Home Reviews 3psa Co2 Adapter CO2 Powerlet Adapter

CO2 Powerlet Adapter

by Arnie

CO2
Powerlet Adapter

review
by Arnie

Stock
Specifications
RRP 49.95
UKP


NOTE:
This is as yet an unfinished review – I have much more to write
and do in terms of tests as of yet, but hopefully I’ll have
it complete within a few days

A
brief history lesson:
Many moons ago before such inventions
as gas blowbacks, Airsoft was very similar to paintball (hey..
no throwing stones until I’ve finished the sentence!), in that
Airsoft gear for the most part was powered from external gas
tanks.

3PSA
(now known as Cybergun) market a product that at first glance
appears to go backwards in technology. What am I rambling about?
– well it’s known as the CO2 Powerlet Adapter. Basically this
little beauty enables you to run a gas Airsoft replica from
(cheap) little CO2 capsules.

What’s
in the box?
3PSA/Cybergun CO2 powerlet adapter, kindly
supplied by Sports
Marketing UK
(www.sportsmk.co.uk).

The
CO2 adapter system is something that I’ve always been somewhat
intregued by, as (generally speaking) external gas feed systems
aren’t used any more.

So
why go for this system?
Well the advantage of CO2 is
that it provides a more consistent gas flow. This is due to
the properties of liquid CO2. How it happens isn’t really a
huge mystery, so I’ll explain it from the beginning.

CO2
gas itself:
Here’s the basic chemistry lesson for anyone
that’s a little rusty, apologies if this is old news to you:

CO2
runs at a higher pressure than HFC gases – basically as it’s
a simpler molecule than HFC/freon compounds it takes up less
space in liquid form. Therefore – as equal amounts of any compound
take up the same space in a gaseous state – an equal liquid
amount of CO2 will create more gas than the same volume of HFC/Freon.

Misconception
#1:
Now this is where one common misconception arrises,
that I too thought was true:

“…CO2
is dangerous it’ll blow your gas systems to pieces with that
higher pressure…”

This
is true, if you filled a standard GBB mag with CO2 – you’d blow
it to pieces upon firing it (at least if not immediately it
wouldn’t take too long). To run CO2 straight in a gas blowback
system a lot of heavy upgrades are needed, after which it may
well be beyond the legal Airsoft limits anyway. (Little known
fact:
The much famed/hyped ‘red gas’ is actually plain old
CO2. ^_^ )

Where
this isn’t true is that the CO2 powerlet adapter contains a
regulatory system to ensure that the gas pressure is at a safe
level. Cunning eh? From what I can tell the CO2 regulation would
seem to be set to around 70psi (tbc).

Misconception
#2:

“…CO2
will dry out your Airsoft equipment and damage the seals and
hopup unit…”

Whilst
this is technically true, the CO2 capulets intended for Airsoft
use come with APS3 (silicone lubricant)inside them, which is
the same lubricant that you’ll find in your American Eagle bottles.

Sadly
I don’t know the quanities of lubricant, but after my extended
tests (almost 900 rounds now) the pistol supplied hasn’t jammed
once, and there’s no sign of it needing lubrication. My educated
guess is that the capulets come from the same people that make
American Eagle, but I can’t be sure.

Fitting:

Stage1
– building the gas unit

Fitting
of the CO2 adapter kit is quite easy. Remove the product from
its packaging and you’ll be left with:
– one CO2 adapter unit
– one black hose

Now
this might not be obvious to you at first, but you’ll need to
fit the hose to the regulator. I honestly don’t know why it
comes separate, but there must be a good reason.

At
the top of the black regulator unit you’ll find two silvery
threaded bolts. On one side the bolt is covered in a light red
paint, and on the other it has a nut threaded on. The side with
the red paint on it is the safety valve, that will vent should
anything get above accepted tolerances.

Take
the black hose, undo the bolt on the side opposite the safety
valve, and thread the bolt onto the gas hose. Now poke the end
of the black pipe into the hollow bolt, and thread the nut back
over the top, thus clamping the gas hose to the regulator unit.

How
many shots per capsule?
In my tests you can get almost
exactly 5 mags worth from the KWC Taurus, which comes with a
13 round mag; this gives you a total of roughly 65 shots per
12g capsule. The capsules cost around 75p each, although they
are cheaper if you buy in bulk. So if you do a quick calculation
you’ll see that this gives you a price of roughly 1.2p per BB.

Just
a a small cost comparison:


– Bottle of ToyJack HFC22 costs roughly £14 and contains
1100ml
– UK made bottle of HFC134a £10 contains 375ml (450g)

Well
here endeth part one of the review, more to come in the next
update.

Update
30/01/03:
I’ve been trying this unit out with the M870
Maruzen shotgun
, a previously woefully underowered piece
of gas equipment. Check out
my rather pleasing results here
.

Conclusion
To be added…

External
Links:
Sports
Marketing UK

Site
links:
TBC

Comment
on this review in the forums


Last
modified: Wednesday, May 9, 2001 9:37 AM Copyright ArniesAirsoft




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