Well I went and purchased some today to try out. Crappy Tire sells a two pack for 22.99 and the adapter for 6.99 plus tax. I bought mine at Walmart, 16.96 for a two pack and 5.98 for the adapter plus tax. First picture is as bought and the second is with the adapter screwed into the BC standard regulator.
Just a thought for you, but have you seen the small refillable tanks here? They have 30g - 60g (maybe others) that might give you a less expensive option. http://www.rap4.com/paintball/os/co2air-products-tankcylinder-c-22_508_29.html
Curt, Yes I have the plans laid out across a big table. My work area was a little too dirty to be taking pictures of it. Greg, I have a 3.5oz refillable bottle from BC for Little Rock. Cost wasn't really a consideration, bought it more to see if it would work ok,and since I'm an hour and a half away from the co2 fill tank if I want to get my bottle filled the local places up here charge about 8 bucks per fill. Although buying my own fill station is in my very near future.
Scott, Those capsules are a good back-up source of CO2 when you don't live near or have a fill station. An 88 gm capsule should fire ~300 BBs (I get around 60 shots from 16 gm capsules) so it's good for 2 sorties with 3.0-3.5 unit models or one sortie with 4-6 unit ships. Bob
Exactly what I was thinking. It's not the most economical way to power your guns, but not more expensive then me driving to get my 3.5 oz filled. Now if you have a 20lb fill station using them would make no sense, unless it was a personal choice(no messing around with bottles/fillstations)
Just a note, while hooking up Little Rock's cannon system tonight, the 88g adapter will not work with the standard regulators. It lacks the protrusion on the inside that keeps the piercing pin rigid when the adapter is screwed in. However it works fine with my Palmer regulator, which has the little knob on the inside which pushes out the piercing pin and allows it to puncture the capsule.
Steve had the same problem with an adapter. Some smaller capsules come with a concave top that the penetrator wasn't long enough to penetrate completely. A friend machined a new and longer penetrator plate for him. I have one of the Palmer regs made for larger capsules so there should be no problem using the 88 gm size. Bob
The main issue was that the penetrator moved about 3/16" up and down in the adapter.So when screwed into the standard regulator,when you screwed the capsule in it just pushed the pin away. My Palmer regulator has a little knob that keeps the pin from moving away.
Thanks for the info! I've been looking at the same bottle pack at Wal-Mart to pop into my soon-to-be-build HMS Kent cruiser. A couple of follow-up question: 1) Where do you buy a Palmer regulator? (if I need that one to make sure it works) 2) How do they compare in size to the 3.5 oz tank you guys referred to? Once they are screwed into the adapter and punctured wouldn't it then be possible to refill them like a regular tank? Thanks all, need the info.
The Palmer regulators can be had here: http://www.palmer-pursuit.com/index.html Haven't done any exact measuring but they are skinnier then a 3.5oz bottle but slightly longer. Once you puncture it, it cannot be refilled, as there is no way to reseal the broken seal. I'll run down and take a few pics and post them tonight
The best advice though would be to get a 3.5oz bottle. Handy to have, refillable and less money then using capsules.
One question, is there a valve on that adapter and if not, how do you stop the CO2 flow between sorties? OK maybe more than one question, if a valve were fitted, couldn't one be refilled even a couiple of times? J
No valve on the adapter. I use a clippard toggle on/off valve coming out of the regulator to stop the gas from reaching the gun valves.Not sure if thats legal or not as the rules just state the gas supply has to be turned off,which the valve does(just after the regulator instead of before.)I have a 3.5oz bottle that I will use,this was more for testing/cruising up here or when there is no fill station around. As to being refillable, I don't think so,you'd have to build some kind of system in order to hook up the tank to refill and I don't think it would be legal as the capsules have no burst disk of any kind, since they are prefilled to the correct level at the factory,so if you tried it you could blow up the capsule by overfilling.Also since the capsule seal is already broken theres no way to remove the capsule,fill,and put back,even if you built something that could.Which means the only way would be to put the refill system after the regulator which means you'd be putting liquid co2 into your regulator. But thats just my take, I'm sure some of the guys on this forum can answer the question a lot better then I can
Another thing is in the IRCWCC rules it says the CD can declare make the area safe and cannons must be pinned and gas turned off.I just read over the Treaty rules and I don't seem to see anything about gas being turned off,just cannons pinned(although I may have missed it)
Mack, You don't need such a large capsule for the Kent Class cruiser. I used the same Palmer regulator but a much smaller capsule that has the same thread but takes up little space. The best size capsule for the Kent is in the 36-38 gm range. It'll give enough CO2 to fire 100 BBs plus several 'tweaking' rounds from each gun. They're available from Palmer or in bulk (cheaper) from manufacturers such as Leland. Some of the Treaty club members will be ordering 36 gm capsules from Leland this fall, so you can go in on the order. You could fit a 3.5 oz bottle in the Kent but it takes a lot more room (about the same space as an 88 gm capsule). I opted for the smaller capsule instead of a 3.5 oz bottle for SNS Canarias (built with the same hull) and never regretted it. Capsule and Palmer reg fit nicely between the prop shafts and were underneath the dual stern guns in Canarias so there was relatively little hose in use. Bob
I wondered about ordering capsules. When I got Abdiel the gentleman also had several dozen 2oz capsules(he was building her for Big Gun with a dual bde style bow cannon) he was including, however the postal service refused to send them via any kind of mail to Canada(I think he said it was illegal) Little Rock carries 125 rounds(2.5 units in guns, .5 unit as pump) as per Treaty rules,which is why I went with the bottle.
We do require gas to be turned off at the pond. If that isn't in the rules, I am positive it's an oversight.
Not a problem if 36 gm capsules are used. There's only a little CO2 left after tweaking and firing 100 BBs. (They should be able to fire close to 150.) Just open the pressure relief valve and vent what little gas remains. I've used 56 gm capsules too. They used to be available from Swampworks (army surplus) and from dive shops before the switch to buoyancy compensators fed off the scuba tank. They could fire 200 BBs and were good for 2 sorties with the Canarias (Class 3). Any size CO2 capsule can be 'shut down' for safety between sorties if an additional valve is intalled between the regulator and poppet valves. Bob
Thanks Bob! Are those 36g ones disposable? If so what would they cost? I'm just trying to figure out what the break-even point might be in deciding between them and ordering a 3.5 oz tank. I tried out Steve's Lutzow(?) over the weekend and it was close to my hull in size and managed to squeeze in the 3.5 oz tank. It was tight but it all fit.