Tuning rti prophet performance regulator rebuild?

Those of you who own one - reg creep. It's well known with these things and mine has recently started noticeably creeping upwards after just a few short hours after use ( going from 150bar to 170bar in just a couple of hours for instance .... it settles after a couple 2 or 3 dry fires but . . . :( {sigh} )

I've never done a thing with this gun as far as tearing it down - it's always 'just worked'. I have changed barrels several times experimenting with different calibers but that's the extent of it. I don't even know how to degass it, assuming that I have to, to take the bottle off of it. ( which I'll need to do in order to get at the reg to monkey with that . . . . )

I've already contacted Hajimoto re: getting one of his that he and Orion collaborated on - he's sold out and having issues getting parts to make more. I just e-mailed RTI directly re: ".... pssssst rumor has it that you folks have a new and improved 'gen 4' regulator . . . . whats the chances of my being able to get one?" We'll see if I get a reply from them on that.

So for the time being . . . I'm stuck with this OEM one and . . . . I don't know. Thinking pull it apart, polish the belleville washers, polish the shaft that they ride on, clean it real good, etc .... (??) Do ~something~ with it to see if maybe can improve it. (?) (( .... or make it worse . . . ugh. lol ))


 
Go ahead and deburr & polish the Belleville washers and smooth the shaft, but creep occurs at the seat. Most likely you will find it indented and/or worn. Flat, square, and smooth is the name of the game.

It can be done by hand with a regimen of wet sanding with 400 -> 600 -> 1200 -> 2000 grit. Place the sandpaper against a piece of glass to establish a flat surface and then sand the workpiece against it with a circular motion. Try to keep it at a right angle as best you can but inevitably you'll produce a slightly convex surface. That's fine, just rotate the part from time to time as you are sanding so as to randomize any tendency to remove more material on one side.
 
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@alias - instructions. ( oh yeah . . . 'magine that?! ) (( I work in I.T. - but I suspect nerds aren't the only ones who hardly ever read instructions )) :) Yeah - good idea - I'll have to dig the manual out that came with it.

@madeintheuk / @nervoustrig - right on, thanks guys!

... re-reading - @alias again -- call vendors, huh .... not a bad idea there too - I could call them and give Tony a jingle as well. ( I bought it from Tony @Talontunes )
 
@alias - instructions. ( oh yeah . . . 'magine that?! ) (( I work in I.T. - but I suspect nerds aren't the only ones who hardly ever read instructions )) :) Yeah - good idea - I'll have to dig the manual out that came with it.

@madeintheuk / @nervoustrig - right on, thanks guys!

... re-reading - @alias again -- call vendors, huh .... not a bad idea there too - I could call them and give Tony a jingle as well. ( I bought it from Tony @Talontunes )

Let me know how you make out! I have one of these coming that I just got from a forum member here in .30, and would like to know what I’m up against. 

 
I’m in the middle of this myself. I have a new gen regulator coming tomorrow from AOA. I think if you clean it and change o-rings and dress the seat, it may help, but there must be a reason for the redesign. Mr. Rob is great and will answer your email tomorrow I’d imagine. I’ll let you know how the new one works. The new one has a coil spring and does away with the bellvilles. The valve seat may have changed as well?
 
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The instructions say to unloosen the screw under the but pad to bleed the bottle and plenum. It shows the screw at the bottom of the but. AoA has regulators in stock for $170.0, but they do not say if they are the new ones. I got mine March 13th from the last batch they got in at AoA and have had no creep with it at 170 bar. Let us know how it goes.
 
{sigh} OK guys ... so yes @alias - that's how you bleed it. I got the thing apart and the FIRST thing I noted when pulling it apart was that it seemed like there was a 'gap' like the reg body wasn't actually making contact with the trigger block where it screws in . . . it came undone with zero effort. Unscrewing the bottle off of the reg body actually did require a little effort - but no big deal - it spun right off. So I get it apart, clean threads out, wipe down and relube with silicone lube the couple of o-rings that are visible and now I'm in a 'stand-off' with the thing.

What am I missing??? *Every Time* I turn the reg body back in, the fill port and reg adjustment wind up, well -- upside down. Am I supposed to recite some ancient Slovenian text from a long lost scroll while petting my dog at the same time and checking my facebook feed using my toes on the cell phone?? Those of you who have pulled this thing off and then put it back together - how did you manage to get it to wind up back in the right position?? I've tried several times now to get the threads to 'bite' when it starts threading back in from different 'clock positions' - ie; last attempt I ~thought~ it started to bite @2:00 . . . nope upside down. The I try 7:00, thinking opposite start - maybe it'll finish up the right way. No joy - *EVERY TIME* it winds up bassackwards like this. {sigh} Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr . . . . . ( lol )

What am I missing? It isn't *supposed* to be "loose" and not threaded all the way in is it???? That just doesn't jive.

rti_reg_put_back_on.1634516741.jpg

 
Go ahead and deburr & polish the Belleville washers and smooth the shaft, but creep occurs at the seat. Most likely you will find it indented and/or worn. Flat, square, and smooth is the name of the game.

It can be done by hand with a regimen of wet sanding with 400 -> 600 -> 1200 -> 2000 grit. Place the sandpaper against a piece of glass to establish a flat surface and then sand the workpiece against it with a circular motion. Try to keep it at a right angle as best you can but inevitably you'll produce a slightly convex surface. That's fine, just rotate the part from time to time as you are sanding so as to randomize any tendency to remove more material on one side.

Months ago I was corresponding with some fellow RTI owners trying to help them with reg creep on the newest version reg. I went other routes with my RTI when I completely failed to be able to get their gen 1 adjustable to perform to my satisfaction. Guys sent me pics of the internals because like you, I know the seat has to be addressed to cure it. I even built a Peek seat for mine and got the creep under control but still wasn’t happy with recovery or consistency. When I’m done typing I will see if I saved any pics of the important parts of the newest reg these guys are having issues with. Without having the reg in my hand I can’t tell them exactly how to address the seat problem. Maybe you can from the pics. The stuff I drew in red is the area I would look at if I remember right. It was a while ago. The damn thing is just a too complex side filler because they want to keep it compact. 
 
Good stuff. Thanks to all of you for the input guys! I've got it back together and, well ..... as weird as it is NOT snugging it down - yeah - it works. I didn't actually get into pulling the reg apart - this was just a foray / recon into pulling this gun apart as I mentioned earlier - I never have. Baby steps. ( lol ) My m-rod, taipan's - I've had them *completely* stripped down lots of times . . . .

@alias - you asked earlier (I think asking me?) how old and what is max I've filled it to? It's about a year, year and a half and when I first got it I did fill it up to 300 bar on a couple of occasions - and quickly found myself back at the scuba shop where I get my tank filled. I typically just take it to 260 bar now. My 250 guns (Taipans) I take to 240.

So anyway - I've filled it up to 260 bar - that's where I typically take it - 300 just kills my tank way to fast. I've got the reg set at 140'ish right now (9:26pm EST). I'm gonna go downstairs and suffer a little bit and watch my football team (Steelers) and see how badly they choke - I'll check it in the morning before I head off to work and see if it has moved. 
 
I’m watching the Steeler game as I’m typing all this also. One other thing I noticed is the guys who play with their reg settings properly, key word properly, seem to get the reg to seat and stay stable. I implemented this tactic with the AMP regs on my FX guns. I fill to max then drop the reg pressure a tiny bit and dry fire and do it a couple times to help seat the piston on the seat. Just don’t crank the reg way down. Just a little and a couple dry fires.