Rich's Dip Tube Solution
- A few years ago my buddy Jerry GAVE me a nice yellow steel 72 tank and a repairable valve. Pretty generous! I got the tank hydro'd and inspected but have never got around to fixing the valve... It was missing a dip tube and needed servicing and a new knob.
- My other buddy Rich came up with the idea to use a floor anchor for a dip tube. The floor anchor has a threaded end, a vented end, a hole down the middle, and a nail in the hole. You put the anchor in a hole in the concrete floor and use a tool to fire the nail down the hole. It expands the end and anchors the bolt into the floor.
- We removed the nail from the anchor and found that the hole goes down the middle and turns into 4 vent slots. We screwed the threaded end into the bottom of the valve and locked it in place with a locknut and blue Loctite.
- Then I serviced the valve with parts from a beat up 3/4" Voit valve I had extra and replaced the knob. It may not be beautiful but, it works perfectly and I now have a good working 1/2" tapered thread valve to put on that yellow steel 72!