What is the optimal mounting for a co2 tank? Level ? / regulator pointing up? / regulator pointing down ? Pointing = a slight angle, not straight up & down. Tom
I always add a Siphon Tube to mine facing the Over pressure nut so I know where it is and just make sure that is straight up and bottle can go flat had no problems even after she sunk []
The optimal mounting depends on what you CAN do. In an absolutely ideal situation, the bottle would have a significant amount of up-angle on the bottle, an anti-siphon tube, and a number of other enhancements. In the real world, however, that is not always possible. Here's an example. In the Viribus Unitis-class dreadnoughts that I'm building, I can only get a few degrees of up-angle on the CO2 bottle. There just isn't enough height for a sufficient amount of up-angle for that to be the only safety feature I use. To complement the few degrees of up-angle, I'm using a 90-degree ASA (cut-off duckbill) to mount my regulator next to my bottle, rather than on top of it. Asides from the ASA, I'm using standard plumbing parts to mount the regulator. It looks kinda like this: ***regulator * * **giant20ozCO2bottle instead of this: regulator***giant20ozCO2bottle With the 90-degree ASA setup, I can then rotate the regulator to be physically above almost the entire bottle, giving me similar (but not quite as good) effects to a better angle on the bottle. Furthermore, I can mount the regulator really far from the bottle, turning the pipe in between into an expansion chamber, to reduce the chances of freezing. Orientation-wise and location-wise, you need to keep in mind that your liquid CO2 is going to disappear over time. This basically dictates a centerline mount (unless you've got a REALLY good reason not to). After that, you need to consider where along the length of the boat you want the bottle to go. In Big Gun, the traditional location is amidships, with batteries on either side. I'm not sure about Fast Gun, but I've seen a few boats with bottles in the bow. Keep in mind, however, that a bow-mounted bottle will change your ballasting over time as it empties. For mounting, I've seen a number of techniques tried. From velcro straps to various cradles to carefully balancing it on top of other components, you've got lots of options. My personal favorite is a small, half-circle cradle that supports the neck of the bottle, and some form of support in the back to prevent its shifting side-to-side. In my VUs, right now I think the water channel itself will do the trick. Should that prove insufficient, I will add heavy-duty velcro in critical areas to lock it down. Should my ship demonstrate a habit of capsizing upon sinking, I will add to the half-circle cradle a top that will prevent the bottle from falling out when upside-down. Does this answer your question?
yes most but not all as in most things in this hobby are built and not purchased and we all have our own ideas but a lot are in the bow erea as for the weight change it dosent matter much because for the most part the weight of the CO2 is replaced by water at that point in the fight []
I mostly use the reg and bottle in line in the bow. MOst times the bottle end is in the bow as far as it will go without touching the armor shield. I've a wide variety of mounts and most already listed here already. When I used Warspite it was carrying a 7oz bottle and I found it made it nose heavy. Though in battle it kept the quarterdeck from being swamped when the ship was flooding. If your ship is trimmed evenly and it can handle a little bit of nose weight, it won't hamper your ship's performance as the gas is used up quickly and the weight changes. In Bismarck I had a 20z on the stbd side and a 12v 7amp battery on the stbd side. Full charge the ship was stbd heavy but as the battle progressed it balanced out evenly. One time I had a huge ram hole in the stbd bow that penetrated below the waterline. I vented the bottle to empty and it was enough to raise the hole above the surface and my small pump was able to handle the rest. Warspite and another Allie ship pursued Bismarck for a good 5 minutes before the ship was brought in.
I I always plan my builds around using two circuits for O2. I like the symmetry and the redundancy of having two bottles in my boats. You pay a little in weight but you have less chance of losing pressure due to freezing and you will never lose ALL your guns if there is a leek. I own 6 ships and all have duel circuits except one class 4 and a class 2. This is a hobby that has a high price if your systems don’t work. (Wet shorts) I pick performance over convince every time.
