Questions about the Talon SS

Some of these questions may have been answered but I searched first and didn’t find them. I have learned many things about AF airguns from reading here on the forum. Also I have learned information about other things, surprising information. For example I learned just a few days ago that Paris is in Cyprus, and all this time I thought Paris was in France. 😀 😀

Here goes:

1) When did they start making the valves with the brass piece where the stem goes through at the base? All of mine are one piece steel.

2) Why did the change these valves, was there a problem with the old valve design so that I should upgrade mine to the newer valve with the brass piece?

3) Am I supposed to send my tank in for hydro testing every 5 years? I have one tank stamped ’99 and two stamped ’02 so they are all over 5 years without being tested.

You may recall I had problems with a new Airforce fill adapter made with the male foster fitting on it. Every time I tried to tighten it to the tank it pushed the valve down and released all the air. I contacted AF and learned that the first top hats were approximately .050″ taller than the current models. This older design also has a single set screw instead of two and are knurled on the larger diameter. AF sent me a new replacement free of charge for my first tank. Recently I purchased another older TSS package with two tanks, both had the old top hats. But the deal came with a couple of the older fill adapters that have an 1/8″ BSPP thread. Someone had installed a male foster fitting on one of them. I measured the inside depth as best I could and it is at least a quarter inch deeper than the newer fill adapter I bought. I haven’t had any problem with these top hats coming loose even though they only have one set screw.

4) Since I have a fill adapter that will work on the tanks with the old style top hats now, is there any other reason I am not aware of that I should replace them on my other two tanks?

5) Is it safe to use the AF scuba fill adapter on a 4500 psi SCBA tank?

I took the fitting off that mated to a scuba tank with the K valve fitting and replaced it with a CGA 347 nipple and nut. A picture will probably explain better:

Scuba tanks are filled to 3500psi maximum as far as I know and I have two of these I changed over and planned to sell one of them but don’t want to do that if there is any danger.

6) If I crack the SCBA valve slightly, watch the gauge on the modified AF fill adapter, and shut it off when it gets to 3000 psi – won’t that be the maximum pressure the fill adapter sees?

Thanks