Co2 Carridges

GlennGeo

Hey Guys !

Just wondering if Co2 cartridges for Airsoft guns can be re filled or do they have to be replaced after every use

Cheers

thermo

GlennGeo wrote: »

Hey Guys !

Just wondering if Co2 cartridges for Airsoft guns can be re filled or do they have to be replaced after every use

Cheers

once they are empty you bin and replace them, they are only €.5 -€1 each.

bigben121

replaced

GlennGeo

Grand thanks

3102derek

is it just me or does anyone else think it is a waste of resources

Inari

They can be recycled. If you look there's a small cap on the bulb, which is refilled and replaced, creating the proper seal.

NakedDex

They can only be refilled with a specific machine, and it's not exactly the type of apparatus that you'll find in your local airsoft store.

It is a dreadful waste of a perfectly good lump of metal, but that metal can be recycled. That's really the best you can do if you're concerned about the waste of material.

GlennGeo

Im not concerned about wasting metal but you should be able to re fill them, Ya pay enough money for bb guns

NakedDex

If you want refillable CO2, you'll have to look into external rig systems. If you'd rather not have a 6lbs tank strapped to your back, and a hose between it and your rifle, disposable cartridges are the only option.

The alternative is to use green gas, but the same argument could be applied to those tanks too. It's circular, really.

GlennGeo

Yeh I no , there is an airsoft shop near me so ill just by the cartridges there

J.D.R

NakedDex wrote: »

They can only be refilled with a specific machine, and it's not exactly the type of apparatus that you'll find in your local airsoft store.

It is a dreadful waste of a perfectly good lump of metal, but that metal can be recycled. That's really the best you can do if you're concerned about the waste of material.

Please forgive the stupid question, but would there be some way of starting a system like they have in other countries of paid recycling? I don't mean for everything, but if there was a way the retailers could do by collecting the spent cartridges from customers and selling them back to the manufacturers? It could help the environment [/hippy speak] and our pockets[/real reason].

I know it may sound strange, but it works in other countries for tin cans and such

Inari

Just to clarify; what I was talking about RE refilling and recycling the cartridges, as far as I know there are a few stores who will take back the used cartridges, thus eliminating the wasted metal

NakedDex

J.D.R wrote: »

Please forgive the stupid question, but would there be some way of starting a system like they have in other countries of paid recycling? I don't mean for everything, but if there was a way the retailers could do by collecting the spent cartridges from customers and selling them back to the manufacturers? It could help the environment [/hippy speak] and our pockets[/real reason].

I know it may sound strange, but it works in other countries for tin cans and such

There are such schemes in place in this country as it is, but not on the materials used to make those ampules. They're generally in place for higher price metals, like copper and brass, which are recovered from the construction industry. This is also why you'll find plumbers using plastic fittings for a lot of systems these days.

J.D.R

NakedDex wrote: »

There are such schemes in place in this country as it is, but not on the materials used to make those ampules. They're generally in place for higher price metals, like copper and brass, which are recovered from the construction industry. This is also why you'll find plumbers using plastic fittings for a lot of systems these days.

But, if not for the raw materials, what about like Inari said? Sell them back to the manufactures so they can re-fill them?

NakedDex

It wouldn't be worth the costs to them. It's not just a case of selling them back, it's a case of transport. They'd probably take them off you if you were willing to accept no payment and pay the cost of shipping them to their factory, but even then it wouldn't be certain.

Think of it like a bottle of water. You pay €1.50 for it in the shop, drink it, and now you're left with an empty bottle. Technically, all the company needs to do to reuse this bottle, instead of having new ones made, is get it back from you, clean it and refill it. Why don't they do that?
Even if they were to get them back for free, they'd have to have an entire division set up to handle the collection and processing of used bottles. This means setting up facilities for collection, like bottle banks, having servicing personnell for said facilities, transport services set up to collect and drop of these bottles to the factory for washing.
An entire system of sterilisation and processing then needs to be set up to take in the old bottles and ensure they're clean and safe before integrating them back into the automated process line for refilling and reshipping.
All of this assumes they get 100% of the bottles back for free. Even with an incentive scheme, you won't get a percentage of that, and no-one is going to incentivise you to return those bottles when all that extra cost is already involved. Especially since it'd work out cheaper for the company to just write off said bottles and buy new ones which are delivered by the bottle manufacturer for a fixed cost.

Same thing applies to these ampules. It's actually cheaper just to keep making new ones.