Aliexpress Regulators

[Speedbird_666]

Anybody taken a punt on one of these?

View attachment 73958

I'm fairly sure I've seen the sold as re-brands with some laser engraving thrown on - it looks a lot like a Balystic HPR800C with a different gauge.

Worth a go for £31 shipped? I know, I know, buy quality, buy once n'all that.

But HPA regulators are not complicated things and many Paintball Gun companies have off-shored their manufacturing to China and Taiwan now, so the technical knowledge is out there for such products? 

 

[hitmanNo2]

Remember you'll need to add VAT to that price.

 

[Adolf Hamster]

I wouldnt bother, you're spending that much on the whole setup anyway.

Remember this thing is getting fed 1000psi, thats a not-trivial amount of energy this thing has to hold together do you really trust it?

 

[Monkman]

I wouldn't take the risk...with this unknown thing on your back and the huge pressures involved. 

MADE IN CHINA...let sink in for a minute.  ?

 

[Tommikka]

Anybody taken a punt on one of these?

View attachment 73958

I'm fairly sure I've seen the sold as re-brands with some laser engraving thrown on - it looks a lot like a Balystic HPR800C with a different gauge.

Worth a go for £31 shipped? I know, I know, buy quality, buy once n'all that.

But HPA regulators are not complicated things and many Paintball Gun companies have off-shored their manufacturing to China and Taiwan now, so the technical knowledge is out there for such products? 

Personally I wouldn’t - but the ‘real’ thing comes from Hong Kong and China.

A difference is build quality - it could come from the same factory, but tolerances and quality can vary.  A smaller commercial customer will be buying off the shelf and expect some standards, a larger commercial customer could be enforcing quality control and the odd one may get their own factory out there to maintain full control.

Buying directly you could be getting the same thing without the logo, or you could be getting a lesser quality equivalent

If you are familiar and confident with CO2 or HPA and you know what pressures you’re dealing with then it can be considered.

What is going to fail and how will it affect you?

An HPA cylinders own integral regulator will normally output in the hundreds of PSI, probably at most 650psi these days but could be 850psi which was first used in paintball as the equivalent to output or the gaseous state of CO2 cylinders at around 850psi

 

[Speedbird_666]

Remember you'll need to add VAT to that price.

Yeah - just spotted that they are collecting £6 in taxes if you add to basket. So about £38 all-in

I wouldn't take the risk...with this unknown thing on your back and the huge pressures involved. 

MADE IN CHINA...let sink in for a minute.  ?

The tank has 3000/4500 Psi, with it's own regulator to bring it down to 450/850PSI and burst disk for safety, before hitting this inline regulator, which has another burst disk. I'd say structurally, it would be fine assuming it's made from 6x series Aluminium.

Made in china - most high end Paintball stuff is now. ?

Personally I wouldn’t - but the ‘real’ thing comes from Hong Kong and China.

A difference is build quality - it could come from the same factory, but tolerances and quality can vary.  A smaller commercial customer will be buying off the shelf and expect some standards, a larger commercial customer could be enforcing quality control and the odd one may get their own factory out there to maintain full control.

Buying directly you could be getting the same thing without the logo, or you could be getting a lesser quality equivalent

If you are familiar and confident with CO2 or HPA and you know what pressures you’re dealing with then it can be considered.

What is going to fail and how will it affect you?

An HPA cylinders own integral regulator will normally output in the hundreds of PSI, probably at most 650psi these days but could be 850psi which was first used in paintball as the equivalent to output or the gaseous state of CO2 cylinders at around 850psi

I had 35+ Paintball guns (including 6 Autocockers, 4 Timmys, pre- and post- Dye Matrices and various PE Guns) between 1999 and 2015. Obviously all were HPA using 1, 2 or 3 regulators.

But I get what you are saying - it's all down to the QC and who is overseeing this particular product. I don't see a significant safety issue with the product exploding or such like, I'm sure it'll be fine structurally, more likely the issues would be things such as pressure creep, FSDO and flow rate.

Anyway - it was just an idea and to see if anyone took a punt that could chip in with their experience - not sure if I can be bothered to jump down the HPA rabbit hole of dive tanks and fill stations again.

Thanks all.

 

[Adolf Hamster]

An HPA cylinders own integral regulator will normally output in the hundreds of PSI, probably at most 650psi these days but could be 850psi which was first used in paintball as the equivalent to output or the gaseous state of CO2 cylinders at around 850psi

thought it was more like 900-1000? although i can't remember where i got that number from.

that's excluding the slp stuff admittedly.

either way 650psi is still a lot of boom if it fails the wrong way.

 

[Tommikka]

thought it was more like 900-1000? although i can't remember where i got that number from.

that's excluding the slp stuff admittedly.

either way 650psi is still a lot of boom if it fails the wrong way.

When paintball started to move to compressed air regulators began at approx 850psi

CO2 does vary by temperature though, so in the region of 850 is I think at ‘room’ temperature and it will get lower in the cold and higher in the heat - so 900-1000 is probably a fair call 

 

[Speedbird_666]

When paintball started to move to compressed air regulators began at approx 850psi

View attachment 73987

Most early Paintball HPA regulators were adjustable. Huge, heavy, stupidly expensive, but adjustable outputs. Air America Armageddon, Smart Parts MaxFlow, WDP Angel Air (towards the end of the adjustable era) are a few that spring to mind. Preset screw-in regulators became popular from around 2002-ish onwards when people realised that well over a pound could be shaved off the overall setup weight.

I played for a team that was 'sponsored' (Read: discounted) with Air America products. Wasn't a huge fan myself.

 

[Adolf Hamster]

When paintball started to move to compressed air regulators began at approx 850psi

CO2 does vary by temperature though, so in the region of 850 is I think at ‘room’ temperature and it will get lower in the cold and higher in the heat - so 900-1000 is probably a fair call 

yeah i've seen co2 at "1200", although that was on one of those relatively cheap shell filler setups so probably not the most accurate gauge, and on a very warm day.

still no-joke levels of pressure to be trusting to something made by an unknown brand.