WARNING - Altaros external regulator failure

[igolfat8]

I’ve been using an external Altaros regulator to tether my PCP bench rest rifles at the bench with zero issues. I set it at 160 bar and it’s remained constant for the last few years with zero leaking issues. A couple days ago, I connected it to my Thomas HPX and to my 90 minute SCBA bottle and slowly opened the bottle’s valve. Since my air bottle is on the ground, beside the bench, I was bent over and all of a sudden the regulator blew apart and whacked me as the hose whip flailed wildly in the air. I quickly shut the bottle’s valve closed. It scared the crap out of me and luckily I was not injured.

Upon closer examination, the male portion, on the regulator’s input side, had the threads completely pulled off the male portion and also the threads of the female portion were pulled out too.



I contacted Altaros, whom I purchased the regulator directly from and they said my regulator ceased production ~2 years ago. They offered to sell me replacement parts but the shipping costs were quite high. I thanked them but decided not to rebuild it. This little regulator has served me well but it’s time to replace it with something a bit more robust.

All things mechanical will fail at some point. I have no hard feeling against Altaros but it’s time to move on. Our PCPs and associated equipment are dangerous HIGH pressure mechanical devices and we should NEVER EVER take that for granted.

 

[Hvacguy]

Glad you're not injured. If I'm understanding correctly the threads on the fittings sheered off effectively turning them into cylinders. If so, that's a catastrophic failure that shouldn't have happened and a major error on Altaros' part.

 

[igolfat8]

Yes, both the male and female threads were sheared off. In the photo above, I’m pointing to the male threads that sheared off. There was no previous warnings or leaks to signal this failure.