Dwell is a term by which people are often misled. The majority of paintball gun users believe that the Dwell time is a mechanically fixed value. That there is some correlation between dwell and paintball guns.
So, what is dwell paintball?
Dwell paintball refers to as a set of time for signal transfer in paintball guns. A square-wave signal is transferred from the board to the solenoid. The dwell need of a paintball is affected by different solenoids, manifolds, and flow paths. However, the dwell number by itself has no significance.
But does that mean dwell doesn’t matter in a paintball at all?
I will talk about anything and everything regarding dwell in this article.
Stick around to find out what dwell is all about!
What Is Dwell By Definition?
An electro marker’s trigger pull “turns on” a circuit that fires paintballs when you release it. The duration during which the circuit stays open is measured. That is what a dwell is. The measuring unit for dwell is milliseconds.
For example, if the dwell of a paintball gun is 8. It means that the circuit stays open to take in air for 8 milliseconds. And dwell doesn’t impact the fps limit of the airsoft guns.
Additionally, keep in mind that dwell includes the time it takes the solenoid to activate. For example, the two shocker solenoids (Parker and Humphey).
They can be radically different and still push air for the same period of time. The difference is that one solenoid requires more time to activate.

Is Dwell Important For a Paintball Gun?
Dwell is how long the solenoid stays open. Higher electric paintball guns have pneumatic solenoids. The solenoid takes air from the tank. Then the air is shuttled to the bolt. And the gun fires.
However, is it important? For the most part, not so important. And dwell is measured in milliseconds. Here’s someones take on dwell paintball.
Between airsoft and paintball guns, dwell comes into question only in paintball guns.
You can increase on some of the higher electric guns. But that varies from model to model. You can increase the dwell time up to 15 to 20 ms.
Personally, I never had to change the dwell of any of the paintball guns I used. So my verdict is, dwell is not so important for a paintball gun.
Does Dwell on a Paintball Gun Have Any Correlation with Performance?
It does not have any correlation to the performance of a paintball gun. Dwell is comparable to how long the valve is open. or the time it takes for the bolt to advance or retreat.
The Dwell time you enter on the board is not related to the time you enter. to any certain firing cycle phase.
It is an entirely random number. That is unrelated to how the bolt or solenoid operates mechanically. A 10ms dwell rifle does not fire more quickly. It is neither more effective nor more gentle on the paint. or inferior to a rifle that fires at 20 ms in any way.
If you lower the dwell time, you have to increase the amount of pressure. So that the firing rate can maintain the same fps.
Differentiating Factor For Dwell in Paintball Guns
The solenoid and its drive circuit are the two key determinants. The solenoid is located on the gun’s circuit board.
One solenoid could be driven by two separate circuits at the same time. Additionally, you would need to set the “dwell” on one circuit. Suppose it takes an airsoft gun 20 milliseconds to fire and is on the second circuit. It would operate properly and fire at 10 ms full velocity.
The drive circuit may have an impact on how quickly a solenoid energises and de-energizes. And it is at these moments that the bolt’s actual mechanical movement is affected.
The opposite is also true. In that you might use a single drive circuit with two distinct solenoids. One of which could only require a 4 ms drive pulse to fire a gun.
While the other might require a 30 ms signal. From the exact same drive circuit on the very same gun. The drive circuit and solenoid’s functionality in a paintball gun are very different from one another. But in the end, they all succeed in their goals.
So basically what I am saying is, don’t get your head tied up. In the actual number that you enter into the gun. It is completely irrelevant.

How to Dwell Tune Your Paintball Gun?
Do you want to get the most brittle shoot possible? Then you should consider dwell tuning your electric paintball gun.
To dwell tune your electric paintball gun, first go to dwell mode. Accessing dwell mode for electric paintball guns are different. You can drop or increase dwell to increase efficiency. However, the end result may not change a lot in terms of performance.
This section is all about how to tune your gun.
Firstly, you need is your gun and a Chrono. Go on dwell mode. And it’s going to be different for every other model.
Now, make sure you’re using high-quality paintball. That way you get consistent performance. And you’re tuning won’t get jumbled with 3-4 different types of paintballs.
Then, drop your dwell by 2 milliseconds, Chrono. Then shoot a few times. If you notice some inconsistency in firing, increase the dwell by 1 millisecond. Check the firing again and see if the firing is consistent.
The difference you’ll get may or may not be a whole lot. What it will help you with is getting a smooth and pristine shot.
Once you run out of your CO2 cartridges, take proper care of the used CO2 cartridges.
However, here are some of the best paintball guns you can buy!
To avoid frequent jamming, Action Village Kingman Spyder Epic Paintball Gun is wonderful. You can check the price on Amazon.
For monitoring pressure, the Spyder Victor Semi-Auto Paintball Marker will work well. You can check for availability on Amazon.
You can get the better grip with Empire Mini GS Paintball Gun. You can check the price on Amazon.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What Is A Blowback Paintball Gun?
The majority of mechanical paintball guns include blowback construction. Pulling the trigger causes a sear catch to move. These let go of a hammer that is being held in place by a spring. The valve is opened for just long enough for the paintball. It exits the barrel when the striker strikes it.
What Does Dwell On A Paintball Gun Do?
The length of time the solenoid remains open to let the bolt advance. And releasing air to force the paintball out of the barrel is controlled by solenoid dwell. The bolt will stay open for a longer period of time and release more air than is necessary if the dwell is set too high.
What’s A Good FPS On A Paintball Gun?
The typical paintball gun can fire at a speed of about 300 fps. For safety reasons, the majority of paintball fields demand a maximum speed of 280 fps. The usual 280-fps marker has an effective range of 80 to 100 feet. And a paintball can travel that distance in roughly one-third of a second.
End Note
That concludes everything on what is dwell paintball. The concept of dwelling is very confusing among the paintball gun owner community.
I hope this article cleared the confusion regarding dwelling for you.
Do you have any other queries? Let me know.
Until then, best of luck!