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.
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: 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 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.
Comment on this review in the forums Last modified: Wednesday, May 9, 2001 9:37 AM Copyright ArniesAirsoft
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What's
in the box? 3PSA/Cybergun CO2 powerlet adapter, kindly
supplied by