Maxflo Regulator Conversion

[river031403]

MAXFLO REGULATOR CONVERSION

Is it possible to convert the low pressure inline maxflo regulator into a high pressure regulator. :confused:

[Ando]

Yep. You'll need the HP spring for it. Good luck finding one.

[sjrtk]

Yes it is you just need the high pressure spring pack and possibly piston. I am not sure about the piston but 100% on the spring pack. It should just be that easy.

Good luck to you.

[Ando]

You should be fine with the piston but you might want to ck the burst disk. I've never owned a LP version so they might have some very low PSI disk installed.

[river031403]

got burned on this deal now stuck with a clean fricken lpr version of the maxflo regulator very consistant though very surprised how consistant it was.

[athomas]

You might find a HP spring if you call some of the larger suppliers. It is quite possible that they have left over stock that is not listed on their web sites.

[river031403]

if there was only a little more info on material type or part number. i found a spring company

[river031403]

my guess is that its a
compression spring closed end ground helix left
if any one has a high pressure spring for an inline maxflo regulator or knowledge of material used please post thanks :D
or a spring manufacturer
and for those of you that have posted solutions already it's appreciated thanks alot. :D

and for those that said just drop the hp spring in place you are correct thats all that is needed. besides still needing an hp spring! ping :cry:

[river031403]

is this worthy of the deep blue room?

[hill160881]

This is all reasoned and may be totally wrong.

All you should need is spring length uncompresed, diameter, and the desired psi. Springs are sold in load ranges in pounds per square inch or a total compressed weight load so that makes it easy. If it is total compressed weight load you just divide the area of the spring into the load.

If you want 1200 psi then the spring should be higher as you dont want to max it out, so a 1400 psi spring would be fine

Find a online supplier and give them a call and see if this logic works.

[river031403]

your the man thanks :D

[Ando]

I'm a douchbag

http://www.wolfpackpaintballteam.com/paintball/gun-manuals/Smart%20Parts/Max-Flo-Manifold-Manual.pdf

According to the link. The pistons are different between a LP and HP. They're only showing one spring though... :tard:

[Ando]

Boom!!! :D

http://www.darkstarpaintball.com/Smart-Parts-Max-Flo-Rebuild-Kit-p/a1815.htm

and apparentlly GOG has all the parts you'll need...

http://www.pbnation.com/showthread.php?t=3640025#post72175175

[river031403]

http://www.zdspb.com/media/manuals/maxflo-mfi.JPG

[river031403]

http://www.zdspb.com/media/manuals/maxflo-mfi.JPG

ando your my new pal im gonna give them a call on tuesday hope they got what i need. the link to dark star paintball. that is the same spring i have but if you look at the parts list link i have above the hp spring is smaller and you are correct on the piston according to the prints the lp piston is bigger the hp piston is smaller.

[river031403]

OK so i called GOG today they dont have any parts to convert the inline maxflo LP reg to HP crap crap crap I'm stuck with a nice LP reg i guess :(

[hill160881]

why not just try a heavier spring anyway? Nothing to loose but the cost of the spring.

[river031403]

i will try heavier spring found a company near by.
But according to ZDSPAINTBALL /ydna
i would need to get all the parts that i had listed previous. im gonna try the heavier spring and see what happens you posted

[athomas]

The HP assembly has a different regulator body which uses a smaller diameter piston. This reduces the amount of force supplied to the spring and adjustment knob. By using a stiffer spring, you would be accomplishing the same effect. If you double the pressure, the force acting on the spring and adjustment knob will be twice as much as well. I mention the adjustment knob, because they are quite stiff as it is. It will be hard to adjust, but it should work fine.

[Ando]

Did you call GOG?

[river031403]

ando-yeah i called GOG but he only has poppetts and poppet springs and a view other items that wouldnt help me with the conversion ie:hp regulator body housing,hp piston etc.etc.
dthomas-going to try spring see what happens

[Spider-TW]

The HP assembly has a different regulator body which uses a smaller diameter piston. This reduces the amount of force supplied to the spring and adjustment knob. By using a stiffer spring, you would be accomplishing the same effect. If you double the pressure, the force acting on the spring and adjustment knob will be twice as much as well. I mention the adjustment knob, because they are quite stiff as it is. It will be hard to adjust, but it should work fine.


In the short term this should be fine. Since the inline is (was) a balanced regulator, I think you will be increasing the pressure on the piston seat over the high pressure piston design. Idk how much difference it will make, but the designer thought it enough of a difference to change the piston.

Here's the tech link...

http://www.zdspb.com/tech/mguide/regs/main_inline.html

It looks like the only difference is that the lp piston has a recessed seal, letting the poppet sit up higher. Let me know if you find a spring. If the LP piston doesn't work with it, I would be willing to compare it to my HP piston and maybe cut a brass spacer to go in the LP piston to push the seal out to the HP dimension.

You would probably need to at least find a hard (90 duro) o-ring for the LP piston as well. I would think you could get away with the fatter size of the LP o-ring.

[Ando]

Your spring
http://www.darkstarpaintball.com/Smart-Parts-Max-Flo-Rebuild-Kit-p/a1815.htm

[river031403]

thanks im working on it thanks again bud

[athomas]

In the short term this should be fine. Since the inline is (was) a balanced regulator, I think you will be increasing the pressure on the piston seat over the high pressure piston design. Idk how much difference it will make, but the designer thought it enough of a difference to change the piston.
They changed the piston to a narrower one to reduce the cross sectional area. That means it required more psi to achieve the same force against the piston. The only way the narrow piston would work was if it was in a narrower chamber, which is why is required a different regulator body as well.

I all you did was change the placement of the oring, then it would be the same as shimming the spring. It could bottom out before adequate pressure is reached. If the high pressure is achieved, the end result will be the same force applied to the adjuster as with the stiffer spring because it is dependent on the diameter of the piston which is not changing.

The designer used a different piston diameter instead of adding a stiffer spring because the amount of force required to turn the adjuster would be quite large for a stiffer spring. It will be hard on the aluminum threads if some sort of lubricant isn't applied.

[athomas]

You could probably put a sleeve inside the existing body and use the high pressure piston and associated parts.

[river031403]

You could probably put a sleeve inside the existing body and use the high pressure piston and associated parts.

yeah your probably right about sleeve and using it with the rest of the high pressure components.
i working on finding the parts i need at this time.
i figure just the Hp spring wont work cause that is just spring pressure that doesnt change the volume of air like the hp piston would with the hp reg. housing

[athomas]

i figure just the Hp spring wont work cause that is just spring pressure that doesnt change the volume of air like the hp piston would with the hp reg. housingA stiffer spring will work. The whole system works on force differential. Without any air at the output, there is no force on the piston so the only force is applied in the opposite direction by the spring. This holds the poppet valve open so that air can flow into the output area. As the air in the output area increases in pressure, it applies pressure to the cross sectional area of the piston and pushes the piston towards the spring. As long as the (pressure x area) of the output is less than the force applied by the tension on the spring, the poppet remains open and the pressure is allowed to increase. Eventually the pressure increases to the point where the force it exerts on the piston is greater than the force exerted by the spring and the poppet closes, shutting off the air supply.

A smaller piston would result in less force exerted on the spring, while a larger piston would result in more force exerted on the spring for any given air pressure. The smaller piston allows a higher pressure to work within the springs force range. You could increase the spring tension(ie; stiffer spring) to counter the force of the larger piston which would result in a higher air pressure at the output as well. It just means that there will be more force applied to the spring area which would also be translated to the screw section of the adjuster.

[river031403]

A stiffer spring will work. The whole system works on force differential. Without any air at the output, there is no force on the piston so the only force is applied in the opposite direction by the spring. This holds the poppet valve open so that air can flow into the output area. As the air in the output area increases in pressure, it applies pressure to the cross sectional area of the piston and pushes the piston towards the spring. As long as the (pressure x area) of the output is less than the force applied by the tension on the spring, the poppet remains open and the pressure is allowed to increase. Eventually the pressure increases to the point where the force it exerts on the piston is greater than the force exerted by the spring and the poppet closes, shutting off the air supply.

A smaller piston would result in less force exerted on the spring, while a larger piston would result in more force exerted on the spring for any given air pressure. The smaller piston allows a higher pressure to work within the springs force range. You could increase the spring tension(ie; stiffer spring) to counter the force of the larger piston which would result in a higher air pressure at the output as well. It just means that there will be more force applied to the spring area which would also be translated to the screw section of the adjuster.

ok tmrw im going to a spring company gonna see what they have
other problem is i bought a shp in the mean time so thats on my bottle right now cause im out to shoot some folks on sunday my other bottle is in hydro hoping to get it back saturday

[Spider-TW]

I have heard that; 1) all it takes is a spring, or 2) it takes a spring and a piston, or 3) they are different models altogether. The zdspb diagram looks like the 2nd option. I can see just a spring working, but you might have to fiddle around with the exact spring for the range you want (the adjustment range with the LP pistion might be narrow). I thought there might be some other difference there, but I can't see where from the zdspb 'pic'.

I have the same deal with an SHP. With the maxflo, you are limited to the uses (different markers) for the bottle. I really like the maxflo, but once you get the SHP set where you want it, the SHP is easier to work with. When I only had one higher pressure mag, the maxflo was fine. With two or more, it gets a little annoying to have the dedicated bottle or having to change the regs or plumbing out.

[athomas]

I have heard that; 1) all it takes is a spring, or 2) it takes a spring and a piston, or 3) they are different models altogether. The zdspb diagram looks like the 2nd option. The zdspb diagram actually looks more like option 3. It lists a different body, piston, and spring. The main housing remains the same, but it is still a significant change to go from a LP version to a HP version.

I agree on the inconvenience of using the max-flo for different guns. Its more meant for permanent attaching to a single gun. It works well though. I used one for a few years. Mine developed a leak out through one of the main bolts that I have not been able to stop. I used it for a full year like that since the leak was small and I had access to all day air. I still have it but I use screw in bottles for the convenience. It allows me to carry spare guns and only require a couple of bottles with regulators to service them. That way, I can interchange the bottles and regulators easily and quickly, and I can use other peoples bottles in a pinch if needed.

[river031403]

The zdspb diagram actually looks more like option 3. It lists a different body, piston, and spring. The main housing remains the same, but it is still a significant change to go from a LP version to a HP version.

I agree on the inconvenience of using the max-flo for different guns. Its more meant for permanent attaching to a single gun. It works well though. I used one for a few years. Mine developed a leak out through one of the main bolts that I have not been able to stop. I used it for a full year like that since the leak was small and I had access to all day air. I still have it but I use screw in bottles for the convenience. It allows me to carry spare guns and only require a couple of bottles with regulators to service them. That way, I can interchange the bottles and regulators easily and quickly, and I can use other peoples bottles in a pinch if needed.

yeah i've done all the reading on the ZDSPB website with all the parts that i would need and so on. i actually got ahold of the guy that has put up all that info and he is checking to see what he has for me.
fingers are crossed cuz this is for a DEDICATED GUN<---zrip minimag warpfed left lukes forgrip extender the whole ssshhhibang. :shooting: :shooting: :shooting: athomas clean your pm space have a question for you

[athomas]

My inbox is cleaned out now. I thought I had cleaned it out not too long ago. Boy, it fills fast when you're not right on it all the time.

[river031403]

My inbox is cleaned out now. I thought I had cleaned it out not too long ago. Boy, it fills fast when you're not right on it all the time.
yeah i know crazy

[river031403]

PARTS ON THERE WAY!!! :bounce: