# "Beer Keg Stabilizer" Paintball CO2 System



## NatCh (Feb 23, 2011)

I've mentioned this a few times, and I think I'm finally ready to write it up. Someone here on the forum pointed it out originally, so I don't claim credit for finding it, but I seem to be the only one who's given it a shot, so sharing would seem to be in order.

The background is that I have a 40 gallon tall tank which is the same footprint as a standard 29g, but it's 24" tall. That means I've got a fair amount of water, and not much space in the stand. Added to that, the tank is in the middle of the living room, and the wife for some bizarre reason doesn't want a big, honkin' CO2 tank sitting out for all to see, so the reality is that I don't have much space to work with, which pointed me toward a paintball setup. Complicating that, is that my stand is already pretty full, so if I was going to get a tank much above 9oz., I have to mount it horizontally ... hanging from the underside of a shelf.

Enter the "Beer Keg Stabilizer". After the system was pointed out to me, I did some looking about in paintballer forums, which turned out to be a wealth of knowledge. I'm still not sure what exactly a stabilizer is, but for a working definition, it's a preset regulator that has an expansion/evaporation chamber built into it so that if liquid CO2 enters the device, it lets it turn to gas before passing on. Thus allowing me to mount the rascal horizontally.

Anyway, as you can see from the link, this arrangement comes with a stabilizer set to 100 PSI, and a low-pressure regulator. To that, I've added a solenoid (if all I have to work with is 24oz, I very much want to turn it off at night!), a Fabco NV-55-18 needle valve, then the usual bubble counter, CO2 tubing, diffuser and such. I'm using an Atomic diffuser, which gets my drop checker in the green at 2bps.

One thing I've done that I haven't seen anyone else do is to use the push-to-connect connectors from Lowes/Home Depot. I had experience with them from my last job where we used them for 80PSI pneumatic control systems, and they're just dead easy to use (the line just presses in to lock and seal, pressing the ring releases the line). I figured out by direct testing that the quarter inch connectors fit the CO2 line nicely, and the fittings come in NPT sizes so they're convenient from that perspective. Is there some hidden pitfall to these which I'm not seeing? Or is it just that nobody else uses them?

I've been using this now for about a month and a half. The first filling only lasted about two weeks, but I wasted a _lot_ of it experimenting with the set up, blowing out my gauge by hooking the regulator up backwards, that sort of thing. Fortunately gauges are inexpensive and readily available. :smile:

This current filling is now on day thirty, and still going strong. I'm hoping to get about 45 days per fill, but we'll have to see. One of the practical upshots of the "beer keg" arrangement is that it's effectively dual stage, so I don't have to worry about end of tank dump.

A word about this particular set up: I know the pieces are available separately, and can prowly be had for cheaper by the bargain hunter, but being new at this I wanted to minimize complications. I am pleased with what I've gotten, but certainly am not pushing the particular vendor. Just sayin'. I did have to remove the plug from the unused port on the regulator and Teflon it, it was leaky. :smile:

The attached pix illustrate the particulars of the tank installation including my fancy horizontal suspension system, from the CO2 line on it's unremarkable, so I didn't include anything on that.


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## NatCh (Feb 23, 2011)

Nobody has a comment on the push connectors?


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

I have some on a clippard mouse solenoid, my only worry is that they'll become brittle and break from the constant contact with carbon dioxide. They are made for water after all.


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## bigboij (Jul 24, 2009)

don't think there is any problems, with em. I personally just lack any need for connectors, needle valve is has the nib/screw connector, check valve is barbed and diffuser has a barbish connection it'self.

i could see me possibly using something like this, for when i decide to build a reactor. but knowing me i know i would cheap out and end up using barbed connectors.

being we use such low pressures, i dont see the need for a locking connection like those. Maybe those running the high pressure diffusers could benefit from this


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## Bettatail (Feb 12, 2009)

The Watts quick connectors you pickup from Lowe's are for water, but CO2 is fine also.

I use SMC made quick connectors, and prefer SMC AS1000 needle valve other than Fabco nv55.

be careful with the regulator, it looks like a 300psi max input SMC product. If the regulator max input(for co2) is lower than 2000 psi, not safe. 
You don't want the CO2 burst out free.


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## NatCh (Feb 23, 2011)

Thanks for that, Bettatail, the stabilizer brings the pressure down to ~100PSI so that's all the regulator sees.


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

just a thought but i have a 29 gallon with space issues underneath and i fit a 5lb c02 tank in there with my cannister and all my wiring. a couple diy shelves that i messed up and put on backwards in the photo but heres a view of what my stand holds.

also just to think there isnt much there, on the left i have 7 test kits all my dry food and a few generic filter pads cut to size that make great glass cleaners. second shelf is carbon which i dont use anymore, aquarium salt, any medication that ive ever used and dechorinator plus my dosing cups and wrench. bottom is seachem 500ml bottles of N/P/K Micros, + iron and also excel which i dont use anymore.250ml bottle of 4dkh solution. full size generic filter pads, my cannister, 5lb bottle a spare 150watt heater and net. i have a few things in other locations but as u can see, you can suff a lot in there


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## NatCh (Feb 23, 2011)

That is, indeed, a well-filled stand! Unfortunately, my shelf is fixed and runs the full depth and width of the interior -- the photos above only show the bottom, left quarter of the stand. If I had access to the full height of it anywhere, I'd've prowly gone with a "regular" tank and set it in upright as you did. :smile:


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

awww sorrrrryyyy!!! i had hoped to help your situation. i did however check back on your photos and can see that it is a fixed shelf.. i should have noticed. oh well good luck! this is an interesting idea. the stabilizer works on the same principal of a paintball gun. i have a 40 psi stabilizer on mine, its all based on size and shape blah blah blah, physics and such.. THAT being said. you might check into a 6 or 7 stage expansion chamber. ill try to get a pick loaded up. it breaks down the liquid much more efficiently before it reaches the stabilizer. for Paint ball it increases shot consistency, in your case less trips to the refill station


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

32 degree 6 stage expansion chamber. it was oddly 32 bux as well when i bought it 8 years ago


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## NatCh (Feb 23, 2011)

Interesting. So that goes between the tank and the stabilizer?


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## NatCh (Feb 23, 2011)

Re-found this link on stabilizers: http://palmer-pursuit.com/cart/index.php?main_page=page&id=1&chapter=2

It makes it sound like they're supposed to replace expansion chambers ... of course those are the same folks who are selling them. The only folks selling them, near as I can tell. :shrug:


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

that's kind of funky..... i dont know of any NICE guns that use those. all of your top of the line guns comes preset and ready to roll with the best a manufacturer can offer now, not like they were 8 years ago when i was HUGE into paint ball. my stabilizer is the little protrusion sticking out from under where the barrel would screw in. its preset size rated it at 40 psi and springs determined the amount of punch that air could supply out of the barrel. that aside. those are some pretty ballsy claims they have. that is a very small area to expand c02 gas efficiently. check paint ball forums and see what they think


also yes, the expansion chamber would go before the stabilizer


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## speedoflife (Jun 12, 2011)

Palmer's stabilizers are some of the most well respected within the Tippmann (CO2, obviously) community. They have almost nothing but positive reviews within the A5, 98 Custom, and X7 user groups.

And as far as using an expansion chamber in an aquarium setting, I don't see the purpose, honestly. Expansion chambers are used because paintball markers use LARGE amounts of CO2 FAST. When this happens, they can pull CO2 out of the tank faster than it can expand into a gas, causing the marker to attempt to use liquid CO2, cooling the gun and potentially freezing up the lines. In an aquarium setting, as long as you aren't (somehow) spitting out CO2 so fast that it is still in liquid form or freezing your lines, I don't see it having any use.


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## NatCh (Feb 23, 2011)

"Somehow" such as mounting the tank horizontally? :wink:


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## speedoflife (Jun 12, 2011)

Yeah I guess... But the lines should provide plenty of room for any liquid to expand. The vast majority of entry level paintball guns have the tanks mounted at a near horizontal level, and they often encounter very strange angles as well, such as nearly upside down, and perform fairly well still. With the amount of CO2 you are pulling in a given time, I don't see the need for a stabilizer. Don't get me wrong it can't hurt one bit, but for one looking to save money I do not think it is necessary by any means. If you were running 100 bubbles/sec it would be a different story, but at small flow rates you should be fine with a standard setup.


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## NatCh (Feb 23, 2011)

I thought regular regulators don't like liquid CO2 ....


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

mordalphus said:


> I have some on a clippard mouse solenoid, my only worry is that they'll become brittle and break from the constant contact with carbon dioxide. They are made for water after all.


Are they the ones I sent you? They are made for gas contact. IF they break, it will be years from now.


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## mondenet (Dec 7, 2011)

you should not keep a paintball bottle on the side. Safety valve wont work if they have to much pressure inside them. I know the chance a slim but if they have to throw out the exccess presure they will simply blow up in that position.


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## Naekuh (Oct 19, 2011)

mondenet said:


> you should not keep a paintball bottle on the side. Safety valve wont work if they have to much pressure inside them. I know the chance a slim but if they have to throw out the exccess presure they will simply blow up in that position.


^ lost.. paintball guns have paintball tanks mounted sideways. 

They were designed to be run sideways.... that is why most of them have a stabilizer on it so it can handle liquid co2. 

Have you seen anyone with a paintball tank vertical? that would be very bulky in a paintball game.


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## NatCh (Feb 23, 2011)

Naekuh said:


> Have you seen anyone with a paintball tank vertical?


I remember seeing markers that mounted the tank vertically, but upside down. However, that was a long time ago, and would also seem not to support mondenet's assertion. :shrug:


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