nitrogen vs c02

[twoslo4five0]

ok some one school me on nitrogen..here is the deal

my air shocks run on nitrogen.i was gonna get a c02 tank for my tires (no im not hooking a york up) but after thinking about it im gonna need to carry nitrogen to tune my shocks on the trail so why not run nitrogen in my tires.i know its a better gas but i do have a few questions

1.cost vs. c02
2.pressure-how much psi does it produce vs c02
3.advantages vs. c02
4.how many fill ups can you get out of 1 tanks vs c02

it just seems to me it will be alot easier to carry 1 tank insted of 2 seeing as how my frame is already shortened and im carring 2 propane tanks now and a large toolbox...im running out of space

 

[4X4HIGH]

All i know is that nitrogen is ALOT drier than C02 and also alot more dense which is why the air pressure is alot more stable for way longer periods of time.

 

[Avery4jc]

I've been doing quite a bit of reading on air shocks lately since that's the plan for the rear of the k10 down the road... I understand they take some fine tuning to get setup properly but do you really anticipate trail tuning?

A setup for the rocks, one for street, maybe even one for mud and sand but I just don't see having to tune as you go along the trail.

That being said I don't have answers to your nitrogen questions but I've seen plenty of guys running around town with it in the bed of their bagged trucks before they get their regular OBA setup and they seem to be pretty happy.

 

[jms]

CO2 turns into a liquid when compressed. Out of the same size cylinder, you'll get more volume (i.e. tire fill-ups) out of compressed CO2 than compressed N2 because of the higher density of the liquid CO2 compared to the gaseous N2.

N2 is pretty much inert at ambient temp. CO2 can react with water to form Carbonic acid. It's a weak acid - will it harm anything? I don't know.

Can't comment on $. How many times will you need to adjust those shocks? For tires on a trail rig, N2 doesn't seem to make much sense.

 

[mrk5]

From the little bit of research I've done, N2 is cheaper to refill but the regulator is more expensive. The only regulator for N2 I've seen is like the style you'd used with a cutting torch that has the 2 gauges and the T valve. The price I found was about $90. You can get a fixed CO2 regulator for around $40. I think it would take several refills before the cheaper refill made up the $50 difference.

 

[jms]

A 2-stage regulator for CO2 doesn't help matters much since the pressure in the gas phase above the liquid in the tank (i.e. what the first-stage gauge is reading) is constant (some 800 psi IIRC) no matter how much liquid is in there. So it doesn't help to read how full/empty the tank is. By the time that pressure drops, it means there's no more liquid in the tank, and you're done anyways.

To figure out how much CO2 is left, you best weigh the tank. CO2 is fast, works well if you have enough, and in a pinch could even be used to ice down an injury on the trail.

I've used CO2 for a few years, but recently went back to an air compressor because in my situation organizing the fillups had become a hassle.