Possessed X-Valve

[Mav D MagMan]

Allright, I've read everything I can find on this sucker, first it was what I thought was a level ten issue, then I went to on/off and now I'm out of ideas... so here's the symptoms, then attempted solutions... I'm bummed, this is the first time I've ever had soo much trouble with my mag I've considered sending it in, so if you have ideas, send them my way!

For starters: This is on an unmodified once was a minimag, now ULE'd X-Valve'd Intelli'd minimag rail. Everything is put together the same as it has been for the last four years, it's assembled correctly.

1.) Leak down the barrel, stopped when the trigger was pulled.
-Simple enough, this had to be a level ten issue so I:
1. Went down a carrier size to eliminate a poor seal. No effect.
2. Figured the o-ring must be worn so I'd better replace it. Sized to new o-ring, still leaks.
3. Sometime during the teching, I also dropped the small spring that was on there in favor of a mid, hoping that the increased pressure would help keep the bolt back... no such luck?

2.) Heavy leak, bolt forces forward, even when the trigger was depressed.
-Well crap, the issue's in the on/off now? So I open her up, compare it to my working x-valve... at first I don't notice, but there's a crazy little black seal in here. I've looked at a few exploded diagrams and it's pretty unique.
-I replace it with a brand new out of the box on/off o-ring and get nothing. The sear rod doesn't pressurize but thankfully no leak. So I start to increase the pressure to account for the now mid length spring... the rod pressurizes, but nothing happens. I continue to increase until a leak starts down the barrel, that only gets worse as I begin to back out the regulator nut again?

This thing's got me stumped, anyone have any ideas?
Thanks,
Will

*Edit* forgot to mention, this thing is oiled before and after play, as well as at the installation of every new seal. It is well taken care of.

[Mav D MagMan]

After a while I became pretty sure it wasn't a LVL 10 issue.. so I found a great picture/direction of how to strip down the retro/x valve and pretty much rebuilt it/went through and made sure everything was there and working. Additionally, the valve's reg was turned way way down, that may have had something to do with it not sealing properly when I would turn on my tank.

So in case anyone else has any issues, that's what I did.

[BlackVCG]

The black o-ring is exclusive to the E-Mag. You should have a .712" pin and a black quad on/off top o-ring in the valve. I checked that when I went through the valve so it should be fine.

It is possible that the on/off center o-ring or bottom o-ring are your leak culprits. They both seal air and when you pull and hold the trigger, the leak will stop, thus making you think it's the LX, but actually it's one of those two o-rings in the on/off.

Also, as you've found out, if the velocity setting is too low, this will prevent the LX from sealing and cause a massive leak down the barrel when you gas up the gun.

[Mav D MagMan]

Yeah the "unknown" black o-ring is actually the E-Mag quad o-ring (as I found out, so I switched it into my new E-mag valve). Is there any way to tell the difference between the .712 E-Mag on/off and the stock X-valve version, I definitely do not have calipers handy.

Thanks for the info,
Will

[darrickws]

AGD had a batch of bad o-rings for the inside of the carriers...they were just too big. So no matter what carrier you used it leaked down the barrel. And all the o-rings in my new X-valve were the same bad batch. Try using an oring from your other level 10 kit....see if that fixes it. It did for me...gl!

[Mav D MagMan]

Thanks for the info, I've got two or three level 10 kits tossed together, it was probably a given that I'd come across a bad oring.

Will

[bigredbullseye]

Sounds exactly like the problem that just developed the last weekend with my rt pro.

It worked fine for a while and then it just started leaking air from the barrel.

when the trigger was pulled and held in place, the leak stops and then starts again as the trigger is released. I thought that it might have been the power tube o-ring, so i replaced it and no go it still leaked. I have a few carriers on order and will try to see if it was a carrier problem

[bigredbullseye]

Just a follow up to the problem.

I replaced the carrier with a brand new one that was the same size as before,

#1 was the size, I also replaced the o-ring washer that goes in the base of the powertube and....
guess what, no annoying barrel leak. I then compared the old carrier to the new one that I replaced it with and the old one looked like the #2 in size. I guess that the carriers can end up wearing down over time. But if this helps try a new carrier and washer.