Long post warning...
I was out shooting my 1720T today testing out some JSB Simply Wad Cutters 8.26gn. I have my large Air Hog tank with external regulator keeping the 1720's reservoir at a steady 2500PSI. Temps in the upper 70's and I'm sitting in the sun. Wad Cutters are shooting very well at up to 50yds which is the max here in my backyard.
After about an hour or so of shooting I hear something land on the ground off to my right. I looked over but didn't see anything unusual. I continued shooting for a bit and then I begin to hear the sound of water dripping down onto the tarp that I use to keep the shooting bench covered. WTH??!! VERY confused I look over at my tank and I see what I thought was a pool of water. I kinda freak out, my mind goes crazy trying to explain where all this water is coming from. I secure the gun and go around to the front of the bench to shut off the air and drain off the pressure. When I touched the "water" I realized it was oil... or maybe more accurately glycerin. It's then that I see that the seal on the top of one of the regulator gauges is gone and the gauge is draining. I oriented the gauge so it would stop leaking. Soooo many questions, so many heart beats, so much blood pressure LOL It then dawns on me about hearing something land off to my right earlier.... could it be??? I scoured the area and Yep, there it is, found the seal to the gauge about 10 feet away from the bench!! Realizing now that my tank is not leaking fluids for some really bizarre and scary reason, I re-pressurized everything and observed everything for a few minutes. Everything is quiet and holding air as it should and I see that the gauge is now roughly 1/2 empty of fluid. No air seems to be escaping from the gauge..... or is it?????? Here's a coupe pictures...
In this picture, everything is pressurized and you can see the wet spot by the front tank foot. Hard to tell but you can see that the seal is missing from the gauge. The gauge drained onto the tank and then dripped down to the bench and eventually down to the tarp. It really freaked me out when I first noticed the fluid on the tank!!
Here is a picture from the front showing the loss of fluid in the gauge. The output gauge, on the right, is full of fluid and very clear. Both gauges are 6000PSI WIKA gauges so they should be good quality. I bought this regulator used so no idea how old it might be. I've been using it off/on for a little over a year with no issues and I love it when shooting my unregulated guns.
So this is where I'm thankful for the AGN community, a team to reach out to in hopes for an explanation.
Why did the seal blow off of the gauge? I can only assume that some pressure must have leaked into the gauge or something!?!?! If that's the case then I tend to think the gauge is bad or failing. I never heard the seal actually blow out of the gauge, I only heard it land, fortunately. Maybe it popped off at the same time I fired a shot???? IDK
Is the gauge OK? Should I refill it? What exactly do I fill it with?
Hopefully, this captures the events. If you made it this far, thanks for reading!!
Heartrate and blood pressure are back to normal now.
I was out shooting my 1720T today testing out some JSB Simply Wad Cutters 8.26gn. I have my large Air Hog tank with external regulator keeping the 1720's reservoir at a steady 2500PSI. Temps in the upper 70's and I'm sitting in the sun. Wad Cutters are shooting very well at up to 50yds which is the max here in my backyard.
After about an hour or so of shooting I hear something land on the ground off to my right. I looked over but didn't see anything unusual. I continued shooting for a bit and then I begin to hear the sound of water dripping down onto the tarp that I use to keep the shooting bench covered. WTH??!! VERY confused I look over at my tank and I see what I thought was a pool of water. I kinda freak out, my mind goes crazy trying to explain where all this water is coming from. I secure the gun and go around to the front of the bench to shut off the air and drain off the pressure. When I touched the "water" I realized it was oil... or maybe more accurately glycerin. It's then that I see that the seal on the top of one of the regulator gauges is gone and the gauge is draining. I oriented the gauge so it would stop leaking. Soooo many questions, so many heart beats, so much blood pressure LOL It then dawns on me about hearing something land off to my right earlier.... could it be??? I scoured the area and Yep, there it is, found the seal to the gauge about 10 feet away from the bench!! Realizing now that my tank is not leaking fluids for some really bizarre and scary reason, I re-pressurized everything and observed everything for a few minutes. Everything is quiet and holding air as it should and I see that the gauge is now roughly 1/2 empty of fluid. No air seems to be escaping from the gauge..... or is it?????? Here's a coupe pictures...
In this picture, everything is pressurized and you can see the wet spot by the front tank foot. Hard to tell but you can see that the seal is missing from the gauge. The gauge drained onto the tank and then dripped down to the bench and eventually down to the tarp. It really freaked me out when I first noticed the fluid on the tank!!
Here is a picture from the front showing the loss of fluid in the gauge. The output gauge, on the right, is full of fluid and very clear. Both gauges are 6000PSI WIKA gauges so they should be good quality. I bought this regulator used so no idea how old it might be. I've been using it off/on for a little over a year with no issues and I love it when shooting my unregulated guns.
So this is where I'm thankful for the AGN community, a team to reach out to in hopes for an explanation.
Why did the seal blow off of the gauge? I can only assume that some pressure must have leaked into the gauge or something!?!?! If that's the case then I tend to think the gauge is bad or failing. I never heard the seal actually blow out of the gauge, I only heard it land, fortunately. Maybe it popped off at the same time I fired a shot???? IDK
Is the gauge OK? Should I refill it? What exactly do I fill it with?
Hopefully, this captures the events. If you made it this far, thanks for reading!!
Heartrate and blood pressure are back to normal now.
