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eukanuba
07-02-2005, 10:32 AM
Just saw this on intimidatorowners.com

It's legit.. another reason why we are so strict I would guess on testing and manufacture here in australia..

http://www.intimidatorowners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1935&page=1&pp=10

WARNING!!!!

As some of you may know, during the NPPL San Diego Commanders cup, I had a tank blow up on me. The tank without any warning broke away from its regulator and shot a hundred feet in the air. Despite some minor injuries, I am fine and thank God no one got hurt. But hoping that this never happens I want all you Nitro Duck tank owners or potential buyers to know of this situation.

Setting the facts straight:
Since this event happen, there have been many rumors that this problem was caused by me, that I misused the tank. To set this straight, I never once disassembled the regulator on the tank, the tank was in hydro and was in perfect condition. It was checked at the air station and was deemed fine. The piece of metal holding the regulator to the tank let go under pressure and exploded sending the tank flying in the air. No way, my fault. Now that this is cleared up allow me to continue.

Whats wrong with the tanks?:
As far as I know, some of the Nitro Duck adjustable tanks prior to 2005 are faulty. Like I said, that piece of metal can crack under pressure when turned frequently. If that piece snaps, boom, you got yourself a rocket on your hands. My tank blew apart inside the regulator, leaving the tank fine and shot into the air.

What steps have been taken to prevent this?
Very little steps have been taken at all to prevent this. That day my tank was confiscated and I never heard of anything but was given a piece of paper with a phone number and name. The number was of the NPPL scruteneer. Apparently, he took the matter in to his own hands. I have not heard from anyone until recently, and just got my tank back. No one asked whether I was ok or cared that some of my gear was ruined, or the fact that now I had no tank. Hal Robinson, the owner of Nitro duck seemed to not care about the issue, he'll just look into it. He stated to my father that he now has to make tanks, "idiot proof." And he would send me a new tank. I received a package a couple days ago, with the old bottle, a supposedly redesigned regulator, 500 broken paintballs and a Tshirt. Wooppee, I scored the jackpot for almost getting killed. He sent me back my old tank, the one that blew up, jee thanks I guess. For the paint, they made swell rocks and the shirt is a great rag to wipe down my parts with.

Out of Spite?
It may seem I'm writing this because I'm angry at Nitroduck and paintball media. Well, I am. But, I have kept silent for months now waiting for answers. I don't care about the tank, the great paintballs and tshirts I received for almost getting killed, but about my fellow ballers. If I got into my bunker and shouldered my gun, chances are I would not be here today. Money and tanks mean shit to me now. I am here to warn everyone that owns and paintball media/ nitro duck tanks to be careful. I don't want to see this happen to anyone else. Please, call and ask if you can get one of the new designed regulators, demand it. Please, don't make a mistake.

What do we do now?
Please, call in and demand a new regulator for your tank that is safe, if you don't have one. If you have one of these tanks, get the air out of it and be careful on adjusting the pressures for this is the main reason the metal gives. If you are looking to buy a tank, make sure you get one with a safe regulator. I myself will never buy another paintball media/nitro duck product because of how unwilling to help they are. I will probablly buy a crossfire tank soon, I recommend you do the same. Please be careful, events like this have happened before but have been hushed up. Let's not let this happen again, ballers unite.

Who am I?:
I'm Chris from Maine, I played for team True Colors in San Diego, division 2. I'm an intimidatorowners.com moderator and have been playing paintball for years now. I participate on a majority of paintball forums. I shoot a ripper 2 Timmy and have other back up guns.

Summary:
Paintball Media/Nitro Duck Adjustable Tanks= BAD!!!! if you have one, know someone that has one, or are thinking of purchasing one, you definitely need to read above. These tanks can explode, every paintballer should read this.


Thank you for your time and be careful!
P.S. Anyone that might have pictures or footage of this accident, please contact me.
__________________
Chris
PBN: flya
IOG: flya6699
AIM: flya6699
EMAIL: flya6699@yahoo.com

CDG
07-02-2005, 11:38 AM
Always ugly when stuff like this happens...

Lets hope with all our regulations in place that it never happens here...

Ram Man
18-02-2005, 08:08 AM
What happened is the guy took the reg off with a strap wrench, instead of
the proper tools and over torqued the adjustment on the regulator. It is
not a problem with the regulator. The scrutinizer for the NPPL confiscated
looked at it, and said the same thing.

If you have a brand new pick up truck and take the tire off and only put two
loose lug nuts back on it - the whole product isn't faulty, it didn't leave
the factory dangerous - but since you had someone who does not properly work
on / maintain the truck, you might get hurt. This is exactly why we have
added the 3 new safety features on our systems to try too try to make them
idiot proof - http://www.nitroduck.com/triplepointsafety.htm .

With especially item number 1.) The excess flow valve. Read about it.


Here is plenty more of the discussion that was posted on the forum
afterwards.

Notice Ken Crane is a master tech for WDP.





wasnt it determened that the reason the regulator sheared as it did (by a
metalergest) was thought to be excessive force when removing the regulator
while removing it for travel ? and this caused the regulator to weaken ?

ken crane
WDP MASTER TECH.
wdp master tech./warranty center
www.performanceangel.com
www.angelforce.tv
ken@performanceangel.com

ken crane
WDP MASTER TECH.

Registered: Apr 2002
Location:


quote:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Originally posted by ken crane
wasnt it determened that the reason the regulator sheared as it did (by a
metalergest) was thought to be excessive force when removing the regulator
while removing it for travel ? and this caused the regulator to weaken ?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----



i stand behind my post.....see with the new flight rules the tsa requires
that regulators be removed before they will be allowed as baggage. . this
was never a concern when regulators were glued in with gorrilla snot. i for
one will not remove ANY regulator for any reason that puts up a fight. what
has been found is when removing the reg against the locktite the bodys of
some regulators may twist and not be detected unless a magnaflux test is
done. this is where dye is applied and looked at under magnification to see
if the metal has been twisted or cracked. this is a big concern across the
whole industry not just one manufacture. if we had a standerd using a
tourque wrench a pre determined tourque could be applied to remove the
regulator without stressing its parts. sorry for the long post but its
important stuff.


__________________
wdp master tech./warranty center
www.performanceangel.com
www.angelforce.tv
ken@performanceangel.com


Last edited by ken crane on 02-07-2005 at 08:45 PM


he did say he didn't take the reg apart... which i'm sure he didn't
but he never said if he took the reg off the tank... Which "he did" or
somebody that was with him...

"I received a package a couple days ago, with the old bottle, a supposedly
redesigned regulator, [which the reg has the triple-point safety (go to
nitroducks website), it is rounded now for people like YOU can't take a
regular wrench to it and overcrank the neck to try to get more pressure,and
it has a break-leak point in it,that way it leaks all the air out if there
is a problem.]

"I scored the jackpot for almost getting killed."
[sounds like you were wanting to get alot of free stuff for something YOU
did wrong, kinda like the people making a spill in a store and then falling
on it.]

"He sent me back my old tank, the one that blew up, jee thanks I guess."
[i'd say your luck you got that, and lucky that they don't go after you for
slanderizm]

just burns my A$$ when everyone on the net, bashes companys left and right,
just to feel like they belong, and fit in with the "in-crowd", same thing
that happen with Smart Parts a while back... "Band-Wagon-Ballers" this is
what all you little kids are... [flame away, prove my point

http://www.sippl.info
http://p196.ezboard.com/bsippl

Just a quick question, I own a store and field and am curious to a couple
things, because I have sold some x stream tanks.

1. what kind of tool was used to take the reg out of the tank?
2. what kind of tool was used to replace the reg in the tank?
3. Where was the tool positioned on the reg? Each time?

Just a question because of what Ken Crane had said, and know that reg
manufacturers have special tools to remove and replace regs into tanks. Not
trying to flame you or say your the cause just wondering because I want to
avoid anything like this happening anywhere around me. Trying to be educated
not ignorant.


ken crane
WDP MASTER TECH.

Registered: Apr 2002
Location:

please just re read my post and understand that no one is flaming anyone. i
know the facts and just wanted to post them as the truth. we realize no one
took the reg apart. its the twisting force of removing the reg from the
bottle that stresses the parts. no one could have for seen that the
transportation saftey department would even be involved with paintball gear
until 9/11. back when i was a traveling pro lol not, we never had to remove
our regs we just threw the bottle in the bag and went on the plane. when a
reg was installed into a bottle it was going to be there until the bottle
needed hydrotesting. at that time it was determined that certified
hydrotesting companies would be doing the service on the bottles. if you go
to an event and go over to the air system techs they have special vises and
tools to remove and service the regs. so unfortunatly as this industry grows
and finds issues like this they get fixed. the nppl scrutineer did the right
thing confiscating the bottle to prevent tampering so a certified
metalergest could find what caused the failure. it was done by neutral
parties so it couldnt be swept under the rug. how you were handled by the
company is another issue and none of my buisness.
everyone is glad that no injuries were sustained and corrections could be
made.just my 2 cents not that anyone asked...


__________________
wdp master tech./warranty center
www.performanceangel.com
www.angelforce.tv
ken@performanceangel.com


Originally posted by flya
ken crane- you are completely correct. My bottle was examined, and it wasn't
from travel. I understand that when removing a bottle, if you do it by
turning that adjuster, bad things can happen. Like I said before the steel
piece gave under pressure somehow, this isn't the first time this happened
to anyone and I can see how you would be concerned about the disassembly of
the tank for flight. But I know what you mean and assure you that wasn't the
cause.

Huey- The strap wrench was used to take the tank from bottle. The tank was
hand tightened back on, sorry If I didn't mention that before. Yet again,
even if the threads were damaged, that still is not the cause of a piece
exploding inside the regulator

well, if you re-tightened the regulator from the wrong part.......wouldn't
that put alot of stress on the regulator....like if you cranked/torqued it
down by the pressure ring............


__________________
pewter dyansty with squid juice.


EuroVR6


Registered: Sep 2002
Location: Colorado Springs, CO

after reading this all I think had you left your tank alone this never
would have happened. It's a shame that most people will just see the title
and think bad of nitroduck. I have a preset ND and I've never had a single
issue with it. Great tank IMO.







Please check out our new X - Stream regulator, and if you have any questions
please check out our home page www.nitroduck.com.
Thanks,
Brad Robinson
A lot of regs cost less than Nitro Duck's, that's because they should...
Phone: (636) 296-0964 - ext 14
Fax: (636) 296-9319
Email: BRobinson@nitroduck.com

JJJ
18-02-2005, 08:19 AM
Good update Ram Man

eukanuba
18-02-2005, 12:24 PM
Thanks for that Ram Man, I never saw the follow up.. but it's very enlightening..

I'll just stay with my macdev cylinders... ^_^

Lizard_of_Oz
18-02-2005, 08:03 PM
I have witnessed first hand at a local tourney training day, a guy unscrewing a pressurised tank from the preset regulator he was using, instead of the regulator from the marker. it took two other people (one of which was our state Mcdev Dealer), all of us yelling at him to stop before he did. :eek:

I believe he made it about halfway down the threads. I didn't see exactly how far it was, as I was getting ready to asume the featal position and hope it didn't hit me when it let go.

I didn't think it could happen with the amount of pressure exerted onto the threads but it did.