Filling your Own CO2....

[Meleager7]

I was wondering if anyone here fills their own CO2 ? Non of the fields I frequent fill Co2 anymore, and i've slowly collected a few Co2 friendly guns that need to be fed delicious Co2 constantly (get the pun) to be kept happy, sometimes even in a liquid state ( Tippmann 68-Special, Tippmann Mini-Lite , Tippmann SL68II , Air Power Apex Elite, Montneel Z-1 )

I have only one guy locally in town who can do fills , but it ain't cheap, and he has no scale, fills the tanks by feel so I try to avoid him.

anyhow, wondering if any of you guys have invested in Co2 fill station, Siphon Tank rentals (scuba size ) and was it a big expense to do this, and or difficult to set up ?

[SignOfZeta]

I started doing this only this year. Dick’s Sporting Goods still does CO2 fills but every time I go it feels like it will be the last time they do it so in order to prevent being SOL to bought my own stuff.

CO2 itself is very cheap. Your main cost will be the tank which you can rent for like $30 a month or buy outright for about $200. (20lbs siphon tank). The fill rig is maybe $50. A quality scale is essential. The one that I got from ebay is a total POS so I always double check it versus another scale once I’m done filling it.

[440SUPERCOMMANDO]

The thing with dicks, if you have any old tanks, wether they have current hydro or not, their policy is to not fill any tank older than 3 years.
I had to use my DOT fu on the kne guy to get him to fill my two 9oz cromo tanks, but he was hella reluctant. And he wouldn't touch my 12oz PE tanks with smart parts valves.

[pghp8ntballer]

I fill my own. A friend gave me a 15 or 20 lb tank with the dip(siphon) tube as a gift for helping him with a bunch of work. I haven't had to fill it yet so I don't know what it will cost to fill. I remember calling a few years ago when I was thinking of buying a tank and vaguely remember ~ $30 to fill a 20 lb tank?
Even a new aluminum tank from amazon is in the 100-150 range so its seriously not that expensive to do this. Plus you can comb craigslist for old tanks.

Just FYI; most gas supply shops have no stinking clue what a siphon tube is. To them its a dip tube.
If you wind up with a 50 lb tank, most shops will swap them not refill them. So make sure the replacement has a dip tube.

I bought a Chinese 2 valve fill station from ebay for ~ $25. Working nicely so far. I also bought a digital hanging scale, also Chinese, for less than $5 for this. I had a nice long stainless braided line so I didn't need to buy a fill whip or on/off valve. So my investment is relatively cheap.

Setup is fairly simple. If you can fully rebuild a paintball gun without needing a manual and it function properly, than you most likely have the required skill set to set up a co2 fill station. I mean the sets on ebay come assembled. Worst case you take it apart to add teflon tape to seal the pipe fittings.

Anywho, I love being able to fill my own tanks. All I have are 3.5, 7, and 10 oz tanks so no need to hydro for me. Takes just a few minutes to fill a tank so I can fill all my tanks very quickly.

[pghp8ntballer]

Also, if you get one of the Chinese fill stations, I suggest splurging like $5 for the little threaded mufflers so venting isn't nearly as loud.

[Bulldogr6]

I filled my own CO2 back in the day. Check out fire equipment places can probably score a bottle that might just need a hydro on the cheap and they fill there too very reasonable.

Sent from my E6910 using Tapatalk

[Paintslinger16]

Ahh the good old days of using the fill adapter that came with a Tippmann and a upside down 20 pound tank from the Pepsi plant filling a frozen 20 oz

[MrKittyCatMeowFace]

I started doing this only this year. Dick’s Sporting Goods still does CO2 fills but every time I go it feels like it will be the last time they do it so in order to prevent being SOL to bought my own stuff.

CO2 itself is very cheap. Your main cost will be the tank which you can rent for like $30 a month or buy outright for about $200. (20lbs siphon tank). The fill rig is maybe $50. A quality scale is essential. The one that I got from ebay is a total POS so I always double check it versus another scale once I’m done filling it.

i called all my local stores and they all stopped so your probably right

[Meleager7]

Is this Ninja fill station pretty good, and compatible with a 20 lb tank with Siphon (dip) tube?

https://www.badlandspaintball.com/ninja-mini-fill-station-co2?search_query=fill+station&results=8

[pghp8ntballer]

I’m pretty sure all bulk tanks have standard threads and there is also no difference in the outside of the valve if it had a dip tube or not.

So yes it will work

[Interl0per]

I've been thinking about it, anybody got recommendations for CA tanks these days?