Paint Ball Cylinder Regulator

This looks interesting but I wonder how long one tank will last? It might be especially handy for paint ballers.

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/newsletter_w16.cfm

Well, let's do the math.

A 20 oz tank is a little more than a pound. At my local paintball joint they charge about $3 for a recharge of a CO2 tank. On the other hand, I've never heard of a paintball place bothering to look for hydro marks--- if there are any, I can't recall. -- so there are never costs of hydro tests.

Today I had my 5# tank fileld for $6.75. Hydro test and a fill for my older tank (1993 steel) was $15.00


I dunno-- if I played paintball, maybe it would be worth it cause I'd be able to make my spare tanks dual use.

That's a pretty clever device, I have about 15 different size p-ball cylinders that hang out in the garage all winter.(don't play paintball at 10 below-ouch)
It's a good idea that I can use, and since the picture is so huge, I can go get parts and build one. Heh, Heh,.....

Radarbrew said:

It's a good idea that I can use, and since the picture is so huge, I can go get parts and build one. Heh, Heh,.....

Click to expand...

Good point. A regular CO2 regulator adapted to fit the paint ball tanks would probably work.

It would certainly beat lugging a #5 tank to parties or a boxful of 12 gram carts. By the same token, there is almost always someone with a CO2 tank at the parties I go to.

It would also be nice for tight keggers.

It is something to build, I wouldn't pay $200 for it like they are asking........

Therse can be built really cheap. The most expensive part(If you already have a regulator), is the adaptor for the tank. You need a special adapter to depress the pin on the tank. The cheapest I've found it is $15 here: http://ceisites.com/paintball/pbrefiller.html

Scroll halfway down the page to the Fill Station Parts. With my 15lb tank, I can carb/dispense at my place, as well as fill my 20oz tank(requires 2 of these adapters and a braided hose between them) to take to parties. And fyi, paintball tanks DO have a stamp date for hydro testing, but it's cheaper to replace them when out of date than to have them tested.

Also note: that any steel cylinders less than 2" in dia. do not require hydro testing. I'll look up the proof later.

Nice I have like 5 of those 20oz paintball tanks.

Theres a nice 9 oz tank thats pretty small and very light. If I wanted easy moving, Id go with that one.

I think it is cool, but way to pricey. You can get a dual gauge regulator at Micromatic for $36 and a single gauge for $32 (I'd go single gauge since I could weigh the bottle to determine how full it was plus it would be one less gauge to carry).

Williams Brewing wants over $80 for just the regulator when you can buy a new regulator and the adapter and up and running for under $50.

Here's an interesting site on using paintball cylinders for homebrew.
Using Paintball Cylinders for Kegging

The site also has info on filling them yourself. Now there's where you can save some serious bucks if you have your own 20# bottle.

Be VERY careful filling those tanks. If you screw it up, you will blow the burst disk (at the least) or freeze the bejeesus outta your fingers. I watched the kid at the paintball place do both on the same day. He lost a bit of skin on his fingers when they defrosted. I suggest a quick lesson from the fill place at a reliable gas filler first. :rockin:

Radarbrew said:

Be VERY careful filling those tanks. If you screw it up, you will blow the burst disk (at the least) or freeze the bejeesus outta your fingers. I watched the kid at the paintball place do both on the same day. He lost a bit of skin on his fingers when they defrosted. I suggest a quick lesson from the fill place at a reliable gas filler first. :rockin:

Click to expand...

I would have loved to see that. I used to train the *cough* kids *cough* refs on proper filling. Some of them just couldn't get it though their skulls.

I see one very minor problem with the setup in that link. The tank they are using do not have an on/off knob. I would highly recommend going that route otherwise it could tend to eat o-rings. It is easy enough to swap valves if you have a vice.

You could potentially fill your own 20oz bottle off of a larger one if you have it. Simply do it the old school way. Make a hose adapter that goes between both tanks. Invert the large tank, unless if it has a siphon tube, and turn the knob to fill the smaller tank. As soon as the hissing slows, turn the knob off. As long as you don't freeze the small bottle* before filling there is very little risk of the burst disk blowing. In fact, in 14 years of paintball I've never blown one. Just don't leave a full tank sitting in the sun or in your car (common sense).

*freezing the bottle will give the best fill but do not try this unless if you have a scale handy.

Flyin' Lion said:

Also note: that any steel cylinders less than 2" in dia. do not require hydro testing. I'll look up the proof later.

Click to expand...

"Any cylinder not exceeding 2 inches outside diameter and less than 2 feet in length is excepted from volumetric expansion test."

Not sure if just for Aluminum?

http://hazmat.dot.gov/sp_app/approvals/regs/180.209.htm

This one mentions specifically Aluminum ones:
http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-IMPACT/2005/October/Day-26/i21273.htm

My son has three 20 oz paintball tanks. So while trying to figure out if my CO2 gauges would fit I found this site with the adapter that screws into the regulator and the tank. Works like a charm.

http://www.octopustap.com/cart/product_info.php?products_id=59

TD

I went to the paint ball shop a week or two ago and picked up the fitting with a valve on top for under $10.