Tac One: stammering paint-blender

[SpyderBoy]

I got some more air and tore my Xvalve apart again planning to try a larger carrier... only to find out that of the 4 carriers that came with my Tac One (sizes 0, .5, 1, and 1.5), I'm already using the largest one.

First, is it normal to only get 4 carriers with a brand new Tac One? Second, does anyone have spares they could send my way? I need sizes 2 through 4 to get a complete set judging by the AGD carrier size diagram.

[Henchman]

So, with no shims, and the largest carrier, you have no air leaks? So you possibly need a bigger one?

[sQuidvision]

carriers can be ordered direct from AGD for a few bucks a piece

[SpyderBoy]

Ok. Guess I'll have to call them up since I can't find them on their online store.

[athomas]

You won't need any sizes larger than 2.0 and 2.5.

Try a different oring. It might give you the size difference you need for now.

[SpyderBoy]

You won't need any sizes larger than 2.0 and 2.5.

Try a different oring. It might give you the size difference you need for now.

Ok. So when I got home this afternoon I took apart my Xvalve yet again and swapped out the carrier o-ring to see if a different one would work better... And then it started leaking rapidly between the two halves of the xvalve where the internal reg is...

So I tore it apart on the back end this time... Gooey brown greasy mess. I cleaned everything out till it was spotless and then greased it all with Hater Sauce (is that ok for Mags?) and put it back together... No leak now... Ok, time to try out that new carrier o-ring.

I backed off the velocity adjuster and gassed it up. Screwed in the velocity adjuster until the on/off actuated and then dry fired a few times to move things around. Seems to fire a little smoother than before. Loaded a few paintballs and fired them across my chrono. 233, 240, 235. So I cranked up the pressure and only got to 280 before it started to vent out the back.

Ok. So there seems to be less resistance on the o-ring. Good. Now I change the spring to the red one and put things back together. The lowest velocity I can get it to fire at is 320 and then I break a paintball in the breach again! Now the velocity is sporadic and the on/off won't reset consistently.

Sooo... I'm going to clean the marker again to get all the paint out of it and go back to the gold spring. I hope a new batch of paint will solve my breaking issues, but the other cycling issues are driving me nuts. I'm ordering an o-ring kit and carriers tonight and paint as well.

Any of you have this much trouble with your mags? I suppose 3 years is about right for a rebuild though isn't it?

[Henchman]

I have bought all my mags used.
If I can't get themto work 100%, I send them in.
My time on the field is too precious to waste tinkering.

[OPBN]

You won't need any sizes larger than 2.0 and 2.5.

Try a different oring. It might give you the size difference you need for now.

I have two seperate valves that are currently running on 1's. They seem to leak with anything larger.

[SpyderBoy]

I have bought all my mags used.
If I can't get themto work 100%, I send them in.
My time on the field is too precious to waste tinkering.

Where do you send them in to? Tuna? Or AGD?

[SpyderBoy]

I have two seperate valves that are currently running on 1's. They seem to leak with anything larger.

Even with two different o-rings I can't get a #2 carrier to leak... Or cycle well.

[Henchman]

Where do you send them in to? Tuna? Or AGD?

I send them to AGD.
$65 for a full service job.

[athomas]

...So I tore it apart on the back end this time... Gooey brown greasy mess. I cleaned everything out till it was spotless and then greased it all with Hater Sauce (is that ok for Mags?) and put it back together... No leak now... Ok, time to try out that new carrier o-ring.

I backed off the velocity adjuster and gassed it up. Screwed in the velocity adjuster until the on/off actuated and then dry fired a few times to move things around. Seems to fire a little smoother than before. Loaded a few paintballs and fired them across my chrono. 233, 240, 235. So I cranked up the pressure and only got to 280 before it started to vent out the back.

Ok. So there seems to be less resistance on the o-ring. Good. Now I change the spring to the red one and put things back together. The lowest velocity I can get it to fire at is 320 and then I break a paintball in the breach again! Now the velocity is sporadic and the on/off won't reset consistently.

Sooo... I'm going to clean the marker again to get all the paint out of it and go back to the gold spring. I hope a new batch of paint will solve my breaking issues, but the other cycling issues are driving me nuts. I'm ordering an o-ring kit and carriers tonight and paint as well....?

The mags like light synthetic oil best. All you want to do is wet the orings and nothing more. The excess will blow off. If the grease is too thick, it impedes the orings and the excess doesn't blow off. The problem with grease is that it will dry and thicken up over time, so you will need to constantly clean your valve internals.

The valve will vent out the back at the higher level 10 operating pressures if it is using one of the original level 7 regulator piston assemblies. You will need to upgrade the piston assembly if this is the case.

If you just barely got the mag to consistently cycle and fire, then chances are that the paintball did not get chopped, but broke when it got pushed into the barrel.

It also sounds like you still have bolt stick issues. This is more evident with the stiffer springs.

[SpyderBoy]

The mags like light synthetic oil best. All you want to do is wet the orings and nothing more. The excess will blow off. If the grease is too thick, it impedes the orings and the excess doesn't blow off. The problem with grease is that it will dry and thicken up over time, so you will need to constantly clean your valve internals.

The valve will vent out the back at the higher level 10 operating pressures if it is using one of the original level 7 regulator piston assemblies. You will need to upgrade the piston assembly if this is the case.

If you just barely got the mag to consistently cycle and fire, then chances are that the paintball did not get chopped, but broke when it got pushed into the barrel.

It also sounds like you still have bolt stick issues. This is more evident with the stiffer springs.

Should I get rid of the grease in the reg assembly completely then and just use gold cup oil? I only used the Hater Sauce in the reg area.

Ok. My Xvalve (as part of my Tac One) was purchased new from Tuna about 3-4 years ago. Would that be new enough to have the newer regulator piston? I did notice some scarring at the back of the piston around the vent hole and wondered if that was normal.

As of now I am waiting to get the carriers and o-ring kit ordered from Tuna so I can do more testing. I'll check back in once I get a chance to work on it more. Thanks for giving me hope that I'll figure this thing out.

[athomas]

Gold cup oil is ideal for the valve regulator. Only the spring pack needs to be greased, and its only because grease sticks better to keep it from rusting.

All X-valves come with the newer high pressure regulator piston assembly.

[SpyderBoy]

Ok. So I received the carriers and o-ring kit from Tuna and started the tuning process again with a new o-ring.

Starting at a size 2.5 carrier and going down I had to go down to a 1.5 to keep it from leaking down the barrel. With the 1.5 carrier it fires fairly consistently and can RT sporadically. I can sweet spot it and get 5-7 shot bursts before I have to flick the trigger to reset the on/off again. I'm using the ULT. Is it the ULT on/off sticking or the bolt? How can I tell?

Also, the efficiency is TERRIBLE! I got about 2-300 shots on a full 68/4500 tank dry-firing... Is that normal?

I'm starting to get frustrated... Should I just go through the whole marker and replace all the o-rings and try tuning again?