Adjusting the FX Impact

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sgtskinny

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Dec 25, 2015
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New member here, just joined in hopes of getting some help with my brand new shiny dud, my new FX Impact. I know the platform has potential for greatness, because I've seen some of the success stories others have posted already. I'm sure through diligent troubleshooting I'll figure it out and get it corrected, I just really didn't want to have to work this hard to get a $2k gun to shoot the way it should have straight out of the box. I was fortunate enough to be able to pick up my gun in person; however, the first one started leaking as soon as it was assembled so it got set aside, the second one they tried had a POI lower than the scope would adjust so it got set aside, and this the third one, that I actually took home, doesn't group for squat at 50 yds. I can typically get 1/2" groups with my Air Ranger @ 50 yds, so I'm pretty confident its not just me.

Anyway, what I'm seeking from the community is some "real" info about adjusting the "power" this rifle, so I can begin tuning and troubleshooting. There are three "power" adjustments that are loosely addressed in the manual. No reasonably intelligent person could read this info and walk away understanding the system or exactly how to approach tuning. Can anyone offer an actual useful technical description of what the adjustments do mechanically, how they affect the total system mechanism, and what is the result of making changes to the adjustments.

The Externally Adjustable Regulator, I get, it limits the max pressure coming from the bottle, or 1st stage working pressure.

The Power Adjuster Wheel. Is this a secondary regulator, or 2nd stage working pressure control? Or does it do something else like change air volume?

The Valve Control Knob. As per the Impact specific manual "fine tune the valve flow and air efficiency". This is the one that really has me scratching my head, I would love an explanation of the raw mechanical function, how it works and what adjustments actually do.

As a seasoned machinist I have a need to know precisely how and why a mechanism works; normally I would just dissect it, but in this case I'm not going to tear into a brand new gun to reverse engineer its functions and try and figure out the basic info that should have been in the owners manual.

Lastly, it has a fully adjustable match trigger, but the MFR wont tell you how to make adjustments. I have a lot of other issues/concerns regarding this weapon but I'll save them for later. Thanks in advance for any substantive responses, and Merry Christmas.
 
Yup, welcome & Merry Christmas.

Really at that price range I certainly would want everything right.
You really took the third one home? No matter.
Slight trigger info here:
http://airgunnation.dev/topic/owners-manual-for-fx-wildcat/

And I might have this information wrong as I don't have one and only read it here but if correct it seems the owners manual SHOULD state
you can adjust the pressure one way (up ?) with pressure in the system but if adjusting the other direction it must be empty or damage may/will occur. Personally I would try to track down if that is correct, sure would hate to hurt it.

The marauder was really the first pcp to give user's SO many adjustments, the impact has even more and even more complex end user external/internal adjustments.
Not all shooter's being old timer's the more adjustab;le they are the BETTER the owners manual needs to be.

Maybe you can document all the adjustments on yyours for folks, [ictures are always great also.


John
 
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"You really took the third one home?"
Against my better judgment, I did. I've made more than one foolish decision when it comes to guns, and it will most likely happen again.

Since the original post I've read a lot here and elsewhere, and done some crude chrony work just to ballpark this specific weapon, it appears to be only slightly anemic in the power department, but I believe my major issue may be magazine related. I'll apply some relief to the mag and hit it again tomorrow. There are a ton of posted graphs and charts representing the changes to the valve and how it affects velocity, but not one can tell you what it actually does or the relationship with the "power wheel" and what it does; does it change how far the valve opens, how fast the valve opens, how long the valve opens. In due time someone will provide a detailed explanation of the Impact power plant anatomy; for now I understand that less equals more efficiency on the valve, don't know why or how but it does, but that's enough for me to move forward until a better answer presents itself. Thanks to all for responding.
 
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Most people have no clue how their mechanical or electrical devices work, they only care about which knob or button to push for the desired results. I am like you;(also a machinist) and an old school mechanical engineer with experience writing technical manuals; I also have trouble using things that I don't understand the mechanics of. Owners Manuals are typically written for people with little understanding of Physics/mechanics, and by writers who also lack these skills. Those types do not care about how things work and would be lost and bored with technical explanations, they just memorize what the knobs and buttons do and that is enough. I, on the other hand, seem to be unable to memorize these kinds of things, so need to know the mechanics, in order to figure it out, every time I use a device.....why I have trouble using electronic devices in particular, like cell phones, I have never found an adequate explanation of how they work (or not work).......My daughter tried to call me for two days without success, so she called the cops and I was awakened about 2 hours ago by three cop cars full of badges, driving up my private road, with their lights out, and banging on my door. Apparently, my cell phone had stopped working for god knows what reason(it was fully charged). Now when I try to call anyone it just says "emergency calls only" on the screen. If I knew how it worked, I might be able to fix it....I bet that's not covered in the owners manual. I thought I was in for a Christmas shoot-out!
I have an FX Impact on back order.........looks like I will be taking it apart to figure it out; I'll let you know what I find. From what I have seen on line so far, there is an air pressure regulator that can be adjusted externally, which controls the air pressure behind the hammer valve; there is an external adjustment that controls either spring preload or hammer travel distance, which affects how hard the valve gets struck by the hammer and/or how long it stays open; finally, I think there is an adjustment that varies the effective opening size of the transfer port, similar to a needle valve, which controls the volume of air flowing into the breech while the hammer valve is open. While these adjustments do provide a quick way to adjust for variables like pellet weight and caliber, they also complicate the use of the gun and could result in a lot of experimentation, wasted time, air and pellets, to find the optimum settings. 
Good luck
 
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"sgtskinny"but not one can tell you what it actually does or the relationship with the "power wheel" and what it does; does it change how far the valve opens, how fast the valve opens, how long the valve opens. In due time someone will provide a detailed explanation of the Impact power plant anatomy; for now I understand that less equals more efficiency on the valve, don't know why or how but it does, but that's enough for me to move forward until a better answer presents itself. Thanks to all for responding.
Click to expand...
At the EBR I had a chance to speak with Fredrik about the features of the Impact. Which I also covered in the video above. From the designers mouth:
  • The powerwheel on the Impact controls the spring tension & stroke length of the hammer. This is totally different than the Royale series which controls the size of the air transfer port in to the breach.
  • The main valve on the Impact controls how far the valve can actually be opened. 
If you don't have a chronograph then you'll have to rely on other peoples data or your own quantifiable results. Since you're shooting a .25 this topic may help you find the sweet spot. I used the most common .25 pellet the JSB 25.4g pellets. Typically diablo pellet are the most accurate under 900 FPS. But if you're shooting the JSB Heavies MK1 they are a totally different animal all together. I believe Ted said that he was getting the best results in the mid to low 800 FPS. I have had good results in the mid to high 800 FPS. Each barrel and pellet may have a unique relationship, so take your time, record your results, and find your own sweet spot.
 
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Geez, I have one of these on order and just read the manual. It looks like about any air adjustment you make without checking this, that, or the other and following their process correctly results in NOTICE – NEVER Do X with out Y. This will damage the Z and will void your warranty! The three air adjustments THEY added to the gun if not used correctly result in 5 ways to damage the gun and void your warranty.

Kinda like selling a car with a manual transmission where the owners manual reads 'Never release the clutch without ensuring the gear are fully sync'd as this could result in grinding the gears which will damage the car and void your warranty!

At least one can comfortably adjust the adjustable trigger without it self destructing.

How ironic is this - they tell you: "At this point you can screw the air bottle back on to pressurize the system. The regulator gauge should now read 40-50 BAR. Turning the regulator adjustment screw COUNTER - CLOCKWISE will increase the regulator pressure. Slowly turn the screw out until the pressure increases to the setting you desire. The regulator can be set to any pressure for various uses." 

So the regular starts with 40-50 bar pressure at the regulator when you follow their process and "The regulator can be set to any pressure for various uses. " but later on in the manual they state "NOTICE – NEVER adjust the regulator below 100 BAR as damage to the system may occur and will void your warranty!"

I think their manual needs a few tweaks and fixes just like the guns that folks are complaining about (leaks, etc).


 
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“NOTICE – NEVER adjust the regulator below 100 BAR as damage to the system may occur and will void your warranty!”
Hey, nobody's perfect. Right? :)
I think they mean, don't USE the rifle with the reg adjusted below 100 bar. 
Honestly, I think the reg starts out just fine. I've adjusted the heck out of mine up and down and back again. Ultimately, I ended up right back where I started. 
Tom
 
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I get where you are going, but the manual should delete "Slowly turn the screw out until the pressure increases to the setting you desire. The regulator can be set to any pressure for various uses.” "

And put in "Slowly turn the screw out until the pressure increases to at-least 100 bar but no more than 150 bar" then put in "If you fire the gun outside that range it may damage the system and void your warranty"

That or just make mechanical limits to the adjustment so it can only be between 100 and 150 bar. Seems like on a $2000 gun that should be part of the gun - especially if a mistake can damage the system.

Or maybe I'm just spoiled on my AirWolfs handful of trigger pulls to go from low to high power without the chance of me damaging the gun.
 
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I greatly appreciate the thoughtful responses. Honestly without tearing it apart to see first hand the mechanism, I will be hard pressed to gain a thorough understanding of this complex air action. I'm just a little apprehensive to tear into it because with some of todays engineering, construction techniques, and materials, it is possible to cause unrepairable damage. I know there are some here with the ability and resources to conduct a thorough breakdown, if any of you are in PHX area I'd love to pic your brain, holler.

I've got a bunch of the MK1 heavies, that won't load in my AR mag, so I'll be running them through the Impact. Right now my chrony results are about 860 avg., with the power wheel and valve maxed out, so I cant even test above 860. Best as I can tell that's a little shy of what others are seeing as MAX velocity for the JSB 33's, so what's it going to do with a .30 pellet?

BTW, regarding the Valve Control Knob, that ever useful Impact specific manual states "the default setting is near the center with two long lines and two short lines showing". 2+2=4, so if 4 lines showing is the middle of the adjustment range, that suggest there Is a total of 8 lines, right? Wrong; there are only 4 lines total, in the pic shown in the manual the 4th line is barely covered, which is almost MAX on the valve. Unless my valve scale is different from everyone else, who knows because my Power Wheel is numbers on one side and letters on the other side, and I haven't seen any others like it, yet.

Much thanks to all
 
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Sgt,

It looks as if you have your answer. ( and I couldn't view the video but I'll bet it helps).
"The powerwheel on the Impact controls the spring tension & stroke length of the hammer."

"The main valve on the Impact controls how far the valve can actually be opened"

naturally the regulator controls psi.

But, please stip yours down to every single part and post pictures, we would all love to see them.



John

 
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The wind was wicked today, no shooting. I did work on the magazine, though. The magazine exit port was off by about .010, the problem was obviously acknowledged during production because they tried to make it usable by "slotting" or "ovaling" the hole, but that didn't fix the problem. I set the mag up in the mill and punched the hole out to .266 in the correct location. It works like a champ now, but I'd still like to have a mag that was cut correctly in the first place without all the extra material removed. Sorry I don't know how to post pics but I really didn't document the procedure thoroughly anyway.

I started looking a little more closely while I was in the shop today and I found a slightly more significant issue; the pellet probe seats too deeply into the barrel, and the air transfer hole in the bottom of the pellet probe is positioned about .040" too far forward of the mating air transfer port in the brass section of the barrel assembly, the result is the transfer port cross section is reduced roughly 15-20% due to the mismatch, and the air charge coming up from the bottom through the brass section of the barrel assembly is running into a square shoulder, that condition is never good for flow. With the probe seating too deep, its actually bottoming out in the barrel and the last sector of the bolt gets a little hitch just before closing. I guess I'll be turning a new probe tomorrow. Even with tight production tolerances, I personally feel that barrels and probes need to be finish fitted to each gun.

It seems a lot of folks believe that FX reads these forums, I sure hope so. The fit and finishing of a lot of the parts are subpar, a tell tale sign that production was rushed, and I haven't gotten very far into it yet. There are way to many burrs and sharp edges on what I would classify as a premium class product.

Does anybody know if the top rail or the lower trigger guard section can be removed without affecting anything else?
 
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