Hey guys, I just had my bottle refilled for the first time. And I had some weird observations.

-The bottle was warm. The very first time I had the bottle filled, it was cold to the touch.

-The pressure wasn't as high as it was when I first had it filled. It's around 600 psi. And this is during a regular, average temperature day in San Diego.

-Usually, I can open my bottle, then close it, and purge what nitrous was in the line. But when I tried it today, I couldn't see any nitrous come out. So I left my warmer on for a while, and then purged with the bottle open, and some nitrous finally came out.

I had some nitrous left in the bottle when I had it filled and the guy said that he was only able to put about 5lbs in there. I tried to raise the pressure with my bottle warmer but I was only able to get it up to 700 psi. Does any of this sound fishy? I don't know what the norm is seeing as this is the first time I've had it refilled. Thanks.

 

He used an almost empty bottle on your fill and you didn't get a proper 10 pounds, you got ripped, has happened to me.

I always used to request a fresh cracked bottle at the fill station and 11 pounds, it will hold it too.

I bet you got lots of air in the fill like mine did because the bottle they used was going empty and they didn't update their chart!

 

Those basturds! Is there any way for me to avoid this in the future. Could I weigh my bottle first and then take it to them and then weigh it again? What should my pressure be at if my bottle is full?

 

The pressure will vary based on temps, it really should be zero when you take it in.

Purge or drain it to zero before you go in.

Here is how my refill station works.

1. They empty and weigh your bottle on a scale
2. They purge the air out of the filling hose, you actually see and smell it come out of their hose, then they hook it up to your bottle and put it on the scale and fill it. They fill it till it is full by watching their guage not yours your bottle is closed. Then they disconnect their hose and purge it again and log on the chart how much they pumped out. This chart tracks how much is left in *their* bottle.

If the person that did the fill before you did not log the 10 or 15 pounds out of their fill bottle then they will be out of balance, this is what happened to me, but he caught it when the tank purged air. I guess if you picture the pre post purge of a BBQ propane bottle fill and logging it is similiar. I usually am about 900 lbs after I open it up after leaving in normal weather.

 

u should also look into having them "freeze" your bottle before they fill it.

i usually drop off my bottle a day or a couple of hours before i need to use it. they put it in their freezer and freeze it for an hour basically. this way while they fill it, the air wont warm up (and take up extra space) because of the warm metal of the bottle. the bottle holds more n2o and less air this way, and you get a more accurate 10lbs, specially since they do what max mentioned with purging and going by what their tank reads.

a good way to prove this "theory" is by doing the following. take an empty pop bottle at room temp. cap it, and put it in the freezer for a while. take it back out and open it, you;ll hear air being sucked into the bottle because the colder temps in the freezer make the air molecules in the bottle slow down, taking up less space. so when you open the bottle, you have higher pressure of air outside the bottle and lower pressure inside the bottle causing air to rush into the bottle to balance out the pressure. i wont bore you with any more details, we're just skimming the top here.

now look at it this way, very very cold bottle, and right when its filled (opening the cap), its n2o getting sucked into it to even out the pressure, not air. so really that bottle will hold that much more n2o just by freezing it for an hour or so.

i was in a hurry once, and didnt have time to freeze the bottle. i noticed that i ran out of nitrous earlier then the usual. also, like max said, make sure your bottle is empty when you go in for a fill. you get jipped when you only need partial fills.
peace

 

by the way, what do/did you guys pay for you bottle refills?

im getting charged $35 for a full 10lb fill including freezing the bottle which is free of charge ne way.

 

I was paying 39.00 after tax, then 15 to track, got expensive.

If you don't have purge leave your bottle open in a safe ventiltated place for awhile before going to fill don't breath it, excellent analogy! Detroit is the next 11 second N20 Z I smell it pfhhht pfhht, miss my N20

 

Well, they charge me 3.50 a pound at this place I go to. Why should I pay for a full bottle when my bottle isn't totally empty? I know now n2o goes stale in about 2-3 months but what is so bad about filling a bottle that isn't totally empty?

 

after taxes 37.10, but whats this 15 to track your talking about max?

and dont be messing with me about 11 sec detroit z. i cant handle that kind of pressure right now. im sensative man. heh.

cyber350....if your bottle isnt empty, then dont refill it. the bottle refilling is going to get a bit annoying after a while, specially when your filling it more often then you need to. theres nothing bad about filling a bottle before its empty, but you'll end up paying more in the long run. if they filled 5.x lbs, they're going to charge you for 6lbs., even if its 5.1 lbs.

might be different depending on where you fill, but the place i get mine done, they like to round up.