Valve Snap Ring Durability

[Toestr]

Tonight I tore my Prolite down to change the valve spring and when I aired it back up afterwards I got a huge leak down the barrel. I took it back apart and found that the tabs with the holes on the snap ring that I have on the valve had popped out of the groove. I'm fairly certain it was fully seated in the groove as I compressed the valve below it and pressed the ring down with an Allen key. I took the whole snap ring out and I found that the tabs were much closer together than on a brand new one (see picture below) and it was basically permanently bent to the size at which it sits when installed. I've had this ring installed for maybe half a year and I've taken it out a few times for fiddling with the valve. It is from a Princess Auto (Harbour Freight) kit so it might not be the most skookum and I don't really have the proper sized tips for my snap ring pliers so it does get bent a little bit during installation.

To those who run these on their Tippmanns; have you ever come across a situation like this?

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[Toestr]

Upon closer inspection of the picture it looks like the used ring has significantly less meat around the tabs. I'll have to go back and check on this. I'm not sure if it was just manufactured differently or if some was bent/taken off with installation/use/failure.

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[DocsMachine]

Yep. Cheap hardware-store pieces. Usually badly heat-treated, so you either get hard-as-nails, or soft enough to bend and stay bent.

Good ones can be had from online suppliers, but a good source for local ones that are probably good, is auto parts stores. Often (but not always) they'll have boxes behind the counters with selections, and you should be able to pick one the right size.

Also, in case you don't know the 'trick'- snap rings like that are stamped out of sheet, and so if you look very close, the edges on one side will be "sharp", and on the other side, slightly rounded. The "sharp" side should face the edge of the groove that's going to get the pressure. On a Tippmann valve, the 'sharp' edge should face out, towards the hammer or power tube, not in towards the cup seal.

Doc.

[Chappy]

Ya if the flat side wasn’t out I could see that happening. If not it’s cheap rings. My Home Depot has them and I’ve never had trouble, though I don’t use them in a prolite.

[Toestr]

Thanks guys, yep that could be the case.

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