420
Active member
A few companies like best value vac are now making the stainless recovery tanks.
BrainChild
Member
^yep, they're $700, and that's for preorder. Doesn't ship til 6-12-15. Anybody getting one? Or have a cheaper source?
The specs are said to include:
"304 Grade Stainless Steel 30LB welded tank with a Tare weight of 16Lbs. It will hold 18Lbs of Solvent. Includes a 3" H.P. triclamp with a vapor port, liquid port, pressure gauge and 400psi blow off valve."
They seem to be anticipating selling a lot of these...what do you guys think?
The specs are said to include:
"304 Grade Stainless Steel 30LB welded tank with a Tare weight of 16Lbs. It will hold 18Lbs of Solvent. Includes a 3" H.P. triclamp with a vapor port, liquid port, pressure gauge and 400psi blow off valve."
They seem to be anticipating selling a lot of these...what do you guys think?
I predict that they are right about a stainless 30# refrigerant tank, but a 50# and 100# tank would cover more of the market.
Yes I need a 100 # tank hope they will offer one soon
I've picked up 3-50lb mastercool tanks over the last few months. 2 of which were pretty nasty. 1 has what sounds like solids inside that you can hear when you flip the tank around. I'd assume it's rust, as that's what most of these tanks are contaminated with. The other also had minor particulates inside as they too were audible when the tank was flipped back and forth. That tank however did come relatively clean through the course of "washing" it with several pounds of tane several times, so much so that the solids can no longer be heard or felt when shaking.
The 2-30lb tanks I've had were much cleaner and didn't have any of these issue's.
In any event stainless tanks, that are cleanable seem like the only viable option here.
Anybody have any further insight as to how to properly clean these standard refrigerant tanks?
The 2-30lb tanks I've had were much cleaner and didn't have any of these issue's.
In any event stainless tanks, that are cleanable seem like the only viable option here.
Anybody have any further insight as to how to properly clean these standard refrigerant tanks?
