Tuning Airforce Texan .457 TX2 Valve Removal

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bfloyd1095

bfloyd1095

Member
Sep 11, 2018
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Conroe Texas, United States
Hi all,

Is there a special tool needed to remove the TX2 valve from the Airforce Carbon Fiber Bottle ?

I have been told that the valve is installed in that bottle torqued at 750 lb/ft which just sounds absurd to me and quite frankly stupid as hell if this is the case.....

I have many bottle guns , Daystate , Fx, etc and none of them have any where near that kind of torque spec, hell the pressure alone seals them being just hand tightened...the same goes for my 100 cu/in and 75 cu/ft air tanks....

Anyway i appreciate any, and all information on this 
 
Roflmao thats 1016Nm or equal of 225lb man hanging on a 3,3ft bar to have such torque.. First off its not needed to seal or hold anything and secondly thats kinda torque where M18x1,5 mostlikely gets damaged especially when tx2 valve is fitted on fiberbottle thats basicly fiber laminated aluminium bottle. Secondly I dont see any way to hold that bottle while applying such torque especially without causing any scratches or marks. So Im fairly sure thats 100% BS. If I remember correctly they use glue of some sort to secure valve on bottle. 
 
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Roflmao thats 1016Nm or equal of 225lb man hanging on a 3,3ft bar to have such torque.. First off its not needed to seal or hold anything and secondly thats kinda torque where M18x1,5 mostlikely gets damaged especially when tx2 valve is fitted on fiberbottle thats basicly fiber laminated aluminium bottle. Secondly I dont see any way to hold that bottle while applying such torque especially without causing any scratches or marks. So Im fairly sure thats 100% BS. If I remember correctly they use glue of some sort to secure valve on bottle.
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Lmao, that's exactly my point amigo, there is No Way in hell that torque spec can be correct...

Being a machinist i have seen my fair share of ignorant spec requirements over the last 40 years from customers , but this just made zero sense to me..

I appreciate the info
 
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Okay so what is the trick to getting the valve off one the carbon fiber tanks? I've got a removal tool but no matter what I do that valve isn't moving in the less bit. Was thinking about chilling the tank but it's threaded into an aluminum tank wrapped in carbon, so I doubt heating or cooling is gonna have any effect. The coefficents of carbon & aluminum would effectively cancel. So I'm stumped other than a bigger hammer.

I'm just about to the point of no return with the carbon tank, it's just not worth the risk but I would like to salvage the valve nonetheless, so any insight would be great.



Steve
 
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Airforce probably but some super industrial grade lok tight on it so it hard to take off. I worked at er Shaw a huge barrel manufacturer they had the biggest gun barrel vice and a huge 4 ft long receiver wrench. I would watch them torque actions until you hit the limit like car lug nuts. Its a common practice for gunsmith s and manufacturers do so you absolutely have return the gun to them to regarded or service. I would say at home on our bench rest rigs we used a 1/3 the torque to keep our actions and barrels together.
 
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Reedmosser,

Around 1/3 to 1/2 the factory torque, having the correct jig in which to hold an assembly in order to apply torque at the correct angle, is something we simply can't do. This Texan LSS .457 was hands down the worst tank I've ever had to remove. I made one of the collar removal tools but in the end it was gentle heat from a torch that got it to break free. Since the collar was aluminum it acted well as a heatsink protecting the carbon fiber of the tank. As soon as the heat started to transfer to the aluminum tank via the threaded valve housing, it pops right off. It goes without saying I had removed the TX2 valve prior to doing this.

Holding the tank Gorilla tape worked good but so did a 12"x 24"x1/4" piece of black rubber, pinched in a large vise, the rubber has a death grip on the tank.

Oh and there's not a single drop of thread lock or anything!?! Not really sure what the theory is behind that, since it's a straight thread fit & an oring face seal... not real sure but seems like there should have been some sort of retaining compound.



Steve


 
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Yeah, Applying heat to aluminum or steel expands & there's mathematical coefficients you can use in order to machine parts to have an interference fit, aircraft turbine PT shafts come to mind. However Carbon fiber in a matrix of epoxy is the opposite it shrinks when heated, so it'd be real easy to degrade the carbon fiber tank using heat, I'm not exactly sure how much but I'd assume around the 175-200°F range depending on the temp the tanks were at for cure or post cure of the carbon fiber wrap.



Steve
 
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I have removed two TX2 valves from their respective bottles, and put the valves into 580cc bottles, as well as removed FX valves from their bottles-the procedure is basically the same, although the Texans need the gauge and fill port removed first. After the bottles are drained, the key is to use the right tools. Specifically, pads for your vice to not mar the bottle, a heat gun, and the appropriate valve removal tools. As mentioned, the valves are secured with red or black loc-tite, and heat is necessary to get the valves to release. It's also pretty easy to mess up carbon fiber with heat. Keep moving the heat gun around the bottle neck so that it doesn't roast the carbon fiber, while applying force. For the TX2 valves, I bought the appropriate collar from Amazon and sanded down a bolt enough to fit into the hole on the TX2 valve. One wrap of clear tape around the valve will prevent the collar from marring the valve. I use a rubber mallet on the bolt, tapping it to get it to break free while moving the heat gun around the bottle neck. It does not take excessive force to loosen the valve once there's enough heat to release the thread locker. Go slow, keep the heat gun moving, and it's no factor.
 
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It actually took me 8 hours to get it off but finally got it. I put it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes then put it in my vise but it wasn’t budging, so after that I put a pot of water on the stove on high and let it boil then put the valve end of the bottle in the water 
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and let it sit for about 10 minutes, I put it back on the vise but still nothing. So about 10-15 min later the bottle was cool again and I gave it one last try while it was cool so I put it back in the vise and used a strap wrench and it finally broke loose. I’m assuming it was the heating and cooling factor that played a part in it.
 
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