broken paint; shattered dreams :(

[cannibal ox]

Just got back from my first day playing with my ReTro/intelliminimag. I chopped 1 out of 100, probably more. Attribute at least half of that to short stroking as I have never shot the gun in a game situation. I am kind of dissapointed that it seems I have to spend another $80-90 (lvl-10) so my gun functions at par with any other.
I checked my nubbin, used different paint, etc. I searched this forum semi-obsessively while purchasing components from agd and assembling the gun as to not have the problems I had today. When it was not spewing paint gobs it was shooting like a champ. I wish I had a digital camera so I can post pics, the gun looks great (when paint is not dripping out the barrel) but I'm still kind of pissed. Peace

Chuck D

[shartley]

Sorry to hear that. Sounds like you need to practice with your marker. I am sure once you learn to shoot it you will love it….

[Fanatic]

he is right,
I had an old school RT and that was the mother of blenders IMO.
But practicing HOW to shoot that bad boy made me a better player. You cant just pull the trigger as fast as your hearts content. you gotta go with your guns flow...

[cannibal ox]

I lent the gun to one of the techs at the field (who also owns a mag) and he didnt have half as many chops/breaks etc. But even if half my problems were operator error its still too many breaks. lvl 10 intimidates me as I don't feel familar enough with the gun to go trying to do the install myself, but I know the only way to get more comfortable is for me to do it. Im obsessive when it comes to my equipment. Maybe I'm just a short-stroking madman who should sell the mag and give the money to charity.

[joeyjoe367]

Don't be intimidated by lvl 10! A trained team of monkies could easily upgrade a lvl 7 gun to lvl 10 :)

The reason a LOT of people mess things up is because they don't read theDIRECTIONS!

[Me]

why is it that i am the only owner of an RT that never choped? heh. turn ur pressure down

[cannibal ox]

by pressure, do you mean the 850 that my preset tank is at? Or the 275-280 that I was consistently shooting between chops? I have a foamie bolt from my original AIR valve that I might try,as well as the new nubbin style (I used the old v style today, not the circular one) before I suck it up and buy lvl 10

[Me]

the preset. i was talking about the Old skool RT's. but it may still apply to the retro's, when it chops is it "running a way" from you? like the shots will be almost automatic? that will chop balls. either get Lvl 10, or a adj nitro tank. I'd go w/ the lvl 10

[aaron_mag]

Get Level 10! It is very easy to install. I got it installed first try and working like a champ. I have not chopped one ball since. My stepson hated using my retro mag because of chopping. His Tippmann, however, wasn't working right so I had to do some adjustments. He used my automag while I was tinkering with it. Guess what....I couldn't get it back from him after I fixed the Tippmann. He loved it with Level 10. He didn't chop a ball all day. You will love it.

Looks like I might be buying another retro mag just so I can use my mag:D

[joeyjoe367]

Originally posted by Me
why is it that i am the only owner of an RT that never choped? heh. turn ur pressure down \

Umm.. sorry, but other than to prevent misfeeding due to sweetspotting, lowering your input pressure won't do squat for you.

Bolt speed is generally what breaks the paint, and turning down the pressure won't lower bolt speed.

Check the paint you're using. Bounce test it. do a search/tom's tech tips. They're there somewhere.

[InfinatyBPS]

thats why u shoulda listened to ur friends when they said, "get a cocker":D ;)

[cannibal ox]

while we are on the subject of malfunctioning equipment, my 68/45 pmi tank will not seal if the pressure is lower than 500 psi. Anybody else have that problem with pmi tanks? I had more problems today than I could have imagined. I should have just gotten a cocker. I'm sure that is the answer to all my problems. Thanks for the advice.

[aaron_mag]

Don't try to get our goat by saying you just should have gotten a cocker. I've seen cocker players on the field saying, "I should have gotten an Impulse!" as they angrily try to get their marker working. As if the automag has anything to do with your PMI tank anyway.


I am kind of dissapointed that it seems I have to spend another $80-90 (lvl-10) so my gun functions at par with any other.

Sorry but this is BS as well. The level 10 upgrade does not make your gun function at par with any other. The retrovalve/level 10 combination make for a great marker. I don't care what marker you buy everyone immediately starts tweaking it. Played with a guy with an Intimidator the other day and he raved and raved about it. Of course he had made a ton of upgrades to it. I got to shoot it and I have to say that it was a sweet setup. Still on a price/performance basis I'll keep my retromag with level 10. Just get the Level 10. When you have it setup you will be raving like the rest of us instead of whining about your broken dreams:D

[Fanatic]

not to talk bad about cockers but, you almost have to be a tech just to set it up right. i guess when you got your timing right is kicks but...
me, im as lazy as they come, i like to put the tank on, fill the hopper with balls, and pull the trigger. if it breaks..oil it!
As your concern about lvl 10, i just got mine, i just looked at the pictures without the directions and it worked!! well, need to test it out anyway..but i can put my finger in the breech and no pain....after i installed it.
But if your looking for a marker that can be fixed with fast like a spyder, durable, and dependable..dude..stick with the mag.

[*ArKfEaR*]

Originally posted by EMAGfanatic
not to talk bad about cockers but, you almost have to be a tech just to set it up right. i guess when you got your timing right is kicks but...
me, im as lazy as they come, i like to put the tank on, fill the hopper with balls, and pull the trigger. if it breaks..oil it!
As your concern about lvl 10, i just got mine, i just looked at the pictures without the directions and it worked!! well, need to test it out anyway..but i can put my finger in the breech and no pain....after i installed it.
But if your looking for a marker that can be fixed with fast like a spyder, durable, and dependable..dude..stick with the mag.

no you dont have to be a tech, you just have to know cockers. You for one have to know what combination of parts to put on, what to stay away from, and once you know that you just need to know what colors you want to make it look pretty. As well as a cocker is for a person that loves there gun, and wants to have fun doing stuff to it. I love upgrades, sadly i cant do anything to my cocker anymore cause i have it set up perfectly. No chops, or breaks anymore, everything is broken in nicely, and its consistant as hell. Also if you are going to become a cocker owner, take time and research it. Learn how to time it, learn basics, dos and donts, and for all experience. I remember when i first got my cocker i was a bit worried but as time went on i learned alot from a cocker expert and just plain ol experience.

Dont solve your problems by getting a cocker, but if you do get a cocker you will not be sorry. Plus if you need help with anything you can ask me if you dont have a reference already.

[InfinatyBPS]

Originally posted by *ArKfEaR*


no you dont have to be a tech, you just have to know cockers. You for one have to know what combination of parts to put on, what to stay away from, and once you know that you just need to know what colors you want to make it look pretty. As well as a cocker is for a person that loves there gun, and wants to have fun doing stuff to it. I love upgrades, sadly i cant do anything to my cocker anymore cause i have it set up perfectly. No chops, or breaks anymore, everything is broken in nicely, and its consistant as hell. Also if you are going to become a cocker owner, take time and research it. Learn how to time it, learn basics, dos and donts, and for all experience. I remember when i first got my cocker i was a bit worried but as time went on i learned alot from a cocker expert and just plain ol experience.

Dont solve your problems by getting a cocker, but if you do get a cocker you will not be sorry. Plus if you need help with anything you can ask me if you dont have a reference already.

Word...

[cannibal ox]

one more post and Ill let the thread die.
If you look at the end of infinitys first post he states that I should have listened to my friends when they told me to get a cocker (wich they did). By no means to I truly believe that a cocker is the answer to my problems. I like to gas up and go. I short stroked the hell out of a mag, a cocker in my hands would be a paint fountain.
Nobody knows anything about the PMI tank problem?

[paintball8869]

Well, if you don't know how to pull the trigger on teh mag, it will definitely spew paint. I found this out a couple months ago when my friend took his mag out of his closet to play with it for the first time in 2 years. He's been away in college and has had no time for paintball (sucks to be him), so he hadn't done anything to his level 7 mag since i think 99 (or somewhere around there).

Well, he goes out and starts chopping like hell. I can't figure out why he's chopping so much (12v revvy). Then I watched him shoot, he's shooting the thing so damn fast (hitting about 10 bps easily) wiht a single trigger and i was just watchin in amazement. And that's when it starts chopping. I think he was also shortstrokin once in a while in there too, which really screws things up even more.

So he got annoyed, we figured out it was because he was firing to fast and shortstroking every so often. I then decided not to let that happen again and seeing as how i don't have a mag and wanted to test level 10, i bought a level 10 kit. Popped it into his gun in about 10 minutes (took me a while to find a properly sized carrier) and he couldn't chop with the thing at all. Now we can play and he can't complain about chopping :) No excuses anymore :)


Ok so i just gave you a LONG story, but basically it all comes down to this. He didn't know how to pull the trigger (because he hasn't played in a long time) and that's what was killin the paint. So it might be that you don't know how to pull the trigger, whetehr it's the slowness of your feedrate compared to your high rate of fire or that you're shortstrokin. Definitely invest in level 10, i was skeptical but now will swear by it. You'll NEVER regret it.

[Timmee]

Also, if I might recommend, check to make sure your powerfeed plug is the parabolic type, and is adjusted right. That's the source of the problems I was having.