Metal Ring in HPA Tank. Normal?

[sQuidvision]

Greetings AO, its been a while. I recently received a tank as part of a purchase, and when i received it i discovered it had something rattling around inside. I pulled the reg off and discovered a metal ring floating around inside. I messaged the guy i bought it from (over on MCB) and he responded as follows:

AnMCBUser,

First up, i received the and after giving it a deep scrub everything is working and good.

I do have an issue with the tank however, and i apologize for the long delay in bringing this to your attention. I had foot surgery shortly after receiving everything, and its been all i can do to keep up with life, let alone paintball!

Anyhow, there was a rattle in the tank, even under pressure, so i took the reg off and discovered a metal disc floating around in the tank? it looks like it was sheared off of something, and there are metal shavings a bits coating the inside of the tank.

This was the best picture i could get:


Long story short, im not sure i can trust this tank, and im wondering what you suggest as a fair way to resolve this?

-squid

squid, That disk is from when the tank was manufactured. That is the remains from the drill bit not going deep enough and the tap popping that loose. We never had any issue with the tank. That is how the tank came to us.

The tank is completely solid and the hydro is very recent. If it really is a big issue for you I can see if I have another tank still in our gear box but that doesn't really seem fair to me.

I tried to remove the disc but there is no way to get it out and it isn't hurting anything.

What do you guys think?

[keiko_819]

I personally would not use the tank, one of those few things where I would rather be safe than sorry...

[BiNumber3]

Him claiming it isn't fair to him, when he didn't tell you this issue that he knew about

I wouldn't use it either personally. A metal ring moving around n bumping things in a high pressure tank sounds pretty sketch.....

[sQuidvision]

I dont plan on using it either, i have no desire to screw around with a 4500 psi bomb.

But i guess my real question is IS this "normal" or an artifact of the mfg process? The thing looks anodized... i guess i don't know how else it could have gotten in there though?

[BiNumber3]

Id give a call to the manufacturer directly if possible, and see what they say.

[Nobody]

If you aren't happy, demand a refund. Simple as that. Unless he states, "As is"(which unfortunately the end all to any and all sales), then you have grounds to get your money back.

[blackdeath1k]

As is is one thing when they disclose all personal info of the item. But he blatantly knew. That to me is like the guys selling crossfire tanks with good hydro dates but are junk due to the DOT. That's crooked.

[rawbutter]

Id give a call to the manufacturer directly if possible, and see what they say.

I would try this first. I'm amazed the tank even left the manufacturer. They might be so embarrassed that they replace it with something else. Something newer.

But if that doesn't work, go back to the MCB seller and kindly ask for a return/refund. I'd even ask the seller to cover shipping. Selling a tank without disclosing that problem is seriously shady.

[sQuidvision]

I would try this first. I'm amazed the tank even left the manufacturer. They might be so embarrassed that they replace it with something else. Something newer.

I'm not sure what he is suggesting is the issue is true. I can't tell if it's threaded or not, but you could screw something through the threads completely and end up in this situation as well.

So really, has anyone seen this happen before?

I will reach out to the MFG for comment too.

[cougar20th]

I know I wouldnt personally use the tank. For the simple fact that the noise it must create would be enough to drive me nuts.

That type of "defect" should have been stated when he was selling the tank.

Is the ring the same type of metal the tanks made out of? To me it doesnt look like it.

I also don't like the explanation. Any good manufacturer is going to make sure their drill would engage far enough into the tank to be far clear of anything. Its not like they have to worry about hitting the other tank wall. I doubt any manufacturer would knowingly release a tank like that.
His explanation means that a piece of the tank BROKE off inside. What if that piece breaking compromised the tanks integrity. If it did when will it fail?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGdnw4KCyME At 1:25 you can see the hole is there before drilling. Granted these are not wrapped tanks. But the base tank under the wrap in paintball is Aluminum.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoTK1vcP20E Scuba tanks, same basic thing as a paintball tank. The hole is there before drilling.

Could someone have possibly broken a reg, been able to screw the remains into the tank but no out? I think this is the most likely thing that happened.

[BiNumber3]

^ That's what I was thinking, but that ring seems a little large to be part of a reg.

[sQuidvision]

Yea, I think it's a chunk of reg. I took another picture with better light, let me know what you think.

[boo]

I wouldn't trust it. If that piece broke off of something what's to stop it from breaking down further. What happens if a piece of metal shoots out the high pressure burst disk? Or if the tank becomes partially unscrewed and it shoots out of the pressure relief channels. 4500psi behind a piece of shrapnel? No thanks.

Also pieces of metal will jack up any regulator.

My guess is someone red Loctited and the reg piece broke off on a forced removal (you can see the **** caked on the part and the threads).

If I sold it and wasn't aware I'd be begging to take it back. The fact that the seller was aware and sold it anyways is bad news. And come on, that bs about the manufacturer is a lie, if anyone got a rattling tank from the factory do you think they wouldn't return it?

[sQuidvision]

I sent him a message a bit ago and asked to send it back for a partial refund (it was part of a package deal with marker)

Here's hoping he is amicable.

[blackdeath1k]

Good luck.