How Does A Paintball Hopper Work? (Fully Guide)

To get the best performance, you need to understand how does a paintball hopper work, and here is everything that you need to know.

Paintball has evolved as one of the best recreational sports and therefore you can find a lot of paintball guns and hoppers in the market. A few years back, we could find only gravity-fed hoppers. But now there are different types of guns and hoppers featuring unique working mechanisms. You need to find the one that is exactly in line with your skill and budget. But before this you need to understand how does a paintball hopper work, and here is everything that you need to know.

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How Does A Paintball Hopper Work?

Hopper is an essential component of the paintball gun. It is a device that is attached to the paintball marker. It stores the paintballs before loading them into the marker. The hopper is attached to the feed neck of the gun. It uses various mechanisms to push the balls into the feed neck. The force it provides helps the ball go through the neck to the breech and then to the barrel of the gun.

The ball loading speed of the hopper depends upon the type of power source it uses. Depending upon the loading mechanism, different types of hoppers are available that use different mechanisms to load the balls into the marker. The two most common types of paintball hoppers are:

Gravity Fed Hoppers
Electronic Hoppers

Other types of paintball hoppers are:

Cyclone Activated Hopper
Eye Activated Hopper
Sound Activated Hopper

So let’s begin with:

How Does A Gravity Fed Hopper Work?

A gravity-fed hopper is a mechanical hopper that loads the ball into the marker under the effect of gravity. It is attached on top of the maker and the balls are dropped under the influence of gravity. A gravity-fed hopper can store 150-200 balls. It is the basic type of paintball hopper and the feeding rate is pretty slow. It loads 10-13 balls per second.

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The feed neck in the gravity-fed hopper is made specifically to paintball size. The gravity helps the weight distribution of the balls to prevent jamming. The balls are dropped into the gun breach due to gravity. The gravity hoppers feed the balls slowly and steadily. Jamming issues also happen in gravity-fed markers. The frequency of jamming issues depends upon the quality of the balls and hoppers.

For instance, if you load sticky and dirty balls into the hopper the flow won’t be smooth. Also if the loading neck of the hopper lacks streamlined construction, it may restrict the flow of the ball through it. Most jamming issues are sorted by shaking the hopper. However, if the problem doesn’t go away with shaking, you may need to unload and reload the hopper.

How Does An Electronic Hopper Work?

Electronic hoppers use motor-powered components that feed the paintballs to the hopper. These paintball hoppers are powered by replaceable batteries. The hopper uses automated paddles or feed trays. The biggest difference between a gravity-fed hopper and an electronic hopper is the speed. The paddle or trays move at a faster rate and can feed up to 18 balls per second with maximum accuracy and minimum jamming issues.

The average life of a battery used in electronic paintball hoppers is around 7 months if you play twice a week. You can fire up to 5,000 balls with a single battery. Unlike gravity-fed hoppers, the chances of jamming are pretty low. The hoopers can support high firing rates and can feed the ball at a faster rate with maximum accuracy. Electronic hoppers are expensive and are not usually preferred for recreational games.

How Does A Sound Activated Hopper Work?

Sound-activated hoppers are an advanced type of electronic hoppers. It uses a microphone that is attached to the release system of the hopper. The release mechanism is activated once the sound of fire is registered in the microphone. These hoppers can feed up to 20 balls per second.

How Does An Eye Activated Hopper Work?

Eye Activated Hopper is another electronic hopper. The battery-powered motors provide the required force to load the balls into the barrel (tube) or breech. The motor shuts off when it is full and it gets activated when there is space inside the tube. This is one of the most efficient and advanced types of paintball hoppers. The hopper uses battery-energized paddles to push the ball inside the breech and tube of the paintball gun.

How Does A Cyclone Activated Hopper Work?

Cyclone-activated hoppers use pressurized gas to load the balls into the gun barrel. It uses gas as a power source so it is called a cyclone activated hopper. It links the feeder sprocket with the air system for the synchronized loading of the balls into the tube. The jamming issue occurs but they are not as frequent as in the gravity-fed hoppers. These hoppers can load upto 15 balls per second.

FAQs

How does a paintball gun hopper work?

A paintball hopper is attached to the paintball gun through the feed neck. A standard paintball hopper can store upto 200 balls at a time. The hopper uses a pushing mechanism to load the balls into the paintball tube. In gravity-fed hoppers, the ball moves under the influence of gravity. Electronic hoopers use battery-powered motors to help move the balls through to feed the neck, breech, and tube.

How many paintballs does a hopper hold?

A standard paintball hopper can hold between 160-200 balls at a time. Overloading a hopper can lead to serious jamming issues. There are a few electronic paintball hoppers that can store upto 250 balls.

Wrapping Up

The working mechanism of paintball hoppers is quite simple. Depending on the power source hoppers have been divided into different types. Cleaning and maintenance of the hopper play a key role in the smooth working and performance of the hopper. You must clean the hopper after every game to prevent jamming issues and keep its parts safe from paint damage.