FX Independence, need some HELP!

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B

Ballistics

Member
Aug 19, 2020
19
1
Washington
I bought this gun for experimentation with the arrow barrel, and then stored it in the safe for 3 years, and recently decided to sell it. (I needed 10 posts to be able to use the classified, and wrote some things about my 54 year involvement with air guns that is posted in the general discussion, titled "a bit of nostalgia". You may find that interesting.)

Well, after 3 years it still had the 120 bar in the ity bity tank that I had left in it. Absolutely no Leaking! 

I pumped it up to 162 bar, the sweet spot, and was getting 900 fps with the JSB 44.6 gr, (80 ft lbs) 10 pumps to get back to 162 bar after each shot. (oh yeah, forgot to mention, this is the .30 cal, which has no regulator, maybe all of the Indy's and Independent's have no regulator no matter what caliber?) 

I emptied out all of the air by dry firing after it was down to 40 bar or so. (I am not sure why I was even wanting to get to Zero!) Then, when I tried to pump back up, the pressure stays at Zero. After a bit of research, I found out I had done something very stupid, and as soon as I read that you should never empty out the tank by dry firing, I smacked myself hard, for I USED TO KNOW THAT!

I have done my best searching, but all I could find is the AOA pump rebuild video, and I think I may need to get into the block. I want to fix it of course, but also it will be interesting to see if there is any rust inside. There has always been the concern about moisture from the onboard pump, same as the controversy over using a pump instead of a scuba or SCBA tank fill.

So is there a doctor in the house!
 
As you probably know there is a good chance for the poppet(valve) to be bent, so it will be impossible to get the pressure up by the builtin handpump, you need to take it apart and se how it lookes.



One word of varning: Ive had the Fx Indy just for a short while, and noticed moisture inside the block really quick, so my guess is it is robably some water inside, no damage to mine except there was a small leak and some oxidation where the manometer meets the block, so I hade to polish the surface of the block to get the new orings to seal well.



Ive since then bought a FX Tube and removed that handpump, couldnt accept that moisture buildup....
 
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Thanks all who have advised. I will try out those methods. If they do not work I will try a trigger block teardown. I am a pretty good with tools, have worked on springers for decades, and am curious to see if the internals are rusted, so would not mind taking the trigger block apart, even the parts that do not need taking apart just to see how this thing works. Partly to assure the next owner that everything is ship shape, and also maybe I will just end up keeping it.


I am in no rush, maybe myself or someone else will turn up with the video that has step by step instructions of how to do it. I will try to find out what FX gun has the same or closely the same trigger block, I am thinking the. FX Royal has the same trigger block, or close to it?



 
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Update: I disassembled the block completely, everything except the safety toggle arm. 

None of the aluminum parts or the block had any corrosion, and the steel parts had no rust except a slight amount on the hammer spring guide in the area enclosed by the aluminum cap, but it is a non moving part. There was no gunk build up of any kind, though there is a part on the Independence that the Royale does not have, part H. Not sure what it does, and on the FX website, the schematic does not give a name to part H. Here are the bits that make up part H:

O-ring 7,66 x 1,78 NBR 70
Seat over pressure valve
O-ring 1,78x1,78 NBR 70
Housing over pressure valve Piston over pressure valve
Spring 1,75x17x6,75
Lid over pressure valve


Part H2, "seat over pressure valve" has a very small hole, and it was clogged with grease. 

Other than that, perfect, even the valve pin and valve seat look good to my eye, but later I will dial indicate to make sure.

I could always get my head around a spring and piston gun, but this thing is way to subtle and nuanced for me to figure out, I wish FX would explain what all the parts are for, what they are doing. 

I found my original invoice from AOA, I had ordered the rebuild kits for the block and the pump from them when I bought the gun. The Independence is not exactly the same as the Royale 400, and that is what AOA sent me. I will be contacting FX USA to find out if I need to order a new rebuild kit.

One drawback of this gun is the self pumping does not have a filter for the incoming air, and I would think that for those that shot many thousands of self pumped rounds, that dust / grit would cause problems.

 
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