Air Efficiency Question...

[SithSteve]

Hi all,

I was wondering how many shots a perfectly tuned X-valve with a lvl 10 is supposed to get out of a bottle (HPA)? I use two different tanks: an 88-4500 and a 68-3000.

Now, to state the obvious, I know that I will get less shots from the 68 than the 88! I was wondering what size bottle you guys use and how many shots your used to getting from them?

THANKS!!!

[SR_matt]

the 15/10 times ci works well (15 for 4500 tanks, 10 for 3000 tanks)

i use a 45/45 and can get 600-750 with no problems (i always seem to be able to get a refill before i run out)

the 88 should give u 1320 roughly and the 68 should give 680

my mag seems to have a little bit better efficenty than the standard estimation should give

-matt

[Greg2230]

Heres a link to a shot calculator. I dont know how accurate it is.

http://www.scubatoys.com/paintball/paintballshots.asp

[SR_matt]

its kinda acurate. but u gota use the gas hog or below average for mags.

each gun can give such differant results from another of the exact same model just from too many factors for a program that simple to figure out.

just gota go try it out to get the best answer, best guesses with mags is the 10, 15 method
-matt

[Drego]

Hi all,

I was wondering how many shots a perfectly tuned X-valve with a lvl 10 is supposed to get out of a bottle (HPA)? I use two different tanks: an 88-4500 and a 68-3000.

Now, to state the obvious, I know that I will get less shots from the 68 than the 88! I was wondering what size bottle you guys use and how many shots your used to getting from them?

THANKS!!!

Sith,

I'm planning on upgrading from my 68/3000 to either a 68/4500 or above because right around lunch time (6 woodsball games shooting an average of 1000-1200 total rounds) I'm pretty close to that 1k psi guage point and always refill for the next round of games after lunch. For me, 2 fills with my Tac One gets me through the day with my current setup. Of course this varies to either side of the average with the type of field play, agressiveness and marker setup. Kinda makes me wonder if the Xvalve is a gas hog afterall?

[Jimmykaboots]

Well I'm using the 68 classic valve and that is a major air hog! I play with a pocket hopper, so by the 5th round my guage is already at 1 psi. I'm sure the XValve is more gas efficent.

[RobAGD]

Mags vary a bit depending on the barrel being used. This effect all dump chamber style guns.

Something like a Lapco Big Shot will get you the most shots with a good paint to barrel match where as something like a Dye UL or All Amercian barrel will get a lot less shots on a tank.


68 3k = 45 4500 in air volume

68 4500 = 114 3000 in air volume ( very close )

Now with that :

68 3k w/ Lapco = ~1000 shots on a lvl 7 - 5%-10% w/ Level10

68 3k w/ AA or UL = ~650 on lvl 7 - 5-10% w/ Level 10

68 4500 w/ Lapco = ~1500 on lvl 7

Now something else to think about is bottle volume

45/48 68/72 and 88/92 are all 1/3 steps in volume

4500 is 1/2 again as much as 3k

So with that you can take what tank you know your getting for shot count and then do the math to see what a differnt tank will get you.

here is a post with a spreadsheet for air volumes

Air Volume Post

-Robert

[SR_matt]

the biggest thing i would worry about is avaliabilty of fills and the cost of them. around here when i play its either 10 bucks all day air or 4-5 bucks per fill (or 1 buck per 1k psi) so i dont worry about multiple fills in a day but my friend in cape cod has to pay 4 bucks per 1k psi (yes 4 bucks per 1000 psi so a full tank is 18 bucks) if i was there and had to use their air i would go with a large tank (more preferably just get a scuba tank and refill off that).

if u have acess to air that is not expensive as crap and is easy to get just get the tank that gives you the best feel for your marker.

-matt

[SithSteve]

Wow! Thanks for all the info guys... It really helps!

[pierce]

I use a 68/45k tank. I usually get around 1700 shots per tank. It always makes me smile when someone calls Mags gas hogs.

[SR_matt]

1700? thats insanely eficent for a mag.

whats your set up and what fps are you shooting?
-matt

[pierce]

I have a ULE, and went against the high pressure rule (900-1000psi). I have a ajustable tank and found my Mag peaked at 575psi. I did this by setting up my gun to shoot 290fps with 800psi feeding the vavle, then i would lower the pressure 50psi (750) re-chrono and see if my fps changed. It stayed the same until i got to 600psi (thats when my fps rose to 300fps). I then took her down to 550psi but my trigger started acting funny so i brought it up to 575psi and gained another 10fps (310 total). My chrono readings also tighted up (don't forget paint to barrel match). I am running the standard spring with the lightest carrier i can (no shims). The level 10 with this spring is not the easyest on the paint but i have a egg hopper which keeps paint flowing (and i don't shoot 15bps anyway) This set-up works great on my Mag,and i'm not telling a tale when i say i get 1700 shots from a 68/45 tank ( that's 44 shots per 100lbs of air). Another thing, the way it's set up now if i just switch to the middle spring (red one) efficency drops to 33 shots per 100lbs. Don't be afraid to tinker you can always go back to 900-1000psi if you don't like it. Have fun and i hope this helps someone out.

[SR_matt]

mamkes sence, any gun should be able to run at a very high eficentcy (heck a viking with a robtown valve can supposedly get 2500 on a 68/45 so it obvisouly doesnt take a lot of air to shot the ball out at full velecioty)

-matt

[Dayspring]

Also remember- you will get better efficiency if you don't dryfire, as it will completely empty the dump chamber. When you fire with a ball, there is residual pressure in the chamber.