Paintball

[pghp8ntballer]

Alright, I'm sure this has been asked a bunch of times before, but who knows how to get the gunkiest gunk/paint out of a barrel? This is long after it should have been easily washed out with hot water. The problem barrel is a carbon fiber one at that. Any tricks?

[No Mercy Ever]

Soak it in hot water?

[pghp8ntballer]

Tried soaking in hot water, and dish soap/hot water. Then with a squeegee. I still got some in there.

[toymachine]

How long was it left to dry after getting caked on there? I'd imagine after enough soaking/squeegeeing sessions you'd get it all out, but then again sounds pretty nasty...

[paintballguy2255]

Let it sit in some warm water for about 20 minutes,then run a paper towel down it with a chopstick or dowel,run a pull-through squeegee through it,and then swab it out with the fluffiest swab you have.

[pghp8ntballer]

Its gunkier than that. At first I thought it was some type of rubbery stick-um stuff... then I realized how bad Infinity paint gets. Lol. I am pretty sure thats what it is.

Tried the paper towel, swab, squeegee, water, soap. I let this thing soak for a few DAYS to no avail. Anyone know of any chemicals or cleaners that are gentle enough not to ruin the barrel (carbon fiber) but strong enough to dissolve the stickiest paint?

[EgoPossum]

At the shop I work at I clean some of the local field's rentals and one of the local tourney teams markers from time to time.
The owners sometimes neglect to clean them the way they should and wonder why they break down.

Here is what works for me:
Take a spray bottle and fill with water, dish soap, and a little methyl hydrate. (Found this breaks it up really well)
Spray solution down the barrel till it is coming out the porting and squeegee with a pull through and a shop towel looped through the back (Tippmann makes a really nice one).
Fill a bucket big enough to submerge the barrel fully will the hottest water you have with a little bit of dish soap and let soak for about 10-20 minutes to break up the grunge.
Squeegee out the barrel
Rinse with a spray hose from the back (threaded end) and cover the tip to help clean the porting out.
Buff the inside with a fluffy stick.
Repeat until clean

On that note: sometimes the tournament players' barrels are far worse then the field rentals for how dirty they are

[toymachine]

Don't know what it will do to a carbon fiber barrel, but a solution of water and ammonia, obviously mostly water and just a little ammonia, also has served me very well on al and ss barrels. Again, don't know if this is okay for the carbon fiber though. I like the above post's suggestion the most though.

[pghp8ntballer]

What on earth is methyl hydrate and where do I find it?

[toymachine]

Your local hardware store I'd imagine. I think Ace Hardware has it around my area, although I'd be Home Depot also would. To my understanding, methyl hydrate is methanol (not menthol, methanol ), right? Kinda like denatured alcohol/ethanol, in terms of being used in a cleaning solution. I think it can also be used as a fuel? Not sure about that though. Isn't it a solvent?