spring question and maintenance

[Madcat_MK2]

Hello Everyone,

I took a few years off from playing and tomorrow will be my first day back at it but I have a few questions from perusing the store and thinking about the age of my mags. They are both RT ULE Customs made back in 08 and other than oiling the ASA before every use and occasionally changing the carrier o-ring once it leaks, I have not had to do a thing to them. I gassed them up for the first time yesterday and other than manually un-sticking the bolt from the o-ring by hand, they fired as great as always (they sat in my basement which is pretty cool and dry the whole time).

Since they both worked well and did not leak, should I bother going through and replacing the o-rings since almost all of them are from 08 or is it a matter of ain't broke don't fix it?

I did not open the regulators yet to check the grease on the springs, but assuming it may need some, what type should I put in there? Would playing the game tomorrow before re-freshing the grease be a bad idea?

As for the spring, I noticed in the store they do not recommend using the silver one anymore but both my mags have been running this one since day 1 (I put them in as-is and did not cut to customize). Should I move to the red spring going forward or keep using the silver as always? The lack of efficiency never really bothered me but I guess I would not really know the difference since I only tried using the red spring for a single game years ago and noticed the paint broke a little more so I stopped using it permanently.

Is there anything I should do to them I have not mentioned already?

Thanks for the help!

[rawbutter]

Welcome back to the game. Those are all good questions.

You might get lucky with your o-rings. If you use good oil, o-rings can definitely sit for a long time and be fine, especially the high quality o-rings in AGD markers. However, it's also common for o-rings to seem fine at first and not leak when you air up everything, despite being brittle. Then once you start using the marker and parts start rubbing on the o-rings, they start to leak. So if I were you, I would leave it alone for now, but buy a parts kit and replace everything at the first sign of trouble.

For the spring, there's no problem keeping the silver.

I don't know what to do about the regulator springs, though. I don't add any extra grease to mine, and they seem to work fine.

[Madcat_MK2]

Thank you and ah ok cool. I use the AGD oil as well so it sounds like I might get lucky then and not have to change them for quite some time. I already have a part kit on hand from a few years back that looks to be in good shape so I can give that a shot before buying a new one in this case.

Sounds good to me, though do you happen to know why its no longer recommended according to the store? Is the efficiency trade-off no longer worth it with the typical paint quality now?

OK, I guess unless someone else chimes in then I'll leave it alone. I was re-reading the lvl 10 guide and it mentioned keeping them greased up so that got me nervous as I have never touched them before.

[luke]

I would rebuild the valves anyway, old o-rings hinder performance even if they dont leak air.
I use Anti-Seize on the regulator spring. The only worry with the reg spring is rust.

[Nobody]

If it ain't broke don't fix...

I have had 2-3 years on orings from playing to sitting, a spot of oil and they were good. I have seen that a 10+ y/o RT that look like it slept in the gutter, literally come to life with some forceful use of oil(though it still leaked) but it held air. I have even seen my reg oring on ly classic valve die after 18+ years. So, get a kit, but if it isn't leaking, no sense changing something just because it could.

For the spring, each valve is an individual. Not every valve performs the same way with the same parts. If yours works with the silver, then so be it. If you start to have problems on leaks out the front, bolt not resetting, then start changing out parts. Otherwise, go and play. If you oiled the gun as much as you said you did ,that thing should be dripping and well preserved

[Sandman]

All Mags are for the most part, basically bullet proof guns. It's really hard to cause any damage to them by running old parts in them. There is something to be said for "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". The issue comes up as to where, when and what are you doing when it does break. Urethane orings have a 5 year shelf life. That's shelf life. In other words they don't guarantee their performance after five years of just sitting. So while the gun may gas up and run as you douse it with oil, chances are there is a failure in your near future. Just depends on when you want to deal with that failure. No doubt mags can run for a long time with very little maintenance or oring swaps once they are settled in. And again it's not going to hurt the gun to run it with bad orings. It really a matter of controlling the timing of those issues that are bound to come with a gun that's sat for a decade.

[luke]

I do know for a fact that on high-end performance old o-rings (specifically in the on/off) slow the valve down to point it wont operate correctly.

[Nobody]

I do know for a fact that on high-end performance old o-rings (specifically in the on/off) slow the valve down to point it wont operate correctly.

I do know for a fact that, old orings will work, till they don't and then you get leaks.

The question was whether to change orings just because if there is no leak.

So i would listen to Sandman over anyone else.

[Madcat_MK2]

Thank you all for the advice so far!

Luke, I assume the anti-seize you speak of is the same I would use on a vehicle; kind of like Permatex correct?

Though the gun ran basically perfect the whole time during my game yesterday, after playing for a few hours I'm planning to do a rebuild on it and the trigger. I think in my case since I do take good care of my gun I could just keep using until it something breaks, but to Luke's point, something felt off. It shot pretty well and fast, but the ULT trigger felt heavier than I remember and in long bursts it would chuff on a few trigger pulls like the bolt is not resetting fast enough. I could adjust and just leave it, but since my next game is a month away, Sandman has a good point and why screw with it during a game.

As for the spring, it does work well so I'm not worried about using it per se, I'm just curious if anyone knows the reason for the change of recommendation? Judging from my teammates comments, it seems paint has consolidated more in quality since I stopped playing a few years ago and my old JJ ceramic barrel does not look to be too compatible with the smaller size. Since that barrel gave me some trouble yesterday and I had to borrow a fitted one, it made me wonder if perhaps using the silver one is less useful now compared to the red spring and that is why the store changed so perhaps I should as well? What are all your experiences?

[luke]

Luke, I assume the anti-seize you speak of is the same I would use on a vehicle; kind of like Permatex correct?

Yes sir..

[Tunaman]

for one thing, the reg pin orings are under pressure and will be quite a bit flatter(squished) and will not last after sitting 8 years. They also get brittle and break. Like Tim said..5 yrs is pretty much max life on the orings.

[JKR]

I use Super Lube grease on my spring packs. The type of grease used isn't terribly important as I understand it, just something to prevent rust. I have read about people using axle grease too. I use Super Lube because it is a high quality grease that is non-toxic, has no smell, and I have it also for use on static orings in the 'gun like the powertube tip oring and the valve body oring.

[Madcat_MK2]

ok thanks for clarifying Luke. I do have a tube of the Super Lube on hand so maybe I'll try that instead of buying the Permatex and see how that goes for the run prevention. I've been using that stuff on my snowblower which takes way more of beating and it seems to do the job so far.