Adjustable pressure relief valve?

[dtengineering]

At least some of the pressure relief valves that have come with the compressor in previous year's KoP's have been adjustable.

Now the rules said that you weren't allowed to adjust them... but they were adjustable by turning the nut and head, then re-tightening them.

It should be fairly easy to demonstrate that they have been set to a safe working pressure (say 70psi) but temporarily taking the LP side regulator up over 60 for inspection, then dialing it back for competition.

Frankly, however, I'm not sure why this has suddenly become a big issue. (Yeah... because it's in the rules.) In the event of a catastrophic regulator failure (don't know as I've heard of one of those happening in an FRC robot before... although who knows what damage "the bump" will inflict this year) combined with a failure of the pressure sensor and/or Crio code to limit pressure to 110psi, the maximum pressure that the LP side would be exposed to is 125 psi. A valve that is rated for a safe working pressure of .7MPa (100psi) should be able to handle considerably more than that in an emergency situation.

I agree with the idea of safety first, but also in keeping our perception of safey hazards in persepective with the risks we take every day simply crossing the street. I agree that the second pressure relief valve makes the robot safer in theory, but am in need of convincing that it has anything but an infinitesimal value in practice. We'd be better off making sure that all teams and inspectors know what a pressure relief valve is and that they have one on their robot... I have seen at least one team make it to Galileo (yes, Galileo) without ANY pressure relief vale in their pneumatic system.

But hey... it's in the rules... so let's get on with it.

Jason