I ran into a few problems with CO2.
-First problem: is getting the bottle re-filled. When I originally got my 10oz bottle, I brought it to a paint ball store and they filled it. Well that store closed down.
I went to 2 different places to get it filled and none of the stores had the proper adapter for the tank valve (it's different from a paintball gun). Now I'm getting turned off.
Then I gave it to my friend that races turbo motorcycles. He also uses CO2. He took it to a paintball store and they didn't have the adapter.
I take the bottle to a beer store (they sell kegaretors) and they couldn't fill either. I take it to a welding supply and the bottle is to small. They also stated that they would waste alot of CO2 to fill the bottle anyways.
-Second problem: The CO2 is temp sensative. On a hot day, you'll have a ton of pressure. Next day it would be cool and it'll be almost empty. Never could figure out how much there was in the bottle. When CO2 is in the bottle, it is in a liquid form. Once it hits the atmosphere, it's a gas.
I was on YB.com and some of the guys said that they use nitrogen. I went to another gas supply place and to get my 10oz bottle filled. They said that they don't have a scale that reads ounces. I asked the guys about nitrogen and they said it's alot easier with nitrogen because it's always in gas form (our use). They gave me a place to buy the aluminum cylinder and type of valve that I is needed. I told them that I wanted to get the 2.5lb bottle size. They said no problem. My nitrogen bottle was filled to 2000psi :biggrin: .
I order the bottle and bring it down to them to get it filled. All they do is bank it from another bigger cylinder. NO weighings, no nothing and to top it off, they didn't even charge me. I threw them some lunch $$$ and they were more than happy.
CO2 is a gaseous form of dry ice that flows at around -110 degrees(so you can see why it would freeze things up if you used a lot of it). It constantly tries to equalize to it's surroundings, which is why the bottle pressures are so dependent on ambient temps. Kind of like NOS, the warmer the bottle, the higher the internal pressure gets. Once it's starts flowing the bottle will cool down tremendously, and the internal pressure of the bottle drops.
In order to get a good fill of a bottle, it usually has to be "chilled" in order to keep the gas from filling the bottle and having it immediately expand in order to equalize itself. I've seen it a hundred times...
Take a 1# bottle, one was in the freezer, and the other sitting at room temp. Fill both to 16oz on the scale. Come back a few hours later, and the pressure on one bottle will be a few 100 psi different than the other.
Nitrogen is very stable and is not affected by ambient temps. Which is why so many drag racers are filling their tires with it.
I am no way an expert with nitrogen/CO2. The above was my experience with both.
I got the tank and valve from these guys:
Evergreen - Home
It's the same cylinder for CO2 and nitrogen.
Billy T.
gnxtc2@aol.com