Max Flow tank possible rocket

[dark assasin]

Well I was ajusting the regulater position when I noiced the maxflow 68ci 4500 tank was loose so I twisted it on and thought nothing of it. I told my friend and he says I shouldn't get it filled without telling someone because he heard that a kid was getting his tank filled with the same problem and the tank shot off the reg, hit and killed his mother. Now I personally think the story is bogus but should I fill my tank anyways it feels tight enough now it can't even twist alittle

[Skoad]

there was a CO2 tank on a gun, a kid went to unscrew it and instead of unscrewing from the ASA the reg unscrewed from the tank, which was launched like a missle and killed some lady when it hit her in the head.

[afultz075]

Don't get it filled. As far as I know, all nitro tanks need either loctited or torqued onto their regs

[the larch]

uhm, yeah, I would get that loctited. reg shouldn't be "finger tight" into a tank with four thousand five hundred pounds pers square inch of pressure. (written out to express what 4500psi actually means)

[FlameboyC11]

Take it to an airsmith. I believe that tanks must be tightened to about 38 lbs (torque wrench). This could be done by a person, and it's not like the tank is being held on by just how much you tighten it, it has threads for a reason...

[dynastyfan]

well i have a nitro duck mega reg and tank ans the threads on the tank are a good size bigger than a regular tanks threads and i just screw the tank in and it seems fine to me but i still havn't been able to fill the tank yet though

[tony3]

Smart parts as far as I knows send the bottles and regs seperate, as long as you screw it on tight, have the proper oring in there, you'll be fine.

[Fatjon]

Smart parts sends maxflos regs and tanks seperate, because you shouldnt be twisting on the tank anyways. You dont have to unscrew it. If the tank is all the way on the threads with 4500psi behind it, it is not coming off that reg.

[1ofkind]

That story about the kid killing a laddy is ture... there was an article on it, and it made the news. Its really old news by now.

Heres what happened, the kid just turned ten so for his birthday he wanted to finally play paintball! So at the end of the day he was screwing out the tank not knowing he was actually screwing the reg off the tank. After he got off the reg out it "took off like a torpedo" and struck his own mother in the back of her head killing her instintly. :cry: :(


You can find it on www.pbstar.com

Anyway how sad is that, the kid killed his own mother on his birthday, and he was only ten. Thats the saddest thing ever. If I were that kid I would go completely insane and just never talk or do anything ever again.

[FSU_Paintball]

To sum up:

1. Your friend wasn't BS'ing you, that story is true.

2. Your tank is dangerous right now. Make sure it has NO air in it, and get it loctited/torqued in place by an airsmith. Do NOT use, fill, or do anything with it other than bleed out the air without having it fixed.

[Blazestorm]

I got a tank hydroed by a local fire station and apparently they didn't torque it down after filling I thought nothing of it because I assumed it was ok, I got to the field, screwed the tank on my gun and got the tank filled, was still all good, I only noticed the problem when I tried to unscrew it at about 200-300psi, the cylinder started to unscrew from the reg, I grabbed it by the reg and unscrewed it from there, then I stuck it on an ASA and drained it, grabbed some blue loctite, put 4-5 drops on the end of the threads (not the top) and screwed on the cylinder, put it in my box inside the car to dry and seal, went and got it filled, all was good.

:D

[madmatt151]

Every store I have been to shows the fact that the Max Flo unscrews off the reg as a bonus or good feature of the bottle/reg combo. No one hase ever said it was a bad thing. I agree if there is 4500 psi behind it there is no way you could unscrew it off the reg.

[FallNAngel]

Every store I have been to shows the fact that the Max Flo unscrews off the reg as a bonus or good feature of the bottle/reg combo. No one hase ever said it was a bad thing.

I agree. If it's not a screw in tank, I don't think the reg needs to be torqued... I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to locktite regs either. My fiance has been using a Hyperflow reg/tank that's not loctited or torqued and we've had no problems


I agree if there is 4500 psi behind it there is no way you could unscrew it off the reg.

You'd be surprised. I've heard otherwise.

[Butterfingers]

Coming from a scuba background....

The tank need not be loctited on. It is proper procedure just to torque the tank onto the reg.

Scuba valves are never loctited on nor is it reccomended.

Regs and valves are designed with enough thread and some sort of saftey releif so that if the tank twists off the o-ring it will start venting air.

There is a reason why loctite isnt used it negates the saftey feature. Either by clogging and sealing the pressure relief hole or sealing all the threads so that the tank wont start venting at a fast enough rate until the reg is completely off and becomes a rocket.

[sneakyhacker420]

the max-flo systems are just attached with grease and an o-ring

grease to prevent thread damage, and an o-ring to seal it off

if you unscrew it enough, the o-ring will blow out and vent the air from the release hole on the regulator stem

no worries, its meant to be like that, and no one's had a Smart Parts space shuttle just yet... if you're paranoid, take a strap wrench and tighten it on just a little extra so you cant unscrew it with your hands

[ZapTheMad]

SAFETY FIRST. HPA tanks are VERY dangerous if not handled correctly.

[RoboBeaver]

why would you be unscrewing a maxflo anyway, its not a screw in

[Destructo6]

Scuba valves are never loctited on nor is it reccomended.
SCUBA tanks/valves are also quite a bit different than paintball fare. They use a fitting that is clamped onto the valve at 90° to the centerline of the tank. Catalina, at least, reccomends 50ft/lbs of torque for their SCUBA cylinders.

Since a paintball valve/reg is threaded right hand for both the ASA side and tank side, accidentally unscrewing the tank from the valve/reg is a real concern.

Why they didn't thread the tank to valve connection left handed, I'd like to know.

[Butterfingers]

because it would screw off while putting it on.

The actual valve on the scuba tank screws on in a similar fashion as a paintball tank.

The reg then clamps on on top of that. That connection should be no more than 2 finger tight.

[Destructo6]

because it would screw off while putting it on.
Less likely for the reason that the pin plunger is depressed for only the last turn or two, pressurizing the system, as opposed to the system pressurized for several turns coming out. Also, when you unscrew a tank, the user expects to see threads becoming more and more exposed. I think the average person would take note if, as they screwed a tank in further, more threads became exposed.

The actual valve on the scuba tank screws on in a similar fashion as a paintball tank.
Valve to tank, yes, but not valve to next attachment. SCUBA valves resemble the old Thermo valve (can't imagine why) more closely than the Tippman variety.

[SniperSmurf]

I put a line of bright colored nail-polish over the tank/reg connection. That way it's easy to see if I'm unscrewing the reg from the tank instead of the ASA. I also oil the threads on my reg before screwing it into the ASA, which helps to protect them and also makes it easier to unscrew. Just keep an eye on it and you should be fine. The guys who fill your tanks will (should) know what to look for. The local fields I play at won't even let you unscrew the tanks from the markers (that's for rentals, you can do your own) for that very reason.

[WickeDKlowN]

Im no expert on this, but I remember hearing loctite is bad because it can damage the threads when you do have to take the reg off to gt it hydro'd, then it won't pass inspection.

Just use a strap wrench, or get an airmith to toque it if you're that paranoid. Max-Flo's arn't screw-in's, so don't twist the tank and besides, there's enough threads to where anyone that was remotley paying attention would notice the tank was coming off.

[spyder_technician]

I could understand that if it were your problem. But, chances are that if that thing flies off of the reg that it won't hit you, but instead will kill me, my friend, or my pet parakeet. Ragardless, I could care less about what you do to yourself, but this endangers others, so do the smart thing.

[Curly]

As many people have already said, THIS IS THE WAY THE TANK WAS MADE! LEAVE IT THIS WAY! DO NOT USE LOCTITE! You will be fine, just make sure that you always have the tank screwed on at the begining of the day, you dont want to blow that o-ring.


-Jeremy

[TransMan]

I have a max flo too I just put a couple drops of loctite on it as a precaution but it wont come off under presure anyway.

[xXHavokXx]

Angel Air is the same way, there are thousands of both these tanks on the market let it be and it will work fine

[Thordic]

My Dynaflow isn't attached. Its only hand-tightened on. When the tank is empty, you can screw the bottle right off the reg. When the tank is full, that tank isn't moving.

It may be an issue with a screw-in, but with an adjustable that is going to sit in a cradle or on a rail, its not really an issue. You aren't spinning the tank. Leave it alone.

I've seen people in paintball who I trust with technical matters do the exact same thing with 'Geddons, Flatlines, and Angel Airs.

[Deep Sixx]

Do NOT use loc-tite. Just screw the reg onto the bottle hand tight and it will be fine. This is how they are assembled at the factory. They would not be released for sale if this was dangerous. You will not be able to unscrew it when it has air in it. All adjustable tanks are like this... Max-Flows, Conquests, AIRs. They all have hand-tightened regs.

sixx

[dark assasin]

I got back from my local airsmith today. And I found that some of you were right that I should just leave it alone. My maxflow has the maxflow reg but not the tank it is a tournament level marker so the tank was made so I can take it off at air ports. :clap:

thanks

[PzYcO]

Ive got a 120cuf 3500psi Scuba tank with a DIN-Valve on it, when empty you unscrew it by hand, and it stays at that...

Whats the difference in paintball tanks?..

[Blazestorm]

Maybe I shouldn't have loctited it, I was nervous at the time :p

I had a cylinder unscrewing from a regulator with 4000psi behind it... I was a little cautious :p

Plus Blue-loctite is not as bad as Red-loctite, It should come off fairly easily...

[Deep Sixx]

Plus Blue-loctite is not as bad as Red-loctite, It should come off fairly easily...

Actually, it's not so much the Loctite itself that's the problem... it's the chemicals in the carrier, they will damage aluminum.

sixx

[Creative Mayhem]

I also work for a scuba shop, and I agree with Butters... So I have no desire to flog an old horse on this subject.

Let me just add this summary, every maufacturer is different, they either build in an extra margin of safety by adding loctite, or not. It's neither good nor bad, just different. I think if you feel the need to put loctite on your tank, so be it... just dont bring the damn thing to me and expect me not to have an issue when taking off the bottle for hydro. Most of the damage associated with regs and bottles when having a hydro done is due to loctite. If you REALLY need loctite, please use blue, and help the guy doing the hydro out.. :)

[Blazestorm]

Stop making me feel stupid :(

[G3PB]

The threads are very long on HPA regs. Also, every one I've seen had a bleed hole so if you were not paying attention and managed to turn it about 10 times, pressure would bleed from the relief hole as a warning. BTW, 2 of the 3 HPA system I use have the tanks on finger tight; they are also adjustable systems to unscrewing one is not an issue.

[Butterfingers]

The threads are very long on HPA regs. Also, every one I've seen had a bleed hole so if you were not paying attention and managed to turn it about 10 times, pressure would bleed from the relief hole as a warning. BTW, 2 of the 3 HPA system I use have the tanks on finger tight; they are also adjustable systems to unscrewing one is not an issue.

Agreed though some are longer than others. Air America seemed to have taken saftey to an extreme it took me forever to unscrew the tank from the reg. The threads are over 2 inches long! And Stainless steel to boot! The tank would have vented WAY before I could have unscrewed the reg.

Other systems dont have regs that are that long some systems only have about 1 inch of thread.

There should be some kind of standard on tank threads when dealing with high pressure air.

If PMI used 2 inch threads on thier co2 bottles I suspect that those accidents would not have happened.