Benefits of the old inline regulators?

[Sharkytrav]

I have been swooping up old aluminum apocalypse and maxflo regs and a 4500 raptor because nostalgia.

Aside from being cool, do these still have any practical benefit over modern regulators? They all weigh more, they seem to require more maintenance, takes some effort to remove from the markers, etc.

I guess the real question here is if they regulate better.

[pghp8ntballer]

Both the AA Armageddon and the Maxflo's (plus many older styles, Flatline, Dynaflow?, etc) were adjustable without having to take the tank off, take the bonnet off, swap springs or shims, hope you are in the right range, (still only preset) and then repeat. So I can simply crank a knob and change my pressure. Big plus. It can stand as the sole HPR on many guns, or just be a primary in dual reg setups. Plus many of these regs are truly high quality and can sustain the highest rates of fire with consistency. I like the armageddon because I could have multiple manifolds mounted to multiple markers then just move the bottle to the desired marker. Some maxflo manifolds had normal ASA threads, so you could screw in any HPA or CO2 tank you want and adjust from there.

The downfalls are obvious;
- most of these are fairly large (size and weight) compared to modern counterparts
- depending on the design, they require a cradle
- changing markers can be tedious with a few exceptions
- at this point, if it has a proprietary seal and spares are not available; its a paperweight

TL: DR - yes, the oldies are still goodies and perform just as nice as anything new, but they have their own nuances.

[Sharkytrav]

Ah yes, adjustability, durr!

[Jordan]

MaxFlos are incredibly consistent and don't take proprietary seals... there's no unobtanium reg seats to try to find like with 4500 Flatlines or crazy hard to take apart components like Angel Airs.

[Trbo323]

Nostalgia is really the only reason to go with one these days. There are adjustable tanks our there and consistent inline regs plus you don't have to dedicate a tank to one marker


That and those monster biceps you will have from carrying one around

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

[Sharkytrav]

Nostalgia drives pretty much all my paintball decisions lately. Except for flipping that twister.... that is not nostalgia.

Gotta remember to switch hands from time to time.

[lew]

I've picked up all of my bottomline Max Flos for cheap. They're super consistent and easy to maintain. Seals are easy to find. The downsides are the size and proprietary mounting. Also, good luck switching a low pressure Max Flo to high pressure. Want to run it on a Cocker? Good luck, unless you want one of the tank-mounted versions.

[Sharkytrav]

I have only had trouble finding the t-slot manifold rail.

While I don't need one, I do keep my eyes peeled for the little straight rail that original max flos screw to. With smaller tank sizes, I wouldn't want that big drop forward option you see more regularly.

Never had a problem with the in-line version. All my little dovetails seem to do okay.

Mini and Micro are dovetails too, yeah?

[lew]

Yes, the Mini and Micro used a dovetail.

The inlines worked great, but so does a Sidewinder, and that's slimmer and has the input located more conveniently.

[Myrkul]

I love vertical max flows. Crazy consistency, all standard "O" Rings, comfy, easy to rebuild, and cheap.

[russc]

I like to use centerflag dynaflow regs. They aren't super light, but they are rail mounted, include a push button on/off, and are externally adjustable. You are basically combining 3-4 components into one. I like to use mine on guns like my buzzard, as it makes velocity adjustment a snap.

[Dusty Bottoms]

Those are a really cool design, and much smaller than most of the other adjustable regs.

[Dusty Bottoms]

I like using Armageddon's on a couple of my Automag RT Classics both for nostalgia, and the fact that they are adjustable on the fly unlike modern "adjustable" regs. Playing with the input pressure lets you achieve different rates of fire, and to me that's neat to be able to do. I've also got a couple MaxFlo's, but their not currently being used. I like the Armageddon better design wise because it's simpler than the MaxFlo internally, with fewer parts, and it has a great flow rate just like the MaxFlo. I will say that the MaxFlo Gen 2 & 3 designs are just really beautiful aesthetically though. There's alot of neat details and nice machining everywhere. Even the on/off knob is cool looking! Company's just don't make stuff like that anymore. If your on this forum, you probably don't think like the mainstream paintball community, and like to be different. A vintage adjustable tank reg, to go with a vintage marker, is just one more neat way to stand out from the crowd of boring electros and Ninja tanks.

[Sharkytrav]

I think you are right on all points. It seems like at least the AA regs were pushing $400 back in the day. I bet companies would be more inclined to do some fancy reg work if they could still convince people to pay that much.