2216/4500 psi bottles

[dmleblanc]

We are attempting to obtain a FireAct grant to purchase new SCBA's as well as a RIT pack. One of the points I'm trying to make in the narrative is that we often respond as mutual aid and therefore the grant would benefit more than one department. I was speaking to a neighboring department who last year replaced all their SCBA's (with assistance from a FEMA grant also) with new 4500's. We are still using 2216's. My questions:

-Assuming both their packs and our packs have transfill connections, is it possible to perform RIT transfills between these two packs?(Theirs are Survivair, ours will be MSA). Are the fittings universal?

-Can they do transfills to our packs safely? Is there a way to regulate their 4500 to our 2216?

-Should we maybe look into changing over to 4500's ourselves? Our compressor is capable of filling them....Any thoughts on the pros and cons of each?

Any thoughts on the subject would be appreciated....

[Bones42]

The last transfill device that I looked at was not adaptable for both 4500 and 2200. There is a minor difference in the thread count between 45's and 22's, basically to keep someone from putting a 45 on a 22 pack. It won't get a tight seal. 22's can be used on the 45's but not vice versa. I have not seen any other transfill devices so I can't comment on all of them. The one we saw was a SCOTT model.

We are also looking for a grant to replace our SCBA's - good luck.

[dmleblanc]

Thanks for the comments, Bones. I was aware that the bottle connection on 4500's was different than on 2216's. ( something about one being slightly longer, so you can't completely thread a 4500 onto a 2216 bottle). What I was wondering was if the "buddy breathing" connection (quick connect), if so equipped, was compatible. I was of the understanding that the industry was going to standardize this fitting so different departments could connect to each others' packs.

What I would like to know if if there is a way of regulating the 4500 psi to 2216 so that you could safely fill the 2216 bottle from a 4500 pack?

[sfdlt5]

First of all the thread difference between 2216s (course thread) and 4500s (fine threads) is the amount of threads. If you try to thread these different bottles on the wrong packs disaster, damaged threads and lots of dollars. The second is NFPA mandates that a rit connection be the same on all brands of air packs. I hope this helps a little asfar as hooking one pressure to another not sure.

[Rescue101]

I believe the new transfill couplers are NFPA mandated to be universal.At least in the Scott line of products the RIT pak (4500# 1 hr bottle)Will transfill a 2216.There is a pressure relief built into the valve that dumps overpressure to atmosphere.Works well if the 2216 is almost empty,will be a lot of loose air running out if you try it on a 50% or more full bottle.The theory behind this is so your Rit pak can be used at ANY fire scene.As far as going to 4500's I encourage you to "test drive"the system of your choice.I LOVE my 4.5 for the extra mobility and the small profile.T.C.