FX Impact leak....part 2. It's back...

Jump to latest Follow Reply
stoti

stoti

Member
Apr 6, 2018
3,238
428
Beautiful Northern California, United States
So the other day I made a post, "help me find the leak". I took the Impact apart cleaned everything and the gun quit leaking, it felt a lot smoother to shoot too. So yesterday, we went shooting again and after about 60 shots it did it again. I watched my gun dump all it's air down to 40BAR. I came home, took it all apart again, inspected every o-ring and all I could find was one small blemish on one of the 4 O-rings on the valve housing. I changed all 4 of them anyway. I inspected every single o-ring and everything else I was told to check. I put the gun back together yesterday, filled it up and went shooting again this morning. 10 shots, pssssstt, it did it again. I also noticed that from yesterday when I filled the gun to this morning, it had dropped 5-6BAR, so the slow leak I had is still there too. And no, it's not the air cooling, I topped it off twice, so it was full at 250BAR. I've spoken to Kendall once and Brian twice at FX and they've told me what to look for, but today when I called, sounded a little baffled and can't offer much more advise.

I'm patient, throughout the processed I've learned the internals of the Impact quite well. I'm an FX fanboy and don't mind a leak here and there if it's an easy fix. It's just part of the game with an innovative gun like this. What gets me is that I've taken it apart 3 times now and can't find anything, clearly something I'm missing. I'm not sure what else to look for or what to do. Three days now, I was supposed to be testing slugs but instead came home and took apart the gun only to have it happen again the next day. I'm thinking if I take it apart today, the same thing is going to happen tomorrow. 

Any thoughts or help would be appreciated!

Stoti
 
Use a few feet of small tubing as a stethoscope, stick one end in your ear and move the other end around where you think the leak is. When you're directly over the leak it will be very loud through the tube. Be prepared to pull the barrel out when the leak starts so you can put the tube near the transfer port in the rear block. If it comes from the transfer port it can only be leaking around the valve seat, valve rod delrin seal or the second o-ring from the rear on the valve housing.

I know you could just listen at the barrel end but that's not safe.
 
Upvote 0
Golfer, when the slow leak started, I used the detacta-leak spray on every likely leak spots and couldn't find anything. So, it could be anywhere, although because it's leaking so profusely out of the transfer port, I would think it's at the valve seat like Heavy suggested. I'll check it thoroughly again tomorrow and see what I can find.

One of the things that has me perplexed is why when I fill the gun is there no leak and then after 60 shots, 20 shots, 10 shots or whatever, then it all dumps? Once it starts, I tried firing 5-10 shots to see if I could get it to seal back up but it won't. Once it starts, it won't stop until my gun drains down to about 40BAR.

I don't know where it is, so I'm taking all the advise I can get and will use all the advice that you guys share with me to find this sucker. Like Heavy said in the previous post, it sounds like it should be the valve seat but the o-ring and actual metal valve seat looked fine. Actually, everything looks fine, that's why it's so frustrating! And, I have the slow leak to find too! I made a video of the rear of the gun when the air was dumping but I think the video is too long to upload.

I'm still on vacation so I'm having a little Ernest Rowe "Masterclass" movie marathon. I ran out of silicone lube but have more coming tomorrow along with some more o-rings. I'm going to watch all of the videos today, mellow out and really think about this until tomorrow, when the lube and spare O-rings get here, take it apart again and dissect every part of this gun until I find it. If I can't find the leak tomorrow, I guess I'll have no choice but to send it back to FX. They told me because it's a new gun, it would probably be fixed in just a few days. With shipping time and repair time, I should have it back in about 3 weeks. It sucks because I shoot almost every day and am supposed to be slug testing but don't know what else to do to fix it. Hopefully I'll find something tomorrow and it won't come to that! 

On the bright side... I shot an 8 shot group today at 75 yards that had all of the slug holes touching! The target was a 1" circle and all of the shots were easily inside that circle. Then the dreaded ppssssttt sound of air escaping and I had to come home! The slugs were the VK 31.5 grain that I had pushed through a .249" sizing die. Shot at 945fps.

Keep any thoughts or suggestions coming please!!!

I just uploaded the video I made yesterday when the leak started again. I made the video to share with the FX tech dept. not you guys so take it for what it's worth. Just want to show how much and where the air is escaping. Since this video, I took the gun apart, thought it was fixed and then the leak came back again this morning. The video is all over the place and partially upside down because I was talking, filming while trying to point out the leak at the same time. The video sucks but it will show the leak!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVoEJPoO5q0



Stoti
 
Upvote 0
Yeah, Ernest and Edosan both suggested the same thing, dunking it in water. Both assured me that it's no big deal. What I am unsure of is, how disassembled the gun can be when I pressurize it? Since it's out of air now, I may fill it up and not have it leak until I shoot 10, 20 or 40 shots. It's very intermittent until it starts leaking, then it won't stop. 

I like the idea Heavy gave me too, using a tube to detect where the leak is coming from. 

I think since I can't stop thinking about it, I might partially disassemble the gun and then partially fill the bottle and see if it leaks. If it does, I'll use Heavies idea to try and identify the leak area. If that doesn't work, I guess I'll have to get more radical with the testing techniques. 

Did you watch my video? I'm wondering if you or anybody else had any thoughts on the amount of air rushing out and if that helps point to where it might be coming from. It sounds like I lot of air leaking out. 

Thanks, Stoti
 
Upvote 0
Just thought of something. I just charged my gun with air to do what was suggested by Heavy and couldn't hear anything with the tube to my ear. 

Because I didn't want to waste all the air I had just put in my bottle, I unscrewed it. What I noticed is that my gun didn't just drain the pressure to 40-50BAR as is normal, all of the air drained out of the valve tube and plenum too. Now if my thinking is correct, shouldn't that air have stayed in there? Meaning that I've isolated the leak to the rear block or rear valve assembly? Or, am I just wrong in assuming that?

Thanks, Stoti
 
Upvote 0
Just thought of something. I just charged my gun with air to do what was suggested by Heavy and couldn't hear anything with the tube to my ear. 

Because I didn't want to waste all the air I had just put in my bottle, I unscrewed it. What I noticed is that my gun didn't just drain the pressure to 40-50BAR as is normal, all of the air drained out of the valve tube and plenum too. Now if my thinking is correct, shouldn't that air have stayed in there? Meaning that I've isolated the leak to the rear block or rear valve assembly? Or, am I just wrong in assuming that?

Thanks, Stoti
Click to expand...


You are correct. When the air starts to leak through the valve pull the cocking lever back just until you feel tension to see if it stops.
 
Upvote 0
Heavy, I just took the whole gun apart, inspected everything with a flashlight and magnifying glass. I cannot find anything wrong. I attached the bottle to check what you suggested with the cocking lever and now I can't get it to leak. I'm baffled and don't know what to check or do next!

I just went outside and fired 25 pellets into the dirt and can't get it to leak now! Suggestions anyone?

Stoti
 
Upvote 0
Well as far as the valve rod, I just had it out a while ago and although I didn't really inspect it for straightness, I didn't notice it being out of whack. I just shot 25 more shots, down to 155BAR where my reg. is set, no leak. That's 40 shots since I had it apart with no leak. As soon as I go to the ranch and start shooting it will do it again. Jeeesh!

Stoti
 
Upvote 0
Well Heavy, I just filled my gun back to 250BAR, went out back and shot 56 rounds, 2 full magazines with no leak appearing. That's about 100 pellets total since I put it back together. Now I'm getting frustrated! It seems to happen when I don't want it to and won't happen when I want it to. The intermittent nature and the fact I can't find anything at all wrong with any of the O-rings or internals is going to drive me crazy. I wasn't even going to take it apart today but couldn't resist. Now I'm more perplexed than ever!

Stoti
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back
Home
Forums
Resources
Menu