2manybikes

My Air Zound is over 11 years old. Not sure how much over. It is on my tandem and has not been used all year. I filled it to 100psi and the bottle exploded. It was loud inside the garage, wow! I do know that some plastic gets brittle with age. I have no idea if this did. One ear is still not the same as it was. It was like a .38 being fired.

donnamb 

Well, nearly 12 years old seems like a good run for flimsy plastic. I hope mine lasts as long.

2manybikes

I'm guessing 90 or even 80 psi might be better as it gets old. Just a guess.
I agree, 12 years is not bad.

gbcb

Hmm.... I wonder if the sound of an Air Zound exploding is louder than the sound of an Air Zound

dwainedibbly

Go to the hardware store and look at the steel air tanks, the kind you're supposed to fill with an air compressor. They have a "no good after" date stamped on them. I had one once and I'm pretty sure that the dating was no more than 10 years in the future. (When it went out of date I took the plasma cutter & MIG welder to it and made a trashcan for the garage.) These are heavy-wall steel tanks that are designed to hold not a whole lot more pressure than the Air Zound.

I'm surprised that a plastic device like the Air Zound doesn't have a date like that, considering that when used as designed they sit out in the open, exposed to UV . The rationale for the expiration date on steel air tanks is rust on the inside from condensation. That's not an issue with plastic, but still.... These things are cheap enough that I think it would be smart to retire it a lot sooner than 12 years, especially when you consider that it sits somewhere between your legs!

Cyclaholic

It was really loud because all the zound came out at once

ItsJustMe

Can't you just use a standard soda bottle? They'll hold 100 PSI easily, though I would expect them to get degraded by UV, probably same thing happened to the original bottle.

I did some destructive testing on PETE soda bottles last year when we were shooting them as rockets with the kids. A 2 liter bottle would hold 160 PSI before blowing. I wasn't able to blow the smaller bottles, my pump would only hit about 200 PSI (it's a cheap K-mart type plastic floor pump). I did this testing outside and wore hearing protection.

slagjumper

A friend made a giant air zound like horn using a 3 liter bottle and a plastic car horn. Wow that was a loud horn. Aside from it not fitting in the water bottle cage, the seal was difficult to manage. I've never taken one apart. Does it just screw off?

kokomo61

My AirZound instructions said to fill up to 80 psi - Did it used to be higher?

NoRacer

+1 on 80 psi

2manybikes

Mine said 100. It was around 1996.
what! what? What?

richardmasoner

My old Air Zound (circa late 90s or maybe early 21st Century) was 100 psi.

That explosion must've been awesome. Did any of the neighbors call the police?

Winter76

My steel air bottle for my paintball gun was good for 6 years, 11 years from a plastic bottle is pretty good. How's your hearing today?

unixpro

If an Air Zounds explodes in the woods, will the person holding it ever be able to hear again??

Bushman

2 liter bottles are great for dry ice 'noisemakers"

yes the Air Zound gets brittle from use, as does any plastic container subjected to heat cold stress cycles. Throw in 100 psi and you quickly accelerate the stress cycle.

squeakywheel

That's a serious risk to your hearing. Maybe I won't be buying one of these.

donnamb 

Mine's about 8 months old and says 80 psi. I wonder if this is one of the reasons they changed the design...

Bikepacker67

Mine says 80 psi as well (bought early last year), but I've filled it to 100 many times.

I think you're right Donna... the lawyers made a strong recommendation.

2manybikes

I expected them to come, but nothing happened.
Not quite as good as it was.
What ? What ? If I was holding it that would have presented a new set of problems, the bottle broke into a few pieces. The good thing was, It was attached to the frame with the velcro strap around the bottle, that kept the pieces from going flying.
Must be.
Even though mine was old, it was on a bike I don't use much. Others would have more cycles on them and be exposed to more weather than mine. I suspect I was no where near the first one.


BTW...
I saw a two trumpet truck air horn mounted on a bike once. It was powered by a bicycle floor pump attached to the bike. The floor pump provided plenty of air, it worked fine. Inconvenient to use, you need to grab the pump and pull the handle, but it worked great.

Cyclaholic

not if the silent tree falls on him/her

Conveyor Belt

I always wonder about this as I'm filling mine up... does it explode with shrapnel, or just blow a hole out the side?

I_bRAD

So, was it louder than an exploding tube?

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the "recommended" pressure was 80 and the "max" pressure was 100 (80 in the instructions and 100 printed directly on the bottle-before they had the felt sleeve) Maybe that's where the discrepancy is coming from.

2manybikes

The main body of the bottle broke into a few pieces. The velcro holding it to the frame kept most of them from flying around. Up near the neck of the bottle a few small pieces took flight. There's no reason to think they will all blow up the same way. I just tried to take a picture, but there are five bikes in the way and all locked up, I'm too tired to move them all.

Yes. Did you ever fire a .38 revolver without ear protection? Don't do it, you can permanently damage your hearing. That's what it was like in my garage. I damaged the other ear by firing a hot load from a 4" barrel .357 without ear protection. Now I may have both ears the same !@#$%^&*(.

syn0n

If a huge metal tank bursts, you could have serious injuries. A small plastic tank? You'll probably jump out of your boots.

Besides, I bet most people don't have them last as long as you guys have had them go.

CliftonGK1

I'm getting a little 6-packer front rack for my commuter, and I'm thinking about using it to mount a mini-compressor twin-trumpet air horn from JC Whitney. I think I could mount the horns underneath the rack platform, and mount a small 12V battery on the rack platorm to power the whole contraption. From what I've seen, I can probably put the whole thing (rack, horn, and battery) together for under $60. Not bad, considering it's around 115dB and sounds like a tractor rig.