Airsoft Hpa How Does It Work

Zimmerman Saidee · Saturday, February 26, 2022

Airsoft Hpa How Does It Work

This thread is under construction. Probably worth reading, simply it's not comprehensive.

Welcome to the High Pressure Air (HPA) FAQ. Here we'll be covering the nuts of what HPA is, what information technology's advantages are, how to find out if HPA is for you and how to shop for HPA products. If you're wondering nigh getting into HPA for airsoft so delight read the entire FAQ before asking questions - this will save yourself and other forum members a lot of time and effort. At the bottom of this postal service you lot volition see when the FAQ was last updated.

What is 'Loftier Force per unit area Air' (HPA)?

Introduction
In a nutshell, HPA works through the controlled release of compressed air. In an AEG you can expect a gearbox to actuate a piston which in turn compresses air that's released down the barrel to projection your BB. In a greenish gas, squeegee or CO₂ airsoft gun this gas is stored in a compressed state within a vessel and expelled down the barrel to project your BB. In a jump airsoft gun the potential is stored in a jump that actuates a piston, compresses the air within the cylinder that's in turn pushed down the barrel to projection your BB.

In HPA the concepts are very much the same: Like light-green gas, duster or CO_two the gas is stored pre-compressed and many pneumatic HPA engines role very similarly to gas accident back rifles - indeed, in many cases HPA can exist used to power a lot of existing GBB and GBBRs (more on that afterward).

Table of contents

1. Ability sources

2. Your HPA 'rig'

3. 'Kits'/'Engines', 'Guns' and 'HPA Tapped'

1. Power sources
To empathize what HPA is, you must first know how 99% of guns in airsoft are powered and then that you know what HPA is not:

Electric

AEGs (Automatic Electric Gun)

AEPs (Automatic Electric Pistols)

Green gas, duster and CO_ii

GBB or GBBPs (Gas Blow Dorsum pistols)

GBBRs (Gas Blow Back rifles)

NBB (Not Blow Dorsum)

Spring

HPA

Electric solenoid engine

Pneumatic engine

two. Your HPA 'rig'
As we've already covered, HPA is compressed air that's released in a controlled manner to propel your BB. Think of it equally the ability source for your gun, but non what's inside the gun itself. It's akin to a battery (like an AEG) or a mag full of dark-green/duster gas (GBBP/GBBR). A typical HPA rig (i.e. all the functional exterior parts that a user needs to combine for their HPA powered gun to piece of work) is comprised of three separate parts: The 'canteen', the 'regulator' and the 'line'. Non all HPA setups work with identical rigs, but this will get apparent later. For at present, here's a dainty picture of a typical HPA rig:

Bottle
This is where the air is shop in a highly compressed state. There are two different types of bottles that you tin buy, rated for ii different pressures: 3000 psi (pounds per foursquare inch) (206 bar) and 4500 psi (310 bar). 3000 psi bottles tend to be made from aluminium whilst 4500 psi bottles are about e'er made from carbon fibre. By and large the shape of a canteen gives away its pressure rating every bit the more rounded corners of the 4500 psi bottles have a distinctive silhouette versus the more square edges of a 3000 psi canteen. Airsoft HPA bottles are identical to paintball HPA bottles.

Every tank also has a 'bottle regulator' that comes with the canteen and steps downward the output of the canteen then that the actual regulator can deal with the incoming flow. This generates some complex issues that will be revealed later on as some bottles output at what is chosen 'Super Low Pressure' (SLP) (approximately 300 psi) whilst the balance tend to output from 450 psi to 950 psi. Different regulators work with different input pressures, and then non all are happy with receiving the lower pressures from SLP bottle regulators.

Bottle size is measured in ci (cubic inches). Bottles range from 13ci to 100ci, though most bottles sit effectually the 40ci to 70ci mark. Obviously a bottle at 4500 psi will go for longer than a 3000 psi bottle of the same size/internal volume.

The canteen regulator also has three cardinal features: The first is that it has an interface with what is called the ASA on the regulator or line (if you lot're using a 3000 psi rated line) - these threads on the tiptop of the regulator too have one of two seals at the top to ensure a proper air-tight system. The 2nd characteristic is refilling: A standard paintball make full nipple is present on most regulators and can interact with the machines in paintball and dive shops besides as with 'fill stations' (more on make full stations subsequently). The third and concluding feature of near good bottle regulators is flare-up disks: Burst disks are a primal safety feature that allow the tank to do an emergency, controlled venting of air if information technology's overfilled or there's a failure in the bottle regulator causing too high a pressure to exist sent to the remainder of the HPA system.

HP burst deejay: A higher rated burst disk that blows if the tank is overfilled. 3000 psi and 4500 psi tanks tend to use 5000 psi and 7500 psi HP flare-up disks respectively.
LP burst deejay: A lower rated burst disk that blows if the tank is outputting a pressure higher than information technology should be that would otherwise damage your gun or regulator.

In both cases the outburst disks aims to safely vent the air rather than the tank or entire hpa rig simply continuing to fill with air that it's non built to handle and exploding.

Click the spoiler to see some pictures of bottles and canteen regulators

A Guerrilla 3000 psi 48 ci aluminium canteen

A Guerrilla 4500 psi 64 ci carbon fibre bottle

A Guerilla Myth G3 tank regulator (outputs between 800 to 920 psi)

A Ninja SLP (Super Low Pressure) tank regulator (puts out 300 psi)

A Ninja V2 tank regulator (450 psi to 800 psi output)

Regulator
The regulator has two principal functions: To farther stride downwardly the force per unit area of the air to a usable psi and to do and so in a way that means - during intense use - the gun doesn't get 'starved' for air. This latter indicate is sometimes called 'refresh'. Regulators with a higher refresh rate are more than desirable as they tin power air-hungry guns that would be otherwise starved by lower refresh rates.

The regulator besides acts as a hub for the line. Some regulators only accept one possible output, whilst others have many. Some accept the capacity for QDs (quick disconnects) which allow the user to speedily disconnect the line for freedom of motility or modularity without compromising the pressure inside the regulator. Almost all HPA rigs accept one or ii QDs (commonly one at each end of the line).

Almost regulators are easily adjustable between a range of outputs. This varies depending on the make of the regulator, but most airsoft regulators are designed to work between 30 psi to 160 psi.

Click the spoiler to meet some pictures of regulators

A Redline Firebase regulator

A Wolverine Tempest 'in-grip' regulator

A Redline SFR (Super Fast Refresh) regulator

An Amped Custom SLP (Super Low Force per unit area) regulator

A Ninja LPR (Depression Pressure Regulator)

Line
The line is an air hose that connects the gun to the regulator. These come up in many different forms, but well-nigh are between 24" (50cm) to 46" (116cm) long and have varying inner diameters betwixt 3mm to 6mm. Most airsoft lines are rated for utilise up to 200 psi though some tin can handle upwardly to 3000 psi. This is because some guns utilise an internal regulator then the air hasn't been de-pressurised. More on this later.

Some lines are coiled, some are braided and others are merely normal looking rubber tubing.

The near typical airsoft line volition be 36" (91cm) long, have an inner diameter of 6mm, can withstand upward to 200 psi and will exist braided.

Click the spoiler to see some pictures of lines

Ninja 36" braided line (rated for up to 200 psi)

TNK Guns custom 36" broad bore braided line (rated for up to 200 psi)

Coiled line (rated for up to 3000 psi)

3. 'Kits'/'Engines', 'Guns' and 'HPA Tapped'
Now that you know how HPA is 'powered', you must sympathize what this means on the gun side. How do we turn that air into propulsion for the BB? The following table of brands/products is more than of a glossary to aid you understand what people are talking about when they refer to the various HPA setups and nosotros'll go into each i adjacent. Annotation that 'Kits' and 'Engines' tend to be interchangeable vocabulary in most settings:

Kits/Engines

Electric solenoid

Wolverine (Inferno, Hydra, Bolt etc.)

Polarstar (F1, F2, Fusion etc.)

ProTech (Mk1, Mk2 etc.)

Fully pneumatic

Daytona Gun

Escort

Sun Projection

'Guns'

Tippmann

'HPA Tapped'

Due to the nature of this category, there are no specific brands/products related to it but we'll come to that

You lot may remember in department 1. seeing 'electric solenoid' and 'fully pneumatic'. These are generally both referred to as 'conversion kits', 'engines' or simply 'kits' as both are drib-in replacements that require a 'donor gun' (i.east. an existing AEG or GBBR that 1 strips out and replaces the internals of) whereas 'guns' I'm here using to encompass the Tippmann M4 as - at the time of writing - information technology'south the only HPA-specific gun that requires no boosted modification to run on HPA. It has some rather specific quirks as well so I've given information technology its own section.