RAP4 17 CI HPA Tank

I just received two HPA tanks c/w regulators from RAP4 Paintball.... They are an in-between size, at 17 CI and 9.25" long not including the regulator.... That puts them halfway between the standard 13 CI tank at 7.25" and the long 22 CI tank at 11.25".... The regulator is the same length as the JDS regulator I had here, which means its longer than a Ninja reg.... It is equipped with two burst discs, a 5K on the inlet side, and a 1.8K on the outlet side, and I would assume that stock it is setup for 850 psi (I didn't test it).... One nice thing is that even the standard 850 psi version uses Belleville washers (with no shims), although they are an oddball 0.025" thick.... They are configured ) () () () () ( .... The tank with regulator was $69.95 US plus shipping, and they are not listed on the Canadian website, I bought mine in the US.... One important thing for QB79 owners, they are 1.995" OD, so they will fit and clear the barrel....

http://i378.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps9104e528.jpg

The regulator appears well made, and interestingly, the parts will interchange with a Ninja reg.... this includes the piston, Bellevilles, pin valve & spring, and bonnet.... The diameters are the same, but there is a fractional difference in internal lengths, and the set-screws are Metric instead of 10-32 on the Ninja.... With equal Belleville stacks, the pressure is higher on the RAP4 regulator than the same setup in a Ninja reg.... My intention is to use one of these on my next HPA build, and I wanted a pressure around 1500-1600 psi so that I could leave the 1.8K burst disc in place.... I replaced the Bellevilles with ones from McMaster Carr that are 0.032" thick, and figuring the pressure would be similar to a Ninja, I added one of the 0.025" Bellevilles on each end, in this fashion.... ) ) () () () () ( ( .... When I pressurized it, I watched the gauge carefully, and when it got to 1700 psi I quit and drained the tank as I didn't want to burst the disc.... I removed one of the 0.025" Bellevilles and tried again.... This time the reg. settled in at 1500 psi, which is fine by me.... I'm guessing that with just the stack of ten 0.032" Bellevilles it would be somewhere around 1200 psi....

I'm very pleased with the quality, there appear to be no leaks, so I'm going to leave it on the shelf, pressurized, until I go to use it.... I only have one thing negative to say about RAP4.... I originally ordered these tanks on Nov. 7, and they shipped them out 2 days later.... I tracked them through the USPS, and once they reached Canada Customs there were no further reports.... After a month, on Dec. 7, I contacted RAP4, and over a week later they got back to me that they had contacted USPS and it would take 21 working days to find out what happened.... When I requested they reship, they refused until they got the USPS report.... It's a good thing I wasn't in a hurry, or I would have been pretty ticked.... After the 21 working days had elapsed, I contacted RAP4 again, and they told me they were still waiting on the USPS.... A few days later, USPS agreed that the tanks were missing and RAP4 informed me that would reship.... That took another couple of weeks to occur, and I received the replacement tanks more than 3 months after I paid for them....

A couple of weeks ago, I received a notice from the Canada Border Services Agency that the tanks had been siezed because they were considered dangerous goods (they claim they were filled).... I informed RAP 4, of course, and they maintain they were empty, and in fact the labels on the replacement tanks (printed, and with a bar-code) say EMPTY right on them.... I'm guessing it was the CBSA who goofed, and I hope RAP4 eventually have them make good on it.... but it just goes to show what can happen when you ship from the US into Canada, right or wrong.... I still maintain that RAP4 should NOT have made me wait, once I reported the tanks missing after a month, they should have re-shipped immediately.... Sometimes stuff happens when you are in business, and having me write a report such as this to let potential customers know the score is much more detrimental than eating a possible loss if USPS denied their claim (which may still happen once they find out the CBSA siezed them).... All I can say is, that it appears to have been worth the (very long) wait....

Bob