Paintball Fill Stations

Buying the correct fill station for your application

Getting the correct application for your service system can be difficult. There are a lot of different types of valve systems available. Let's break them down by gas type and field or private application.

CO2 fill stations

First and for most! When filling a paintball CO2 bottle, you should never do it by time. Always have the bottle on a scale to see how much is going into the bottle. CO2 bottles are made to contain lower pressures and generally are made cheaper. Proper filling techniques are crucial here. You will need a liquid source of CO2, a fill station and obviously a tank to fill. For a fixed tank location, a 20 to 50 pound tank with a siphon tube is ideal. You can get a CO2 tank from your local welding/gas store. Simply go to your local yellow pages and look up welding/gas.

A dual valve CO2 fill station is the best and usually the more expensive route to go. The dual valve allows you to save CO2 by not exhausting the gas into the air between bottle attachments. It's also a bit safer. If you operate a field and fill lots of small tanks this would be a necessity for efficiency. If your just a private owner who will be filling your own tanks it's not as important but may be worth the few dollars more. Most companies that produce the stations offer a dual valve.

N2/Nitrogen fill stations

Nitrogen can be bought and refilled by the tank or a Nitrogen compressor/separator is available for purchase. The compressor/separator is very expensive and I would strongly recommend a standard compresses air system instead. The Nitrogen fill stations are generally available in different pressure ratings and can be quite an elaborate multi tank cascading system for a higher end paintball field set-up.

You may want to consider an adjustable pressure fill station. These can be preset to only allow different pressures since some paintball tanks are only rated at 3000psi. This type will have a variable output pressure adjustment and generally an input and output pressure gauge. Many fields have two N2 stations, one with a preset 3000psi and one with a full 4500psi output. Two fill stations would be needed to accomplish this.

For private use a single Nitrogen tank can be rented and a basic fill station can be utilized to save money. Be certain you understand the paintball tanks pressure capacity and the fill rate at which the base tank will pressurize it.

Compressed air fill stations

As some or most of you know, N2 and compressed air use the same fill stations. Please apply the information from the Nitrogen section to standard compressed air.

Paintball scuba fill stations

This is the cheapest way for the private paintballer to go. New scuba tanks are generally found for 100-200 dollars depending on the pressure and quality of the valve. Many scuba shops will sell used rehydro'ed tanks for less than 50 dollars. These are an excellent buy! Getting a tank filled is normally only a few dollars from the scuba shop or a welding/gas business.

Paintball scuba fill stations are also cost effective and are very basic. Most run between 30 and 50 dollars and are manufactured by several popular paintball companies.

Buying recommendations

As you can tell by most of our ads, we recommend buying from eBay, Amazon or Paintball-Online. All of these places will provide you with a healthy selection at the best prices.

As you know, eBay will allow you the opportunity to buy new and used products for under retail prices. Keep and eye on shipping costs as some people/dealers make up lowered product costs through marked-up shipping.

Amazon is becoming an amazing place to shop. The products sold there are from many retailers competing for a chance to sell you their item. This keeps prices low and you can sort through a large selection from many manufacturers. Most Amazon purchases over 25 dollars include free shipping too. That alone makes them worth looking at.

Paintball-Online.com keeps the most popular fill stations in stock and is a very trust worthy retailer. Their customer service and professionalism is outstanding. They have a 30 day return policy if you are not satisfied with your purchase. You can't go wrong with them!