[Beasty]

Hello fellow pumpers,

I've been playing stock class for a few years now and I was always curious if there was a sure fire way to find out how much pressure you have left in a 12 gram. While we all know that looking at a gauge to judge how much pressure is left is not something we might do often in a game, I always found it intriguing to try and see how it works out.

I'm not by any means an expert when it comes to pressures and how paintball markers operate, but from what I understood, the gauge commonly found on the rear of the power tube on a phantom would not accurately measure the pressure coming from the 12 gram, but rather the pressure inside the power tube. For this reason many people labeled the power tube gauge as completely useless.

My idea to get a good reading on 12 gram pressure, would be to mount a gauge on the side of the vertical air adapter, on the opposite side of the macroline/hardline fitting.

My question for you guys is essentially this: Has any every tried this? Is there anyway to incorporate a gauge and fitting into the same tapped threads?

[Pump Scout]

This might be the easiest solution. Run your 12-gram changer on a vertical mount, and this on the back of the gun.

https://phantomonline.com/product/ho...apter-w-gauge/

[Slow Z Rally]

Im failing to understand why the pressure in the chamber would be different from the vertical asa. Theres nothing but open space between the 12g and gauge, unless you're talking about the "restriction" of the air transfer tube slowing recharge. I drilled and tapped my chamber in the rear and its great for showing when I will need to change my 12g.

I'm genuinely curious, maybe I will go search.

[Beasty]

Originally Posted by Slow Z Rally

Im failing to understand why the pressure in the chamber would be different from the vertical asa. Theres nothing but open space between the 12g and gauge, unless you're talking about the "restriction" of the air transfer tube slowing recharge. I drilled and tapped my chamber in the rear and its great for showing when I will need to change my 12g.

I'm genuinely curious, maybe I will go search.

Like I said, I had no idea why the pressure would be different but from what I understood the pressures were different and the one on the back of the power tube was not accurate.

So basically what your saying is the gauge on the power tube is accurate for when you need to change your 12g? Thats fantastic!


How hard was it to tap your power tube housing?

[Slow Z Rally]

Wasn't hard. Did it with a hand drill and put the bit down through the chamber and drilled it from the inside out to keep it centered. Tapped it, cleaned it up, stuck a gauge in it. Not the "recommended" way to do it but it worked and looked clean.

The pressure on the gauge will sit at a constant point with a fresh 12g, and when it dips below that point, you know its time to change.

[The Inflicted]

A gauge is mostly-useless for determining how many shots are left in a 12-gram powered gun.
The thing people often forget about CO2 is that because it tends to condense at normal temperatures when the pressure is 800psi or higher, the gas is effectively self-regulating.

Let's say you have a Phantom that can get 30 full-strength shots per cartridge.
When you first pierce a brand-new 12-gram cartridge, a gauge on the gun, anywhere on the gun, is going to read about 800psi.
After 29 shots, when the cartridge only has one more good shot left before the pressure and velocity will begin to rapidly drop off... the gauge will still read right around 800psi.
By the time the gauge moves at all, most users will already be able to tell that it's time for to change the cartridge because the balls won't be going as far and the gun's sound signature begins to change.

A gauged valvebody on a Phantom looks pretty neat, and can be useful to tell whether the gun is getting proper velocity from an HPA tank or whether it's gassed up at all. Heck, I drilled and tapped my Phantom's valvebody for a gauge just because I could.

Again though, for telling how many shots you have left, they're kinda useless.

Originally Posted by Beasty

... and I was always curious if there was a sure fire way to find out how much pressure you have left in a 12 gram.

Yes, but it's not practical at all.
Bring an accurate fishing scale and weigh the gun with no balls in it. If you know how much the gun weighs with a no balls and a full cartridge, subtracting the gun's current weight from the base figure will tell you the approximate mass of CO2 left in the gun.

[Slow Z Rally]

I'll tell you when I find it really useful. In between games, occasionally my puncture seal wears out and I will get a slow leak, and if the gun sits for a while in between games, it could dump a whole cartridge. The gauge lets me know that I need a fresh one before going out to play.