FX Royale 400 Not Making Power Need Help

[flynviking]

I have a regulated FX Royale 400 with a CF bottle that started to occasionally throw shots that were noticeably under powered. Previously I had tuned it to shoot JSB 18.13 pellets at 880 fps. Today I took the opportunity to shoot it over the chronograph and it was shooting about 840 fps and did shoot a couple shots as low as 560 fps.

At this point I decided to take it apart and replace the O rings on the FX factory regulator and check the HS tension at the same time. The O rings looked good but since I had it apart I changed them anyways. The HS tension screw had moved a bit since I last adjusted it even though I used blue Loctite.

I put everything back together and ran a few more shots over the chronograph. At first the shot velocity was all over the place but very low, about 780 fps. I adjusted the HS tension as far as it would go. The velocity shifts seemed to settle down but the highest velocity I could achieve was about 840 fps. This is well below the power the Royale was previously achieving.

To eliminate some potential issues I changed the batteries in my chronograph and ran a few pellets through it out of my 22 caliber Wildcat to verify the chrono readings were correct, which they were.

The Royale seems to be holding air. So do I have an issue with my regulator or is there potentially something else I need to look at? Also, if it's the FX factory reg is there anything I can do about it other than replace it with a Huma? I live close to AoA perhaps I should have them take a look at it?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

[steppenwulf]

You of course changed the breech o ring? And the huma, from personal experience , will give you a much better ES. Aoa since you are close , would be a good idea. 

 

[cj_86]

When rebuilding/cleaning internals of my Royale, I take depth measurements using dial calipers of the hammer spring screw and valve spring screw to ensure it is in the same position after the rebuild. Before rebuilding the regulator, I also take measurements on the regulator screw positions because I don't have a regulator tester and to make sure reg is set to the same position after assembly. 

When you took the regulator apart, how did you determine what pressure setting the reg is set at? (Mine is set at 135 BAR) 

Can you share your shot string from 220 BAR down to 150 BAR? 



CJ

 

[sonny]

could your tp be misaligned or a Oring

 

[Glem.Chally]

Breech o-ring maybe?

 

[flynviking]

Thanks for the responses. I did change the breech o-ring, I forgot to mention that. 

I haven't made any adjustments to the regulator itself other than changing a few o-rings. I will follow your advice CJ and take careful measurements with my micrometer prior to making any adjustments since I don't have a reg tester either. As of now I'm not planning on changing any reg settings. 

I bought the Royale from a previous owner in May and ran full shot strings at the time over my chronograph to determine the reg setting. It appeared to be at or near 135 BAR.

If I can find the time today I'll shoot a new string over the chronograph and post the results.

Sonny- my apologies but I don't know what the TP is, could you provide more details?

 

[Glem.Chally]

Tp is transfer port, like maybe you removed the barrel and reinstalled. But didnt line up the hole properly. But i think that would just lower speed all the time not be inconsistent.

 

[flynviking]

Thanks Glem, I haven't removed my barrel and nothing has shifted so I can rule that out. I'm still waiting for my backyard to catch some sunlight to run a shot string.

 

[cj_86]

I had an air leak on the power wheel of my FX Bobcat and it would throw fps spread +/- 25 FPS. My Royale 500 has a 3 level power wheel and I'm not sure if the 400 has one or not ,but anyways its another area to check if you are willing.

 

[flynviking]

It appears that I'm back in business. Last night after re-watching an Ernest Rowe video I decided pull the reg out again and remove the brass piece with the nipple that sits in the front of the FX regulator. There is an o-ring in there that I happened to have a replacement for so I decided to go ahead and replace that one as well. I had previously replaced the two o-rings around the exterior of the reg. I reassembled everything and waited for enough daylight to chronograph the results. Right away I noticed that the Royale sounded better, like it was producing more power, so I was hopeful.

After a few shots to settle things down a bit, the shots with the hammer spring nut all the way in were producing about 890-895 fps with JSB 18.13. I backed it out about a quarter turn and it's now shooting at 880 fps with the same pellets. What I'm even happier about is that it's back to being laser accurate out to the 30 yds I can shoot in my backyard. Also, there were no abnormally low velocity shots in the string.

I shot the string over the chronograph until I noticed the velocity starting to drop and it appears that the reg is set right at 130 BAR. I'm almost positive that it was 135 BAR when I checked it earlier. I live in the Phoenix area and it was much warmer when I last checked, perhaps that could account for it?

The Royale is sipping air at the current settings and shooting well so I'll leave things alone and monitor the reg performance. If it starts to give me trouble again I'll probably swap out the factory reg for a HUMA which is cheaper than having AoA look at it.

So my conclusion now is that the regulator was the problem and that the internal o-ring behind the brass nipple was the most likely culprit. It is possible that it's coincidental but that's my best guess.

Thanks again for the responses.

 

[Menttaliist]

So, you did remove the brass plate on the back of the reg? According to what a very experienced member on fx airguns (weatherby) told me once, unscrewing that plate will change the reg pressure since it's very probable that it won't be in the exact same dept once reinstalled; and that's where the reg piston seats.

So you can imagine that if you reintall the piston seat further than it previously was, it will have to travel less distance in order to close decreasing the reg pressure. I hope i did quote his words with no mistake.

 

[Menttaliist]

And btw, there's no need to remove that plate in order to remove the reg, just grab the reg with some pliers (maybe with some tape on the tip of it to prevent it to scratch the reg) and pull. That easy.

Regards, Manuel

 

[sonny]

sweet glad to hear your back in bidness

 

[Glem.Chally]

And btw, there's no need to remove that plate in order to remove the reg, just grab the reg with some pliers (maybe with some tape on the tip of it to prevent it to scratch the reg) and pull. That easy.

Regards, Manuel

This, just pull it out with pliers. 13000 plus shots with mine and never had to disassemble the reg.

Congrats on fixing the gun yourself, imo this is one if not the best fx platform.

 

[flynviking]

I did remove the brass plate, but only after I had replaced the exterior o-rings without solving the issue. I removed the brass plate on a whim and noticed that there was an o-ring that I could try and replace. It appears that either replacing the o-ring underneath the brass plate was the fix or perhaps reseating the brass plate would have been enough.

As Menttaliist suggest perhaps the reg pressure now being a bit lower is because I didn’t screw the brass plate back to its original position. However, since the Royale is again shooting so well I’m willing to except the lower reg pressure.

Also, as an interesting note there was a bit of corrosion on the bottle side of the reg which could be a contributing factor. I was able to easily clean up the corrosion. I’m not the original owner, the previous owner had filled with a hand pump which could be the source of moisture. I fill it from a bottle which I get filled at AoA.

I love the Royale, it’s a long range assasin and a joy to shoot.