Paintball

[bond commander bond]

Topping up co2 bottles?

Can you weigh the bottles empty and then use the weigh on the scale and subtract the bottle weight to determine whats left in a co2 bottle.

Then it should be a matter of topping off a bottle vs completely depleting it first.

[Schmitti]

You mean come up with what's called a tare weight of a bottle?

Yes... when you normally get a bottle filled they weigh it empty then fill to the weight of the bottle plus the appropriate weight of the CO2.

E

[Jaan]

Yes.

[bond commander bond]

If I have 4oz left in a 9oz tank should I add 5oz or should I dump it to empty 1st (BEFORE REFILLING)?

[Schmitti]

I do not have my fillers certificate, but i have an understanding of the process. If you are not using a CO2 pump and you are filling off a standard bulk tank you need to chill the tank.. which pretty much means you have to dump some CO2.... how much.. I don't know. but enough to get the tank cold. Then you add enough CO2 to get up to 9oz.

E

[BigOldSkool]

Unless you get the tank cold its tough to fill a tank to its maximum fill level..

Trust me I have filled ALOT of co2 tanks in my day.

[HP_Lovecraft]

The problem is that co2 tanks all weight different.

If you knew the exact weight OF THAT SPECIFIC TANK when empty, then yes, you could chill it in icewater, then top it off without wasting any co2 (which I assume is your goal).

But if you are working at a field, you could never make that assumption. 9oz tanks especially, since you had round-bottom, flat-bottom, narrow, wide, alum, steel, moly, etc. Plus all the different valves (ie on/offs), and covers. They all effect the weight.

An alternative is the Tippmann QuickFill valves. They all for topoffs, when combined with a pump. They have an internal shutoff valve that shuts-off automatically when the tank is full. Unpopular, as most fields do not use pumps. They also worked with fill-stations that used the "gravity method", but that method is very, very unsafe.

[Brewtt]

Looks like it's been covered.

Weigh your tanks empty and write the empty and full weights on the bottom for easy checking.

Chill your tanks in the freezer and you won't have to purge them to chill for a fill or top off.

If you over fill past your "FULL" weight then purge the tank down to proper fill.

[funsi00]

Ditto, to what Brewtt said. I have been filling my own CO2 tanks for years. Need a little prep in the beginning. Empty tanks weights and paint markers.

[bond commander bond]

I have been doing most of the suggestions but some tanks are really slow filling and some fill really quickly. The bigger tanks seem less troublesome to fill.