Cross post: How to get valve housing off Snowpulse Tank

So I'm flying home from a 3.5 month stint in Chile and I want to take precautions that my snowpulse canister doesn't get nabbed by the tsa.

When I flew down here I just put it in my checked bagged (not pressurized) and it was no worries. It only had to pass TSA in Jackson. When I go back, they will have to recheck it in Atlanta. I'm just assuming with the tighter regulations and such that they won't like it if the tank isn't open.

I searched about taking it off. People say a wrench, but how would it fit on the valve housing there's only one side unobstructed (see red arrow in pics)

http://paintbrushsolutions.com/canister1.jpg
http://paintbrushsolutions.com/canister2.jpg

I tried just torquing it by hand, but no luck. I'm leaving tomorrow night, so no rush, but i gotta get this thing off.

Thanks

Remove guage first so you can use wrench????? Don't know if that's right though.

Shoot snowpulse an email and ask them if they locktite their valves on. If not, pull the gauge off and wrench on it. If so, you'll need to break the locktite before you'll be able to get it off. At the paintball field I worked at we did this with a propane torch. You may want a scuba or paintball shop to do this for you.

(The gauge should just go back on with a bit of teflon tape)

Hi Guys! Einar here at Avalanche Safety Solutions. I've done this for several customers and I thought I would help answer the question with a thorough step by step procedure.

I will walk you through the easiest way to remove the top and change your O-Ring at the same time:

Deploy your airbag to empty the cylinder.

Unscrew the cylinder from the venturi system in the back pack

Unscrew the firing pin from the trigger cable in the back pack. Put this aside for later.

Repack your airbag.

Remove the tape residue from the cylinder head.

Remove the piston housing. Clean the grease off the threads with a paper towel.

Remove the piston. Clean the grease off.

Remove the gauge from the cylinder. When you do, be as gentle as possible with the gauge, this is the most fragile piece of the system. If this malfunctions down the line, it will cause your cylinder to be unable to hold pressure.

Remove the Teflon tape residue from both the gauge and the cylinder head. I use a small pair of tweezers and a paper towel.

Wrap your cylinder in a thin sheet of rubber and secure it in a vice.

Use a wrench to take the top of the cylinder off. Do not lose the large rubber O-Ring.

Remove the cylinder from the vice.

Clean the threads of any contaminants.

Wrap the gauge threads with Teflon tape. Approximately 3 wraps.

Gently screw the gauge back into the cylinder head. Tight, but not as cranked as possible

Replace the O-Ring on the piston.

Lubricate the piston with the grease provided in your refill kit.

Insert the piston into the cylinder head.

Screw the piston housing back on the cylinder head

Lubricate the firing pin.

Insert the firing pin into the piston housing making sure to properly line up the swinging gate.

Replace the small plastic yellow cap.

Put the protective stickers on the piston housing and the deployment valve.

Replace the large yellow plastic cap.

Lubricate the threads of the cylinder head.

Reattach the head of the cylinder to the body. Do this hand tight.

You are now set to travel! If the TSA agents need to physically look inside your cylinder you can unscrew it by hand. Once you are ready to refill your cylinder, make sure to torque the head on as tight as possible.


I hope this helps!

Einar Hanson
Avalanche Safety Solutions