Filling Paintball Cylinders

[plant57va]

Can anyone reccomend a place where i can get my (4) paintball Cylinders filled?
I have called every Dicks sporting goods, and Gone to a welding place but no one either has C02 to fill for me( no dicks) and the Welding place does not fill them.
There seems to be fewer and fewer Paintball stores around the Richmond area, and I am really in a pinch for getting these darn things filled.

I am either going to go online and purchase my own filling station line, (not sure costs and need assistance with what to buy there)
or
I am going to get rid of this darn Paintball attachment (it has a solenoid, so not a really cheap one) and invest in a normal sized regulator setup...

any help would be greatful here...
thanks
david

[JLW]

Odd, I'm 100% sure I replied to this.

So, I googled around a little bit earlier, and it looks like the filling device that hooks to a regular CO2 cylinder is like $40. And it's /really/ easy to do - there are a lot of instructionals and videos online.
Given how much hassle you're having getting them filled, it might be a worthwhile investment -- I bet you're spending more on gas(oline).

[plant57va]

Thank Josh
So i too have been looking on line and I am a bit confused, as "they" talk about a fill tank WITH SIPHON.....?????
my understanding is i need the gas not the fluid, and yet, do i need to fill with fluid to enable good gas exhange??
Can i just buy a filled tank, (ie... fill a 20 lb and fill my paintball canisters from that) or do i have to buy a special tank that has a siphon...

the welding place i visited yesterday, the guy was telling me prices for tanks/leases etc. and it is kind of high i think....
also, they will not 'fill' my tanks while i wait, rather they exchange.... some of my C02 tanks (2 1/2's, 5's, and a couple 20's ) are nice tanks and i don't want to exchange them out for nasty tanks.... (i know i know, the outside isn't the issue, but just saying)

[SCMurphy]

You need a different type of CO2 cylinder to refill paintball tanks. It is not the same as the standard 5- or 20-pound tanks we generally use. The cylinder is called a siphon tank because the CO2 in compressed form is a liquid and is drawn from the bottom of the cylinder to transfer to the paintball tank in liquid form. I do not know if it costs more to get a siphon tank refilled or what the smallest version of this type of tank is, but you might be looking at a 50- or 100-pound tank. Roberts has been exchanging my CO2 cylinders for nice aluminum ones that my wife doesn't object to having in the kitchen. The last time I went there, I exchanged two 5-pound tanks for a 20-pound tank for the cost of filling a 20. I had been getting nice clean 5-pound aluminum tanks from them before that. Say it is for a soda stream and is in your kitchen and they generally will be nice and give you a clean aluminum tank.

[plant57va]

Thank you Sean:
so am i to understand, for actual C02 for aquariums, i do not need the "siphon tank" type ? Is that style used because of the size of the paintball cylinders,
Can you fill a paintball cylinder with regular gas only? not liquid?
My understanding was that in order to fill such small tanks was necessary to use the liquid but in fact the gas released to the aquarium was gas derived from the liquid????

[SCMurphy]

Thank you Sean:
so am i to understand, for actual C02 for aquariums, i do not need the "siphon tank" type ? Is that style used because of the size of the paintball cylinders,
Can you fill a paintball cylinder with regular gas only? not liquid?
My understanding was that in order to fill such small tanks was necessary to use the liquid but in fact the gas released to the aquarium was gas derived from the liquid????

The siphon tank is for refilling paintball cylinders with liquid CO2. Regular CO2 tanks and paintball cylinders need to be stood up when in use because liquid CO2 will ruin a pressure gauge. Regular tanks and paintball cylinders release gas CO2 through the regulator. Somehow you reversed what I was telling you.

[GOT MTS?]

David buddy let me try to break it down for you. When you compress co2 it turns into a liquid. Tanks aren't filled to the tippy top though, there is a little space at the top of the tank for the co2 to remain in a gaseous state. This is why tanks must be used in an upright position. If you were to use them on their side or upside-down, liquid co2 would come out.

I don't think you need a special siphon tank to refill a smaller tank but you would need to turn your dispensing tank upside-down. You would need to be very careful not to over fill your tanks though, you need a little empty space at the top. I've never done this but I believe the procedure goes something like this. You would place your empty tank on a scale, your fill tank will have a siphon hose with a valve on it, when the valve is open, gravity allows the liquid co2 to flow down to the empty tank. You do not want to fill over the stated capacity of the tank. Paintball tanks are small, usually only around 12-20 ounces.

I actually have a co2 siphon hose. I got it with some used Paintball gear back when I played but never used it. I didn't use co2 when I played Paintball, not many paintball people use it anymore, that might be why sporting good stores aren't refilling.

If you come up to my area you can have the siphon, but it probably wouldn't be worth a special trip considering they aren't terribly expensive.

Call me if you're still confused

[sfarkhan]

In the past I've tried Sports Authority. I would call ahead because there is usually one or two people on staff that know how to fill CO2 and they are may not be working the day you decide to go in.