Help make my X-valve to be responsive

[athomas]

It sounds like your setup is experiencing a tiny bit of bolt stick. Always tune the level 10 without any shims installed. That way you avoid accidentally introducing a shim induced leak down the barrel. These shim leaks can be stopped by using a carrier size that is too tight and will cause bolt stick issues. These often occur when the gun sits for a while and the first shot will be at a lower velocity. To prevent this from happening, always use the largest carrier size that does not cause a leak when no shims are installed. Always use the same white powertube carrier oring in each carrier that you try. Its the inner diameter of that oring that you are adjusting.

The spring that you use depends on the air pressure in the front chamber, which depends on the barrel setup you are using. Each gun setup is a bit different so you will have to determine the best spring for your gun. The proper spring should allow you to shoot at about 20fps above the lowest velocity that the gun starts to shoot at. If you desire a velocity of 280fps and the gun starts to cycle at 260fps with the red spring, then it is the proper spring for your setup. If the red spring does not allow the gun to start cycling until 275fps, then you will need to use the gold spring to allow consistent operation at 280fps. If the gun starts to cycle at 240fps with the red spring, then you will probably want to try the silver spring and see at what velocity it starts to cycle.

If you want to simulate a shorter on-off pin, install a couple of shims in between the two halves of the on-off assembly.

The retro valve reactivity will never be the same as a Tippman reactive trigger. It was not designed that way. To maximize the ease of achieving reactivity, pull the trigger near the top. That way it has more reactive force pushing against your finger.

[ochsy]

Justus we can still swap parts. I can still rt like crazy even with my ult. I loaned my tank that has the ninja reg but it will be easy to get back.

[Justus]

Got your text, and it sounds good, Ochsy. Let's shoot for Wednesday afternoon. I'll bring my Nitroduck tank (will need a fill), my Chrony and all my parts.

If you want to simulate a shorter on-off pin, install a couple of shims in between the two halves of the on-off assembly.

Very good to know!

[Justus]

Alright, here's an update after teching the gun awhile with Ochsy today:

After swapping valves, and then swapping on/offs, and re-tuning my Level 10 with a larger carrier, we've determined a couple things. First, my problem with the sear not resetting after a shot was probably due to bolt stick at the end of the shot. I had previously used a larger carrier when tuning the Level 10, but got a leak down the barrel and immediately switched to a smaller carrier. I probably should have just oiled the gun, because I went back up to the larger carrier today with no problems, and did not have the sear reset issue afterwards.

Second, my RT failure lies in my on/off or the on/off pin. Swapping to Ochsy's ULT caused my gun to rip. When I pull my on/off out of the valve, the pin is usually left behind, stuck in the o-rings. Everything is just so tight with the on/off assembly. The pin measured 0.746". When I put a couple Level 10 shims inbetween the two halves of my on/off assembly, I was able to pull off a few 2-shots and 3-shots, but they were pretty slow.

My solution: slowly dremel down the length of my on/off pin to see if that helps reactivity. If not, then acquire a ULT. I'd rather have a heavier trigger pull with reactivity, but if I can't get it then I'll take a reactive hair-pin as a consolation.


(By the way, that ULT with 4 shims really rips! It's like, "Oops! I just fired off 10 shots." lol)

[ochsy]

I think it was more like a mini gun wish I had my ninja 1200

[Justus]

I broke out the dremel this evening and put on a super-fine gray grinding wheel. Then I went at my on/off pin. First I took it from 0.746" down to 0.735" and tried it out. It was like night and day. My X-valve RT'd very nicely, though it still seemed a little on the slow side. (I also still got one chop, and heard a small leak down the barrel after shooting about 30 paintballs.)

So I cleaned everything up and then went back to the dremel. This time I took the pin down to 0.724" and reassembled. Boom! It went off. Two and three shots were easy, and I could go very high on the trigger to rip off 20 and 30 shot bursts. Not once did the bolt or sear stick. Very nice!


I still have a leak down the barrel, though, and now it's definitely more noticeable. The leak would trail off and stop when I shot and held the trigger down, and would also stop if I barely pressed on the trigger without firing. I tried 4 drops of oil in the valve but the leak didn't stop. This means I have too large of a carrier on my Level 10, right? Or maybe a shim or two extra in the Level 10? (I have 2 shims in.) It was about 7* outside when I was doing my test firing. So maybe I should just try more oil.

[athomas]

Yes, sounds like a level 10 shim issue. Take them out. You shouldn't ever need them.

[Justus]

After searching for this thread to reference it to help out Enhander, I realize I never posted an update. I ended up taking out the shims in my powertube and had no more leaks whatsoever. I'm now a fan and advocate of the no-shim-method for tuning a Level 10.