# CO2 rated tubing



## Storm (Feb 21, 2011)

I tried to search the forum as I figured this questions was answered once before but I came up empty. So here it is....

Does CO2 rated airline tubing make that much of a difference in assuring that you are not loosing a significant amount of CO2 through the line itself vs being in the tank?

I cannot see how the airline tubing would be that permeable for the gas to travel through it and furthermore if it was leaking gas I assume i would see tiny bubbles form on the line when it is in the tank but that just isnt the case.

The other point I would make to this is would it be significant enough in the 4ft I have between the tank and the cannister?

Does anyone have any information on this or is CO2 rated tubing a gimmick?

thanks,


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## rubadub (Sep 12, 2010)

its not about the leaks its about saturation
co2 tubing is made with withstand gas's airline tubing is not

and hell dude u can get like 20 feet of co2 tubing for 2 bux at home depo
i dont see how thats expensive


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## rubadub (Sep 12, 2010)

using regular airline tubing with co2 will eventually cause it to harden and crack
thus why the use of "gas" tubing is suggested


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## charlie1 (Dec 1, 2011)

To add a bit more :
Common airline tubing is typically vinyl tubing, Vinyl has very good resistance to permeability but as mentioned it gets hard & brittle over time when exposed to CO2, that said this takes about a year or so, but it is also very cheap & can be thrown out & replaced 2 x a year.
Don`t get too worried about permeability, in my opinion too much hype is put into this, my reasoning is the pressure & length of travel of CO2 for our purposes are very negligible, it comes out of our needle valve @ low pressures & the travel length is normally 6 ft or less, so how much gas are we losing?i can understand if we are running 100`s of feet of tubing.
Regards


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## rubadub (Sep 12, 2010)

yes airline hose is cheap

but hell so is gas tubing lol
just dont go buy it at ur lfs and pick it up at the home depot
i dont think i paid more then a few bucks for mine


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## Storm (Feb 21, 2011)

Thanks for helping me understand this guys. I have been plagued by a leak in my paintball CO2 system and I let it go for a while. But recent interest has got me back in to it and looking for either new seals for the Paintball adaptor or a new adaptor right out. I was wondering if i should go to gas tubing but didnt know if it was just a waste of time or if there was more to it. 

Thanks,


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## rubadub (Sep 12, 2010)

if ur looking overall costs for it 
yes u'll spend a bit more on co2 tubing
but u wont be replacing it nearly as often
so it does end up being cheaper


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

CO2 resistant tubing is not really required for our purposes, as charlie1 mentioned. 

You can make do with the regular airline, or silicone airline tubing (which is what I use). The silicone tubing does not seem to harden over time (in my experience).

While the permeability of silicone to CO2 is much higher than PVC airline tubing, for all intents and purposes, it can still be considered "leak proof".


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## Newobsession (Nov 17, 2010)

Storm said:


> Thanks for helping me understand this guys. I have been plagued by a leak in my paintball CO2 system and I let it go for a while. But recent interest has got me back in to it and looking for either new seals for the Paintball adaptor or a new adaptor right out. I was wondering if i should go to gas tubing but didnt know if it was just a waste of time or if there was more to it.
> 
> Thanks,


Where are you having issues with leaks? When I set up my CO2 (running off a jakpak but very similar to a paintball system) I drove myself nuts trying to get it to stop leaking where it attatched to one of the fittings. I finally solved it when I changed from "standard LFS airline" to some I bought at depot. it wasn't about permeability, but the depot tubing had a slightly ( and I do mean _slightly_) thicker O.D but it was enough to make a difference between the compression fitting leaking when you would jiggle the tube and sealing it airtight. Don't knowif that's your issue, but just thought I'd put it out there as something to watch out for.


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## Storm (Feb 21, 2011)

I think my problem is the paintball adaptor. The valve to open gas flow to the needle valve is leaking. I tested it under water though and didnt see any bubbles. Just getting really frustrated with it. I have gone through a whole roll of that plumbers tape to test it over and over again.

I am out of gas once again and have put it down for the moment until i can come up with a better solution.


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## coldmantis (Apr 5, 2010)

if it's leaking from the knob just replace the o ring that's inside. If you want to try something else, you can always spend 30 minutes looking for fittings to do something like this








you might even be able to use one of those cheap $20 regulators on ebay.


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## Storm (Feb 21, 2011)

Where do you get those O-rings from as replacements? I noticed that there is two in there and they are quite small


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## coldmantis (Apr 5, 2010)

take them out and go to home depot and compare.


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## cliff (Aug 30, 2010)

Storm said:


> The valve to open gas flow to the needle valve is leaking. I tested it under water though and didnt see any bubbles. Just getting really frustrated with it. I have gone through a whole roll of that plumbers tape to test it over and over again.


Best way to find air/gas leaks is with water with a couple of drops of dish soap in it, spray/brush it on and wait for the bubbles to show you where the leaks are, there's no need to guess.


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## ubr0ke (Jul 12, 2011)

use windex to find leaks...just spray on connections and look for bubbles. Thats what we use on welds for pin hole leaks at work incase xray doesn't catch it. I used it on my co2 build..it works great


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## manmadecorals (Jan 17, 2012)

Darkblade48 said:


> CO2 resistant tubing is not really required for our purposes, as charlie1 mentioned.
> 
> You can make do with the regular airline, or silicone airline tubing (which is what I use). The silicone tubing does not seem to harden over time (in my experience).
> 
> While the permeability of silicone to CO2 is much higher than PVC airline tubing, for all intents and purposes, it can still be considered "leak proof".


Where can you find these tubes? I went to Rona during lunch and no one knew wth I was talking about. All I was able to find were vinyl and polyethylene tubes. Can you guys tell me where and what dept. I can find them in?


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

manhtu said:


> Where can you find these tubes? I went to Rona during lunch and no one knew wth I was talking about. All I was able to find were vinyl and polyethylene tubes. Can you guys tell me where and what dept. I can find them in?


Regular airline tubing (PVC) is the vinyl tubing that you found at Rona. Just be sure to get the right diameter.

For silicone tubing, some hardware stores may have it; if not, just go to any aquarium store; they will carry it.


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## manmadecorals (Jan 17, 2012)

AI sells some C02 Tubing for .50cents per ft. is that silicone or vinyl, does anyone know?


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

If is 50 cents a foot, it is CO2 rated tubing. This is neither PVC nor silicone, but a different material (it may be polyethylene or polyurethane, not quite sure on this).


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