European Tanks

"Scott" wrote ...
> Ah. Still, why not just get a European valve?

Hmmm... I thought I explained that... Perhaps not well enough....

I will be getting a replacement European valve, after the successful hydro
and visual inspection... This adapter is NOT to allow me to use an American
valve in it... It is strictly to be used for the hydro test of BOTH of the
tanks... None of the hydro shops around here can support the European /
metric threads... This adapter will get used twice every 5 years, that's
it... You've seen SCUBA tank valves and neck threads before, so you know how
simple it would be to make this thing... Hell, I suspect you could have it
finished before we had even finished the first 6-pack... I told the
machinist today that I'll try and think up something more challenging for
him next time... He said that he might be able to have it for me tomorrow or
Monday at the latest since he's working on a bid proposal for another
project right now...

"Grumman-581" <grumman581-YYYY-MM@charter.net> wrote in message
news:oSiDd.287$es5.74@fe04.lga...

Series 70 incorporated the split "accurizer" bushing, and the Series 80
incorporated the firing pin block mechanism.

http://www.sightm1911.com/lib/history/s70_colts.htm

"Grumman-581" <grumman581-YYYY-MM@charter.net> wrote in message
news:BbjDd.296$GR5.104@fe04.lga...

> One advantage of this is that since it is large, it might
> be easier to find every 5 years after I have misplaced it...

"Paint it titty-pink." one of my old bosses used to say...

"Scott" wrote ...
> "Paint it titty-pink." one of my old bosses used to say...

Irregardless of the fact that paint would be bad for a threaded object like
this, I want a DD-cup instead of an A-cup... <grin>

Grumman-581 wrote:
>
> Yeah, that would be one option, but the problem with it is that every hydro
> station is different and I figured that if I create something that results
> in something that all of them support, I'll come out better in the long
> run... That way if I eventually switch to a different hydro station, I won't
> have to get a new adapter made up... I consider it a more generic solution
> to the problem in this particular case...
>


Another consideration is that not every hydro station will
even touch a cylinder that isn't marked with US approved
markings. A hydro station cannot give the tank a DOT
certification ... only a pressure test.

Just $.02 more

--

Ray Contreras
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Webmonkey for:
http://www.ossystems.com
http://www.bobs-garage.com
http://www.rayzplace.com

Scott wrote:
>>Just in case my description still isn't making sense, here's a quick side
>>profile drawing... I didn't draw the threads on it though since it's too
>>much work in MS-PaintBrush...
>>http://www.narcosis-republic.us/Show.../converter.gif
>
>
> Ah. Still, why not just get a European valve?

As I understood it, they want a thing to screw into the bottle to have
it hydroed.

Since it is the bottle that is tested, and not the valve, they use a
special device to apply the water/pressure to the bottle, which has to
be designed to meet the extra pressure of the hydro ( 1,5 x filling
pressure)

Matthias

Grumman-581 wrote:

> Thanks Ray... I took the new tank and an old steel-72 over to the machist
> today and told him what he was going to need to do... He was wanting to do
> it with a piece of 6061 aluminum


That would be going to be an illegal assault weapon!

Take care...

Matthias

"RayC" wrote ...
> Another consideration is that not every hydro station will
> even touch a cylinder that isn't marked with US approved
> markings. A hydro station cannot give the tank a DOT
> certification ... only a pressure test.

Correct, but the local shop will in fact do it, so I've got 5 more years to
worry about whether the next shop will...

>Subject: Re: European Tanks
>From: "Grumman-581"

>On the other hand, it might make a good flower pot... <grin>
>

That you could roll around as the sun moves.

Capt. Bill

RayC wrote ...
> Of course, it is over engineered, but ...

Yep, a little over-engineered, but it should work well enough... It
needs to be able to withstand a little over 5000 psi for the hydro
test... Of course, I'm shooting for something that can survive 10,000
psi... The weak point will be the O-ring... I doubt that it would be
able to survive it, but at least the metal isn't going to break... I
picked it up today... He had called me earlier and said that it was
going to be more difficult than he had originally thought from a
timewise standpoint and would cost $75 and wanted to know if I wanted
to continue with it... Since that is what it would have cost me at the
other shop all the way down in New Orleans, I told him to go ahead...
At least I didn't have to make two trips all the way into New Orleans
just for that... I go over there to look at it and the chamfer on the
3/4"-14 neck wasn't quite right... It allowed the O-ring to still be
visible instead of being completely enclosed... I had told him to make
it look like the neck on the steel-72 and as I looked at one of the
AL80s later that day at the hydro shop, I noticed that the neck design
is different on the two types of cylinders... The steel-72 and steel 15
liter have a chamfer from the top of the neck to the threads of about a
45 degree angle... The AL80s have a flat area inset from the top of the
neck... Too bad I didn't have one of my AL80s nearly empty -- I would
have had him use that design instead... He cut a little deeper chamfer
and then the steel-72 valve would no longer fit in there, so he had to
rework the thread edge a bit and then it worked perfectly... The O-ring
looks like it should be captured well enough... I took both of the 15
liter / 120 cu-ft tanks and the adapter over to the hydro shop and
they'll hydro them on Monday... Turns out that they also do air fills
there... They service all the local fire department SCBAs... Their air
fills are around $5 and they do not require an inspection sticker on
the tanks like a dive shop would... Interesting... I might just start
using them for my air fills... I had originally told them to fill up
the tanks, but I need to call them back and tell them not to... They'll
have problems filling the tank with the damaged valve and I'm not sure
whether I'll be able to find a modular replacement valve and subsequent
isolation section or just need to go with a completely new isolation
manifold with M25 threads... The machine shop I was at had a 40 ton
hydraulic jack based system for installation of bearings and such... I
have to wonder if perhaps it might be possible to put my damaged valve
in there and by sqeezing down on the face of it, possibly straighten
the dent enough to remove the DIN to yoke insert... If it worked right,
I could just insert a new DIN to yoke insert and I might not need to
replace the valve... Oh well... Just something to think about, I
guess...