Replacing Gauges

[bina227]

I just bought a AGD flatline 68/3000 tank and the gauges are cracked. They still work, but i was just wondering if there are any special precautions i need to take when removing, cleaning or replacing them.

[personman]

Make sure that the tank is completely empty, meaning you can turn the tank on and have no gas come out the hose. THATS VERY IMPORTANT!
Get a wrench and go to it..
You should either loc-tite or teflon tape the gauges back on. If you use teflon tape be careful with it and use the right amount so it doesnt get stuck in your reg. I think that should be about it. Tell your field to fill it slowly for the first time, so it doesnt explode or have a huge leak or something you may not know about

[Polish]

Originally posted by personman
Tell your field to fill it slowly for the first time, so it doesnt explode or have a huge leak or something you may not know about

Yeah thats a big one.. I hate it when people dont tell me about blown burst discs..

Definatly use red loc-tite.

[bina227]

Thanks guys.
So teflon tape will work ok?

[Cristobal]

Definatly use red loc-tite.

I'm not sure that red loctite is the best option here. I'm no expert on tank guages and high pressure air, but I've never seen anything to say that even for the high pressure tank guage, you have to have the red stuff -- and certainly for the low pressure output side there are better options.

Red loctite is a thread locker and if you ever need to replace the guages it will not be easy -- and could well be a royal pain. Typically red loctite necessitates the application of heat to warm it up before you can remove whatever it secured in place.

Instead, I would recommend using locktite 545 (blue-purple color) which is a thread sealant, and which will allow you to unscrew the guage without too much trouble just using a wrench.

[bina227]

So you reccomend the loctite 545 sealant over the tape sealer?

[mikebridge]

no, either one or the other, don't use both.

[bina227]

obviouosly...

what i meant was that loctite 545 is better than the tape sealer

- Eric

[Cristobal]

obviouosly...

what i meant was that loctite 545 is better than the tape sealer

- Eric

Either will work, and there are some that swear by teflon tape, but I think I would suggest loctite, all things beign equal.

Loctite is more expensive but it works like a charm as long as you don't glob it on. 545 is one of a few varieties which will work fine. Check out the new stickie on loctite in the tech forum for the complete rundown. Just don't use the red stuff

However, if you have a roll of tape handy and don't feel like paying $15 or whatever the hardware store charges for loctite, then by all means use the tape. Just be aware that the main danger with tape is that if you aren't careful about wrapping it, you can have bits pieces of tape break off and get into the airstream. I bought a mag from a guy once, which was claimed to have all the parts but didn't work quite right. I figured that there's not much you can mess up with a mag so I bought it anyway and pulled it apart once I got it. Guess what I found: peices of teflon tape stuck in the internals. Go figure

It turns out that there are also multiple types of teflon tape, and while most any type will work some are even better suited to paintball use than others. But this is getting long already and I can't remember what they are. Butterfingers posted an explanation one time. A search should find it.

[DementedChild]

I have the same problem with my flatline cracked gauges if you know where you can find better gauges post a link i need two new ones too

[bina227]

http://www.paintball-discounters.com...51104192403.d3

I bought mine here. I got one HP and one LP... I got the 32 degrees ones, but i have also heard good things about the ashcroft gauges.

[Gunga]

Definatly use red loc-tite.

Listen to him if you want to goof up stuff really good.

i have also heard good things about the ashcroft gauges.

Ashcroft gauges are great, but I'm not sure if Ashcroft makes mini gauges like you need for the Flatline. If they don't, the Ashcroft gauges would be too big to put on your Flatline.