Thursday, 8 November 2012

When filling your tanks for paintball, what should you consider?

When your tank literally runs out of gas, there are various options that you can consider when you refill it. The first is whether you are going to use CO2 or compressed air, and the second is how you are going to go about filling your tanks for paintball.

How do I choose between CO2 and compressed air?

When it comes to refilling your tanks for paintball you have to be aware that CO2 tanks and compressed air tanks are very different and are not compatible with the other type of gas. Using CO2 to power your paintballing is cheaper and easier than using compressed air. This is because CO2 is cheaper to produce and is easier to use to refill a tank than compressing air. However, you need to note that compressed air is the only propellant option suitable for some guns and will give better consistency than CO2.

How do I refill my paintball co2 tank?




There are several ways of achieving this. Firstly, it is pretty easy to locate places that can carry out the filling for you as these include paintball stores and there are often refill facilities available at a paintball field. These are good options because they will ensure that your tank is not over-filled, which risks injecting liquid carbon dioxide into the barrel of your weapon causing damage. Alternatively you can buy, or lease, a CO2 cylinder from your local gas supplier and purchase the relevant regulators and valves to be able to refill your cylinder yourself.

What if I want to use compressed air?

Unlike a paintball CO2 tank a compressed air tank has less options available for refills as the technology is more complex and the gas has to be regulated by a special valve to maintain the pressure to fire the gun.