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Installing a valve on a carbon fiber tank

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jaydoski

jaydoski

Member
Jun 16, 2016
127
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CA, United States
Hey everybody, just wondering for those that bought bigger carbon fiber tanks for their Impacts, do you need a special tool to remove and reinstall the valves?

I was going to buy one of the Chinese 700cc carbon fiber tanks and just take off the valve off my FX tank and put it on the new one I plan to buy. It seems easy enough but I feel like I would probably need some kind of a tool to do it, or can I just use a wrench and unscrew it?
 
I just wrapped the jaws of some vise grips in leather grabbed the valve and a bit of heat from a heat gun and it came off. Use loctite when reinstalling.

The proper tool is better but it's not 100% necessary if you're careful. Jimmy King opened up the inside of a socket so it fits over the valve then drilled a hole to slide a drill bit into the hole and that worked also.
 
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I use the Saber Tactical degasser referenced above, and swear by it. Seems to cost a lot when your first look at it, but it is well worth the small investment.

Regarding Glem's recommendation to use loctite, this is something I have NEVER done on any air bottle, dating back into the '70's when I first worked with HPA in a dive shop. And I surely never had to use any heat to get a valve off a tank (nor would I, especially on a CF wrapped bottle).

Now 'loctite' can be a pretty genetic term these days, and can cover many types of substances available in a little tube or bottle. But the bottom line is, SCUBA, SCBA and our air gun bottles seal using an o-ring (lubricated) captured in a groove at the bottle's neck. As such the valves do NOT need to be tightened more than hand tight onto the bottle, and once pressurized that valve ain't gonna unscrew from the bottle. There is no thread lock, thread sealer, etc. required to make and maintain the seal. If the seal is leaking it is either due to dirt/contamination or a damaged o-ring. Any thread lock or sealer used will do nothing other than make the valve more difficult to remove in the future.
 
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TMH said:
I use the Saber Tactical degasser referenced above, and swear by it. Seems to cost a lot when your first look at it, but it is well worth the small investment.

Regarding Glem's recommendation to use loctite, this is something I have NEVER done on any air bottle, dating back into the '70's when I first worked with HPA in a dive shop. And I surely never had to use any heat to get a valve off a tank (nor would I, especially on a CF wrapped bottle).

Now 'loctite' can be a pretty genetic term these days, and can cover many types of substances available in a little tube or bottle. But the bottom line is, SCUBA, SCBA and our air gun bottles seal using an o-ring (lubricated) captured in a groove at the bottle's neck. As such the valves do NOT need to be tightened more than hand tight onto the bottle, and once pressurized that valve ain't gonna unscrew from the bottle. There is no thread lock, thread sealer, etc. required to make and maintain the seal. If the seal is leaking it is either due to dirt/contamination or a damaged o-ring. Any thread lock or sealer used will do nothing other than make the valve more difficult to remove in the future.
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Yeah you're right TMH not my finest advice, I should clarify I just used a heat gun to gently warm the valve. Not a torch or anything and added a bit of loctite as I'm pretty sure it had some from the factory.

I'd take TMH advice over my own :)
 
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jaydoski said:
Yeah I saw that ad, it's just I can get the same thing if I bought it and installed it myself and save a lot. It doesn't seem too difficult to do on my own, otherwise I'd just pay for it.
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I'm old and lazy lol! I'll pay a few extra bucks to have the convenience of being able to just bolt something on without having to go through a learning curve or having to buy extra tools to get the job done right.
 
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Sometimes the bottle valves are hard to remove. Especially if you have a aftermarket bottle to start. Note that some aftermarket valves also actually have a smaller hole. If you have a steady hand or even have a drill press to open up that hole. Make sure all air is removed, otherwise bottle valve will be hard to remove as well as dangerous if you are able to actually remove the valve while pressurized. I do not put loctite on any of my bottles after removing the valves and have not had a issue with them loosening besides, they will not loosen with any air pressure in it. As TMH states the o-ring does the sealing, no need to tighten more than hand tight.

Oh, make sure to clean off all the old locktite from threads before reinstalling bottle .

Allen
 
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Glem.Chally said:
...I should clarify I just used a heat gun to gently warm the valve. Not a torch or anything and added a bit of loctite as I'm pretty sure it had some from the factory...
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Thanks for the clarification Glem,

I'm not thinking things through too clearly at the moment (heart attack last week), but the first thing I pictured in my mind was a torch! But heat gun use is sensible where needed.
 
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TMH said:
I use the Saber Tactical degasser referenced above, and swear by it. Seems to cost a lot when your first look at it, but it is well worth the small investment.

Regarding Glem's recommendation to use loctite, this is something I have NEVER done on any air bottle, dating back into the '70's when I first worked with HPA in a dive shop. And I surely never had to use any heat to get a valve off a tank (nor would I, especially on a CF wrapped bottle).

Now 'loctite' can be a pretty genetic term these days, and can cover many types of substances available in a little tube or bottle. But the bottom line is, SCUBA, SCBA and
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Wow I'm sorry to hear that but glad you're OK. I hope you're taking the precautions now with diet and supplements and let's hope you can stay healthy.
 
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Healthservices said:
Sometimes the bottle valves are hard to remove. Especially if you have a aftermarket bottle to start. Note that some aftermarket valves also actually have a smaller hole. If you have a steady hand or even have a drill press to open up that hole. Make sure all air is removed, otherwise bottle valve will be hard to remove as well as dangerous if you are able to actually remove the valve while pressurized. I do not put loctite on any of my bottles after removing the valves and have not had a issue with them loosening besides, they will not loosen with any air pressure in it. As TMH states the o-ring does the sealing, no need to tighten more than hand tight.

Oh, make sure to clean off all the old locktite from threads before reinstalling bottle .

Allen
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Thx for the info. I was gonna reuse my old tanks valve and install it on the aftermarket bottle.

The air rifle it's going on is a 30 cal impact so I figured if I turn it up the reg pressure I could increase the shot count.

Is there loctite on the fx tanks and valves? I hope not cuz that'll be a pain to remove the valve and clean. What would I even use to clean the loctite?
 
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jaydoski said:
Thx for the info. I was gonna reuse my old tanks valve and install it on the aftermarket bottle.

The air rifle it's going on is a 30 cal impact so I figured if I turn it up the reg pressure I could increase the shot count.

Is there loctite on the fx tanks and valves? I hope not cuz that'll be a pain to remove the valve and clean. What would I even use to clean the loctite?
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Use a dental pick and wire brush
 
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Yes, the fx bottle will have loctite. Wire brush like this will take the loctite off easily
20220822_110927.jpg

But use a cleaner one. You don't want anything stuck on your valve or getting into the gun. Then use a dental pic to take off the rest. I reused my valve when I got my 700cc bottles. The saber tactical tool is really pretty good even thought it has a couple of drawbacks. It includes a tool to degass the bottle too.

Allen
 
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Kind of late but I forgot to mention that huma-air has this as well. It will accommodate the two pin sizes that are commonly found on these valves.

www.huma-air.com

FX Bottle Valve Removal Tool

FX Bottle Valve Removal Tool, to unscrew your FX Bottle Valve without damaging it. Also compatible with the Dreamline Compact Air Cylinder. An optional Stainless steel quickfill adaptor with foster m
www.huma-air.com

Allen
 
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I purchased a tank made my xiamen subang tech on AliExpress. It came with a valve and a some spare O rings. I placed an O ring in the hole and screwed the valve hand tight. I filled the tank to 4000 psi. After about 8 hours, the O ring was pushed out of the threads and the air leaked out with a lot of noise and force. What did I do wrong, and how can I attach the valve so that it is air tight? Would plumbers tape help??? Thanks.
 
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wflambert said:
I purchased a tank made my xiamen subang tech on AliExpress. It came with a valve and a some spare O rings. I placed an O ring in the hole and screwed the valve hand tight. I filled the tank to 4000 psi. After about 8 hours, the O ring was pushed out of the threads and the air leaked out with a lot of noise and force. What did I do wrong, and how can I attach the valve so that it is air tight? Would plumbers tape help??? Thanks.
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📸 pictures?
Probably needed to be a little tighter until there is no air gap between bottle and valve, o-ring pinched or installed wrong, or wrong o-ring supplied. I have had a bottle I bought from Amazon that blew out the factory o-ring and the replacement o-ring. Finally I used a slightly smaller thickness o-ring that sealed perfectly.

Allen
 
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