Smallest ding to cause hydro fail..

[BlackOps]

Just curious, for those of you that have been playing with the HPA tanks for some time, I just recently made the switch from CO2 (despite having played paintball for almost 20 years. >.<). Whats the smallest ding in a fiber tank shell that has caused your tank to fail hydro? Pics would be epic.

[BiNumber3]

Any ding that reveals the fibers will likely cause a tank to fail. Use a tank cover...

[Bigwooly1013]

actually it's rather suprising what doesn't cause a tank to fail. I had a 45/4500 with a decent ding in it but no fiber was unwraveling. The hydro guy said that the clear coat on those tanks is ALOT thicker than you'd thing and it was nothing to worry about. i've since traded off the tank and the only picture i have of the ding isn't that great. but here it is anyways.

[trevorjk]

as long as fibers are not exposed it should pass. (so ive been told?)

[smeek]

I've never actually heard of anyone having a tank that they felt comfortable using on field, failing hydro. I'd be interested to know the fail rates of some of the more popular paintball hydrotesters, seems more tanks are damaged in the process of regulator removal than actually failing the hydro.

Firemen use similar but larger tanks and they treat them a lot worse than we do, they are more durable than you'd think.

[kobeastly]

not so much a ding as stretching when over pressurized that causes them to fail hydro testing. I would take a guess that a ding that does cause failure is going to look a bit different afterwards so if you are concerned get a pic before hand.
FYI

http://www.sounddive.com/hydro%20test%20illustration.htm

[athomas]

You can always use some resin to patch frayed fibers as long as the fibers are still in tact. It will pass hydro as long as the fibers are there and are covered by resin so that they won't come off the tank. A little chip won't hurt anything. Its the long cuts that cause the fibers to fail.

[insixdays777]

I have sent many tanks over the year in for hydro none have ever failed. I spoke to the guy who runs crossfire once when I sent in my tank for hydro, he said paintballers tank Always pass 99.5% of the time. He said we all keep our bottles in great shape, he said he does test, service and make scuba tanks and that those guys are a different story. He says scuba guys tanks fail hydro all the time.

[ArmyEngineer]

If you are interested in learning more about the criteria for and process of cylinder inspection, take a look at the Luxfer guides here: http://www.luxfercylinders.com/downloads/

This guide for Carbon Fiber tanks is useful since it shows example photos of different types of damage. http://www.luxfercylinders.com/downl...pectmanual.pdf

[Jacobd]

This guide for Carbon Fiber tanks is useful since it shows example photos of different types of damage. http://www.luxfercylinders.com/downl...pectmanual.pdf

^am I the only one who noticed that at the begining of that guide in the pictures of some of the applications for fiber wrapped tanks (firefighters, paramedics, ect) the picture for paintball has someone using a fiber tank on a red splash classic RT?
Awesome.

[tribalman]

^am I the only one who noticed that at the begining of that guide in the pictures of some of the applications for fiber wrapped tanks (firefighters, paramedics, ect) the picture for paintball has someone using a fiber tank on a red splash classic RT?
Awesome.

not going to lie, i only clicked the link to see the mag.
i'll probably end up reading it later anyways.

[wimag]

Firemen use similar but larger tanks and they treat them a lot worse than we do, they are more durable than you'd think.

true without a doubt. I think nothing of taking my SCBA pack off and dropping the tank.