This fix is a first for me
My shooting buddy is away for a while and until he returns, he has allowed me to keep and use his Carbon Fiber tank. I’ve had it for roughly 4+ months now and it’s been a huge help as i shoot just as many big bores as i do small bores. So now i have 2 CF tanks and an aluminum tank. After filling his tank numerous times now with my Shoebox, i took it out a couple weeks ago and when i opened the valve to fill my gun, i heard a familiar POP and could hear air leaking out from the DIN valve somewhere. My initial thought without really thinking was the oring in either the bleeder or the one under the fill hose assembly on the other side. Once i shut the valve, the remainder of the air in the hose would bleed itself out. After close inpspection, i found that it was neither the bleeder or the fill hose assembly but, it was coming from under the black shutoff valve cap. GREAT………SOMETHING ELSE TO FIX 👿
My initial thought was to contact AirHog and ask them about either purchasing a new DIN valve or how to disassemble the one i had. Of course though, what’s the fun in asking how to disassemble something before i even attempt to do it myself…lol. How UNMANLY…lol. I had also ordered a NEW gauge to go on the tank as my buddies was beaten up slightly. So this was a good time to install the new gauge.
here is the DIN valve with the new gauge:
The next step was to DRAIN the 3500 psi left into the tank which took quite some time to do. Roughly 35 minutes long (depends on how far you open the valve). After that, it was time to remove the DIN valve from the SCUBA tank and to remove the bleeder and fill hose assembly:
To get to the leak, i would have to remove the black twist knob that’s attached to the shutoff valve internals. you simply put a screwdriver in the slot and unscrew:
Then you get this:
And this:
Then you go the next step and remove the internals that contain o rings:
Then i removed the FLAT, CRACKED, and DRY o-rings and replaced them with some 90 DUROMETER ones that have a longer service life:
I had never seen a bust disc and i was curious so, since i had the valve apart……..WHY NOT? I removed the bolt over the burst disc so i could see what it looked like. It was just a copper disc as i’ve heard before:
MOISTURE IN THE TANK: Well, since i have been using this tank exclusively (as per its owner), its had a whole lotta refills from my Shoebox. Moister has always been a concern of a lot of users and its been the topic of a few post. I am pleased to say that SO FAR, after 4 months of fills from my shoe box, i see no signs of moisture inside of the tank. I could not get a good picture cause of the limited space in the opening of the tank and i could not get a light and a camera lense down there to take pics. But trust me, there are no signs of anytype of water damage inside the tank or DIN valve. I probably spent about 10 SOLID minutes looking inside and turning the tank as i looked for ANYTHING related to moisture. The tank was super clean looking inside. I also tried wiping the inside walls with a DRY cleaning patch and got nothing on the patch.
SO far SO good
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I have Joe’s gauge assembly for two 44 cu ft SCBA tanks and it works great. After reading about some of the exploded scuba tanks out there you get a bit nervous.
NICE!
Thanx
Talked to my buddy about his gauge and hose and IT WAS NOT AIRHOG who put the hose on. It is a 9 year old installation before MOST folks even knew what a CF tank was. But, the ONE gun that he fills up with this hose only gets filled to 3000 psi.
But he is gonna buy a new hose assembly when he can. Until then though, i’ll just use my JB hose and gauge on his tank. So i still have the use of 2 good CF tanks…WOHOO!
VERY interesting post! Here’s some pictures and expert narrative about a real condition and hardware from people you know and trust.
So, all you newbies… when some safety enforcing know nothing starts mouthing off about this and that and recommends the crap you saw above…. wise up!
Tofazfou,
I’ve learned to respect what I don’t know. Although some of that respect was learned from bad mistakes. It’s a miracle I still have all the body parts I started with. Oh, a number of cuts and a few scars but worst is nothing seems to work as well as it used to.
Mechanically I once set out to be the best mechanical calculator repair technician on Remington calculators. I wanted to become an instructor at the factory but settled for Service Manager for Toledo Ohio area. I consider myself the best ever out of the Detroit area. To bad I didn’t get in an advancing industry. Oh, I learned to repair electronics and computers but nothing real dangerous like high voltage or high pressure.
Come to think of it, I have repaired and rebuilt my ShoeBox compressor and installed a couple E-TaCs, so learning from you about the tank valve is another important step I need to experience. I suppose when I’m through learning here, I’ll be in class on the other side.
Here we need to help each other and look to good people like Joe Brancato for quality equipment and guidance.
Lurker,
Thanx for the comment bro. Yeah, thats just me man, i never been afraid of taking things apart although i’ve never done it before. I just have this need to know how things work. A little research, a lot of safety, some common sense and basic knowledge of all things mechanical can really save you some money or money/time. I just love the experience of taking stuff apart and putting it back together.
Also, guys like the guys here that warned me of the fill hose can also save your life or limbs and some money too. One of the reasons why all my post contain photos and or video is that viewers/people are always welcomed to make me SMARTER.
Tofazfou,
Good post and pictures. I would have been afraid to dis assemble the valve before you showed us how.
Joe,
No, that is another tag good member also looking for a burst disk.
I was checking the net and there seems to be a number of fellows looking for burst disks. It makes me wonder if some manufacturer put out some
That were defective or mis labeled.
What with that possibly refinished tank blowing up on a fellow in Florida, the guys putting out poor quality tanks, hoses, etc. are probably rethinking their profit margin.
I prefer to buy quality equipment when personal safety is an issue. So, I’ll be sticking with you Joe.
Thanks,
Edmund
Thanx for the heads up JB. Good thing MY SCUBA tank has your whole setup on it (recently purchased). I will contact my buddy about buying a fill whip from you.
Also, good to know you sell burst disc. Awesome!
Yes, I was berated by a local Airgun dealer men I stated I would offer hoses that were 3 feet long. I was told they would whip around WHEN they fail. I said, they shouldn’t fail. (Turns out, they were using the same type of braided paintball hose as shown in Tofa’s pictures above that are not rated anywhere near 4500 PSI). I wondered why anyone would offer such a hose 1) mostly due to customer satisfaction 2) liability!.
FYI: My hoses are now all tested/rated to 10,000 PSI, with a multiple of 2 or 3x safety factor, ands come with a strain relief at each end.
Recenlty a guy bought a brand new tank from someone else and paid an extra $75 to get a 3 foot hose instead of a 1 foot. This is what they sent. Has a 1 foot and a 2 foot with adapter. The SCARY part is not only was the hose in 2 different pieces with extra connectors at each end that waste air (i.e not one piece), but the female quick disconnect that came with the tank was WAY under-rated at only 2600 PSI Max actually, it was only good for 2500 PSI when used with the brass male quick disconnect on the guage they supplied, 
When he bought a $75 external gauge to measure the pressure in the tank, he got what is shown below on the left. Note: It only goes to 3500 PSI! The brass quick disconnect further derates the coupling from 2600 PSI down to 2500 PSI per manufacturer’s specs. Mine is a STAINLESS STEEL GLyecerin filled gauge, with STAINLESS Male Quic Disconnect (for much less). Word of mouth is my only form of advertisement I need to use.
Oh, and if thats Ed looking for a burst disc, I’ll send one out to you next Monday. I already sent out your regulated hose assembly via FedEx. I took a picture of it before shipping it to you and used it as my model picture on my website. Now you will be able to tether that rifle to your AirTank and shoot and shoot and shoot without refilling. http://www.airtanksforsale.com/
Not really sure bro. You might have to GOOGLE Scuba tank burst disk to see who sells them. I’ve never had to replace any. I’m sure though you could get one from a local dive shop or paintball store
Who carries DIN valve burst discs ?
Never heard that one. HUMMMMM, i’ll go do some research. Thanx for the heads up.
Like i said though, this is my buddys As is AIRHOG set up that they put together so….i’ll look into it. If a new fill whip is needed my buddys gonna have to shell out for that one….lol
I heard that the SS braided hoses are Not rated for use on 4500 PSI equipment.
An indication that that might be true would be the use of an inconviently short hose such as only 6 inches. At least it can’t whip around as soon as it does fail.
While you’re fixing her up, why not get a 3 foot micro bore hose from Joe at airtanksforsale.com 💡
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nice write up T!