Can't take apart my X-Valve

[USAF-Flyboy with a Mag]

I was cleaning my mag after a day of paintball and decided that I would take apart the valve and clean it, since I hadn't done it since purchasing the valve. Well for some reason it is seized and won't unscrew. I was wondering if anyone had this problem before and what they did to fix it. I tried tossing it in the freezer, so I'll see if that has any effect on the prob.

[ChucktheMAGician]

I hope you were joking about putting it in the freezer. As for taking it apart do you mean removing it from the gun or seperating the the reg. and valve? Degass, remove the field strip screw and pull the trigger(if the on/off pin is catching in the body). That should get the valve off. I wouldn't recommend seperating the reg. and valve. Put a few drops of oil in the ASA and leave it at that unless there is a problem.

[USAF-Flyboy with a Mag]

Yes of course I know how to remove the valve from the gun. I'm talking about unsrewing the regulator from the rest of the valve. Some how it has jamed and wont unscrew. Yes I was serious about the freezer because I was hoping that I would luck out and the expansion of the aluminum due to freezing would losen it up.

[nippinout]

You don't really need to clean it after just a day of play by breaking it down to the reg. You might end up having to replace the reg seat even.

Do what chuck said and leave it be. Don't mess with it unless there is a gun problem.

But if you want to you can I guess.

Are you turning it the proper way?

Degas.

Grab onto the valve like it would be in the gun. Orient it so you are facing the velocity adjuster. Now with the other end (velocity adjuster end) grab with the other hand and twist it counter-clockwise.

You should be able to do this by hand.

[USAF-Flyboy with a Mag]

Yes I know how to seperate the valve and I know which way to turn the valve. What I've been saying is that it is jamed..ie seized. That isn't a good thing considering that I should be able to unscrew it by hand, as you also noted. I've had the valve for over six months and play every weekend, so I thought it might be a good idea to give it a good cleaning since I play front and I'm always crawling in the dirt with the gun; I'm a firm believer in preventive maintenance.

[nippinout]

Get the valve off of the gun and look at the bottom of the valve where the rail would attach.

There should be what looks like two notches, one on each end of the valve. When assembled, they should line up. Maybe yours was over-torqued, check to see how they line up.

[acecl22]

Correct me if im wrong, but doesnt cold make thing contract and heat makes them expand, only H2O is the opposite... and besides, the freezer trick wouldnt work, because both sides will be going throught the same atomic changes, so both sides would contract, not only one, and your back to where you started with a very slightly smaller valve

[BD_Paintball]

you are correct about the freezer (why would you put a X-valve in the freezer i wouldnt put mine in the freezer) if the two lines are not lined up you might just want to try as hard as you can to unscrew it and if you cant do it by hand get another person to hold the other side and try that way.

[BD_Paintball]

i guess it was not an X-valve but still IN THE FREEZER!!

[USAF-Flyboy with a Mag]

acel..haha yeah now that I think of it...it does contract, but in any case..it is still jamed. I've tried having someone hold it and trying really hard. It won't budge. I think im going to put it in a clamp with rubber grips so it doesnt damage the valve and try and unscrew it that way.

[PFNitroAutomag]

If all else fails try putting it in a vise and closing it tight and then try to turn it . You might put a few scratches in it which isn't good but it might be worth trying to figure out y its jammed

[Tunaman]

there is no reason to scratch it. Just clamp the reg side in a vice with wood blocks. If it wont budge use a strap wrench. Always lube aluminum threads to prevent galling.

[Ford]

Hooray old threads! This is the one I found while googling this issue so I'm adding how I got mine un-seized. I had no easy access to a vice so this is how I ghetto rigged a solution.

As someone pointed out, the two lines on the reg and valve were off and showed my x-valve was very over torqued. I didn't care until an issue came up that required I crack this beast open.

To get a better handle I took the valve and seated the x-valve on the rail backwards so that the small silver guide rod was seated correctly, but the x-valve was facing the wrong direction. I then wrapped the crap out of the thing with electrical tape and gave that a minute to tighten up. The tape keeps the silver guide rod in place on the rail which you can hold in one hand while your counter clockwise turn against the valve. The rail I used was one of the steel rails... this may not work if yours is aluminum.

Took a couple tries but being able to hold onto the rail+reg instead of just the reg seemed to give me enough torque to finally get the x-valve open.

[ghost flanker]

He put an X-valve in the freezer because he thought that aluminum expands when you cool it.
This brainiac apparently flew multi-million dollar aircraft for our military?

[SeeK]

He put an X-valve in the freezer because he thought that aluminum expands when you cool it.
This brainiac apparently flew multi-million dollar aircraft for our military?

He was on the right track but the brain trust in this thread didn't correct him by suggesting he heat the female threaded part with a hair dryer so it would expand faster than the frozen cold male thread.