CO2 Valve Stem Drifts Out Slowly
I finally got some evidence indicating why I need to dry-fire a whole bunch of shots in the morning to get CO2 running.
I measure the gap between the bottom of the tophat and the top of the valve in the night before going to sleep. It reads 0.1140″ using a feeler gauge. I also verify that the gun shoots “normal”. The next morning, approximately 6 hours later, I measure the gap again, now it is at 0.1465″ indicating that the valve stem has slowly drifted out overnight. Now my gun shoots like there is no CO2 at all. So I remove the CO2 adapter with 12oz CO2 tank attached, use a little force to push the valve stem in. I can actually feel the valve stem just move in a little bit. Put eveything back to the gun, the gun shoots normal again.
So, the question is – Is this a defect in the valve or is it “normal”? This gun and CO2 adapter package is already the 2nd one I got. The first one had the same problem, so I shipped it back to PA and got the exact same setup from Compasseco. It’s a bit hard to believe that in both cases, the valves are all defected. What do you guys think?
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If you think about it, the pressure gauge is a pretty good thermometer.
I saw that RAP4 On/Off Valve that sells for around $40. Do you find the pressure gauge useful? I heard the CO2 pressure would pretty much stay the same all the way until it takes a dive when it is near empty. I am thinking just to get the simple $16.95 one without the gauge, perhaps the most cost effective way…
The pressure gauge is not necessary, but it is useful. CO2 pressure does stay the same as long as there is liquid in the tank but only for any given ambient temperature. The gauge would be useful as you could learn how POI changes in relationship to tank pressure. eg. if you sight in for 20yds and the tank pressure is 800psi, but the next time you shoot its cold and the tank is only 600psi you would know with a glance at the gauge that you need to use xx in. holdover. So it would be a good point of reference if you shoot in varrying temperature conditions.
Man, you guys are great. Thanks.
I saw that RAP4 On/Off Valve that sells for around $40. Do you find the pressure gauge useful? I heard the CO2 pressure would pretty much stay the same all the way until it takes a dive when it is near empty. I am thinking just to get the simple $16.95 one without the gauge, perhaps the most cost effective way…
Been using a RAP4 gauged on/off (brass) and haven’t had any trouble with the valve stem backing out. My drill is to turn the on/off to “off” which traps a charge of co2 inside the adaptor (pressurizing it and the valve). Can then unscrew the co2 tank, leaving the adaptor charged.
Stored this way, haven’t had a problem with the stem migrating….force of habit, I still shoot a couple of blanks before getting down to anything serious.
Did set the bolt to close and just barely touch the top hat at it’s normal setting. So if the stem did try to migrate, where would it go?
They do sell it. Give them a call.
I’m afraid I may fubar the valve stem. I’ll probably ask AirForce to see if they sell the stem itself as a separated item. Thanks.
Get a very small drill and drill a vent hole in the end of the stem.
The fit on the valve stem to valve head(seal) is loose compared to the force of the trapped gas pressure.
If you vent that off no more troubles.
Walter….
I have learned to leave the CO2 adapter on the gun while removing the CO2 bottle. If not, the valve stem can pop out as you twist the CO2 bottle or the adapter. It happened to me before. All the CO2 bursted out and damaged the O-ring. I posted this picture before:
This is the reason I want to have an inline On/Off valve. However, a paintball shop owner told me that those On/Off valves tend to leak after a few turns.
like o-rings are like a quarter and once you get used to taking off the adapter you only waste a shot or two.
My TSS does the same thing.
You can hear the difference between the first couple shots and all the following shots.
The tophat stem did pop out once, I didn’t think too much of it a the time.
Removing the CO2 bottle from the adapter wastes a lot of CO2, and causes increased wear on the O-ring that seals the paintball tank to the adapter.
After I lost a couple bottles of air I now always take the adapter off.
Interesting…. your experience seems to confirm the nagging suspicion I’ve had with my gun… just going by “ear”, it audibly sounds like it takes a few shots for the gun to warm up to “full bang” after sitting for a day or two.
Thanks for that insight. Maybe unscrewing the CO2 tank during storage is something to consider.
Thanks, Don. Is it safe to say that this type of problem does not happen with a regular HPA valve/tank? Becasue if it does, I would have no way to stop the pressure behind the valve stem.
I also read Doug’s post in the Chinese forum.
http://www.network54.com/Forum/113813/message/1228602469/IIRC+this+is+a+known+’fault’….
As he called it “a known fault”, I suppose I should feel a bit relief – well, at least I don’t have a defect part.
This gun and CO2 adapter in a package is the second one I got. Do I really have such a bad luck getting a defected part twice?
or just turn the Co2 tank loose enough to releive pressure inside the adapter when not in use.
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I couldn’t help laughing this morning – the valve stem actually popped out of the CO2 adapter body after sitting idle overnight. I was literally searching for the valve stem on my carpet floor. So I called Rachel Gonzales from AirForce, she’s going to send me a replacement adapter. Don’t you guys love her? She always has this polite and calm demeanor.
Anyway, I am done with CO2 for the moment, going to shoot more HPA on my TSS.
Thank you guys for all the help.