My bottle has some unslightly blemishes in the paint, and i was wondering if it is alright to paint it again. I dont want to take it right down to bare metal, i just want to lightly sand the surface, prime it and shoot some paint on it.

The reason i ask is because back in the day when i used to paintball, i remeber alot of shops wouldnt fill custom painted c02 tanks. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

Sure. My friend had a NX bottle that he completly stripped and painted flames on it. Just make sure that you cover the valve on the top really good. You don't want any overspray getting on it.
Good luck.

 

Why wouldn't they fill it? Because it covers some info on the label or something?

 

Grind it until you see the inside if it.

 

and make sure its filled!

 

I did it with NX bottle, didn't care to much for a white bottle. Clean it up and repaint it sliver. The refill shop didn't say anything as long as they can see the stamp date on the date.

 

I just sanded, primered, base coated, then cleared my NX bottle black with silver flames. I've had it refilled since then a few times...never had a problem. When I first got the kit...I masked off the label on the front and painted the whole bottle silver base coat...then cleared it. Now I don't even have a label on it and it still gets filled.

Rumor has it sandblasting them is bad...supposedly some scuba diver sandblasted his tank and painted it custom...then went underwater deep and it exploded. Can't verify if it's true...but I guess it makes sense....if you weakened it enough...the thing is at 1000 psi or so. I don't really forsee anyone taking a commercial sand blaster to their nitrous bottle. I'm sure a light bead blast or walnut shell blast wouldn't hurt it at all.

 

Just make sure to remind the shop that refills ur bottle that ur habits help fund his income!

 

The extra weight of the paint couls slow you down so don't use too much!!

 

Thanks for the replys guys, im going to paint it this week.

 

I have never run NO2 but I do scuba dive.

Both setups have one thing in common, high pressure tanks.

SCUBA tanks see much higher pressure than NO2 since the air does not change to a liquid like NO2.

Both types of tanks need regular hydro testing. This is done every 5 years on SCUBA tanks. I am not sure about the NO2 tanks.

Powder coating and fire damage are the main reasons that repainted tanks are risky to refill. Aluminum used in scuba tanks and NO2 tanks is cold drawn. If the tank is heated by fire or by powder coating the strength of the aluminum is drasticaly reduced. This will lead to an explosion if the tank is filled to full pressure after the aluminum has been weakened.

The right way to deal with a newly painted pressure tank is to have it hydro tested. They use water in a closed tank to pressurize the tank to proof pressure. Since water doesn't compress, if the tank fails, no massive amount of energy escapes and nobody gets hurt.

The hydro testing outfit then stamps the tank through the new coating. Since the stamp is through the new coating, the filling station knows that the coating was there when the tank was tested and therefore is safe to fill.

Many fire extinguisher places do hydro testing. I think it will run $10-30.00 per tank.

If the filling station gives you any grief you can show them the new hydro mark.

I don't know about the new carbon fiber bottles. Paint could attack the resin, so painting or power coating would be bad regardless of hydro test dates.

The only other problem is that tanks are color coded for a reason. If you put NO2 or even worse Oxygen into a tank that contains traces of oil. It could combust and turn even a sound tank into a bomb.

The lesson here is, do not use just any old tank as a pressure vessel.

Z28

 

I painted it today, i think it came out pretty well. The pictures really dont do it much justice, and its a shame im going to hide it

http://www.technologyorgasm.com/upload/Bottle1.JPG
http://www.technologyorgasm.com/upload/Bottle2.JPG
http://www.technologyorgasm.com/upload/Bottle3.JPG
http://www.technologyorgasm.com/upload/Bottle4.JPG
http://www.technologyorgasm.com/upload/Bottle5.JPG
http://www.technologyorgasm.com/upload/Bottle6.JPG
http://www.technologyorgasm.com/upload/Bottle7.JPG

Now i just want to find a zex bottle decal to put on it. Mine was all chewed up so i decided to remove it.

 

If you email the company they might just sell the sticker for the bottle. NX did it for me.

 

Call Zex and ask for Joey.Some companys will sell replacement sticker.Some will not.Here is there number 1-888-817-1008
Dave

 

Thanks dave, will do.