Reg question: What happens to the excess air?

[bulldog2k]

Ok, newbie hat pulled on geekishly at an angle

I have a Fly iR3. I know input pressure is best supplied at (scratches head as realises can't remember) 600psi ish. My preset outputs at 800 ish.

So what happens to the extra 200 psi? Is it vented? Wasted? What bad things happen from supplying the minireg with too high a pressure?

Will a Angel AIR system (or any other adjustable reg) give me more efficient usage and why?

I understand an option is to strip the minireg and set the velocity purely from the output from the AIR - thereby allowing an output pressure of about 375 and turning the stoically-high pressure iR3 into a low(ish) pressure gat. I also understand the reasons for presets - less hassle and swapability in the bit versus less flexibility in the set up.

I genuinely don't know what to do for the best. Like I said, how can I save the air..?

 

[Tom Allen]

Air efficiency between regs is not a problem, flow rate and recharge rate is more important, have a look at "what paintball 2004" they test a wide variety of regs in it.
All regs do roughly the same thing, there is high pressure one side and lower pressure and a spring the other. When there is demand the valve opens and passes air forward until the low pressure and spring pressure equal out the high pressure. There is no wasted air to get rid of, it's a bit like a tap turning on water, the spring pressure regulates the level of air passed from the high pressure side.

 

[Tom Allen]

The major benefits from converting the minireg into a gas through, and using an adjustable reg for the air source will be, quicker recharge rate (only one reg) and a lower output from the air reg, giving you a better reserve in your tank.
The dissadvantages are less stability, eg. less consistent velocity, and no buffer in case of pressure spikes.

If you've got presets allready stick with them. They give pretty good flow and recharge rates, and are easily swappable between games, if you get a problem.

 

[bulldog2k]

Thanks Tom.

My guess is that there are presets and presets..? I'm fairly sure mine aren't that high quality - one is a 3A 4500, and I can't even find an identifier on the other. My plan was to swap my girlfriend's and my regs to AIRs but to keep one preset for mid tourney cock ups. I don't have any worries about changing the air back to the ASA between games, though I don't know how hard it would be to re-fit the minireg?

As my masterplan is to down size to a 0.8 AIR bottle, I figured the lower output pressure would be the answer, but all of a sudden I'm wondering if I'm making my life more complicated than it needs to be...

 

[Tom Allen]

I wouldn't bother making the minireg a gas through, the performance increase is so little it's not worth the hassle. The gun runs at the same pressure, whether you use the minireg or not.

 

[bulldog2k]

So, when WDP reccomend supplying the marker at 600 or whatever, am I running the risk of trashing the minireg?

Anyway, I am following advice. My two AIR regs are being sold, and I can accordingly afford decent pre-sets. What would people recommend? I've heard good things about the crossfire regs but can't find anywhere that supplies them separately (not with bottles).

How about the Nitro Duck X Stream - that seems to offer the best of both worlds - a lightweight, swappable adjustable 'preset'? Any good? Or am I barking up the wrong tree?

Would be very interested to get hold of What Paintball 2004, but I'm running out of time before my next tourney - cheers everyone

 

[Tom Allen]

PM me your addy and i'll send you a review on regs.

 

[John C]

Originally posted by bulldog2k
So, when WDP reccomend supplying the marker at 600 or whatever, am I running the risk of trashing the minireg?

Nope

Originally posted by bulldog2k
Anyway, I am following advice. My two AIR regs are being sold, and I can accordingly afford decent pre-sets. What would people recommend? I've heard good things about the crossfire regs but can't find anywhere that supplies them separately (not with bottles).

How about the Nitro Duck X Stream - that seems to offer the best of both worlds - a lightweight, swappable adjustable 'preset'? Any good? Or am I barking up the wrong tree?

You will be lucky to find many presets which come without a bottle, this is for insurance reasons and people getting silly with locktite .

Originally posted by bulldog2k
Would be very interested to get hold of What Paintball 2004, but I'm running out of time before my next tourney - cheers everyone

Stick with the AIRs then until you make your choice, they do the job perfectly!


You wont have any problems with flow rate with any preset on an Ir3.

 

[Tom Allen]

Just paintball have centreflags.

 

[bulldog2k]

Cheers John - well, that's the thing - I have two presets and two AIRS at the moment for mine and my girlfriend's Fly iR3s.

You will be lucky to find many presets which come without a bottle, this is for insurance reasons and people getting silly with locktite

You talking about new or second hand? I thought the golden rule was you don't put ANYTHING on reg threads in case it ends up in the bottle? I'm happy to buy them new - just can't find a source...

You wont have any problems with flow rate with any preset on an Ir3.

I know I should know the answer to this but why? It can't be because they're low pressure, and I don't think you think they're slow? Am I missing something?

Thanks for the input mate