How do i remove valve from bottle?

The reason I went with the 7/16 bolt was because the 3/8 was a tiny bit too small. The hole on the valve is hogged out to fit exactly 7/16″, and 3/8″ is 1/16″ too small. Since the valve is made from machined aluminum, if the valve is torqued on, and you have to apply more pressure than you would like to break the seal, the undersized rod/tube may deform the outer edges of the hole as it shift in whatever direction you’re torquing on it . The damage may be negligible at first, but may progress with future repeats of taking the valve on and off the bottle. Once the damage is there, it’s not possible to fix. So in my opinion, I would go with a 7/16″ rod or bolt instead of the 3/8″ (which essentially is 6/16″). The 7/16″ rod leaves zero room for play, thus zero damage to the interior and edges of the hole.

As I said, this is just my $.02. But these guns aren’t cheap, so I want to do everything in my power to prevent damage. That’s why I didn’t put the bottle in the vise with rags and tighten it down. If that valve is on there really good, you’re going to have to cinch that vise down to prevent the bottle from spinning. This could damage the powder coat on the bottle, or deform the shape of the bottle and compromise it’s integrity. And I would NEVER, EVER, EVER just cinch down on an aftermarket CF bottle. The interior is aluminum, but it’s wrapped in carbon fiber and impregnated with a very hard epoxy. It’s like glass. You could crack or chip the epoxy if you don’t apply even, symmetrical pressure to it.

Easiest thing in the world.

#1- drain your tank completely. Some guys on here us the AF valve cover with a nylon nut. They slip the nut over the air port of the top hat and then place the AF valve cover over that and slowly screw it down until the valve depresses and releases it’s pressure. This way is lame to me. Too much effort.

I went to HF Tools and bought a cheap plastic ratcheting clamp. Make sure it’s long enough to spread beyond the back end of the bottle to past the top hat on the vale. This is approximately 12-14″. The clamp cost less than $5. Take the rubber pad off of the end of the clamp that doesn’t have the squeeze handle and trigger on it and drill a hole smack dab in the middle of it. Use a drill bit that is big enough to allow the air port of the top hat to fit through, but small enough as to not allow the seat of the top hap to fit through. Drill it deep enough so the seat presses against the un-padded portion of the clamp. Remove the tanks and valve assembly from the gun, spread the clamp apart, insert the air port of the top hat in the hole you drilled, and slowly squeeze the clamp to center the bottle in the clamp. As you begin to apply pressure, the top hat will depress. As soon as the pressure on the clamp overrides the pressure of the bottle and the spring mechanism inside the valve under the top hat, your bottle will release it’s pressure. You will hear a loud “pop”, the the air will begin loudly hissing out. It will take you about 10 seconds to drain your bottle. The bottle and valve will get very cold as the air rushes out.

#2. Get a 2 1/4″ hole saw, and drill a hole through the center of a 6″ long section of 2 x 4. Make sure you go corner to corner with lines before you drill. You want to be as close to center as possible. Also, find the center of the 2 x 4 and draw another line horizontally. After you drill your hole through it with a hole saw, take the piece of 2 x 4 and cut it in half (cutting the hole you just drilled in half) with a miter saw or jig saw. When you’re done, this will be the tool you will use to grip your bottle and hold it while you unscrew your valve assembly. The hole size is perfect for gripping the padded (sleved) portion of the AF bottle. Stick the wood pieces and the bottle into a bench vise, and slowly tighten until you cinch the wood against the bottle. You don’t have to torque it down. Just slightly tighten it so you can’t twist the bottle by hand.

#3. Take a 4 inch long 7/16″ diameter bolt, and cut off the threaded section. After you cut off the threaded section, clean up the end you cut to remove any edges or burrs. This size bolt fits PERFECTLY into the recessed socket on the AF valve assembly. With the bottle cinched in place in the vise, and the altered bolt, you will be surprised how little effort it takes to remove the valve assembly.

I hope this all makes sense. The total cost for everything required to do this should be no more than $6 or $7. The bolt is long enough to allow you to provide a little bit of torque when you put the valve back on the bottle. But don’t ever muscle it back down. The air pressure in the bottle will tighten everything down for you when you refill it. When you tighten the vale to the point that you can no longer tighten down by hand, take the bolt you used to remove the valve, and tighten it down just slightly beyond the hand tightening. Good to go!

Always had good luck, four times, with just a hot airgun and go around it three our four times and twist the bottle off with the valve clamped in a padded vise. It’ll break lose the seal and won’t destroy the valve O-rings or melt the paint on the tank.