Air compressors have a wide range of uses, from inflating the tires on your truck to powering a jackhammer. This means there are also many different types of air compressors. So when it comes to filling your paintball gun, you may be left scratching your head. If you have ever wondered if an industrial air compressor can be used for your paintball gun, keep reading.
Paintball guns, known as a paintball marker in the field, require high-pressure air or carbon dioxide to propel plastic paint-filled balls through the air. Markers come in all shapes and sizes, including milsim markers, which is short for military simulation. Milsim markers are designed to resemble real guns. They have an internal air tank to store the high-pressure air (HPA) or carbon dioxide needed to shoot the paintballs. HPA paintball guns are very popular because they cost less than the markers that have carbon fiber tanks to hold carbon dioxide. This article focuses on HPA paintball markers.
Let's Look At The Numbers
Most people will bring their tanks to a paintball store or a scuba store to have them filled, but sometimes that isn't convenient or cost effective. If you have an air compressor at home, you have probably considered filling your marker with it. This may not be a good idea. HPA paintball markers have steel tanks that hold about 21MPa, or 3,000 psi. Shop compressors typically create air compressed to about 100-200 psi. This is significantly less than the 3,000 psi that is needed for an HPA tank. Right there, you can see that it's probably not a good idea to fill your paintball gun with an air compressor.
Check Out The Equipment
It's also important to point out that a HPA tank is filled from a nipple instead of an ASA valve. The nipple end allows the tank to be filled while attached to the paintball gun. While that sounds like a deal-breaker, it isn't. There are adaptors currently on the market that can be used to attach to the end of the air compressor so it can be connected to the paintball gun tank for filling. Keep in mind, though, that the pressure from the air compressor will be significantly less than what is typically used in a paintball marker, so your paintballs won't fly as far.
The best piece of equipment to fill a paintball gun tank is an HPA compressor. These compressors are expensive, which is why most hobbyists choose to travel to a paintball shop or scuba shop to have their tanks filled. For example, some compressors sell for about $430.00. But, an HPA compressor will be close to or at the perfect air pressure to get maximum performance from your marker.
As you can see, you could use an industrial air compressor to fill your paintball gun, if you have an adaptor. But in most cases, the air is compressed significantly less in an air compressor than a special paintball HPA compressor. So the answer to the question is that you could use an industrial air compressor to fill a paintball gun tank, but you probably don't want to. If you are still adamant about using your own compressor, then you'll have to buy at attachment so it will fit properly on the marker's tank. If you are not looking forward to buying more equipment, then it's worth it to jump in the car and bring your gun to the paintball store to have them fill it for you. Then save your air compressor for other jobs.
If you have any questions about what you can do with your air compressor, other than use it to fill your paintball gun, call your local machine shop, such as Compressor-Pump & Service, Inc.. They'd be happy to help you.
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