Is It OK To Leave the CO2 Tank Screwed in all the time???

[haha_urdead]

Is it ok for both the gun and CO2 to simply leave the tank screwed in all the time? The reason for my question is that when ever i unscrew my OC2 from my Tippmann 98 custom, i seem to lose a ton of CO2. Otherwise does anyone have any suggestions on how to reduce the amount of CO2 lost when i take my tank out?? Thanks

[hummerking]

it will weaken your drive spring making your velocity drop and not be able to get back up. you only loose a tiny bit of co2 taking the tank off. your supposed to make sure the marker is unloaded and pointed in a safe direction(with barrel sock on) unscrew the tank about 3/4 turn and dryfire till the marker farts and runs out of air while slowly unscrewing the tank.

[bronze]

c02 is cheap.and by unscrewing it you really don't lose all that much. i would only leave the tank in while playing all day with it. if you leave it in storage with the tank on it won't be good for hte gun.

[haha_urdead]

ok, thanks

[MisterMister]

...or you can just buy an on/off valve for your ASA or C02 bottle. They are relatively inexpensive and it will let you keep the bottle screwed onto the marker without hurting anything. It will also keep your C02 from leaking out over long periods of inactivity, saving you money in the long run (and it prevents you from accidentally "purging" (read: wasting) C02 from the bottle when you unscrew it from the gun.

[GrimAssasin]

yep, if you leave in for extended periods of time without an on/off in the off position, the hose can weaken and possibly burst the next time you gas up.

[Corrupted355]

Just to make a point, you're actually not loosing much gas at all. When you're unscrewing the tank, the tank's valve pin is closed before the bottle's o-ring starts leaking. That means you're only loosing the air that's already in the gun. That gas is only enough for a couple shots. You'll see this if you degas the gun the way Tippmann tell you to in the manual. Loosen the tank 3/4 turn. This will back the tank off enough to shut the valve off. Then fire off a few rounds until the gun farts out.

[Uziel Gal]

Another consideration is that if the tank were screwed in to the marker all the time would be that the pin spring could take a set over time, leading to leaks at a later date. Plus, from a safety perspective somebody fiddling with your gun at home could fire it - always best to separate the marker and power source when not in use.

As MisterMister has stated, I would suggest looking in to getting you pin valve switched to an on/off valve. Turn off the valve, and no more air can be lost from the from the valve when you unscrew the tank. Fire a couple of shots to purge off the air in the marker (there is nothing you can do to stop you losing that air if you are going to remove the bottle) and your marker is safe until the valve is reopened, and you can remove the tank without wasting any more air.

[Munkee98c]

What exactly is the point in "farting out" the gun with the tank 3/4 out? I have never done this with my gun and I've been playing paintball for almost a year and a half now. Is this bad? I just bought a Tippy, so if this is bad for the gun, I will start doing that method that you guys suggested. Now that I think of it though, my old gun, a VL, has stopped recocking, could this be caused by degassing my gun wrong?

[Milky Spore]

No, that's a different problem.

All firing the gun as you remove the tank does is break less tank O-rings.

[Corrupted355]

What exactly is the point in "farting out" the gun with the tank 3/4 out? I have never done this with my gun and I've been playing paintball for almost a year and a half now. Is this bad? I just bought a Tippy, so if this is bad for the gun, I will start doing that method that you guys suggested. Now that I think of it though, my old gun, a VL, has stopped recocking, could this be caused by degassing my gun wrong?
The only reason to remove the tank like that is to help prevent blowing out the tank o-ring. If you've got a stack of tank o-rings (as every paintballer should), it doesn't really matter. All it does is allow you to take the tank off without the "woosh".