The fuel of paintball, or you can say one of the most essential paintball equipment you need for playing paintball, is a paintball tank, a compressed air tank/hpa tank, or a CO2 tank. Without this fuel, you can’t shoot your paintball gun. 

Because the compressed air is delivered through the gun’s barrel and pressurizes the ball bearings within the gun. The release air causes the ball to move more quickly and accurately, allowing players to hit their opponents with greater accuracy. 

Wait, the compressed air used in the paintball gun tank is not any regular compressed air we use on tires or other uses. 

So stop thinking, can you fill a paintball tank with a regular air compressor or not. You shouldn’t fill a hpa paintball tank with a regular air system/compressor. Because regular air compressors and paintball air compressors are not the same. Both are designed for different uses with different PSI. 

To make everything more clear and better understandable, let’s discuss regular air compressors and paintball air compressors, their uses, differences, and finally, why can’t you use a regular air compressor in a paintball hpa tank.

What is Compressed Air?

Before we jump to dive into regular air compressors and paintball air compressors, we should know what compressed air exactly is! Compressed air simply means air that is compressed to a higher pressure than atmospheric pressure and forced into a small container, cylinder, or tank.

However, compressed air is not any other kind of air but breathing air; the difference is in the pressure it holds. When the air is forced in high pressure, it’s called high pressure or HPA, and when in low, it’s named low pressure compressed air. 

While high pressure air compressor is used for paintballing, scuba diving, and some industrial uses, low-pressure compressed air is used for regular uses like food items, inflating tires, auto body repair, etc. 

Can You Fill a Paintball Tank with a Regular Air Compressor?

Simply saying, it’s not like you can’t fill a paintball air compressor tank with a regular air compressor; yes, you can fill a paintball tank with a regular air compressor, but you shouldn’t. 

Paintballing involves shooting opponents who are far behind you on the paintball field; you have to shoot them and ensure the paintball travels faster and breaks upon them. 

To do this, you will need your paintball marker to blow the paintball out of the barrel of the gun with more pressure.  The more air you force, the more pressure increase, and more pressure means the more power you will have when it’s released. 

Usually, paintball should be shot at 280FPS-300 FPS or 100 meters per second. To reach this distance, you will need a minimum of 3000 PSI, or 4500 psi compressed air tank. While a regular air compressor has 150-200PSI. 

So, paintball air tanks filled with a regular air compressor will give you less accuracy, lower speed, and a maximum of 5-6 shots per filling. 

Can you use an air compressor for paintball?

Yes, you can use an air compressor for paintball to fill the paintball tank. As we know, you can’t fill paintball compressed air tanks in a regular gas fill station because they don’t have high-pressure compressed air. In that case, you can use an air compressor or hand pump to fill the scuba tank or paintball air tank if you don’t have scuba dive shop access.  

Can regular compressor fill paintball tank?

A paintball tank needs to be filled with high-pressure compressed air, 3000-4500 psi, while a regular compressor can max out 150-200psi. So this air pressure is not enough to shoot a paintball at 280-300fps, which means you can’t fill a paintball compressor with a regular compressor. 

Is compressed air better than CO2 for paintball?

Yes, compressed air is better than CO2 for paintball in some cases, but not overall. Compressed air is super consistent; it’s compatible with almost all types of modern guns, shoots faster, and doesn’t get affected by temperature. 

Can you fill CO2 cartridge with compressed air?

Yes, you can fill a CO2 cartridge with compressed air, but you have to be very careful while doing it. Because compressed air is high-pressure gas, even a silly mistake with it can lead to a big explosion that is life-threatening. That’s why some gas station avoids doing so and also doesn’t allow filling carbon dioxide cartridges with compressed air.

What psi do paintball guns use?

Paintball guns use air pressure to shoot the paintballs, which is measured in psi (pounds per square inch). The higher the psi, the harder the paintball will hit the target and the farther it will travel. 

Most paintball guns use psi in the range of 300-700, but if you use the lowest pressure operating paintball marker, you will need a minimum of 180-250 psi per shot, and when it’s a high-end one, it’s not possible under 250 psi to 350 psi. Some automated guns are there that need 800-1000psi to get the best shot.

How much psi can a paintball tank hold?

Paintball tanks are typically filled with a pressurized liquid or compressed air, which is used to shoot the paintballs. The pressure inside the tank affects how fast a paint can be shot and how hard the paintballs will hit the opponents. So high pressure is needed for paintballing. More pressure means more shots.

How much psi can a paintball tank hold depends on the type of paintball tank you are using. If you are using a CO2 paintball tank, it can hold 800-1800 psi, while a hpa tank or scuba compressor can hold 3000-4500 psi. A 4500psi fiber wrapped tank can give you up to 1500 shots.

Can you use compressed air instead of CO2 for paintball?

Yes, you can use compressed air instead of CO2 for paintball. Liquid CO2 and compressed air are both paintball fuels used to power paintball markers by supplying the necessary pressure and velocity to the ball launcher.  In fact, the compressed air allows players to shoot farther and faster with less effort, making it a more challenging and fun experience.