[Nevest]

I'm usually one to over-research any major purchases ahead of time and I guess this is a perfect example of why I should stick to that. I've got paintball coming up tomorrow and it's going to be cold (31 when we're supposed to start). I started reading last night about how to deal with cold weather and saw suggestions for using HPA/Nitrogen instead of CO2. I figured I would check out the options when I went in today to the local shop to fill up some CO2 for family/friends and get a feed neck for one of our spare guns. They were sold out of the two retail tanks they normally carry but the guy told me that had one previously owned tank for sale. I looked it over and it seemed pretty nice. I asked how much. He said the guy wanted $115 but would take $100. I asked how much it was new. He said $155. Seemed like a good deal to me and this is my local shop. It wasn't the guy I normally deal with because it seems like they've hired some new people lately, but there's a certain amount of trust I have for the store in general. So I made the unusually quick decision for me and bought it. I had some free time tonight so I decided to go make sure I got a fair shake.

It's a Pure Energy 72cu/3000PSI tank. It's got a Dye sticker on the side and the pressure guage says Dye on it. All of ones I'm seeing online seem to be around 65 or 75 bucks. I don't know if it's a low pressure tank or not. I don't really know much at all yet about HPA tanks and he didn't really tell me much before I bought it. Is there some upgrade to this tank that would make it worth that much or did I totally get ripped off? I'd appreciate any help/advice.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Nevest]

I've read through some more stuff and based on the markings on the bottle it was originally hydrotested (stamped into the bottle) on 10/2003. It needs to be retested every 5 years and the sticker backs that up by saying to retest by 10/2008. I guess that makes the tank about 5 years old. Did these cost a lot more back then?

I looked at the sticky but I still have no idea how to tell if this is a high pressure or low pressure tank. Is there some obvious way to tell?

Here's a few of the links I've found that all say $65 or a little less for brand new:
PMI Pure Energy Fixed N2 Paintball Tank - 72ci 3000

PMI 72ci 3000 PSI Nitro Compressed Air Paintball Tank: 80525406 Paintball Guns Store - Tippmann Spyder Ultimate Ion Paintball Guns

Pure Energy Fixed - 5 Year N2 Tank - 72ci 3000psi at ActionVillage.com : Paintball

I guess I'll use the tank in the morning, clean it up, and take it back to return it and get my money back sometime this week.

 

[mLuH]

when it says "fixed pressure" and "850psi" that means it's high pressure. Yeah that's pretty lame that your store would do that to you, those are pretty cheap tanks.

 

[bobide]

If the tank is steel you got screw, if it happens to be carbon fiber you got a okay deal.

As far as output pressure goes every steel tank I've ever seen is a high pressure output tank (800/850psi) and just about every 3000psi tank is a hp output.

And gah! I didn't even know they made steel tanks this big! That thing weighs almost as much as my gun and tank together!

 

[kenny_1491]

If the tank is steel you got screw, if it happens to be carbon fiber you got a okay deal.

As far as output pressure goes every steel tank I've ever seen is a high pressure output tank (800/850psi) and just about every 3000psi tank is a hp output.

And gah! I didn't even know they made steel tanks this big! That thing weighs almost as much as my gun and tank together!

I was thinking the same thing, if it is a steely I would definitely get my money back and give that guy a good fussing out.

 

[Nevest]

I haven't found any PMI tanks of this size/pressure in carbon fiber. It's steel. It doesn't seem all that heavy to me compared to a full 20oz CO2 tank, but I've never handled a carbon fiber tank. I'm taking it back tomorrow for either a full or partial refund. What do you think would be a fair price for it since brand new ones cost $65 and it'll be five years old and need a hydrotest in October? How much does a hydrotest cost?

 

[martix_agent]

hydrotests cost $20ish.
a fiber wrapped tank will be world lighter than a steel tank

 

[JeSTeR_1269]

just dont send it to crossfire. website says 3 day turnaround, what they mean is 3-4 weeks.

Yeah, thats not a good deal. Especially needing hydro'd

 

[skapunkin]

Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe it wasn't.

Either way go back to the shop and present the information you have. Tell them the price was totally unfair and someone screwed up or you were taken advantage of. Give them the opportunity to back up the stores reputation with a generous credit or whatnot.

 

[Nevest]

Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe it wasn't.

Either way go back to the shop and present the information you have. Tell them the price was totally unfair and someone screwed up or you were taken advantage of. Give them the opportunity to back up the stores reputation with a generous credit or whatnot.

Yeah, that's exactly how I'm planning to handle it. I'll just let them know what happened and what I found out and let them suggest how to resolve it. Stopped by today but they've got some temporary hours where they're closed Sunday through Tuesday, so I'll be stopping in on Wednesday. So any suggestions on how much this tank is actually worth?

 

[skapunkin]

Yeah, that's exactly how I'm planning to handle it. I'll just let them know what happened and what I found out and let them suggest how to resolve it. Stopped by today but they've got some temporary hours where they're closed Sunday through Tuesday, so I'll be stopping in on Wednesday. So any suggestions on how much this tank is actually worth?

Your research says it all. 75 bucks brand new. Unless they can show you something great about the tank that we haven't been clued in on, I'd say they owe you a case of paint or something.

 

[Nevest]

I tried to stop in Monday March 31st but the store was closed and I saw the sign saying they were closed Monday through Wednesday. I then stopped in again on Thursday around 4:30 but they were closed. I drove by Friday around 5:15 and they were closed. I called Saturday and they were open so I drove over. I told the guy working what had happed and asked what he could do. He swore to me that I was wrong about the price of the tank. I assured him I had done my research but he wouldn't believe me. He said the best he could do for me was store credit. That really wasn't what I wanted (I would have preferred to negotiate a fair price for the tank or gotten a refund as I paid $105 in cash just the week before and this is the tank I want for my gun so I want to use my money to get it somewhere else if I can't get it from them). He wouldn't budge though so I had no real choice but to take the store credit. He did up a card and gave it to me as if I should just leave. I asked if there was $105 on the card and he said no, there was $85 on it. He said normally it's a 25% fee to return something but he only charged me 15% in this case, like he was doing me some big favor. I told him this was not cool but he just shrugged so I left. So on top of everything else, now I've basically had $20 stolen from me and another $85 that I wanted to get a tank with tied up in store credit because the guy working the counter didn't know what he was selling or how much it was really worth.

I sent an email to the store's address in hopes of getting in touch with the owner or a manager. If I don't hear anything within a few days I'm going to try to call the store and get the owner's phone number so I can call him directly. This is complete BS and I'm not going to let it stand.