While paintball guns are powered by portable CO2 or compressed air tanks, these should be refilled often for continued play. Depending how close you live to the nearest air tank refill station, your capability to play as frequently as you need might be extremely limited. Swept up with the excitement of the game, most players don't think to test tank refill availability until after they've already bought their equipment - only to discover they won't be able to use it around they want.

Fortunately, with only a little ingenuity and creative thought process, the question of how to refill your paintball gun air tanks could be less daunting. If you discover you will find no filling stations for the portable CO2 or compressed air tanks locally, you can always buy your own refill equipment, financial firms probably the most expensive route. Before achieving this, check a couple of non-paintball related sources for potential tank refills that could be in your area, just waiting to be discovered.

Whether you purchased your paintball equipment from a local establishment or an online store, the paintball gun air tanks come empty and must certanly be filled. The first places to look for filling up your paintball air tanks are established refill stations in/near your community. Walmart used to offer a CO2 tank refill/exchange program and this is very convenient (as it seems nearly everyone lives somewhat near a Walmart somewhere), nonetheless 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 close to a professional paintball field that rents out guns and supplies, often these establishments have equipment that will refill paintball air tanks as well. Companies such as for example these charge nominal fees for this service (usually less than $5/tank) and this is the easiest and cheapest way to refill CO2 or compressed air tanks.

If you do not have a commercial paintball field in your town or live close enough to one of many large hunting or sports gear stores, there are certainly a few other places to check. First look for a paintball supplies store to see when they provide a tank refill service or at least know where you can go. Unfortunately, these shops are even harder to get 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 could 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, you can find other places to look 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 include the air line, fittings and valves had a need to transfer air from a larger tank to a smaller portable tank. Remember however, CO2 tanks and refill kits will vary than compressed air tanks and refill kits and generally can't be mixed and matched.

Remember, if you're going to create your own personal paintball air tank refill station, you will still have to get 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 choose bulk size tanks and equipment to refill portable CO2 cylinders, the tiniest size bulk CO2 tanks range between 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 source of bulk CO2 tanks are companies 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 many times this is even cheaper and much better than actual ownership. As an owner of a bulk size air tank, you're responsible for the expiration date and subsequent costs for setting it up safety hydro-tested and re-stamped. If the tank you have becomes damaged, you may be stuck with a tank that no one will fill; however rental tanks may be exchanged for new ones with updated hydro-testing safety ratings.

Refilling a portable CO2 cylinder from a bulk size tank is pretty easy and requires a refill station kit and a tank scale. Tank scales are small, electronic scales that'll weigh your portable CO2 cylinder so you can see when it gets full. These are available at most paintball stores however aren't specific to paintball and any digital scale may be used; CO2 tank scales are best because you can hang the portable tank from the scale for easier use. A couple of safety goggles should also be worn when transferring air from the bulk tank into the smaller cylinder.

With all nozzles and ASA adaptors in the'off'position, attach the refill station kit lines to both 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 so you can hear the gas rushing in to the portable cylinder; fill before tank weighs the right quantity 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 around 1oz. less than max capacity; this leaves room for gas expansion as a result of temperature changes in storage or travel, etc.

Establishing your own refill station for compressed air is a similar put up as CO2, however refilling the portable tanks for the paintball gun is even easier. Similar to the CO2 refill station equipment, you will need 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 up to 100 and 3000psi. You can purchase scuba tanks with this size online or at any dive shop for under $300 with respect to the size you want. You can even purchase huge, industrial size bulk compressed air tanks however these could cost well over $1000 and (just like commercial size CO2 bulk tanks) are 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. Remember however the size air compressor needed to refill bulk size high pressure air tanks are not 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 paintball gun is even easier compared to CO2 refill process. Because compressed air tanks have a pressure gauge, you don't need a level to weigh them to share with once 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 aren't subject to pressure changes with temperature, you do not have to make 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 easy (or difficult) it is to refill your paintball gun air tanks. According to availability, make the decision of CO2 or high pressure air predicated on everything you find. Even though that compressed air is generally better for paintball guns, it's best to decide on which air source you utilize based on your ability to really get your tanks refilled for the most consistent play. With the right equipment and information however, it can be quite affordable to become your own personal paintball gun air tank refill station!