Water in HPA tank

[jpdgas]

So I have water in a couple of my tanks. I was shooting one of my mags and there was some weird vapor coming out of the barrel, not your normal paintball poof. Pulled the barrel off and it was wet, along with the rest of the internals on the gun.
Pulled the tank off, water on the end of the reg. Degassed the tank, pulled the reg and its soaked in there. I pulled apart the gun and reg to try to get it as dry as I could, but the tank is a problem. There is about a dime size pool of water in there. Only some of it came out when I shook it. It's been sitting open for 48hrs with no sign of evaporating. Heat gun did nothing. I suspect there may be some oil mixed in there as its slightly milky.

How can I get the water out and what are the risks to the tank the longer it stays wet?

[Trbo323]

Yeah this is a compressor problem at it's root, where are you getting air from?

If you have a garage compressor I would shoot some air up into the tank while it sits upside down, use some macro hose to get the air all the way to the "back" of the tank. I would do that every 15 or 20 minutes until it's dry, heat the whole tank slightly to help anything inside evaporate

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[jpdgas]

I got the air from me, I have a little portable compressor and I filled these on a rainy day. I think the little cotton inline dryer couldn't keep up. I have an actual dryer on the way, but I have to deal with the fallout and I'm hoping I don't have a ruined tank/reg/gun.
I'll try both suggestions and see what I get out of them. I was thinking of dumping some rice in there but i suspect that may just give me new problems unless I account for every grain going in and out.

[F1FX]

I would suggest NOT to dump rice in the tank, most likely you wont be able to get it all out (without using more water). You can put the tank in a big zip lock bag with rice at the bottom and that will slowly remove water, but not sure about the oil tho.

[F1FX]

Do you see any signs of rust? That would be the biggest issue for concerns as you dont want the tank to be compromised.

[jpdgas]

No rust so far, it's been about two days. Hard to see through that little hole but what I can see still looks good.

[Trbo323]

Yeah this is a common issue with the small compressors. At first they work fine but it's not long before they can't get the water out and the seals start letting oil in. You really have to keep on top of replacing the filters to keep them working right

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[XEMON]

You can put a desiccant filter on teh air intake, will save you lots of problems 👍

[jpdgas]

I have one on the way, won't be filling another tank without one!

[F1FX]

Rinse tank with 90% (or higher) alcohol. It will help remove oil/water and the alcohol will evaporate away. I might have an extra tank cap i got from gramps and grizzly many years ago, let me check my parts bin. Or just cover hole with your hand while you shake the tank.

[jpdgas]

Thats a solid plan, I'll try that as well. Good ol' Gramps and Grizzly, that takes me back! I used to rent markers from them and buy their house paint a few decades ago.

[Trbo323]

Rinse tank with 90% (or higher) alcohol. It will help remove oil/water and the alcohol will evaporate away. I might have an extra tank cap i got from gramps and grizzly many years ago, let me check my parts bin. Or just cover hole with your hand while you shake the tank.

Idk about this. If he uses 90% alcohol that means 10% of what he puts in the tank is water. That would be way more water than what's currently in there and yes the alcohol should evaporate out but that doesn't mean it takes the water with it. Alcohol chills as it evaporates off so the water is more likely to condense and stay inside.

If you want to do this I'd say find pure alcohol, rinse and get as much out as you can. I could see it helping to get the oil out but I wouldn't count on it doing anything for the water

Heck, I'd call a scuba shop. They probably have to deal with this exact issue on occasion and those tanks are for breathing air so they better get them clean

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[F1FX]

Agreed, 99% is best but 90/91% is easier to find in the stores and will be fine, I’ve even used 70% in the past to clean my tanks and it evaporates dry, it just takes a little longer. This is the bottle cleaning process suggested from MacDev/Gramps and Grizzly. Their earlier bottle regs were sensitive to dirty air so to prevent reg creep, regular maintenance/bottle cleaning was needed especially if getting air fills from fields. A rinse or two should get the contaminated water/oil out.

[Tarsun2]

this is interesting.
the alcohol would evaporate out and leave the 10% water behind, yeah? dosent that mean that the water in the tank that the alcohol mixes with will also be "left behind"?
wouldnt this lead to a net negative result?
genuinely curious.

[tyronejk]

I don't know what physical/chemical process is involved, but in my experience, rubbing alcohol evaporates uniformly, not just alcohol first then the water. I'm sure there are some chemistry people here who can explain it.

[jpdgas]

I use alcohol to clean/disinfect and nothing stays wet, so I think it would work the same in the case of a tank.
This is what the Google machine thinks about it:

You can use high-concentration isopropyl alcohol to remove water from surfaces by applying it to absorb the water and then allowing it to evaporate. For example, high-proof isopropyl alcohol is used to displace water from water-damaged electronics because it absorbs water and evaporates quickly. You can also purchase a fuel additive containing alcohol to absorb water that has contaminated fue

Yes, isopropyl alcohol (IPA) displaces water through a combination of mechanisms, primarily its ability to attract water molecules and its faster evaporation rate. As a miscible solvent, it mixes with water and, due to its lower surface tension and faster evaporation, it carries away the moisture from a surface, leaving it dry

[Grendel]

Alcohol interrupts the bond between water molecules when in solution, allowing them both [water & alcohol] to evaporate more easily together. This is why alcohol, even with a relatively low ratio, is used as a drying agent when cleaning surfaces. It cuts through most oils and helps evaporate water, carrying it away. Using Alcohol in this situation would work just fine. Aluminum (what is inside your tank) will react to alcohol if left in contact for extended periods, but if you are using it to rinse out and dry the inside of your tank, there is little concern.

[Tarsun2]

hey, good deal.
learned something new.