Howdy! After a long and intersting time moving, we're to the point of opening up the store again. We won't have everything ready right away, but a lot of the supplies are available, especially things that we do not have to make and can just outright resell (such as speed controllers). Hulls and decks should be online in the next few days to a week. We have a very limited ability to manufacture things, since the nearest TechShop (where we made many of our parts) is now 800 miles away and we'll need to outsource some of what we used to do, and our spiffy new shop doesn't yet have 3-phase power hooked up for a couple of the tools we picked up. Important: If you need your items for a Labor Day weekend battle (or if the order in general is time sensitive), please order ASAP and write a note of your deadline and we'll prioritize those orders so they can make it in time. Thanks for your patience everyone. It's great to start opening things up once more! Keri and Stephen
Do you have some specific concerns? I can have Stephen talk about the process he has gone through with getting the regulators custom-designed to specifications for this hobby and the physical samples he has already seen, and address any specific questions you may have.
Yes, I'd like to know what kind of analysis was done on these regulators to ensure that they can withstand and hold up to the pressures involved. What is the max design source pressure? I would guess that it would need to be over 3000 PSI since that is what most burst disks are rated for and in theory the regulator could be exposed to supply pressures up to that limit. Also what is the failure method of the regulator in case if isn't built to withstand pressures up to that limit. Being built out of AL (which I assume it is since the old ones were) are there any fatigue life issues that we need to be aware of? note: I have three of your old adjustable regulators which I use and like very much but seeing how regulator design/modifications have caused a non trivial amount of strife in this hobby over the years as well as this just generally being a safety issue it seems prudent to make sure that a regulator designed specifically for this hobby is up to the task. ....plus you offered.... as for being made in china, I really couldn't care less, mmmm capitalism.
Hey Keri, I dont have your email but sent Stephen an email about an order for a hull. When do you think you will be able to start taking orders?
Hello Guys, First of all, yes, the regs are made in China. There appears to be a curse on regulators in our hobby. I've lost a couple of suppliers and I believe BC has, as well. As near as I can tell, there was only a single company in the US that made industrial aluminum regulators in something close to the size we needed (which is where I originally got the fixed and variable regulators from). The fixed regulators were the spares from a previous project they had finished a while back (so the orders were just extra cash for them), and the variable ones had parts from a current customer. The plan had been to exhaust the fixed regulator bodies and design and build a variable regulator with a pin depressor that would be a little better for our purposes. During this down time, I was going to be purchasing the variable regulators. The problem was that about when the fixed regulator bodies were used up, my contact at the company was laid off and I had to start dealing with the owner's son. This gentleman was only after big kill sales. He cut me off of the variable regulators at the same time as I got the last of the fixed bodies. For his new design, it was not really any better than the existing variable regulator than I had been purchasing, but it was half again higher in cost. Oh, and I would have to commit to buying almost $10,000 worth of them. Let's just say that many email were sent, talks happened, misunderstanding flared, and that bridge is thoroughly burnt. The last straw with them was that their technicians could not tap a hole straight to save their lives, and so they mucked up most of the last few reg bodies (and didn't fix them when sent back for RMA). Palmer's Pursuit also makes regs, but they are significantly more expensive and are physically longer. Their regs also require a regular maintenance, lest they fail in a way that dumps full pressure downstream. CMI used to have one, but I do not believe it has been made in many years. The Williams regulators are/were balloon regulators, and Williams no longer makes them. Williams had already stopped making them before we purchased SwampWorks. So after my falling out with company A, I went on a massive hunt for a new manufacturer. This was at the end of 2010. The company I am doing business with has been making CO2 and HPA regulators for paintball for many years. They were willing to work with me to modify one of their existing designs so it better fit our needs. This is still their regulator and design; I just contributed additional specifications and flow requirements. I've been working with this company for about a year and half now, and I have several of their prototypes as well as some of their previous production pieces. As far as safety concerns, this regulator should end up being safer than any regulator I've seen used in our hobby. The pressure adjustment can be sealed after testing. There is a built in pressure relief valve set for 250 psi (if you manage to get liquid downstream of the regulator, you will vent instead of blowing things up). There is an output pressure gauge. As for material deformation and breaking, the threads should tear out when the tank pressure reaches about 17,000 psi. Hoop stress is not a significant issue for connections like this because of the location of the o-ring on the tank. If the threads held, the next part that would break would be the root of the threads surrounding the tank, and that would happen about when the tank pressure reached about 24,000 psi. All of this assumes that the o-rings hold. Another reason that I am not very frightened of the regulators failing is that I compared them to other tank-top pieces. The regulator on the left of the picture is one of the prototype regs. The part on the right is a remote connection for a paintball gun. If you look at the wall thickness of the remote, notice that it is a lot thinner than the regulator. The remote is also a structural member for a paintball gun, as it has to survive people tripping and jumping head first with their equipment. It helps that we do not regularly use our tanks as clubs. I have heard recently from the manufacturer, and they are estimating that they will be done in the second week in September. They will still need some for shipment, but they are finally close to being ready. Some other features that are improvements over previous regulators are the swivel elbow output, all of the aluminum parts are hard anodized (that was another few weeks delay), and the internal springs are all stainless. There is also an on/off valve that could be used from outside the ship via a small hole and a long 2.5mm Allen wrench. We've also had to go through a couple rounds of revisions to change the sealing material so the regs are much less susceptible to debris problems. I will have spare seals. In all, this has been a big project. I cannot wait until they finally arrive. I will be getting enough of them that we should not have to worry about regs for a long time. I hope this answers some of the questions. Thank you, Stephen Morgret Strike Models
What's it weigh? Looks good enough to go in one of my boats (although admittedly that's not saying much lol).
They certainly look good. I don't have any issues beyond patriotism with my money going to the ChiComs. Sadly, my money going over there leaves more money in my pocket then my money staying here.
I believe they will weigh about 6 ounces. That can be reduced a bit by removing the gauge and elbow, if needed.
That is a wonderful looking regulator! I am happy to hear about the safety changes, and doubly excited that the deficiencies in the palmer style won't be in this one (and having had a palmer regulator that even the palmer folks had a great deal of trouble (and did not get right the first time around) getting it to not go full pressure unexpectedly) that really excites me. I also like the internal on/off valve . I look forward to getting one Keep us posted.... thanks Greg
assuming it has the pin depression feature, it enables use of standard paintball tanks rather than having to add/find ones with on/off valves
