Track pumps and Co2 inflators

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golf45
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Sat Apr 10, 2021 6:14 pm

Hi i am new to this great site. Been launching golf balls and other projectiles for years now by other means other than air and have got back into pneumatics again, so i have quite a few questions to ask. As a safety rule myself i only deal with metal valving piping and pressure chambers , as i am a bit wary about plastic exploding in the face etc.
At the moment i have made a nice qev valve operated golf launcher with a 12" tube and 1kg pressure chamber, pumps up fine to 100psi but my only problem is finding a snug fit bore. I have at the moment about 1mm play in the metal tub i found which gives about 50 yards range but by cutting short 40mm plastic tubing about 25 mm long and lathing a step on the ball and super gluing together which turns it into a self sealing shuttle cock, it improves range considerably . At 200 psi it really flys which i am satisfied for this size design.
Hopefully i can use this design for launching line for tree work.
My only problem is pressuring the chamber, yes i can use a compressor but thats not portable or flexible for remote areas to use, at the moment i can get up to 110 psi with a cheap track pump and then finish it off to 200 psi with a airgun pump which takes a lot of effort. I have looked at some of the posts under search about track pumps but they are old topics, and technology has moved on so i am wondering what you guys use-as of 2021. What i would like is a track pump that can at least pump to 300psi max. I don't want to use a airgun pump as they take ages just to get to 50psi let alone 200psi unless mine is broken. A track pump seems to be much less pumps and effort. Anyone seen a good track pump on the market to-date, i did see a pump called a Jobsworth vortex but it looks discontinued, are there other and better but not in the airgun class.
There is an alternative but a bit costly and that is using a Co2 inflator. What do they charge up to and how many charges of 100psi can i get out of a Co2 cylinder, any of you use them, don't know that much about them.
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Moonbogg
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Sun Apr 11, 2021 8:48 pm

If it were me, I'd go with an HPA tank, either a SCUBA tank or a large paintball air tank. That's the problem with pneumatics and even higher mix hybrids: you gotta get an air supply out to your shooting area. I use low mix hybrids and a regular bike pump. In your situation I'd go with HPA because I don't think you can avoid doing a lot of annoying pumping with pressures like that. Even with a medium sized 3x hybrid, there is a lot of pumping from a bike pump but it's manageable because the air pressures are low. 200psi pneumatic? Forget it. Go with HPA.
golf45
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Thu Apr 15, 2021 4:24 pm

Air tanks are the best bet but my air cylinders are heavy dive cylinders for my airguns so a bit of a lump to carry about. I was thinking of a small12 volt car compressor to carry but i don't think you can get to 200psi at the most.
I did have a try with a Co2 bike pump cylinder but it was useless . I think a will stick to a track bike pump at least its light to carry, bit like swings and roundabout with these pumps as i read some pumps don't take that many pumps to get up to 100 psi, anyone recommend a certain type and make they use.
golf45
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Wed Apr 28, 2021 5:58 pm

I have a dive pony or buddy bottle about .6 in size, i was wondering how many 200psi fills i can get out of it, may be worth the effort to get it up and running.
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jackssmirkingrevenge
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Sun May 02, 2021 7:18 am

Welcome to the forum!
golf45 wrote:
Sat Apr 10, 2021 6:14 pm
There is an alternative but a bit costly and that is using a Co2 inflator. What do they charge up to and how many charges of 100psi can i get out of a Co2 cylinder, any of you use them, don't know that much about them.
Here is a useful chart from the spudfiles wiki:

Image

Basically if you have chamber 2 inches in diameter and 8 inches long, you will get 1 x 200 psi fill from a 12 gram cartridge.

Other things to consider are that CO2 is very temperature sensitive, here is a little chart:

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As you can see, you will have about double the pressure at 30 degrees Celsius compared to 5 degrees.

Also, CO2 is denser than air, and therefore it will tend to give lower velocity for the same pressure compared to air.

A good track pump is probably your best bet, something decent like a higher end Beto pump:

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