Where to find Co2 Tank refill sites?

[Gryphus]

Heya,

I have a paintball Co2 tank which I plan to use to refill my shotgun shells with. Unfortunately I cannot for the life of me find anywhere where I can refill them. I'm based in the northwest so does anyone have any ideas on how you refill your tanks?

 

[Sewdhull]

 In my experience the bottles are refilled by exchanging them. 

 

[Gryphus]

 In my experience the bottles are refilled by exchanging them. 

Do you know where I can find such service here or at least by sending my empty bottle?

 

[sp00n]

No paintball sites near you?

 

[Tommikka]

CO2 fills are difficult to find, some rental only paintball sites may still run CO2 systems with on site fills via contract filled large cylinders - not only would you need to find a suitable site, but you would need to convince them to fill yours for off site use.

Proper filling involves chilling down the cylinder first then running the actual fill, and then filling by weight. A lazy fill would result in less CO2 per fill

Various hobbies and activities use CO2, so garden centres and home brew shops may provide CO2

I last had a CO2 cylinder filled at the Phoenix paintball retail shop back in the early 2000s, and left it with them for a couple of days whilst working in the area - therefore they may or may not have done the actual filling in house.

Places that don’t fill in house would as mentioned above tend to exchange cylinders, which means using a standard cylinder type for their industry - which is less likely to be those such as 20oz cylinders found in paintball etc

An easy solution is the Sodastream cylinder, and these were used as an easily filled paintball option in the 90s, therefore an adaptor can be obtained to fit paintball / airsoft fill adaptors, such as this:

https://palmerspursuit.com/products/soda-stream-bottle-refill-adapter?_pos=1&_sid=8b287eb62&_ss=r

The next alternative is a disposable CO2 cylinder adaptor, such as:

4 ounce disposable adaptor:

https://www.bzpaintball.co.uk/co2-tank-adapter

12 gram disposable adaptor:

Paintball 12g Co2 Quick Change -Paintball Gun 12 Gram Carbon Dioxide Cartridges Cylinder Adapter Bottle Black Valve Cartridge Adapter (Black)

Note that disposables cannot be removed once punctured, and the adaptors do not typically have pin valves (even if product photos look like they might do, as they often have a dummy fixed pin to ensure they open up any valve on the receiving end)

One option is to leave a disposable fitted to your shells fill adaptor, but I wouldn’t like the idea of leaving my fill adaptors needle at risk of being on a larger unit and be more likely to get bumped.

Consider adding an on / off valve along the way, which would enable disconnecting from the fill adaptor and keeping its needle safe 

 

[Gryphus]

CO2 fills are difficult to find, some rental only paintball sites may still run CO2 systems with on site fills via contract filled large cylinders - not only would you need to find a suitable site, but you would need to convince them to fill yours for off site use.

Proper filling involves chilling down the cylinder first then running the actual fill, and then filling by weight. A lazy fill would result in less CO2 per fill

Various hobbies and activities use CO2, so garden centres and home brew shops may provide CO2

I last had a CO2 cylinder filled at the Phoenix paintball retail shop back in the early 2000s, and left it with them for a couple of days whilst working in the area - therefore they may or may not have done the actual filling in house.

Places that don’t fill in house would as mentioned above tend to exchange cylinders, which means using a standard cylinder type for their industry - which is less likely to be those such as 20oz cylinders found in paintball etc

An easy solution is the Sodastream cylinder, and these were used as an easily filled paintball option in the 90s, therefore an adaptor can be obtained to fit paintball / airsoft fill adaptors, such as this:

https://palmerspursuit.com/products/soda-stream-bottle-refill-adapter?_pos=1&_sid=8b287eb62&_ss=r

The next alternative is a disposable CO2 cylinder adaptor, such as:

4 ounce disposable adaptor:

https://www.bzpaintball.co.uk/co2-tank-adapter

12 gram disposable adaptor:

Paintball 12g Co2 Quick Change -Paintball Gun 12 Gram Carbon Dioxide Cartridges Cylinder Adapter Bottle Black Valve Cartridge Adapter (Black)

Note that disposables cannot be removed once punctured, and the adaptors do not typically have pin valves (even if product photos look like they might do, as they often have a dummy fixed pin to ensure they open up any valve on the receiving end)

One option is to leave a disposable fitted to your shells fill adaptor, but I wouldn’t like the idea of leaving my fill adaptors needle at risk of being on a larger unit and be more likely to get bumped.

Consider adding an on / off valve along the way, which would enable disconnecting from the fill adaptor and keeping its needle safe 

Thanks for the reply!

I'm considering to use Sodastream bottles now since I realized theres a bunch of refill sites near me, even my local Sainsbury's. As for the adapter that you listed would the adapter also work on this one on top of it? https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07K8GSYCB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I need it in order to fill the gas shells I use in my CAM 870 shotgun. And is there also some kind of tubing I can use to transfer the Co2 that is in the sodastream bottle onto my paintball tank?

 

[Enid_Puceflange]

Thanks for the reply!

I'm considering to use Sodastream bottles now since I realized theres a bunch of refill sites near me, even my local Sainsbury's. As for the adapter that you listed would the adapter also work on this one on top of it? https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07K8GSYCB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I need it in order to fill the gas shells I use in my CAM 870 shotgun. And is there also some kind of tubing I can use to transfer the Co2 that is in the sodastream bottle onto my paintball tank?

You can get Sodastream adapters that will allow you to fill direct from the bottle

I used the 88gr co2 canisters and a fill adapter from amazon

I got the 88gr’s from a catering supply company, as it worked out a bit more cost effective, roughly £5 per 88gr if bought in sensible numbers, like 10+

 

[Tackle]

You can get Sodastream adapters that will allow you to fill direct from the bottle

I used the 88gr co2 canisters and a fill adapter from amazon

I got the 88gr’s from a catering supply company, as it worked out a bit more cost effective, roughly £5 per 88gr if bought in sensible numbers, like 10+

Awesome, links would be nice?

 

[Tommikka]

I'm considering to use Sodastream bottles now since I realized theres a bunch of refill sites near me, even my local Sainsbury's. As for the adapter that you listed would the adapter also work on this one on top of it? https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07K8GSYCB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I need it in order to fill the gas shells I use in my CAM 870 shotgun.

Yes.

The series would be:

1) Sodastream cylinder 

2) Palmers Pursuit type adaptor 

3) Pin valve fill adaptor 

4) CAM870 shell

Sodastream cylinders have an on/off valve that you would turn on/off between fills

Then you can dismantle the adaptors as required with the Sodastream valve turned off

 

[Tommikka]

And is there also some kind of tubing I can use to transfer the Co2 that is in the sodastream bottle onto my paintball tank?

This would be possible, but I wouldn’t recommend it 

CO2 is handled in two states, in liquid and in gas form.  You would need to be ‘pouring’ liquid CO2 from one cylinder to the other, then when using it you intend to release CO2 in its gaseous state

In theory using the same as the Palmer adaptor, hose (braided hose), a UFA adaptor and some valves.

But CO2 fill stations are complex to do properly - come with the risk of freeze burning your skin - and the process also includes purging CO2 so you end up with less CO2 at each step 

The page here covers adaptors and a video to fill a SodaStream cylinder

from a professional large master cylinder, but the principle would be the same with the key difference that yo would be emptying a small SodaStream into a larger paintball cylinder:

https://palmerspursuit.com/collections/soda

I used the 88gr co2 canisters and a fill adapter from amazon

I got the 88gr’s from a catering supply company, as it worked out a bit more cost effective, roughly £5 per 88gr if bought in sensible numbers, like 10+

Awesome, links would be nice?

An 88gram would be one of these linked below, which get called both 88gram and 4ounce cylinders.

You can get them on their own or sometimes in a set with their adaptor 

https://www.bzpaintball.co.uk/5-x-4oz-prefilled-co2-with-adapter

https://www.bzpaintball.co.uk/co2-tank-adapter

https://www.amazon.co.uk/GunTuff-88g-Paintball-Co2-Adaptor/dp/B08Y931XPV/ref=mp_s_a_1_16?crid=3KU4MGAKZCA2A&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.v7QRfairlR84tf3ECzvrw8YpE-oh9s8f0DuIBeCG8wD1Iz17_17d-EDiUPfV3FXe0tjeq7btkBAJJT3V3eP9-DSm3u-0FGnj7JGViJtWFC0yEkxtTVuJvnB2v0DkchAnF2PexVUTXvveWBmT1odUlPRMDdjY0Y53pMwxTKos-_oQRnnil5WqnrhOuGbUGZ2alfBL0Kz1dYU-w_4jrhmtWg.cUaJKo3fsGVKO_dCGn4mn_ykpQoRVRpZthOOJbi91ts&dib_tag=se&keywords=88+gram+co2+cartridges+paintball&qid=1712160039&sprefix=88+gram+co2+cartridges+paintball%2Caps%2C73&sr=8-16
 

Then for filling your shotgun shells you may need an on/off valve due to this type of cylinder being a disposable, the setup would be in reverse:

1) Pin valve fill adaptor (if it has an integral on/off valve

2) 88gram adaptor

3) 88gram cylinder

4) connect pin valve fill adaptor to shotgun shell

If it doesn’t have an on/off valve you would need:

1) Pin valve fill adaptor

2) On / off ASA (air system adaptor)

3) 88 gram adaptor

4) 88 gram cylinder 

5) connect pin valve adaptor to shotgun shell

6) turn on the on/off valve

 

[Enid_Puceflange]

Awesome, links would be nice?

Bought 88g containers from here. 
cheapest I could find

https://www.co2cartridges.co.uk/88g-threaded-paintball-co2-bb-cartridge-co2