C02 bottle fill

Has anyone filled their keg C02 bottle at a paintball store? Is it the same adaptor as filling a paintball tank? I have a shiny new 5lb aluminum tank and the only places that I can find will only exchange tanks.

Any advise on good places to fill tanks would be helpful.

Thanks,

Try a fire safety supply store that fills fire extinguishers. The ones I have called in town are used to filling CO2 tanks for homebrewers.

The paintball tanks require a different fitting.

Dittos to what FlyGuy said. Check your yellow pages for a fire extinguisher supplier. They are not in the business of renting tanks, so they will not be asking for your nice, new, shiny tank. I did not want to give mine up either! They have large amounts of CO2 on site. I've never waited more than 5 minutes to get my tanks filled.

Same here I had to search hi and lo myself and like John I was not about to exchange my new tank for and old one. Plus I asked one of the vendors what happens when I come back in with an old tank I got from them that had expired?
They said they'd charge $25 for a hydro test. I told them they were nuts.

Just because they say they only exchange it is not a hard and fast rule if you are willing to leave your tank you might find someone willing, but it could take a couple of weeks or more. And you might have to go there rather than call as the person on the phone often is not the person in charge.

Keep on looking you'll find some willing to do it for you. And if they say the only exchange ask them who will fill it for you tell them you are unwilling to exchange and you'll take your business elsewhere that might cause them to work with you. My LHBS store will do it but his prices are absurd.

I had a paintball store do it for me -- they had evening hours, and happened to not be too busy when I called so they filled it while I waited. They did charge me $20, but that was worth the convenience to me. Fire extinguisher place near me said he didn't have equipment to do it himself, but had an associate, and I could drop off my tank and pick it back up -- but I didn't want to be without the tank (ran out at a bad time).

johnsma22 said:

...I've never waited more than 5 minutes to get my tanks filled...

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Funny. I took my 5# to a welding shop and they said they had to put my tank in the cold for several hours prior to filling it.

I've been here several years and no one has ever mentioned this before. Is this valid or BS?

haha. this is one of the reasons why i buy used tanks in the first place. i don't have that hold on a shiny new tank. the tanks i buy are usually out of test, so swapping them is easier than waiting for a test to get back, etc.

also, for the poster above, a way that the place can fill it with the tank not being chilled beforehand, is by partially filling the tank, then venting all the gas out. this will chill the tank very rapidly, and then they will do a full fill with the chilled tank. the cost of co2 is pretty cheap, so if they aren't anal about it, they can do this for you.

also, just a caution for those of you getting your tanks filled. i remember a few posts about 6 months or so ago, about someone having their tank overfilled, and when the tank wamed up, the safety disc ruptured, venting all the co2. under normal circumstances, this doesn't pose a threat, just an annoyance at having to go back to the shop to get a new disc put in, and refilled, but this can pose a very severe safety threat (the earlier thread had a small child near the tank when it vented - scary!). if it vents while you are in the car with the windows down, that can also become a very dangerous situation.

this is why swapping is also nice. i know the tank i'm receiving back from a swap has been sitting in outdoor temps for a while, so the fill should be appropriate, and i shouldn't have to worry as much about it.

i guess what i'm getting at, is just remember that all compressed gasses are dangerous, even if they aren't flamable.

homebrewer_99 said:

Funny. I took my 5# to a welding shop and they said they had to put my tank in the cold for several hours prior to filling it.

I've been here several years and no one has ever mentioned this before. Is this valid or BS?

Click to expand...

That's a good shop - they're giving you the most bang for your buck by filling your tank cold.

Tanks (thanks), Yuri. My 2nd (of 3) SIL told me they were a really good shop.

I also got my second tank back within 2 weeks. It had to be sent out for re-cert and came back filled for under $31.00. Now it's good for another 5 years.