X-valve problems, need help soon!

[Smokee_2_7]

Ok, here's the story. This gun is belongs to one of my temamates. Since I'm the local 'mag guy' Im the one that works on everyones' gun. I set him up with a brand new x-valve last week. Intstalled last week and played with this past sunday. We shot it a bit tonight and there are still some problems that I originally attributed to lvl 10 and the reg. breaking in.

Gun setup:
vert. feed minimag
X-valve
Benchmark 2x frame
Stock body rail.
68ci 3k preset crossfire nitro

lvl 10 settings:
2.0 carrier (anything bigger leaks)
no shims
Middle spring.


The first problem we noticed was that when he shot the gun at anything above 260, there is a small 'puff' of air that shoots out the back of the reg when you pull the trigger - - NOT a constant leak.

Well, I tweaked around with level 10 settings tonight, and found that now, if I attempt to turn the velocity up to anything past 265-270, the reg is leaking out the back. Forget using the longest spring - - it leaks before the gun starts to fire.

My previous experiences say that this is a textbook case of a bad reg. piston. however, this dosent seem right because the valve is literally less than a week old. ( and was doing this before, but we just left it low and lived with it for practice). I did check the o-rings in the reg area- - piston o-ring, reg. seat o-ring and the small o-ring in there too. All are clean, with no visible imperfections, and are well oiled. I did notice that the reg. seat o-ring is a pretty stiff fit on the reg. pin. Is this correct? Could a bum reg. piston be causing both the 'puff' of air out the back of the reg upon firing, as well as the blow-off before pressure is up?


Any help is greatly appreciated. Im trying to get some more ideas tonight before i call AGD tomorrow - - this has got to be fixed yesterday- - - We're going to Mardi gras next weekend.



Thanks again,

Carl

[NJsyndicate]

you said you had the middle spring right?
Might wanna go with the short/stock one. I had a similar problem with my micro, but I had a intermitten leak down the barrel, I though it was the spring length (I had the shortest), I put the middle one in thinking the short one wasn't reseting teh valve fully. I basically had the same problems you experiencing, couldn't get the velocity over 250fsp w/o it venting out the back. Also it would vent inconsistently as well when I got close to 250fps (a couple shots would be ok then it'd vent, not exactly your problem but close). To top it off, it didn't solve the leak either ; turned out to be a hammered carrier o-ring coupled with a carrier that was a little too big. Not to get entirely off topic, but try the short spring and see if that solves the problem.

The only other thing on the set up that seems out the the ordinary is the lack of shims (every LX user I've talked too/seen is using 2) but if it isn't leaking on gas up then it should be no problem.

[Smokee_2_7]

First off, on shims.

Even though most people use 2 shims, many dont need to.

If, when lvl 10 is installed properly, you pinch a ball(i.e. the bolt stops and farts) and the bolt dose NOT reset, you need to add a shim. They control the point at which the bolt vents. on this gun the bolt resets every time it pinches - - - so no shims.


Now, as far as going with the smallest spring: to some extent you're right- - - but it wont be a real fix to the problem. The different springs allow you to balance the pressure pushing against the bolt with the air pressure pushing forward on it. When you have less pressure pushing, you need less pressure pushing back on it. The real world application of all this is that the different springs give you the famous 'lvl 10 paint handling ability' in different pressure ranges. Translate that into velocities. The smallest spring will give you the easy-on-paint ability in a lower range, i.e. 250-260ish (indoor velocites). The cut spring gives you the same ability at a higher pressure range= 260ish-280 velocities. The longest spring gives you the most resistance, which is needed for the highest pressure ranges: 280ish-300.


I could (and did, just for the heck of it) put the small spring in the gun. Yes, it shoots fine. The problem is that This gun needs to handle 0-2 bounce paint at 290 fps to 300fps. There's a DANG good chopping possibility using the short spring in the gun at 290.

The reason the 'rule' is " go with the cut spring" is that most people are shooting in the 270ish-280ish range= most rec field speed limits.


So, all that being said, Im still betting money that I have a bad (brand new)reg. piston on my hands, and little to no time to get a new one in there before Mardi gras.

Thanks for the suggestion though!


Carl

[Load SM5]

It does sound like a defective reg piston. Call Jon and have him fire one to the store for you. He got my gun back to me in 2 days. That's the only thing I can think of. Sorry your buddy's having issues. I hate that right before a huge tournament. See you guys down there.

[Smokee_2_7]

Yeah, Im supposing that calling up jon will be the best idea. It just stinks that it happens to be in a new valve, and all this just happens to be 2 days before our last practice before the tourney. Oh, on a more personal note, i dont guess i told you that i accidentally DESTROYED my z-grip trigger yesterday? Yeah. . .that would be the trigger for my primary gun. . . . Oh yeah, and they dont make those anymore. . .

Well, the good news is that i called AGD and they just HAPPENED to find a used one floating around, which SHOULD be here tomorrow. (dang, i sure hope so. . .)

Oh yeah, and our best front player injured himself pretty bad in a basketball game two nights ago. They are thinking he tore some ligaments (thats what they said at the E.R. - - they are waiting for the swelling to go down before further testing.) AND our other mid player may not be able to miss class thursday/ friday- - - - and I may not be able to miss class thursday, putting me in new orleans at the earliest 630 thursday night.



It's been one of those weeks.

SO!! how ya been!

[Load SM5]

I've been great thanks, Apparently because I'm not hanging out with you. You're bad luck to be around, it seems.

My Flatline still does'nt work for all the same reasons so it's up to my trusty ol' 88/4500 PE to get me through another tourney. Other than that the X-Valve seems to be fine and the ACE works properly. I'm headed down Tuesday afternoon to pick 2 AOer's up from the airport and then its a day or 2 of seeing the sites and walking fields. I'm nervous as hell but looking forward to it.