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The Best Way To Refill Portable Paintball CO2 and Compressed Air Tanks
Posted: Apr 20, 2017
With no commercial paintball field, backyard woodsball players tend to be confronted with the dilemma of where to get their air tanks refilled Cylinder Hydro-testing. While paintball guns are powered by portable CO2 or compressed air tanks, these should be refilled often for continued play. Depending how close you reside to the nearest air tank refill station, your capability to play as frequently as you need may be extremely limited. Trapped with the excitement of the game, most players don't think to check on tank refill availability until after they've already bought their equipment - only to discover they won't have the ability to put it to use as much as they want.
Fortunately, with only a little ingenuity and creative way of thinking, the question of how exactly to refill your paintball gun air tanks can be less daunting. If you find you can find no filling stations for your portable CO2 or compressed air tanks in your town, you are able to always buy your personal refill equipment, this really is the most expensive route. Before carrying this out, check a few non-paintball related sources for potential tank refills that could be in your town, just waiting to be discovered.
Whether you purchased your paintball equipment from a local establishment or an web store, the paintball gun air tanks come empty and must be filled. The initial places to find filling up your paintball air tanks are established refill stations in/near your community. Walmart used to provide a CO2 tank refill/exchange program and this was very convenient (as it appears nearly everyone lives somewhat close to a Walmart somewhere), nevertheless they stopped offering this many years ago.
Other known establishments that fill portable CO2 or compressed air tanks for paintball guns are Dick's Sporting Goods and large hunting gear stores, such as for example Cabella's and Bass Pro Shop. If you live near to a professional paintball field that rents out guns and supplies, often these establishments have equipment that may refill paintball air tanks as well. Companies such as for instance these charge nominal fees with this service (usually significantly less than $5/tank) and this is actually the easiest and cheapest method to refill CO2 or compressed air tanks.
If you don't have a commercial paintball field in your town or live close enough to among the large hunting or sports gear stores, there are a few other areas to check. First look for a paintball supplies store to see if they give you a tank refill service or at the least know where you should go. Unfortunately, these shops are even harder to locate than commercial fields since many paintball equipment is bought online, however it's worth checking. Sometimes local gun shops will offer portable air tank refills as they might also sell paintball or airsoft equipment. They might also know of where to go if they don't really provide service.
If these sources are barren, there are other places to check however may require a tiny investment of your own refill station equipment. Whether you use CO2 or compressed air, you will be needing a bulk tank and a cylinder refill station kit. Refill station kits range from the air line, fittings and valves needed seriously to transfer air from a bigger tank to an inferior portable tank. Bear in mind however, CO2 tanks and refill kits will vary than compressed air tanks and refill kits and generally can not be mixed and matched.
Remember, if you're going to setup your personal paintball air tank refill station, you'll still have to locate refills for the bulk size tanks as well, financial firms generally easier than finding refills for the little, portable cylinders used on your marker. If you select bulk size tanks and equipment to refill portable CO2 cylinders, the smallest size bulk CO2 tanks vary from 20 lbs. and up to 35 lbs.; these tanks appear to be scuba tanks and are available online at paintball shops that sell equipment for commercial fields.
Another great supply of bulk CO2 tanks are firms that sell welding supplies. These groups will also be usually the initial place to consider refilling bulk size CO2 tanks. Sometimes welding supply companies will also offer bulk CO2 tank rentals and often times this is even cheaper and better than actual ownership. As an owner of a bulk size air tank, you are responsible because of its expiration date and subsequent costs for getting hired safety hydro-tested and re-stamped. If the tank you possess becomes damaged, you can be stuck with a tank that no body will fill; however rental tanks can be exchanged for new ones with updated hydro-testing safety ratings.
Refilling a lightweight CO2 cylinder from a bulk size tank is rather easy and requires a refill station kit and a tank scale. Tank scales are small, electronic scales that may weigh your portable CO2 cylinder so you can see when it gets full. These are available at most of the paintball stores however are not specific to paintball and any digital scale may be used; CO2 tank scales are best since you can hang the portable tank from the scale for easier use. A set of safety goggles should also be worn when transferring air from the bulk tank into small cylinder.
With all nozzles and ASA adaptors in the'off'position, attach the refill station kit lines to both the bulk tank and portable cylinder to be filled. Open the ASA adaptor on the portable CO2 tank and hang it from the tank scale. First record the weight of the empty CO2 tank, then tare the scale to zero. Open the valve on the bulk CO2 tank in order to hear the gas rushing to the portable cylinder; fill until the tank weighs the correct number of ounces (corresponding to the ounce size of the tank; either 9, 12, 16 or 20oz.' s). For best measures, only fill portable CO2 tanks up to 1oz. significantly less than max capacity; this leaves room for gas expansion due to temperature changes in storage or travel, etc.
Setting up your own personal refill station for compressed air is really a similar create as CO2, however refilling the portable tanks for your paintball gun is even easier. Just like the CO2 refill station equipment, you will require a bulk size high pressure air tank and refill station kit. Scuba tanks make excellent bulk size compressed air tanks and are commonly available from 30 cubic feet as much as 100 and 3000psi. You can get scuba tanks with this size online or at any dive search for under $300 with regards to the size you want. You may also purchase huge, industrial size bulk compressed air tanks however these could cost upwards of $1000 and (just like commercial size CO2 bulk tanks) are most likely most economical to rent.
Filling bulk size compressed air tanks is frequently offered at welding supply and commercial air tank companies, however can be carried out with any commercial size air compressor. Bear in mind however the size air compressor needed to refill bulk size high pressure air tanks aren't the $250 model used to pressure wash your house. The size air compressor necessary to refill air tanks generally cost between $4000 and $13,000; generally cost prohibitive for the recreational user. Commercial size air compressors can sometimes be found with middle to large size construction companies who may also be willing to greatly help refill your air tanks for a nominal fee.
Transferring air from bulk size compressed air tanks to smaller, portable high pressure air tanks that fit on your own paintball gun is even easier compared to CO2 refill process. Because compressed air tanks have a force gauge, you may not need a level to weigh them to share with when they become full. Simply attaching the refill kit hoses or scuba fill station to both tanks, opening the valves and watching the pressure gauges will suffice. As high pressure air tanks are not susceptible to pressure changes with temperature, you do not have to create any adjustments to account for this (like you do when refilling portable CO2 tanks).
Before purchasing a costly allotment of paintball gear, check your location to observe how easy (or difficult) it will be to refill your paintball gun air tanks. Depending on availability, make the option of CO2 or high pressure air centered on that which you find. Despite the fact that compressed air is generally better for paintball guns, it's best to choose which air source you employ based in your ability to get your tanks refilled for the most consistent play. With the best equipment and information however, it can be very affordable to become your own paintball gun air tank refill station!