Underwater leak test, DON'T!

For the life of me i cannot figure why anyone would even think to do this ? Totally unbelievable !

Rust in a barrel is a no go!
I acquired a Benjamin Crack barrel that could barely get on paper at 25 yards. It turned out to be a rusty barrel. I cleaned and shot copper clad pellets, until I got it clear. Afterwards I was shooting small targets, like shot shells and bottle caps.

A lot of people think black oxide or gun bluing is a rust preventer. For all practical purposes it’s an indoor coating. But even indoors both can rust. A light coating of a rust preventive and low humidity is key.
Nice work on the restoration.

ctshooter said:

I really appreciate this post as I have a Leshiy Classic with a tiny leak that I have not been able to track down even after a full reseal on d the gun and reg.

I had been contemplating a water dunk but had rust concerns. Is there a different liquid that might be safe to dunk in? Alcohol maybe as it will evaporate.

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This is an excellent question because many established and experienced tuners use the dunk method for finding stubborn leaks still. Sure they know the Airgun intimately and have it completely disassembled and compressed air dry it along with other methods to make sure it’s completely dry with no chance of rust.

Sometimes those stubborn small leaks are a nightmare even after a complete reseal. You just hope that it’s not a scrapped o-ring wall from a pick or something bad like that you’re missing That will take machining to fix.

Interesting point about drying with compressed air. I bet I could use my HPA tank as a giant compressed air nozzle.

A few yrs back I was interested in getting a K1. I went to Krazy kool's site & he had a short video of him dunking the K1 receiver in some kind of liquid & showing the bubbles coming out. It definitely wasn't water, so I sent him an email asking what he was using? I never got a reply & that video is no longer on his site?

Antifreeze with water maybe!!! The antifreeze is not supposed to let it rust

I did it, years ago as a last resort with an Impact... I was definitely very nervous!! I just couldn't find the leak, so at the advice of Ernest, I took a chance and dunked it.

I did find the leak, fixed it and didn't have any problems with rust. I am a bit OCD which definitely helped... It's all in the preparation, disassembly and drying/lubing afterward.

Disassemble as much as possible, dunk it, find the leak, then disassemble the whole thing, repair the leak, dry everything and liberally lube everything. Let it sit for a while, wipe it down, reassemble and then lube it again.

I wouldn't recommend it, but if you disassemble, dunk, dry, lube, repair, reassemble and thoroughly lube each part again, it's definitely doable... Scary but doable!

Have a great afternoon!
Stoti

I’ll probably dunk it too, if I had a leak that was driving me crazy.

ONLY time one might consider a water dunk is KNOWING FOR FACT you will be taking entire gun apart and do a through clean & dry operation while addressing leak if found.
I spritz soapy water time to time for a localized leak & that too post doing so the gun ABSOLUTELY comes apart where you have introduced the soapy water !!!

WD-40 can also be used for localized leak detecting & only requires a air hose blow off and wipe down afterwards.

I use an Ultra sonic Leak detector, it finds 99% of the leaks, some times soapy water, clean good with air, towel, blow dryer and alcohol.

KatoKevin454 said:

I use an Ultra sonic Leak detector, it finds 99% of the leaks, some times soapy water, clean good with air, towel, blow dryer and alcohol.

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Does it work under water?

That is just NUTS
I remember walking off course when trap shooting when it started to rain losing all the fees related
And complete tear down after just in case water got some were
Sends chills down my back thinking about doing that to a gun

SilentSquirrel said:

Does it work under water?

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No water needed, but I find the ultra sonic detector to have a hard time with leaks that take a few weeks to leak down.

Back_Roads said:

No water needed, but I find the ultra sonic detector to have a hard time with leaks that take a few weeks to leak down.

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that's when you gotta listen real hard...... even harder if you're deaf.... like me....