Q:

Pcp lubing with pellgunoil explosive??

Pyramid says pellgunoil is explosive in pcp guns. I recently lubed pellets and my spinlock tank valve with it. Is this wrong??

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Zilog,

This topic comes up routinely and and inevitably, someone posts a link to that paintball incident. There is no way that one tiny drop of oil on a fill nipple caused that damage in a normal air mixture, I’ll bet that tank was filled with pure O2 (knowingly or unknowingly) and then the fire started during a top off.

Comically, some paintballers think they’ve discovered a new danger when they should have paid attention in school. One guy even made a hysterical video about the explosive hazard of putting a drop of oil on the fill nipple. He’d have done a greater service by telling people to be carefull about only letting HPA go in the tank.

I believe “B.B. Pelletier” once posted a set of pictures of a Sumatra that had been filled with O2, what a mess.

Of course, after the fire, there are always claims about everything having been done properly…

They posted a warning for some reason, I really don’t why? Why take chances and push your luck. One day your luck’s gonna run out, wonder what the odds of that happening?

Good Luck, be Safe.

Sam 😯

Many oils readily get compression ignition from HPA. It can be extremely dangerous to allow regular oil in to a HPA system. I dont know the oil in question on the thread but in general its a no no. even a small amount of oil can be very bad! see link for but one example http://www.pbnation.com/showthread.php?t=2325446

Pellet lubricant used on pellets is not quite the same. As its lower pressure and in a open space with room to vent. Though i cant image it would do good things for your consistency or your gun if you did manage to get pellet lubricant to burn. I have had it happen and just got a lick of flame and a puff of smoke so stopped using it. But results may vary massively I have no way of knowing. But again never used the oil in question on this thread.

Not explosive unless you have a heat source high enough to bring the pellgun oil up to its autoignition temperature, not to be confused with flash point.

Autoignition Temp. Definition= The autoignition temperature or kindling point of a substance is the lowest temperature at which it will spontaneously ignite in a normal atmosphere without an external source of ignition, such as a flame or spark. (wiki)

3000 PSI, or any HPA, alone is not enough to ignite the oil. Even fast filling a tank SHOULD NOT bring the temperatures up high enough to auto ignite the oil. Pellgun oil is only 30wt engine oil from what I’ve read. The autoignition temperature of said 30wt is estimated at 775f (MSDS).

With that being said we will never see 775f inside our tanks. However as pressure INCREASES the autoignition temperature DECREASES. By how much it decreases, I don’t know for sure. I doubt it will decrease the autoignition temp enough for us to see a problem.

Hell I am Cummins certified to work on CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) engines. The pressure inside these tanks is 3600psi and there is always some oil mixed with the fuel. Oil is introduced to the gas from the compressors. Oil under high pressure is not an issue here, but there is also no oxygen present in the tanks.

Just some information for you to use/disregard. Do as you wish with it. I just don’t see 3000PSI lowing the auto ignition temp low enough for it to cause a problem with 30wt. If other substances are used the out come could change considerably……

Note: I thought I was wrong once. Turns out I was just mistaken. 😆

I have lubed my pellets for years with this (in PCP’s with velocities exceeding ~750 fps): Whiscombe Honey
Mix two-thirds Hoppes Gun Oil with one-third STP Engine Treatment. Mix them thoroughly; they’ll never separate. I store mine in a plastic squeeze bottle designed to hold fluids like oil. I wouldn’t advise lubing anything else on the gun with this, just pellets. High-pressure compressed air & grease/oil don’t play well together . . .

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