Help solve a Trracer valve issue...

[DocsMachine]

One of you miscellaneous lunatics wanted to know if it was possible to make an inline valve body, like I made for the Phantoms, that puts an ICD lever changer in line with the body, as the paintball gods intended.

I happened to have a Trracer on the table, loaned to me by another of you loons, to fit a barrel adapter. A quick check showed that one of my existing adapters just needed to be shaved a bit at the shoulder, and shortened by a smidge in order to fall right into place.



In my smug brilliance, forgot one minor little thing: The Trracer valves use what's known as a "Buttress" thread on the valve seats:



And so that seat won't screw into the Phantom-based valve body. You can run a tap into the Trracer valve, in order to use Phantom (or other 007-based) seats, but not the other way around.

Okay, so we dig out a Phantom "jet set" and try that seat. Again, no-go, because I also forgot the Trracer power tube is considerably larger in diameter:



I measured, and there's not enough meat on the Phantom part to bore it out to take the Trracer tube.

So, what's our solution? I'll admit that my brain right now is frazzled- I'm trying to juggle several dozen pretty important things right now, shop, customer and personal, and I'm burning eight candles at all twenty-three ends.

The "correct" fix is to turn a new seat/retaining nut, in the profile of the Trracer nut, but with Phantom/007 valve body threads. That, unfortunately, would more than double the cost to the customer.

An easier one is to chop off a Phantom power tube to about the Trracer length. That'd still be an additional cost to the customer, requiring a complete Phantom power tube assembly, plus minor modifications.



Any other "quick fix" ideas out there?

Doc.

[Ecapnation]

Quick fix?

Start over....half assing it never works.

[DocsMachine]

Sure, if it were one of my projects, I'd just turn another seat. That's easy enough- but I'm trying to keep costs down for the client, and I don't know if he wants to put that much more into a Trracer. I've asked, and am waiting on a reply.

Doc.

[Ecapnation]

People love those silly things...

[anson]

What would happen if you ran a die over the tracer valve seat?

[DocsMachine]

I suspect the resulting threads would probably be adequate- the thread pitch is basically the same- but that would assume the customer has one the right size.

Doc.

[DocsMachine]

All right, I need this off my tables, and more importantly, off my brain. The customer, understandably, didn't want to double the cost of the mod, but I could think of no other easy way to solve the issue, and I really need some of this stuff off the job board.

So, I rummaged through my scrap bin and found a suitable chunk of brass that looked like it wanted to join the party:



You gents all know the trick to cleanly drilling brass, right? Take a small stone to the cutting lips of the drill, making them effectively square. You don't need much- that flat in the pic is maybe 0.015" wide. That keeps the drill from "digging in", and pulling the chuck out of the tailstock.



I have a small bin of pre-stoned drills, specifically for brass, although in this case, I didn't have one the correct size, so I had to touch up a fresh one.

Anyway, a few minutes drillin' and turnin' and things were taking shape.



After parting and facing to length, the wrench flats were easy with a hex collet block...



And a test-fit in the modified Phantom valve body.



Mods to the valve body, by the way, consist of just pushing the shoulder back about 10 to 12 thou, and shortening the face where the seat goes, about 30-40 thou. Keeping in mind you also have to push the inner O-ring seat in an equal amount, and in this case, I had to chase the threads slightly deeper too.

Anyway, Et voilá!



And installed- though I don't have an ICD 'changer on hand to fully mock it up.



This should, I hope, make the customer happy, and let him finish his project.

No charge. Merry Christmas.

Doc.