Paintball CO2 tanks

[nolabrew85]

I heard that paintball tank CO2 is not food grade and tat there are lubricants present in there in the filling process. Is this true? Will it harm/compromise the beer?

(I already have a regular 5# tank for my kegerator, but I can only fit 2 kegs in there at a time and I want to be able to carb other beers in my other 2 kegs while storing them in the fermenting closet)

 

[roastquake]

I'm interested to hear the answers to this, too. I seem to recall hearing that there is oil in those, but they are cheaper than food grade.

 

[nolabrew85]

Nothing on this?

 

[jdround]

I was thinking about getting a 2.5 gal keg and using a paintball co2 tank. so curious to an answer on this thread.

 

[CRZ]

I've been using paintball tanks for around 2 years now. I started out using them to carb water to make pop. Then used them to carb individual beer when wanted. I went into kegging now but still use the paintball tanks to push wine out of a couple of kegs.
I've never came across any oils or off tastes in whatever I was drinking. I did take one tank to a place to get filled, and they put oil on the top around the seal after it was filled. Now I just say not to oil the tops. It did take a bit to rid the oil off that one tank.
The big thing is not the oils but how pure the co2 is that's used for paintball.

 

[MarcusKillion]

Much like N2O I suspect there is a reason the CO2 is not food grade . Could be that it is just not as purified and the impurities will not really harm you in the very small quantities they are in but must be removed any way by fed law to be used in food .
Or you will get cancer some day in the future from ingesting them .
So why not just buy food grade ?

but then again you are going to get cancer from drinking the water , eating BBQ , breathing air , playing with your self , eating almost any food ........

 

[nolabrew85]

I guess I don't know where to get them to refill a co2 tank with food grade.

 

[DrHops]

I've been running restaurants for almost 30 years. The co2 that comes from the gas suppliers for beer is the same that goes to sporting goods stores for paintball tanks as well as the same that goes to welding shops. I have a friend who works for a local co2 distributor in Atlanta who has confirmed this for me.. Food grade co2 is just a way to charge restaurants more money for the same co2.

 

[w1dow]

I guess I don't know where to get them to refill a co2 tank with food grade.

most aquatic shops that sell marine fish will do a co2 topup service and 9/10 times it will be food grade co2

 

[jonp9576]

I've been running restaurants for almost 30 years. The co2 that comes from the gas suppliers for beer is the same that goes to sporting goods stores for paintball tanks as well as the same that goes to welding shops. I have a friend who works for a local co2 distributor in Atlanta who has confirmed this for me.. Food grade co2 is just a way to charge restaurants more money for the same co2.

Our company has been selling co2 for over 40 years. The food and industrial grades of co2 are a thing of the past. We sell to bars, welding shops, paintball shops. Its all the same co2. Medical grade co2 is different, but that's more in the cleaning of the cylinder than the actual co2.

 

[duboman]

Our company has been selling co2 for over 40 years. The food and industrial grades of co2 are a thing of the past. We sell to bars, welding shops, paintball shops. Its all the same co2. Medical grade co2 is different, but that's more in the cleaning of the cylinder than the actual co2.

^^This^^
Co2 is co2 but the tank could be an issue depending on how it's cleaned and taken care if from the source

 

[mikescooling]

Their is no such thing, welding co2 (all c02) is as pure as it gets.

 

[nolabrew85]

Our company has been selling co2 for over 40 years. The food and industrial grades of co2 are a thing of the past. We sell to bars, welding shops, paintball shops. Its all the same co2. Medical grade co2 is different, but that's more in the cleaning of the cylinder than the actual co2.

Ok. Cool. How long has that been a thing of the past? Is that the case for my brother's paint ball tank that was filled about 7 years ago and has been sitting on the shelf with the same co2 since?

 

[CRZ]

Ok. Cool. How long has that been a thing of the past? Is that the case for my brother's paint ball tank that was filled about 7 years ago and has been sitting on the shelf with the same co2 since?

I'm not sure if you can get oil transfer from the gun into the tank. I would be more concerned about what the inside of that tank looks like.
Try to rig it so you can press the pin on the tank with a white rag on top and see what comes out. I'm guessing there will be rust!

 

[MrFoodScientist]

I'm not sure if you can get oil transfer from the gun into the tank. I would be more concerned about what the inside of that tank looks like.
Try to rig it so you can press the pin on the tank with a white rag on top and see what comes out. I'm guessing there will be rust!

There shouldn't be rust if it's an aluminum or chrome-moly tank. Some tanks are steel, but they don't sell as well to paintballers due to the fact that they're heavier. No one wants to be lugging around extra weight while they're running from a hail of paintballs