The curious case of the clashing classic serial numbers

[Menace_AO]

So,

I have a couple of classic valves with non-matching serial numbers, and the other day I began to wonder how such things happen.

I mean, how DO you come to have separated reg and valve bodies?

Someone built these two with parts from different valves, so presumably those other parts are out there somewhere. But how to account for it?

Do people just sit around unscrewing all their valves in a single pile and then accidentally lose some, or forget which piece goes with which?

Do evil fairies come in the night and steal just one half, leaving the other behind?

Seriously. It really is bizarre when you think about it.

Where are all those other halves, and how in the world did they become permanently separated from their mates?

And do any of them find their way back home? In which case, what happens to the unmatched half it was temporarily living with?

Just wondering if anyone else finds this impossible strange, or knows how to account for it.

Presumably some could be accounted for by way of those goofy aftermarket reg backs, but surely not so many.

And this still doesn't account for their corresponding fronts, which now need a mate. There weren't any aftermarket fronts, so even if we say that the original reg back taken from one valve and replaced with an aftermarket was paired with a different front, what happened to the reg back from that front?

Why not just keep them together in the first place?

It's just dizzying. And seeing sales threads where the matching serial thing is listed as though it's a big deal is even more strange.

What do you all make of it?

[Nobody]

Back in the 90s, you had ANS and Diamond Labs making mag reg backs for the classics, under the guise of the 8 hole mod actually doing more than taking money out of your pocket. So people thinking that aftermarket is better than or stock parts are always garbage; they separated them. So most people when they sell, not many want the old parts & the stocks parts invariably get lost in the bottom of wo4kbench, gearbag or whatever.

[Cyco-Dude]

pretty simple, people take the reg bodies off and replace them with blah...things get swapped back later. or, a power tube cracks and you find a new "loose" valve front to go with your reg body (doesn't always line up on the old valves though).

[Menace_AO]

Back in the 90s, you had ANS and Diamond Labs making mag reg backs for the classics, under the guise of the 8 hole mod actually doing more than taking money out of your pocket. So people thinking that aftermarket is better than or stock parts are always garbage; they separated them. So most people when they sell, not many want the old parts & the stocks parts invariably get lost in the bottom of wo4kbench, gearbag or whatever.

Fair enough.


pretty simple, people take the reg bodies off and replace them with blah...things get swapped back later. or, a power tube cracks and you find a new "loose" valve front to go with your reg body (doesn't always line up on the old valves though).

Eh? What's this you say? Power tubes cracking?

Never heard of such. How would that even happen?

(Yes, I just derailed my own thread. Sue me. :))

[Tunaman]

Fair enough.



Eh? What's this you say? Power tubes cracking?

Never heard of such. How would that even happen?

(Yes, I just derailed my own thread. Sue me. :))Power tube cracks were very common back in the day..not so much now.

[Menace_AO]

So . . .

How did that happen (in terms of cause-effect)? And where on the power tube did it happen? And did it happen on any series in particular?

I've got several classics, from a well-used L6 on up to late-model, and cannot imagine how they would crack, or where, or when, or why.

Did this also happen to RT-style valves, or not so much?

Something to do with older bumper materials?

A bad batch?

Now I'm really curious.

[GoatBoy]

If the bumper doesn't absorb the return bolt energy, it is translated and slams against the power tube.

[pillage]

Definitely evil fairies, the occasional naughty gnome, and bridge trolls are always at fault. Watch out for those bridge trolls especially though, as they like to cause butt hurt and mismatched Mags.

[Spider-TW]

I repaired a level 5 for need4reebs. It was cracked at the base. It was very thin there, and any misalignment between the power tube and the bolt/spring/body/rail combination knocks on the tip of the power tube every shot. Fatigue on a thin section.

[Menace_AO]

Let me understand:

It cracked at the base of the power tube where the groove has been machined and where the bumper sits?

And in normal use, as the bolt moves, the forces that occur perpendicular to the power tube tip induce stresses at the base?

And would I be correct in guessing that the crack was on the bottom (on/off side) of the power tube, rather than on top?

I've been mulling over a separate issue for some time, and this seems to intersect it in a very interesting way.

[Spider-TW]

Yes. The section where the narrow tube meets the base, which is in turn threaded and welded into the valve body (or just inserted in the body for a level 5). It's a stress concentration zone.

You've probably seen a power tube with rub marks on one side, near the tip. An off center barrel (bad barrel o-rings), warped bodies, and nasty paint buildup on the body washer can all kick the bolt directly. Five cases of paint for 10,000 cycles definitely gets into fatigue failure territory. A long stainless twistlock barrel without o-rings and a narrow outside diameter could be nasty.

Looking at it, I thought the level 5 tube was thinner than it needed to be. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the level 7 tube was left a little thicker, and that there are just as many level 7 tube failures as level 5 tube failures given the much larger number of level 7s in use for a longer time. Hence, Tuna's comment.

pics here....

http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?269465-A-quick-fix-for-a-cracked-power-tube

[Spider-TW]

You know, there was a thread a while back for registering valve numbers, trying to make some sense of the numbering.

How about a thread for Orphan Regulators? I was given one from someone I didn't know that they ever owned a classic. I recently bought a mismatched valve just for the purpose of changing the reg on it and devolumizing it. The odds of matching some up are probably thin, but it might be entertaining. We could make a valve set that was sequential and sell it as RARE!

[going_home]

You know, there was a thread a while back for registering valve numbers, trying to make some sense of the numbering.

How about a thread for Orphan Regulators? I was given one from someone I didn't know that they ever owned a classic. I recently bought a mismatched valve just for the purpose of changing the reg on it and devolumizing it. The odds of matching some up are probably thin, but it might be entertaining. We could make a valve set that was sequential and sell it as RARE!



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