Let's get this leak fixed!

[Boydster]

I recently bought a used valve for 30 bucks. Everything works as it should except there is a leak coming from the barrel area. I have literally tried everything possible to get it to stop. When I pull the trigger and close the on/off, the leak fades away. That indicates it's a pt problem. When the on/off opens again, the leak comes back.

-I got a spacer kit and tried everyone of them. Still leaks.
-I've replaced the pt oring with 4 others. Still leaks.
-I changed every oring in the on/off. Still leaks.
-I've tried another regulator pin. Still leaks.
-I've tried another reg seat. Still leaks.
-I got my newer version of the Reg piston in the mail today. Got that in and it still leaks. I know though that this would have nothing to do with a leak.
-I've tried two different bolts. Still leaks with both.
-And there is nothing left to do....

One other question while I have a thread going...
I ordered a newer style reg piston from Tunaman and the allen screw think out the back of it is screwed in a different length from the original. The new one has that allen screw all the way in so it's a little below the gold barrier. The original had it out 2 or 3 threads. This allowed the spring pack to sit a lot lower and it made me have to turn the hand RVA all the way in to it hits the back of the reg body. And it is still rather loose when it's in that far.

Thanks. Please help me through this.

[athomas]

Replace the sear. A worn sear will allow the bolt to sit too far forward. If this happens the back of the bolt stem will not seal against the powertube o-ring and you will get leaking down the powertube.

[CaliMagFan]

very keen observation athomas....

exactly what i was going to say... you can infact just see if the sear is worn at the end that locks up with the bolt.... the only thing is that tom says in the classic video that the sear is carbide coated for long life... and he wasnt kidding.. i've had a sear still working for over 8 years of weekly service..... the part that is more apt to wear is actually the flared ring at the base of the bolt... make sure it is not worn away too much, cause that would mean you'd need to replace the bolt itself.

-kyro

[darrickws]

another rare problem/solution

I had this happen to me as well...after hours of switching parts and pulling hair, I discovered the was no rail bushing. Never thought it was that important, but once in, valve worked perfect. otherwise it lets the valve slip back enough to not seat properly. Check and see if the copper/brass bushing in in the hole that the thumbscrew goes into.

Godd luck!

[Boydster]

-The bushing is there.

-The original valve works fine with the same sear. It's the only sear that I have been using. It's just something with the actual valve.

-The back-up valve still had a problem with my original valve's working order bolt. So two bolts have been used and it still does it.

-I read in the manual that this can happen if you have a cracked power tube. How little does the crack have to be? As far as I can tell, there are no cracks at all. Unless they are microscopic cracks.

Any more ideas? Thanks.

[Andrew Cunje]

hold in ur triggger after u gas it up...

what this does is seperate the valve

if you still hear leaking its in teh back half or in the on/off the on/off is unlikley due to the fact that you replaced all the o-rings...

check the o-ring on the outside of ur carrier...(little black one)

make sure that you have the white backign washer in place behidn ur carrier :)

uhm....probably not teh cause but check...make sure the part of the bolt that goes into teh barrel is not horrible mangled or bent......hrm....try those first ill keep thinking

[darrickws]

oh ya...

Answer to your second question....the screw on the Rep piston is in farther to allow for higher air pressure. The original ones were out to start venting if the gun was shooting over 320 fps. Because the level 10 kit requires more air, it takes more air to reach 300 fps. Many of the older ones now started leaking at 250 - 260 fps. By screwing in the back nut farther, it allows higher air pressures.

For your main problem, it sounds like you have tried almost everything. Did you switch the power tube tips between your 2 valves, or at least the oring on the tip?

[Boydster]

Andrew Cunje, It's a stock lvl seven bolt in my back-up valve. Or at least I think it's a lvl 7. How can you tell? and the bolt seems fine all around. Also....

When I pull the trigger and close the on/off, the leak fades away. That indicates it's a pt problem. When the on/off opens again, the leak comes back.

darrickws, Couldn't I have just screwed that thing in instead of buying a newer style one for 15 bucks then? So I should take that new style one out and put the original back if I'm not using a lvl ten? I have a new style already in my uh, non-back-up lvl ten valve. Also, I have tried different tips. The one that was on it and the one from my working Classic valve.

To clear this up, it is a Classic valve and it does not have a level ten bolt.

Keep your ideas coming.... Thanks.

If everything fails, I may just take the ANS Phase II reg of and put my normal one with a star on. Then I could send it to AGD.... But I'd like to fix it myself.

[CaliMagFan]

hows your trigger rod looking?.... when you're completely off teh trigger is there space ( a dime's width or so) between the tip of the trigger rod and the back surface of teh trigger?..... if not then you're activating your trigger far too early and that may be the cause of your problem.... waht condition is your bolt spring in?.... does it spring up longer than the tip of the bolt, or has it started to wear and thus sag below the level of the tip of the bolt when you put the bolt upright on a table with the spring on it...

i'm super-stumped by this one... i'm gunnna keep thinking about it for you, cause i dont like to see mags stay wounded..

ps/// there should be no problem staying with your new reg piston from tuna.... tahts a new and thus "better" piece than you had before... plus the idea is to not have to screw the velocity nut in all the way to get the desired speed, so its good that you have that extra play.
-kyro

[Boydster]

hows your trigger rod looking?.... when you're completely off teh trigger is there space ( a dime's width or so) between the tip of the trigger rod and the back surface of teh trigger?..... if not then you're activating your trigger far too early and that may be the cause of your problem.... waht condition is your bolt spring in?.... does it spring up longer than the tip of the bolt, or has it started to wear and thus sag below the level of the tip of the bolt when you put the bolt upright on a table with the spring on it...

i'm super-stumped by this one... i'm gunnna keep thinking about it for you, cause i dont like to see mags stay wounded..

ps/// there should be no problem staying with your new reg piston from tuna.... tahts a new and thus "better" piece than you had before... plus the idea is to not have to screw the velocity nut in all the way to get the desired speed, so its good that you have that extra play.
-kyro

Ok.
The spring is good.
The sear rod length works perfect with the other valve. Don't see why it wouldn't with this one.

I think a crack in the pt would be the only thing left. But I don't see any signs of cracks unless it is extremely small.

[athomas]

It could still be the sear. I've had one valve work great with a given sear and then put another one in and had it leak out the front. Changing the sear fixed it. The original sear had been worn a bit on the tip.

[Boydster]

I will try that later today. The original owner said it leaked like that for him also though. He said if he loosened the field strip screw and pushed the valve in the body as far as possible and tightened it there, the leak would go away. I tried that but it didn't work for me.

What does this quick fix mean it is? I'll let you know how a new sear works. Glad I have a spare now...

[CaliMagFan]

that quick fix would tend to show that the problem is what we are telling you.....

so, either your bolt or your sear are currently worn too much and the position of the bolt is too far down the PT to make a complete seal..... how about trying this.... push the bolt face back while the marker is gassed up and leaking... i'll bet that the leak stops or slows down a lot more...

basically what the FS screw trick does is force the valve to seat farther forward in the body, when this happens the distance between the free-floating bolt and the sear (attached essentially to the body) is reduced and the bolt-PT seal is made....

i know you didnt think that the sear and the bolt were your problem, and i dont wanna have you go out and buy both of those things new, but i would maintain that they are your 2 most likely culprits....

also the sear is easy to check for wear... it becomes discolored at the tip and a little rounded or chipped at..... the bolt on the otherhand wears more evenly and you'd almost need to complare it to another bolt to see that its worn... i've really got the feeling that is your issue....

how about this?;;; get a LVL10 kit... you'll have a new bolt and PT parts with antichop... and you already got the new HP reg piston, so you should have no trouble makeing velocity....

good luck man,

-kyro

[Boydster]

It's not the sear. I just tried out the one I bought from Tuna. It's brand new and the rod is in the original place. Still leaks.

I have an idea. I'll put that new sear and the bolt that works in there. I'll also push on the bolt to see if it stops if it continues to leak. And I'll compare the two bolts. Wait, how? Stand them up and see what one has the sear catch area lower to the table? I'll be back in a few.

Thanks.

[Boydster]

Ok... Where to start....

First off, the bolt on the valve that leaks looked like it had wear on the rim where the sear touches. Like tiny chips or something. How can I explain this. Umm... Looks like the difference between a chrome body and one that was hand polished. And it had extremely small dents or something like that.

The sears looked exactly the same. One brand new, don't know about the other.

I tried it out with the new sear and the bolt that worked in the other valve. Still leaked.

Pushing on the bolt when it's aired up makes the leak worse. Or maybe I'm hearing a hiss from the air going around my finger?....

My lvl ten bolt works perfect in my original valve. Put in this and it leaked still. No changes were made to the configuration. Carriers were made for variances in the bolt stem, correct? Switching valves will not affect it at all?

I can feel air coming out of the gap between the valve and body.

Doing that quick fix I was talking about did absolutely nothing. Pushing the valve in and tightening did not fix it like the previous owner said it would.

It must be a crack in the Power tube with this evidence. Sound like this is it? Is it time to send it to AGD with my standard reg with a star? (I have a Phase II reg on it right now.) If they see a star, will they replace the front half that has the crack for free? Wait, do they even do work on Classic valves anymore?