Paintball Co2 Injection DIY Setup with Tons of Photos

[galabar]

Originally Posted by jack25

Thanks for the pics. ^^^

I can't find any cheap Veriflo IR401 regulators on ebay but there are beer keg regulators for $30 to $40 on amazon. Will they work? I think their input pressure is 3000 psi and they output around 30 psi and they have the over pressure protection at 60 psi.

Any regulator is better than no regulator. However, and this is just my opinion, I would stick with a regulator that has a known Decaying Inlet Characteristic. That way, you know you are safe from the "End Of Tank Dump" issue.

Another regulator to look at is the Victor SR 250, which matches the Veriflo 400 series in this characteristic.

I would suggest browsing for regulators on Ebay and looking up the specs for an regulator you find.

[elwray]

Is anyone having trouble finding paintball places that will fill CO2? I was planning on putting together a CO2 system as outlined by the OP since it would be nice and compact. I stopped by a paintball supply store, and was able to buy a used on/off for $5 but they now use compressed air instead of CO2!

I live within a mile of 3 different paintball shops/fields and all of them use compressed air now! ... figures! I'm in central NJ, so I'm not sure if this is the case elsewhere.

I was trying to avoid buying a larger tank for the sake of space, and that the nearest beverage/welding supply is quite far from me to get it filled. But it looks like I may end up having to go this route after all.

If I do end up using a "real" sized CO2 tank (will probably get a 5#), is there any reason I wouldn't be able to just put the same kind of needle valve "downstream" of a standard regulator?

Alternatively, if I get a double gauge primary regulator (like for a kegerator - first gauge gives bottle pressure, the second "output" pressure is user set), do you think I could use that to get the flow low enough for 2-4 bps, or will I still need the needle valve?

If I can't find a local place to fill a paintball tank, I have no use for the on/off. If this ends up being the case, I'll offer it up free for the cost of shipping in the swap forum.

[galabar]

Originally Posted by elwray

Is anyone having trouble finding paintball places that will fill CO2? I was planning on putting together a CO2 system as outlined by the OP since it would be nice and compact. I stopped by a paintball supply store, and was able to buy a used on/off for $5 but they now use compressed air instead of CO2!

I live within a mile of 3 different paintball shops/fields and all of them use compressed air now! ... figures! I'm in central NJ, so I'm not sure if this is the case elsewhere.

I was trying to avoid buying a larger tank for the sake of space, and that the nearest beverage/welding supply is quite far from me to get it filled. But it looks like I may end up having to go this route after all.

If I do end up using a "real" sized CO2 tank (will probably get a 5#), is there any reason I wouldn't be able to just put the same kind of needle valve "downstream" of a standard regulator?

Alternatively, if I get a double gauge primary regulator (like for a kegerator - first gauge gives bottle pressure, the second "output" pressure is user set), do you think I could use that to get the flow low enough for 2-4 bps, or will I still need the needle valve?

If I can't find a local place to fill a paintball tank, I have no use for the on/off. If this ends up being the case, I'll offer it up free for the cost of shipping in the swap forum.

Go to Sports Authority. They will refill your paintball CO2 cylinder.

As for getting the low bubble count that we need, it isn't the regulator that does that. Rather, it is the needle valve. The regulator is used to step down the pressure of the CO2 cylinder to somethine "safe," like 60 psi. You then use the needle valve to restrict flow to the bubbles that you are looking for.

A needle valve like the Fabco NV-55-18 is a good, not too expensive, choice for this.

[elwray]

Originally Posted by galabar

Go to Sports Authority. They will refill your paintball CO2 cylinder.

As for getting the low bubble count that we need, it isn't the regulator that does that. Rather, it is the needle valve. The regulator is used to step down the pressure of the CO2 cylinder to somethine "safe," like 60 psi. You then use the needle valve to restrict flow to the bubbles that you are looking for.

A needle valve like the Fabco NV-55-18 is a good, not too expensive, choice for this.

I'll give Sports Authority a shot! That is certainly much more conveniently located.

Thanks for the info about the needle valve.

[quocviet114]

Can any one show me where do they sell the "ASA on off valve" and the "Gauge" please! I'm looking on the internet but I can't find it! Please help!

[pglenn]

ebay, or just about any paintball store

[hbosman]

Originally Posted by galabar

Any regulator is better than no regulator. However, and this is just my opinion, I would stick with a regulator that has a known Decaying Inlet Characteristic. That way, you know you are safe from the "End Of Tank Dump" issue.

Another regulator to look at is the Victor SR 250, which matches the Veriflo 400 series in this characteristic.

I would suggest browsing for regulators on Ebay and looking up the specs for an regulator you find.

Good choices. you can run a dual stage regulator on a paintball bottle. Sometimes a Dual stage can be had for the price of a SR 250. I got 2 VTS 250s for $50.00 a few years ago, on ~bay of course.

Here is a picture of one of them. I keep the second as a spare.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/h_bosman/4379697140/

[galabar]

Originally Posted by hbosman

Good choices. you can run a dual stage regulator on a paintball bottle. Sometimes a Dual stage can be had for the price of a SR 250. I got 2 VTS 250s for $50.00 a few years ago, on ~bay of course.

Here is a picture of one of them. I keep the second as a spare.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/h_bosman/4379697140/

Cool, but you could make that a good deal shorter and significantly lower the center of gravity with one of these:

http://palmer-pursuit.com/cart/index...roducts_id=964

p.s. I want a shot of that back of that regulator to prove its a VTS.

[elwray]

None of the photos show it for some reason, but I'm assuming all of these regulator adapters have the pin that "opens" the tank, right? I'm sure they do, otherwise it'd be useless ... but I have yet to see a photo showing the "business end" of one of these!

[galabar]

Originally Posted by elwray

None of the photos show it for some reason, but I'm assuming all of these regulator adapters have the pin that "opens" the tank, right? I'm sure they do, otherwise it'd be useless ... but I have yet to see a photo showing the "business end" of one of these!

Yes, the portion of those adapters that connect to the paintball CO2 cylinder have a pin.

[jack25]

What do you guys think of this regulator on Ebay (item 110837133115). I looked at the swagelok website and the max inlet pressure is 3600 psi and the outlet ranges from 0-10psig to 0-500 psi.



http://www.swagelok.com/downloads/We.../MS-02-230.pdf

[pglenn]

$21.32 shipping? that will easily fit in a medium-flat-rate box and ship for $11.35

[In.a.Box]

if using reg on a paintball tank make sure to order some O-ring for the co2 tank.

I ran about 5 o-ring doing test. What suck about using paintball co2 tank is there no On/Off on the tank. you will lose co2 when turning the reg onto the tank. Don't even try to hand tight, wont work. lol

I lost about half a 20oz taken the reg off the tank and back onto the tank for leak testing.

i got the blue adapter for one day only and that thing look 10 yr old already. lol

[SBPyro]

Originally Posted by In.a.Box

if using reg on a paintball tank make sure to order some O-ring for the co2 tank.

I ran about 5 o-ring doing test. What suck about using paintball co2 tank is there no On/Off on the tank. you will lose co2 when turning the reg onto the tank. Don't even try to hand tight, wont work. lol

I lost about half a 20oz taken the reg off the tank and back onto the tank for leak testing.

i got the blue adapter for one day only and that thing look 10 yr old already. lol

Sounds like the pin for the bottle adapter is too long.
I've had bad paintball asa do that to me in the past.

[galabar]

Originally Posted by In.a.Box

if using reg on a paintball tank make sure to order some O-ring for the co2 tank.

I ran about 5 o-ring doing test. What suck about using paintball co2 tank is there no On/Off on the tank. you will lose co2 when turning the reg onto the tank. Don't even try to hand tight, wont work. lol

I lost about half a 20oz taken the reg off the tank and back onto the tank for leak testing.

i got the blue adapter for one day only and that thing look 10 yr old already. lol

I hand tighten CO2 regulators on to paintball cylinders all the time with no CO2 loss. I also remove then all the time with nothing but the slightest "puff" of CO2 leaking out.