Nitro or co2

[sharpshooter98]

I'm not sure if this is under the right thread but i'll try it. I know nitro is better in one way because it heats up instead of getting cold like co2 so you can play in the cold. I'm trying to get one of my friends to buy my old nitro tank and he wants hard facts why nitro is better than co2. Some help please. I want hard facts not myths.

[Havoc_online]

nitro and CA is compressed, it doesnt need to expand like Co2(since it's a liquid in the tank).

Co2 also reacts with the tempeture so that with different expansion rates leads to irratic velocities and a less stable marker once liquid is in the valve(effects different markers differently).

[Paintmanmike]

Its not "heating up" that enables nitro or compressed air (around here it is always CA) to perform in the cold, its that at the pressures its stored at (3000-4500 psi) it is not liquid at temperatures that we play in. To form liquid O2 or N2 takes some very high pressures and/or very low temeperatures. Therefore it is always a gas when it enters the marker which is good because the markers usually prefer to run off a gas.

Since CO2 is a liquid when stored at 800 psi (even at room temperature) it must change state from a liquid to a gas to be useful in a marker since most markers do not run well off a pressurized liquid. When CO2 changes from a liquid to a gas it takes thermal energy out of the remaining volume of CO2 liquid reducing the temperature of the liquid. This increases the chance that the CO2 will be drawn out of the tank instead of a gas. Once the CO2 stops transisitioning to a gas the marker will suck liquid CO2. When the liquid CO2 enters the marker (called by some as "going solid") most will not operate.

The output pressure of the tank also drops and most markers do not like this either, most markers are designed to operate with an intake pressure of 800 psi which is what a CO2 tank puts out at roughly room temperature. Most can still operate to a lower pressure but at some point there simply will not be enough pressure to cycle properly.

When you play with CO2 in the cold its a race to see which issue gets you first, typically most markers balk on liquid first before the low pressure gets them but some will handle the liquid enough to run into low pressure problems. If you shoot a lot the marker and tank get cold, condensation will form and often frost as well, particualrly on the tank. You can see tis first as the marker shooting a white fog of almost liquid CO2.

Compressed air or nitrogen simply will not do this under the pressures we store it at and the temperatures we play at.