Parallel Tanks

[Daniel_LaFleur]

Originally Posted by AdamC

Is there a way to hook up your air tanks in parallel, as opposed to series? I understand that the benefits of wiring circuits in parallel, but I doubt it applies to air systems. I would think that the moment a failure occurs in a line that is not cut off by a solenoid, the system would immediately decompress. Any elaboration on this would be very welcome.

Because gas expands to fill the area, any leak will cause a (nearly) uniform drop in the entire system, barring restrictions within the system. Thus you are correct that any failure in the integrity of the system would depressurize the entire system.

The only advantage to a parallel tank setup could be in flow rate as there is a larger effective orifice (2 tubes rather than 1). But that would require a double setup all the way through the (2) regulators (which may be against FIRST robot rules).