Paintball Co2 Injection DIY Setup with Tons of Photos

[sayurasem]

Originally Posted by alexxa

is the burst valve normal? it kinda pop out


and how to i open this asa adaptor to change the oring inside? i tried to open it but it is locked at the top. The brand is Ninja paintball.
http://www.tippmannpros.com/ninja-pa...ter-black.html

Oww. I don't think thats normal... the threads of the burst pin are not supposed to show.

Btw yes thats the exact asa valve I bought (failed). 3 bucks?
you cant open the knob out. The only way to take the depress pin out is by tweezer.

Well you have 2 options.
1. Change your depress "o" rings, dip the pin on thick grease and pop it back in the valve, and hope the thick grease will block the leak.

2. spend extra 13 bucks for brand new valve I mentioned. I think its totally worth it, because it has psi gauge to tell you when to refill your tank.

Up to you, I got tired of re-greasing my asa valve (grease hardened by co2) every time I refill tank. So I bought the 13 dollars asa valve and no problem until now.

[alexxa]

the black one i bought for $12 and the silver one is $11 on ebay.
you got the black one right?
how do i use a tweezer to remove the depress pin on the black asa adaptor?
the silver one is easy to remove.
should i stop using the paintball tank as the burst valve show up?

[Naekuh]

yea if the burst valve came out it means something was wrong. The burst valve is a safety.. if you notice something is wrong with the saftey it means danger is coming.

id at the very least take it a reputable paintball store and have them check it out.

I am still guessing.. u probably got liquid co2 inside the ASA valve, which caused havok with the seals.

[galabar]

Originally Posted by sayurasem

You missed that you hijacked the thread.

No, I simple provided some additional information about this setup. The whole thread is about paintball CO2. There is a way to do this safely (with a regulator). We've already seen a catastrophic accident with the unregulated approach. It would be great if that was the only, non fatal, accident we see here.

[Naekuh]

Originally Posted by galabar

No, I simple provided some additional information about this setup. The whole thread is about paintball CO2. There is a way to do this safely (with a regulator). We've already seen a catastrophic accident with the unregulated approach. It would be great if that was the only, non fatal, accident we see here.

as much as i agree with you, however your not really helping the op out.

instead your giving him more grief.

The op had a working setup until it leaked.
So simple and most effective solution as they say, fix the weakest link, and if its not broken then dont fix it.

Lets just focus at whats important.. the OP has no more CO2, his plants in 3 days with the light he has will be covered with algae.
Lets help him fix that so he can avoid a algae explosion from the lack of CO2.

And then the OP can worry about a regulator and what not, later on.


also i had something simular happen to me in that other thread Gal.. my diffuser was clogged and pressure built up, and the line bursted... however the line flew right off the ceremic disk and then was bleeding bubbles into the system.... it didnt rupture the tubing, or crack my glass...

The tubing causing so much pressure to snap off like that and cracking the glass id say is a rare situation.

[galabar]

Originally Posted by Naekuh

as much as i agree with you, however your not really helping the op out.

instead your giving him more grief.

The op had a working setup until it leaked.
So simple and most effective solution as they say, fix the weakest link, and if its not broken then dont fix it.

Lets just focus at whats important.. the OP has no more CO2, his plants in 3 days with the light he has will be covered with algae.
Lets help him fix that so he can avoid a algae explosion from the lack of CO2.

And then the OP can worry about a regulator and what not, later on.

I'm of the opposite opinion. Algae is a lot safer than plugging this setup back in. I'm not giving him grief. I'm trying to save his fingers, or eyes, or (Ok, I'm being slightly hyperbolic here), his life.

Yes, his plants have it rough right now. However, they are just plants. He is a human being and he shouldn't be putting himself in danger like this.

I have suggested locations for him to purchase equipment that would make his setup safe. For as little as about $30 shipped, he can get a regulator for this setup.

There is no reason to reattach this bomb in order to save some plants from a little algae.

[MoeBetta]

Originally Posted by galabar

I'm not sure about fixing the leak. However, I'm currently trying this, with good results:

http://www.armedpaintball.com/paintb...regulator.html

Unfortunately, the price jumped from $50 to $75. I've also got this on order:

[Ebay Link Removed]

(search for "NEW PAINTBALL CO2 & COMPRESS AIR REGULATOR 0-150PSI" on Ebay, item #170691170358)

I'm going to see how well it compares with the more expensive, "name brand" version. I'm also going to stack them and test to see if this will give a cheap solution to EOTD.

Whatever you do, do not continue to use an unregulated paintball cylinder. Take a look here:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/ge...-exploded.html

The ASA on/off solution is not safe and should not be used by anyone. Folks selling these on this site should realize what kind of liability they are bringing to themselves.

I'm just saying.... My dual stage reg setup cost all of $200. At what point does saving money end up costing more while yielding less?

[galabar]

Originally Posted by MoeBetta

I'm just saying.... My dual stage reg setup cost all of $200. At what point does saving money end up costing more while yielding less?

I would agree with you here. The paintball setup is for folks with limited space. If you are putting this in the stand of a 10 gallon tank, then a 10 lb CO2 cylinder with husky dual stage Victor regulator is not going to fit.

I don't think the paintball route, done safely, will save you money. Indeed, at the moment, you would have to spend about $17 (bottle), $150 (2 x single stage regulator), plus after body kit to get a safe paintball setup with no chance of EOTD. That isn't going to save you money over a standard CO2 setup. It is only going to save you space.

Of course, it is often the case that smaller solutions are more expensive. Laptops or more expensive than the equivalent desktop, and tablets are more expensive then the equivalent laptop (don't forget cell phones).

That may be why folks are interested in this ASA on/off "solution." It seems like a cheap way to get into CO2 injection. My advice would be save up and get something more functional and much safer.

[alexxa]

when the burst disc explodes, does it shoots out like a bullet or it just falls off?

[galabar]

Originally Posted by alexxa

when the burst disc explodes, does it shoots out like a bullet or it just falls off?

The burst disk is permanently attached to the housing. It won't shoot out or fall off.

[alexxa]

i am interested in getting the "NEW PAINTBALL CO2 & COMPRESS AIR REGULATOR 0-150PSI" on ebay, will this give me a steady bubble rate if used with watts a41 needle valve?

[galabar]

Originally Posted by alexxa

i am interested in getting the "NEW PAINTBALL CO2 & COMPRESS AIR REGULATOR 0-150PSI" on ebay, will this give me a steady bubble rate if used with watts a41 needle valve?

I've got this on order, but it will be a while before I get it (ships from China). I won't be using it directly (I'll be placing it on top of the AG1 Gen2 regulator), so I can't say for sure.

However, if you have a system with a regulator that holds a constant pressure, it should not matter which needle valve you are using. As long as the needle valve does not move (which, I'm assuming, most don't), you should get a steady flow from a good regulator. Of course, a better needle valve will be easier to adjust, initially.

Another option is to go to a paintball shop and describe to them what you are trying to do (CO2 regulator on a paintball cylinder). They might be able to set you up with something.

I can say that the AG1 Gen2 works well and holds a steady pressure and steady bubble rate with the Swagelok SS-OVM2 (about $21 including shipping from Ebay) needle valve that I'm using.

Unfortunately, it is hard to tell with the AG1 Gen2 just what the output pressure is. There are 100, 200, 300, 400, etc. PSI markings, but the 100 psi marking is close to the 0 marking, and the needle, at rest, is somewhere between 0 and 100. I definitely want to keep it under 100 psi, so I'm trying to be just a bit below the 100 psi marking.

With the new regulator coming in (that you mentioned), the markings go from 0 - 300. So, I can crank the AG1 Gen2 up to maybe 400 psi, and adjust the new regulator to 50 psi.

Once I've got this set up, I'll try a pressure increase on the primary regulator (AG1 Gen2) and see if the output pressure holds steady or increases (simulated EOTD).

[RoyalFizbin]

Originally Posted by galabar

I've got this on order, but it will be a while before I get it (ships from China).

I bought one and it didn't work. It was probably defective from the start. I tried it between the asa and tank. Mine didn't let any air past it at all no matter how much i turned the knob. The gauge didn't register any pressure at all. Then I removed it and cranked the knob in and out a few times and tried again. This time the co2 was able to flow and it hammered the gauge hard. The gauge is now busted. I set the thing aside and purchased a real regulator instead and hooked it up to the asa using brass fittings. I say buy yourself a cheap regulator of e bay, remove the input stem and connect to paint ball tank via asa. You can get some cheap used regulators on eeebay Some might be single stage but I figure single stage is better than no stage.

[galabar]

Originally Posted by RoyalFizbin

I bought one and it didn't work. It was probably defective from the start. I tried it between the asa and tank. Mine didn't let any air past it at all no matter how much i turned the knob. The gauge didn't register any pressure at all. Then I removed it and cranked the knob in and out a few times and tried again. This time the co2 was able to flow and it hammered the gauge hard. The gauge is now busted. I set the thing aside and purchased a real regulator instead and hooked it up to the asa using brass fittings. I say buy yourself a cheap regulator of e bay, remove the input stem and connect to paint ball tank via asa. You can get some cheap used regulators on eeebay Some might be single stage but I figure single stage is better than no stage.

Thanks for the replay. I still haven't gotten this yet. The RAP4 AG1 Gen2 that I have is working well, and the Ebay one looked almost exactly like it. I was thinking that they both were made in China so that should be the same, but I guess you get what you pay for.

[RoyalFizbin]

Hey galabar keep us updated on that paintball regulator. I'd like to know how well it works.

Mine


Cheaper than a paintball regulator, might also be cheaper than using a cga320 to paintball adapter if you had to buy a cga320 nipple and nut for the regulator. Many regulators on Ebay are not cga320 to begin with.