During a recent inspection IDEST was shown a 300 bar shooter valve that the technician had removed from a shooter’s cylinder explaining to their customer that “As it is unmarked there is no physical way of assessing if it is fit for purpose”.
The valve is of recent manufacture but completely unmarked – see photographs:
The customer accepted the explanation and a replacement 300 bar MDE shooter valve was fitted and the customer went away happy. IDEST caution that valves which have no markings should be rejected for test and filling (unless they were placed on the market before ‘current’ regulations) Near the end of the inspection another shooter came in for an air fill. It seems the importer or manufacturer may have taken action regarding the lack of markings. His four litre 300 bar cylinder with the same type of valve fitted looked more promising in that the valve was laser etched with relevant information including CE mark, working pressure, neck thread, serial number and importer – see photo:
The shooter confirmed the valve is being sold as part of a system by “The Shooting Party, Unit 4C, Birchbrook Industrial Estate, Birchbrook Lane, Shenstone Staffordshire WS14 0DJ ” and details can be found on their website [link]
Bearing a CE mark it would be reasonable to deduce that this valve has gone through a CE approval process and that the correct EN ISO standard will be printed on the body. But look closely and you will see the marking says ”IOS 12209/EN144” (sic).
Ignoring the typo this is still problematic as ISO 12209 is the standard for Gas cylinders — Outlet connections for gas cylinder valves for compressed breathable air. This might be a useful reference for the outlet thread, but the requirements for valve design and construction are not covered by ISO 12209. A more appropriate standard might be ISO 10297 Gas cylinders — Cylinder valves — Specification and type testing. Together with ISO 11114 Gas cylinders — Compatibility of cylinder and valve materials with gas contents, (parts 1 & 2, metallic and non-metallic materials).
IDEST advice must be to treat with caution any valve where the markings are defective or give grounds for uncertainty. User and filler safety are paramount, and if appropriate refuse filling and offer replacement with a more suitable valve.
