Refilling compressed air containers

[Axtman]

I go through a lot of compressed air cans. I use them as compressed air and upside down as freeze spray.

I have a small "pancake" compressor, but it is too noisy and I have to drag it out of the workshop, hook it up, wait for it to come up to pressure, then reverse the process. It sometimes is also to powerful (I have blown a hole in a vintage speaker.). I will use the compressor outside for a big dusting of the inside of a dusty cabinet. It is just so convience to grab a spray can for small quick jobs. That said, it is getting expensive.

Has anyone tried refilling these cans?

[Pixel]

I think you are out of luck if you want freeze spray, you need a phase change from liquid to gas to get the cooling.

I picked up an auxiliary air tank for my little air compressor so I could do spray painting. It is handy for other things like topping up the tires on the car too. Holds air for a long time if I actually shut the valve. You can adjust the pressure with a regulator.

[g1]

I think J M Fahey posted about refilling cans before. You just need to add a bicycle/auto style valve and be careful not to blow the can up.
https://music-electronics-forum.com/...367#post766367

[Helmholtz]

I think J M Fahey posted about refilling cans before. You just need to add a bicycle/auto style valve and be careful not to blow the can up.
https://music-electronics-forum.com/...367#post766367

Did you try to refill cans?
It seems impossible to liquefy air with a compressor at room temperature.
Air is mostly nitrogen which liquefies below -196°C.
As long as the gas is not liquefied you can't store much in a small volume (non-expansive) container. Available pressure will drop with each shot.
AFAIK, the gas in "Compressed Air" cans often is a mixture of butane and propane which easily liquefy (but are flammable).

[tedmich]

As Helmholtz stated, you have to have a phase change to have appreciable gas volume in a can. The "re-chargable spray cans" you can buy hold about 90psi air max and this will spray for 30 sec, or a bit longer if its carrying a liquid charge. Real gas sprays like CRC dust off is 100% R134a refrigerant which is liquid but vaporizes easily at room temp/pressure and is also very cold.

A small compressor does a good job spraying air, if you can deal with the noise, oil content etc.

[mozz]

You can buy usb powered air dusters. Whether they are actually powerful enough to do anything, i have no idea.

[g1]

As long as the gas is not liquefied you can't store much in a small volume (non-expansive) container. Available pressure will drop with each shot.

That is correct, I did not mean to imply the refilled can would give anywhere near the same amount of air as the original charge.

You can buy usb powered air dusters. Whether they are actually powerful enough to do anything, i have no idea.

I have a little nozzle that hooks up to a small CO2 cannister like used for air rifles. It does not have much oomph. I would think the usb powered would be similar.