Advice needed on refilling your own CO2

[knuckledragger]

Is is a fairly easy process refilling your own co2?

Thinking of buying a 20 pound tank and refilling my own canisters. Is 20 LBS. big enough??? Any advice appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[teufelhunden]

20 lbs is pretty big. It's plenty. Make sure you get a tank with a syphon tube so you dont have to turn it upside down to get a good fill :)

[Kevmaster]

well...

20lbs of Co2 will fill....about 10-12 20oz Co2 tanks. YOu'll lose some in the transfer and chilling and exhausting.

as for saftey...make sure you know what you are doing. its easy, but you need to know what you are doing. TECHNICALLY, OSHA and Federal DOT require that you undergo certification training for using that equipment. Although, I don't know of any fields, even, that abide by that rule.

[knuckledragger]

Wow, that is not that many refills! I can buy a 20 with siphon tube for 71.00. The 35 and 50 are more but can be rented for 6 a month. Is a scale neccessary? They don't use it when I get my refills now.

[ZapTheMad]

It's real easy and it's worth it if you play alot. Most fields charge 5 bucks per fill. Get your own fill station and you start filling for around a buck per fill. Over time, this adds up to lots of money. A 20 pounder is big enough, just make sure you get a tank with an eductor tube (dip tube). Refills are around $20 and you just take the tank in and exchange it for another.

20 lb tank $125
Fill station $40
Electronic Scale $30
Total $200

After 50 fills, saving $4 per fill, you just paid for your station. You can also sell fills to your buddies to make a few more bucks. I sell fills for $2 to my friends.

Here's a link with good info on filling your own CO2 tanks.

http://www.ottersccustoms.com

[trains are bad]

"Is a scale neccessary? They don't use it when I get my refills now."

Stop spending money there. That is retarded. It is impossible to properly filll a CO2 tank without a scale.


20lbs of Co2 will fill....about 10-12 20oz Co2 tanks. YOu'll lose some in the transfer and chilling and exhausting.

Stop that loss, time permitting, by chilling the tanks in the freezer.

[Lee]

bear in kind for the amount of money to set yourself up w/ a co2 tank, you could have a pretty decent comp air tank and pay 10$ for all day air (or less) at most places.

[teufelhunden]

Stop spending money there. That is retarded. It is impossible to properly filll a CO2 tank without a scale.


I've not been filling CO2 tanks for very long [year, year and a half maybe] and I can nail a 20 oz within .5 oz every time, no scale.

Besides, if you're going to fill the tank and then go use it right then it's no big deal. Won't have enough time to heat up to the point where it's dangerous anyway. You can skip the scale if you need to.

[ZapTheMad]

Get the scale. Once you've filled 100 tanks you get a feel for what it takes to fill a tank. Get the hang of it with the scale first and save yourself some trouble. Underfill and you lose shots per fill, not that big a deal, just fill again. But overfill and you buy burst disks at $2-5 bucks each.

[knuckledragger]

Ok, I will get a scale. Thanks all for the help!

[Destructo6]

Besides, if you're going to fill the tank and then go use it right then it's no big deal. Won't have enough time to heat up to the point where it's dangerous anyway. You can skip the scale if you need to.
I ran into a no-scale needed type at a field once. Two fills resulted in two blown safety discs. At $5 per disc, it wouldn't take long to be spending more than the scale is worth. Add to that the cost of time. It's silly to fill a tank without a scale.

[punkncat]

Go ahead and get the big tank. The small tank will run out quickly after chilling and filling a few. Its only like 28$ (or so ) to have the 50# tank filled , and lasts much longer.Also while renting tanks they keep you in hydroed and inspected tanks. Small price to pay for the rental , but easy to make up on your friends for a buck or two a fill. Saves them money and pays for your fills and rental.
Definately get a scale. There is no reason to be unsafe. Overfilling a tank can be dangerous , in spite of the burst disk.