Powertube Spring vs. Powertube Spacer

[Bagheera]

Okay, after taking my Automag out of mothballs after 16 years, I went ahead and put all new seals in it, while watching the Automag video on youtube. However, after fussing with the on/off valve and getting rid of the chuffing and sprinkler problems, now I have a very very slight leak, and can't fire as fast as I used to without more chuffing. Here's what happens;

Trigger depressed - very very low hiss coming from the Mag.

Trigger released - louder hissing coming from the Mag.

Fire too fast - chuffing (not short stroking)

This thing short strokes on a dime now.

One thing I thought about, is that I'm using the same powertube spring it came with (the small thick one), the same spring that has been sitting in the Mag for 16 years. I'm thinking that maybe the metal isn't as fresh as it used to be, and maybe it's not sealing right and that's why I'm having problems as noted above. Would I be better off buying a new powertube spring, or buying the new powertube spacers? Thanks for the advice.

[questionful]

Get the spacers.

Did you oil your valve? Dump a bunch of oil in there and fire it a bunch to spread it around. Or open it up and put oil on the O-rings manually. New seals that leak doesn't sound right. . .

[Bagheera]

Oh ya, I dipped each ring in a shallow cup of oil, and applied oil liberally throughout the gun. I'm guessing the problem is the powertube spring, since it's so old, unless someone else has any other ideas. I'm leaning towards getting new spacers for sure.

[questionful]

Well there might be something wrong with your sping, but there is definitely something wrong with your on/off. When you hold the trigger down the on/off is closed, so if it's leaking when you hold the trigger down, something's wrong with your on/off. Are you sure you installed all the O-rings in it? There should be two O-rings at the bottom of the hole in the valve where the on/off assy. goes.

[athomas]

Leaking while the trigger is held generally indicates an oring leak on the top of the on-off assembly. Its usually the small white one.

Make sure you replaced the bolt spring when you replaced the orings. The bolt springs are consumable items in mags and should be replaced on a regular basis anyway. Yours should be replaced just because it is old.

It is possible that there was some wear on the sear tip. This would allow the bolt to sit farther forward than it did when the gun was new. That would make the powertube spring a bit too long and create the leak you are experiencing. You can compensate for that using a shorter powertube spacer. Instead of purchasing a spacer kit, I would invest in a level 10 bolt.

Make sure you have the velocity setting turned up high enough to reliably cycle the gun.

[Bagheera]

The whole thing is ready for the emergency room. After only a minor problem as noted above, this is now happening;

http://automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=232059

Well, the title says it. I nearly got the whole thing working well, then I got the mag at a bad angle while screwing in the tank, got liquid co2 in the valve, and bam, co2 venting everywhere, and after that, I have the following symptoms. FYI, I've rebuilt the whole gun a 2nd time with yet another brand new seal kit, all while following the Tom Kaye video on youtube (keep in mind, I'm no airsmith.)

Symptoms before liquid co2 fiasco;

Lawn sprinkler (fixed this)
Slower recharge rate than normal


Symptoms AFTER liquid co2 fiasco;
Very, very very slow recharge (takes 30 secs or more to recharge the valve)
Leak out of where the two main body parts meet (yes I have a new o-ring here as well.)


I'm at my wit's end. Before I put my gun in the closet 15 years ago, it worked like a dream, but now that I'm trying to rebuild it, I can't get it to work right.

By the way, I got this gun waaaaay before stars, so I don't know if I can even send it in to Automag or not without getting charged.

Thanks for any help on this!