Paintball Tanks

Every paintball gun needs some kind of propellant gas in its paintball tank to power the firing of the paint ball through the barrel of the gun. One of the original gases used as a propellant, and which is still around today, is carbon dioxide. Compressed air or Nitrogen is also used in paintball tanks.

CO2 paintball tanks are the cheapest tanks on the market and they are also quite inexpensive to fill. At high pressures, the CO2 is a liquid and this is an advantage, as a great deal of CO2 can be stored in a small space. If given enough space and heat, the liquid then expands into a gas and is available to propel your paintballs. This mechanism inside your paintball CO2 tank does not always function properly, though, and CO2 can cause quite a few problems.

When the CO2 is a liquid, it may enter your gun and cause damage; it will also freeze inside the gun and put it out of commission until thawing can take place. Furthermore, the action of CO2 expanding from inside the paintball gun tank to inside the gun itself can cause disturbances in the rate of release of individual paintballs, decreasing the accuracy of your gun.

There are also affordable air tanks for paintball guns that are filled with compressed air. Essentially, compressed air is the air that we breathe, made of Nitrogen, Carbon Dioxide, Oxygen, Hydrogen and traces of many other gases. Compressed air is also called High Pressure air, as the gases are compressed under high pressure, or Nitrogen, because the main component in the compressed air (like in the air we breathe) is Nitrogen.

There are a few advantages to purchasing a paintball compressed air tank. Nitrogen tanks for paintball do not have the problem of the compressed air ever becoming liquid, leaking into your gun and freezing up. Also, compressed air offers more consistent air pressure and this increases the gun’s accuracy. Disadvantages of compressed air tanks include the fact that filling compressed air tanks can be difficult; furthermore, while you may be able to find cheap compressed air tanks for paintball guns or cheap nitrogen tanks for paintball guns, these tanks will always be more expensive than CO2 tanks.

You may be able to fill your high pressure air tank at a paintball field or even a scuba diving shop. Some people try to fill their tanks, both CO2 and compressed air, at home. If you’d like to do this, make sure your read up on or ask an expert about how to fill a paintball tank. Paintball tank instructions on how to refill gases should be carefully followed to avoid injury to yourself and damage to your gun.

Read up on CO2 tank and Nitros tanks paintball reviews to get a better idea of what type of tank would suit you best. To protect your tank from unnecessary wear and tear, finally, think about purchasing paintball tank covers.