Expansion chamber?

[gunnerson]

Hey, what is an expansion chamber? When I told my friend at school that I was going to get a Piranha G3 STS, he told me I should get an expansion chamber for it. First of all, what the hell is it. And what does it connect to, and what difference will it make. I guess this is kind of a newbie question, but it seems I get more responses in this forum.

 

[ciaran.mooney]

Ok in a Co2 tank Co2 is liquid. Paintball markers use Co2 gas. At the top of the tank is a small pocket of gas that the marker feeds off. Problem is that Co2 is affected by temperature. Sometimes when its cold the marker will draw off liquid Co2 and that will freeze up the internals of your marker.

An expansion chamber is gonna be a small bottle, or a little pipe thing that will be mounted on the front of the marker. If your marker draws liquid, it will get to the expansion chamber where, you've guessed it, it'll expand into gas then go into the marker. Stopping any damage happening to the marker.

 

[gunnerson]

So this thing attaches to the top of the Co2 tank?

 

[ciaran.mooney]

No - its mounted vertically infront of the grip. They look like fore-grips. They have to be mounted vertically so liquid Co2 falls to the bottom and gas is fed from the top.

 

[Emerson]

How cold?

How cold would the temperature have to be before it could freeze? Just normal freezing temperature? 32 F and...6 C? I don't know Celsius too well...

Would you recommend this to everybody or just people who play in really cold temperatures?

Yes, two questions that seem to be stupidly easy, but, I need someone to shoot some more common sense in to me. Mine leaks out faster then my c02.

The thing I like best about these forums is how everybody answers my pathetic newbie questions. It really is great to get answers cuz I only know a few people who play paintball and they hardly know anything either.

 

[gunnerson]

So does it replace the foregrip, or does it just screw in on top of the foregrip?

 

[rob_evanson]

Depending on what marker you have it usually replaces the foregrip. I have an Automag 68 and the expansion chamber screws into the front bottle mount and replaces the foregrip. If I don't want the chamber I can unscrew it and put my foregrip in it's place.

 

[z_mann_z]

Well, x-chambers are not very good... regs are better

If Your marker has an expansion chamber, and you are shooting CO2, and you rapid fire, the more you fire the more useless it gets. Actually, it gets more useless exponentially. As the co2 passes through it, it gets cold after a while any way, and because it has less outer surface area than inner, it takes longer to warm back up. So in effect, it becomes more useless the more you shoot. What you REALLY need is an anti siphon tube in your tank and an inline regulator, if you can afford it. Properly set up, the AS tube end sits above the liquid in your tank and allows only air through. The regulator keeps the pressure consistent in your marker, allowing for better efficiency and more consistent velocity, which equals more consistent shots.

 

[gunnerson]

So I wouldn't really need it on a Piranha, then?

 

[z_mann_z]

Not an x-chamber....

Don't buy an expansion chamber. If you can't afford a regulator, just get an anti siphone tube and make sure whoever installs it knows what they are doing. When you go get it, the installer needs the tank and gun. And if you can get a regulator, the Palmer Stabilizer regulator ( palmer-pursuit.com ) is the best for CO2. It is pricey, but it can't be beaten. If that price is out of range, look for a more inexpensive reg on the net. Before buying it though, ask some people on forums to see if they think its decent for CO2 use.