This is a modern scuba tank that has been used only twice in two years and has been certified. Is there a difference in the capacity, strength and integrity of the two?
Can you run CO2 in a scuba tank?

Javy,

One other thing to consider is what happens if driving you accidentally rip/break the end of the co2/scuba tank?

With C02, since it's a liquid, it will simply evaporate slowly. With a scuba tank you've just fire a russian roulette mechanism.

Today, you can buy a C02 Tank and regulator for about $110-130 (used but still certified/inspected). This is a non-powertank unit. You simply buy it directly from the beverage supplier.

You can easily get it filled at a bevarage supplier (I go to Carbonic in Santa Clara) for about $9.00 a fill.

As noted you can run Air tools, etc. If I recall correctly a 10lb CO2 system will fill ~30 tires from 15-30psi.

This is starting to not make sense.

A 5 lb co2 bottle has an average charge of 1200 psi.
With a floodable volume of probably around 20 cubic feet.

An 80 cubic foot scuba bottle had an average charge of 3000 psi.
A scuba bottle has four times as much gas.

It would seem logical that the scuba bottle could fill four times as many tires. Either bottle gets a pressure reduction to around 100 psi which turns it into shop air.

Of course the higher the pressure increases the inherent risk but, pressure is pressure it doesn't matter if it's a gas or a liquid it has the same energy.

OK sea story,
We had a kid drop a full scuba bottle off the back of a pick up on the highway, that thing bounced like crazy(we were right behind them peeing our pants) that ended it's service life but it didn't rupture.

OKRED,

There is more co2 because you are dealing with a compressed liquid versus a compressed gas. As you use the co2 you draw co2 vapor (gas what ever you want to call it) from the head of the tank. As you use more of the gas more liquid co2 forms co2 gas. The co2 will remain a constant pressure until you are almost totally out of co2.

A 5lb co2 tank is a lot smaller than a scuba tank right, so your break down might be correct there, but if you get a co2 tank that is closer to the size of a scuba tank, a 20lb maybe, you will be able to get more uses out of it than the scuba tank. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

That makes sense,I forgot it was a liquid.
I know the thing lasts forever, I have a 5 lb in my kegerator and it's been through quite a few kegs, but that's at 10 psi.

I don't know where you got this information Ray, but it is completely wrong. If you would happen to break a CO2 tank, it would be like an explosion inside the vehicle. The tank is under tremendous pressure and if it breaks, all that pressure is coming out like an explosion.
And CO2 is used for fire extinguishers for a reason, it sucks all the oxygen out of the immediate area. So, it would suck all the O2 out of the vehicle in a second.
Of course it is highly unlikely that you would "break open" a CO2 tank. But, in an accident, it is quite possible that you could knock the valve body off the tank. This will turn the CO2 tank into a missle unless it is secured VERY, VERY well. If not secured, it could very well kill you.

I'll second lees CO2 missle idea. I saw it happen back in 94-95 at a paintball field, dropped out the back of a truck, valve hit the tailgate. Just becareful when you load/unload and strap that sucker to something. Only thing you have to worry about once its upright is the burst disk going and releasing gas.

I don't know about sucking the O2, displacing the O2 definetely, either way not a pretty picture.

Here's what a CO2 tank can do:

Powertank Chart

But my question: Can you fill a scuba tank with CO2? and as for Mounting I am planing on mounting it outside of the car, sideways on the back of the roof basket that I will be installing. Can you mount the tank and use it while sideways?