Regulator Turned 1/4" Piston Valve

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MrCrowley
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Thu Mar 11, 2010 12:46 am

I had a faulty air compressore regulator similar to this one:
Image

So today I removed it, opened it up and realised I could make a sprinkler valve styled piston/diaphragm valve. Reason I didn't go with a diaphragm is because I can't find thin sheet rubber here. Also the regulator came with its own piston valve, sort of...

Modifications I made:
  • Tapped the top of the regulator where the screw top would go (which depresses a bolt, on to a spring, on to the piston which adjusts the flow) to 1/8" threads and threaded in a 1/8" x 1/4" mxm nipple.

    Added a sealing face to the piston and filled the back with bondo to reduce pilot volume.

    Drilled out the seat from 6mm to 8mm (not the threads, but the porting where the piston seals against)
What you end up with is an inline piston valve in the sprinkler valve configuation sort of like this:
Image

This is it completed with a dummy chamber:
Image

Photos of the valve in pieces

Barrel side (remember, the air has to make a 90 degree turn):
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i290/ ... C00394.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i290/ ... C00397.jpg

Chamber side (there are two threaded ports, one for the chamber and one for a gauge):
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i290/ ... C00398.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i290/ ... C00399.jpg

Piston housing:
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i290/ ... C00405.jpg

Piston:
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i290/ ... C00403.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i290/ ... C00402.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i290/ ... C00404.jpg

Completed - Barrel Port:
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i290/ ... C00409.jpg
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jackssmirkingrevenge
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Thu Mar 11, 2010 1:27 am

Very ingenious, with a strong spring you would turn it into an auto pop-off valve as well :) I have a spare reg somewhere, I'll see how it can be modded.
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
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Patto
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Thu Mar 11, 2010 3:47 am

Nice job man , have you had a chance to test it yet ??

Let us know how it goes ;)
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Crna Legija
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Thu Mar 11, 2010 4:26 am

very nice, my reg just like it broke last week be trying to find a 1/4 inch cross so i don't have to use the reg and can get 150 psi out of it.
i cant mod my one it crack in half
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Thu Mar 11, 2010 4:35 am

very nice, and you should be able to take it up to 200psi if I'm correct. you know your a spudder when you think about how to mod things into piston valves, and actually a large number of valves can be modded into piston valves

Image
I've turned a 3/4" flow control valve like this one into an inline piston valve before, when I started I was hoping I could just use the existing manually depressed piston, but the rubber wasn't soft enough and it just wouldn't seal so I made a piston out of a soda bottle cap, a rubber washer, and some hot glue

the annoying part is finding a piston unless you have raw plastic cylinders and machining abilities or epoxy casing abilities
Last edited by iknowmy3tables on Thu Mar 11, 2010 7:40 am, edited 3 times in total.
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POLAND_SPUD
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Thu Mar 11, 2010 6:25 am

nice...

I've seen lots of 1", 1.5" a 3/4" or 2" brass&steel valves like this one
Image
they can be easily modded into a piston valve


what do you say guys? would you chip in to buy him new batteries ?
Last edited by POLAND_SPUD on Thu Mar 11, 2010 6:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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MrCrowley
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Thu Mar 11, 2010 6:31 am

POLAND_SPUD wrote:what do you say guys? would you chip in to buy him new batteries ?
Camera is AWOL, that was my phone taking the pictures :wink:
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jackssmirkingrevenge
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Thu Mar 11, 2010 6:38 am

For a camera phone, it's not bad at all ;)
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
Hawkeye
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Thu Mar 11, 2010 8:01 am

I guess you'd want to devise some sort of ammo stop so it doesn't roll around the corner.
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Crna Legija
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Thu Mar 11, 2010 8:17 am

the barrel would probly be bigger if it threads on
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deathbyDWV
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Thu Mar 11, 2010 8:54 am

Cool to see that finally done... Markf suggested that before here...
http://www.spudfiles.com/forums/inside- ... 18457.html
I was going to make one with a cheap reg I had but found a use for it other than this... :(
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POLAND_SPUD
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Thu Mar 11, 2010 9:23 am

now let's look at it from a completely opposite point of view...
how difficult would it be to convert a QEV into a high pressure regulator??
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MrCrowley
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Thu Mar 11, 2010 4:44 pm

deathbyDWV wrote:Cool to see that finally done... Markf suggested that before here...
http://www.spudfiles.com/forums/inside- ... 18457.html
I was going to make one with a cheap reg I had but found a use for it other than this... :(
That is cool. That regulator is far better though, it has much more room and it could actually operate exactly like a sprinkler valve, with diaphragm and all. With this one, it is a little harder to do that and on another reg I have where the seat would be is an uneven surface.

POLAND,
It would probably be easier to convert a low pressure regulator in to a high pressure regulator haha.
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POLAND_SPUD
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Thu Mar 11, 2010 5:25 pm

@mrcrowley
lol true
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Mr.Sandman
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Thu Mar 11, 2010 7:27 pm

Nice job Crowley, hopefully your power will be better than my vertical piston air cannon. It's strange but it seems that this form of piston valve is more efficient, mine used to pilot at only 5-10 psi.
Yeah, it's that important.
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