Paintball tank sizes run from 9 oz, 12 oz, 16 oz and 20 oz.
I wanted to calculate how much CO2 a tank would generate to see what size would be most appropriate.
CO2 => Mole Weight of 44g/mole.
1 mole of gas at STP is equivalent to 22.4 liters => 16g will make approximately 8.1 liters and 1 ounce = 28.3495231 grams.
From this I generated the following table.
This will produce the following amounts of CO2
Cylinder…Liters……Gallons
…9 Oz.………129.9……=…34.3
12 Oz.………173.2……=…45.8
16 Oz.………230.9……=…61.0
20 Oz.………288.6……=…76.4
If you have a paint ball tank, refilling it runs between $2.00 - $4.00 at the your local sporting goods stores. If you aren’t into paintball, check to see if any of your friends might have the equipment that you need, as you might not even have to buy a tank or remote, just borrow theirs for a quick squirt into your tank.
If you want your own equipment, the tanks cost from $9.00 - $40.00 and can be purchased online or from almost any sporting goods store or any paintball shop. I did quite a bit of researching for this article and found that the prices at our local sporting good store’s and paintball establishment’s, were quite a bit higher than many of the online sources, even with shipping factored in.
While the most common paintball tank size is probably the 20oz tank, the smaller sized tanks should be just fine for our hobby.
Beyond the cost of a tank, you will also need to purchase what is called a “Paintball Coiled Remote with quick disconnect.” The Remote is designed to power the gun while the tank is located remotely on a belt or backpack unit. The remote is able to connect to the paintball tank’s oddball thread size, it has an on / off valve, a coiled supply line, some standard sized connection fittings, as well as a quick disconnect. This unit is real cheap when compared to the cost of all of the fittings you would need purchase in order to connect to the tank if you went out to buy all of the fittings on your own.
Here is the best price that I have located on line for the pair.
Coiled Remote and CO2 Tank Combo
I also found that **azon.com had some of the best prices for the individual parts, and if you combined a tank and the “Paintball Remote”, you can sometimes get free shipping.
The best prices that I found for both the 20oz. tank and the remote were found online and prices were running between $28 - $49. The paintball and sporting goods stores around here were almost twice that.
Newbies Guide to CO2 / CO2 Tanks.
A google search of “Paintball CO2 tanks” will give you a lot more info.
If you want to adjust or regulate the pressure stream that is ported out of the tank you will need to add a pressure regulator.
A regulator is required if you are planning on using bottled CO2 for euthanizing your frogs and tadpoles. Without it you can eject too much CO2 too quickly which can freeze an animal or stress them out from too high of a volume flow. (More information is posted below.)
In order attach a regulator you should know that the threading on every paintball tank is an oddball fitting. The international ASTM thread standards designation is known as F1750-05. The ASA designation for the paintball threads is CGA-320. I share this because without the proper adaptor, it is impossible to connect to the tank outside of using epoxy as one home brewer did that I read about. The home brewing industry has developed an adapter that can covert the tank’s thread into a standard regulator fitting size so that one can attach a pressure regulator to the tank.
Click the image to open in full size.
BREWER'S EDGE® PAINTBALL REGULATOR ADAPTER
The Adapter" CO2 regulator to Paintball tank Adapter
Regulators are relatively inexpensive and you should be able to use a cheap ¼ inch air compressor regulator.
Cheap 125 PSI Air Flow Regulator
You may need to get a few other fittings to convert the lines to a ¼ inch regulator thread. I have found that Lowes seems to have a larger array of fittings than does Home Depot.
You have the coiled remote, you may not need the home brewers adaptor to connect a regulator as I believe the fittings on the quick disconnects are standard fittings.
Tips on using a Paintball tank with remote.
When connecting the Remote to the tank, make sure that the valve on the remote is in the off position. Otherwise when you make the connection, you will blow CO2 all over as you are screwing the remote onto the tank.
Keep the tank in an upright position or you will vent liquid CO2 rather than CO2 gas.
If you do not run a regulator, turn the valve on very slowly, and only crack it a small amount. You don’t need full pressure. It is after all a high-pressure tank.
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Bike CO2 tanks:
Bicycle shops also carry small CO2 tanks little bigger than a pencil which they use to re-inflate bike tires. These are small and relatively inexpensive. The cartridges come in many different sizes, 12g, 16g, 25g, 38g, 40g, 45g, and 88g. The non-threaded cartridges are usually much cheaper than the threaded.
Different Size CO2 Bike Tanks
Here’s kind of a cool video of how these bike cylinders are made.
You can get a Schrader tire valve with an 1/8” fitting at your local Auto Parts store. You can also get Schrader valve at your local tire shop. If you go in and ask how much the all metal screw in Schrader valves costs, they will usually just take you in back and hand you one no charge. These are very easy to install into a chamber by drilling a 3/8 hole and popping it in place with a washer and nut. These valves even have a rubber bushing on the base to seal it up.
The problem that I see with using these non-refillable cartridges is the expense per gallon of CO2 produced. I calculated the volume of CO2 contained in the various size cylinders.
Cylinder ……Liters…Gallons
12 Grams ………6.1………1.6
16 Grams ………8.1………2.2
25 Grams ……12.7………3.4
38 Grams ……19.3………5.1
45 Grams ……22.9………6.0
88 Grams ……44.8………1.8
Because of the convenience, some might find using the bike CO2 tanks appealing so I added the information.
if the sublimated nmt carbonate (carbomate?) is easily penetrated by the warm naphtha this could be a non issue
) From what I've been taught in a previous job, it sounds as though Jees is lucky to be alive without major brain damage. A few years back some guy was awarded huge damages after being rendered a vegetable in an industrial H
