CO2, or carbon dioxide is a chemical gas. It is found naturally in our atmosphere at a concentration of 0.333% or 330 ppm (parts per million). It is one of the top 25 chemicals produced in the world and a by-product of cellular respiration, produced by almost every living being on the face of the earth. Most CO2, such as we use as a propellant for our paintball markers, is recovered as a by-product of other chemical processes. For our purposes CO2 is a safe, economical and plentiful compressed gas that has good qualities as a propellant. Historically, it has been used with paintball markers since they were invented over 20 years ago. The CO2 we use in paintball has been compressed down into liquid form. Liquid CO2 is extremely cold and sucks up ambient heat when converting to gas.
How many shots can I get from a Co2 tank From a 20oz tank, with a full fill, you can expect between 800-1000 shots on a nice 24 degree day. The number of shots can vary depending on ambient temperature and how fast you shoot..
Where can I get my bottles filled ? You should call your local paintball centre and find out whether they will fill your bottles. The people who fill them will be trained and qualified. There will generally be a small charge for filling .
Bursting Paintballs - The possible Causes.It is notoriously difficult and frustrating to work out the reasons for why you are breaking paintballs within your marker. Of course some of the obvious possibilities are:
-The Paintballs are warped - Change Brand.
-The Paintballs are too big for your barrel - Change to smaller Paintballs / Increase the barrel bore size..
-The Paintballs are very cheap and Defective - Buy some better Paintballs.
-The Paintballs are Competition Paintballs and were designed for a low pressure marker and thus are too brittle for your marker. - Buy new paintballs (Generally cheaper than Competition grade).
-You are firing at too high a velocity - Readjust Velocity (Read owners manual).
-You are firing too quickly and the combination of your Hopper and marker is chopping Paintballs - Upgrade your Hopper / have an Anti-Chop Eye installed - or shoot slower !!
-YOU ARE BREAKING PAINTBALLS DUE TO FIRING LIQUID / SOLID CO2. Velocity will rise dramatically. These spikes are caused by liquid entering the markers Valve. Liquid Co2 takes up less space than gas, so when it enters the valve and then boils off it raises internal pressure dramatically. These spikes in velocity are dangerous and can cause you to lose accuracy and break paint inside the barrel. Also Internal Seals can become damaged and malfunction.Ball breakage from liquid and solid CO2 is often overlooked and least understood, yet is probably one of the most common sources of ball breakage (and in the winter it's probably the main source). CO2, like all other gases, cools when it expands. When you release CO2 from your tank, you have more than likely noticed how the tank gets cold very quickly, or in extreme cases frosts over. Your marker does the same thing internally. When the temperature of the marker or CO2 tank drops too low, the CO2 does not expand from a liquid into a gas completely. If you've dry-fired and noticed a whitish vapor coming out of the barrel, you have witnessed solid crystals of CO2 exiting the marker. Technically you are 'shooting solid' and not 'shooting liquid' because at atmospheric pressure (which is what the gas is at at this point), CO2 can only be a gas or solid (CO2 goes from a solid straight to a gas at atmospheric pressure without turning liquid.. also known as sublimation). If you've dry-fired the marker on your glove/hand during these conditions, you probably noticed some whitish CO2 solids deposited on it (but no CO2 liquid). The two main sources of 'shooting liquid' are either cold weather or shooting very rapidly. However, the reason is the same for both: The ambient temperature-pressure of the CO2 while still in the marker is too cold/compressed to force the CO2 into a gas. When you are 'shooting liquid', you are actually shooting a mixture of solid crystals/liquid/gas at the ball while the ball is in the chamber (remember that when you pull the trigger and the bolt fires, the gas escaping the bolt cools further as it is expanding. because the pressure rapidly drops from i.e. 800 psi to 14.7 psi atmospheric pressure, the escaping CO2 can be a mixture of solid/liquid/gas while in the transition between these pressures if the temperature is too low or the pressure too high). These droplets and crystals can rupture the ball as any other projectile would. So we need to keep this liquid from entering the marker How ? If your marker or bottle does not already come with one of these items then you can add them as aftermarket items. N.B. As a safety precaution we cannot send / sell any items for a tank unless we are installing them. Expansion chamber: This is a segregated tube that has multiple chambers inside of it. It is designed to slow the flow of liquid CO2 and give it a place to absorb ambient heat to convert into a gas state that your marker can use. It works well for what it does, but it can still allow liquid into the marker. Regulator: The best solution for CO2. If you put a CO2 tolerant regulator on your marker you can control the fluctuations associated with this propellant and supply your marker with consistent pressure. This means you will have consistent pressure resulting in a +/- 2-5fps velocity change during all the pressure changes of CO2. It is extremely effective at stopping liquid CO2 from passing to your marker. Anti-siphon: This is nothing more than a small metal tube attached to the inside of the pin valve on your tank. This tube is bent into a position that ensures only gaseous CO2 is drawn from the tank when properly installed and used. It is the cheapest solution to stopping liquid CO2 from entering your marker yet one of the best and simplest, but doesn??™t control the pressure fluctuations. Every Bottle we sell with an Anti-Siphon tube installed will have the direction the tube is facing clearly marked. When you screw this into your marker enusure this mark is pointing up. Please note: This article is not a highly scientific explanation of CO2 gas properties that will have your reaching for your scientific calculator. It is a practical article for everyday field play with information compiled from many sources.
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