Tracer unit, what bb's

[ImTriggerHappy]

Honestly I say 'bollocks' to this.

Red BB's are the same as green BB's in all but colour. The UV light from the tracer unit will do the same job on a red tracer BB as a green. Just a light absorbing component.

They likely say only to use green because they produce the best effect.

Nope its true it is to do with light frequencies. The newer xcortech and acetech use a purple high intensity UV led and the reds do charge off it properly.

 

[Albiscuit]

Honestly I say 'bollocks' to this.

Red BB's are the same as green BB's in all but colour. The UV light from the tracer unit will do the same job on a red tracer BB as a green. Just a light absorbing component.

They likely say only to use green because they produce the best effect.

No, depending on the tracer unit sometimes red tracers hardly glow at all.

Oops, didnt see Trigs response above!!

 

[Seven]

No, depending on the tracer unit sometimes red tracers hardly glow at all.

Oops, didnt see Trigs response above!!

Nope its true it is to do with light frequencies. The newer xcortech and acetech use a purple high intensity UV led and the reds do charge off it properly.

Are you sure it's not just a by product of the colour?

Even the new acetech units state (from the manufacturer) that they are only compatible with green but I've literally seen them used and there are multiple independent (user) reviews that state they work just fine including earlier in this very thread. They are not quite as bright as green, hence I queried how bright they got earlier in the thread, but still.

My main point was regarding the use of huge bold black lettering saying DONT USE RED like it would cause harm to the tracer unit. Which it obviously won't.

 

[Albiscuit]

Oh, yeah its just red will not show up properly..

I had to buy red tracers last time as it was all the shop had, used the whole bottle eventually, they were shite at glowing but caused no issue at all with the tracer. Still works a charm.

 

[Seven]

Oh, yeah its just red will not show up properly..

I had to buy red tracers last time as it was all the shop had, used the whole bottle eventually, they were shite at glowing but caused no issue at all with the tracer. Still works a charm.

Well my new tracer unit should be here in a couple of hours and I intend to try out using reds as my low ammo warning so I'll let you know how I get on.

It's the acetech 'lighter' (not the S).

 

[ImTriggerHappy]

Are you sure it's not just a by product of the colour?

Even the new acetech units state (from the manufacturer) that they are only compatible with green but I've literally seen them used and there are multiple independent (user) reviews that state they work just fine including earlier in this very thread. They are not quite as bright as green, hence I queried how bright they got earlier in the thread, but still.

My main point was regarding the use of huge bold black lettering saying DONT USE RED like it would cause harm to the tracer unit. Which it obviously won't.

No they wont hurt it they will just barely glow at all. 

I used to use red tracers all the time but it is not worth it with the new units because they barely glow and what little effect their is makes them harder to see after a few ft than normal white ones. 

 

[Seven]

No they wont hurt it they will just barely glow at all. 

I used to use red tracers all the time but it is not worth it with the new units because they barely glow and what little effect their is makes them harder to see after a few ft than normal white ones. 

When we say 'new' how new are we talking? The unit the OP was talking about is now like 3 years old I think.

 

[ImTriggerHappy]

When we say 'new' how new are we talking? The unit the OP was talking about is now like 3 years old I think.

The last couple of years, the units to watch out for are

Acetech AT1000

Acetech At2000/Predator

Xcortech xt501 mk2

Xcortech xt301

Newer Xcortech 3300w v2

Cant remember on the Acetech lighter.

 

[L3wisD]

Cant remember on the Acetech lighter.

My old AceTech Lighter was pants on Red Tracers.

Quickly resorted to Green RZRs and gave most of a bottle of red to a friend with a B&T tracer.

Wasn't even a glow, it was a feint pink Beeb instead.

 

[emilianoksa]

Are G&G tracers worth the extra money?

Compared to Blasters?

 

[ImTriggerHappy]

Are G&G tracers worth the extra money?

Compared to Blasters?

No

 

[emilianoksa]

Thanks. I'll go with that and save myself some money. The only thing that made me hesitate over the Blasters is that on Patrol Base they are said to be light yellow in colour.

Does that mean they light up light yellow, or just that they are that colour in the bottle? Do they actually glow green? 

 

[Seven]

Thanks. I'll go with that and save myself some money. The only thing that made me hesitate over the Blasters is that on Patrol Base they are said to be light yellow in colour.

Does that mean they light up light yellow, or just that they are that colour in the bottle? Do they actually glow green? 

Yeah that confused the living shit out of me when I read that a few weeks ago.

Nowhere else can I see them called yellow so I presumed they are actually green and it's just Patrol Base being 'special'

 

[jcheeseright]

They look yellow in the bottle but glow green. 

 

[Mackridge]

Reds don’t really light up with the ‘lighter’ and don’t work at all in the xt301.

i tested both last night 

 

[Dave]

It is quantum physics. 

The UV photons (light) coming in has to be the same Energy (and therefore a certain frequency and wavelength) as the difference between the energy levels in the atoms in the coating of the bb's. 

The electrons in these atoms absorb these photons and get promoted to higher energy levels. 

They then de-excite in stages, emitting visible light. 

The red bb's will have a smaller transition, and the green bb's a larger transition. 

Higher energy photons could cause ionisation and then a cascading effect, but it will be lower intensity (nhf - number of photons x energy of photon)