How get air out of fx impact

Glem,

Thanks for the info as always, and as always, it's very much appreciated!

The Impact. Okay, so it showed up, and I found that the reg was pre-set to like 80ish bar.. 
I usually love shooting lighter pellets, and I got the MK ii for it's high mag cap and high shot count.. 
However - I really wanted to tune the gun for the new FX Hybrid Slugs.
I spent a lot of cash, and have a bunch of boxes of them sitting here.. 
Again, I did a ton of research.. I see what others are using as far as reg pressures / speeds, etc. 
Those slugs need more than 80 bar.
So, between being a bit freaked out by having the gun sent with "under 100bar" 
and knowing I needed more reg pressure to tune for the slugs, I decided to start adjusting..

I backed out the reg-adjust screw maybe 1/8 turn, heard a little 'hiss' as the air transferred, 
kept an eye on the reg-gauge, and Nothing. Fired a few times. Waited.. 
Then backed out the screw another 1/8 turn or so, heard another little 'hiss'.. 
And again - Zero movement - Not even as much as a shiver from the reg-gauge-needle.
I tried this a few more times.. Then a few more, etc.
At a certain point, the frustration kicks in..
**Adjusting the reg-screw 'IN' was also attempted - to see if the reg-gauge needle would move also.. 
Nope.
Again.. I am familiar with how the process is supposed to work, so I knew something was up..
That's why I talked to FX USA as well as dove into their manual, and other people's posts..

[I should have just taken video from the beginning - I never in a million years would think I'd have to]

FX just initially told me to swap gauges to do the easiest process of elimination 1st. 
If it's a gauge issue, then we'll know. If not, they say it could be a reg issue..

Now.. fast forward. The Dream Tac Compact showed up. So I set the Impact aside to play w/ the DTC.
I couldn't wait. I needed Something - Anything to help take my mind off from stressing about the Impact. 

I filled the OEM mini-metal-cylinder-tank up to 220bar, threw a bipod and scope on, came back, 
double checked everything - And noticed that the tank air pressure had dropped. Umm.. a LOT.. 
Refilled, and kept an eye on it. Yup. The DTC was definitely leaking, and 'relatively fast'.
I checked the usual things 1st [I'm out and stores are out of liquid soap - so can't check using 'bubbles']
so had to just keep filling and visually inspecting
Called and talked to where I got that from. I was given a few 'specific' spots to also check.
Did that. All seemed well initially. Degassed - refilled - Degassed - refilled.. 
I hoped that maybe an o-ring just had to seat - something.. Nope.. It still leaked.
I couldn't get back in touch with them for an update, so, I figured I'd at least test-shoot it.. 
Crosman HPs and JSB Hades - so I figured low reg pressure on this one would be perfect.
Checked it - on the DTC, the reg was factory set way up to 160bar.. WOW.. 
So I played with the reg-screw to drop it down a bit.. small turn, fire / wait / fire / etc.
Nothing. Zero movement from the needle on the reg gauge.

I understand what "user error" is.
My whole life, I've been held tech positions, owner/operator of body/fab/paint/weld shops, 
and I work with electronics also.. So I know 100% that in this case / these cases - It's not me.

The perfect storm..

The Covid19 bs hits, it becomes harder / impossible to talk to tech people, 
and on top of that, I'm experiencing my Third mishap with shippers losing / mis-shipping things.. 

On the DTC, I finally got a mini carbon fiber tank and FX tank valve [after more shipping issues]
put that together, and swapped the OEM metal cylinder tank for the new mini carbon fiber tank.. 

This time around, I filled to closer to 300 bar. vs. the 200-230 previously.. 

When removing / installing tanks, I noticed that the "bottle adapter" was installed 'crooked'... 
The way they install - it could be leveled out by 'loosening' it, but it could not be 'tightened'.
So level and looser IMO would just equate to why it may be leaking in the 1st place.. 
I wanted to try to tighten it, but, nope.. It's where it's at and that's that. Pressure does the rest.. *shrug* 

One gauge was loose, the other felt snug.. I *finger snugged the other gauge up..

Update - at least the leaking slowed down. Considerably.

More reading - to find out that sometimes people over-crank gauges, and that can render them useless.. 

Hmmm... Thanks random airgunners on the net..

I wonder why no one from 'tech' mentioned checking for that.. 
Nor checking for o-rings / seals / seat / etc..

The gun was leaking, so why would I loosen anything?! Right?!

But lets try that.. So I backed out both gauges, then snugged them back in place.. 
Now in completely different positions [according to the print on the gauges being all outa' whack now]

But when air'd back up - I didn't notice as much / if any air-loss. Nice..

And guess what else? The reg-gauge-needle finally moved!

So as of right now, the DTC reg-pressure is set to just 100bar. Low.
I'm going to chrony some of the light pellets I mentioned and play with tuning til' I figure out what's best.

In the time being - I'll keep an eye on it's overall pressure to see if it's still leaking or holding at this point..

Now back to the Impact.. It was shipped to me missing a very small part.. 
FX said they'd mail me one a few weeks ago.. I remembered just yesterday, so no clue if it was sent, 
and/or if it was lost in shipping..

Since I figured out the reg-gauge-needle issue on the DTC - possibly being due to an over-tight gauge, 
I'm curious if that could actually be what's going on with the Impact also. From the start.. 
So waiting for FX to get back with their answers..

Issues w/ the air-valve for my big air tank, so another valve was ordered last week.. 
*That's been showing at a USPS location near by for the past week - no movement - no update.. 
I made a trade recently w/ another member here, and he shipped an airtank setup a few days ago.. 
Same deal.. it showed up at the same USPS location - I literally could have driven there to pick it up.. 
The next morning, it disappeared from Rochester, NY and is showing up in PA now.. No clue...

It has to be a cheap/free stupid 'fix'. Or at least I hope..

I'm even 1/2 tempted to remove all 4 gauges, and give all their threads a quick wrap 
using yellow 'gas pipe thread tape'. [It works Much better than regular white tape]
That way, they could all be sealed while not tightened in as far - possibly 'fixing' both gun's issues..

Wishful thinking. [for as little thinking I can do for as burned out as I am]  

Sam -

...One gauge was loose, the other felt snug.. I *finger snugged the other gauge up..

...More reading - to find out that sometimes people over-crank gauges, and that can render them useless.. 
...The gun was leaking, so why would I loosen anything?! Right?!

But lets try that.. So I backed out both gauges, then snugged them back in place.. 
Now in completely different positions [according to the print on the gauges being all outa' whack now]

But when air'd back up - I didn't notice as much / if any air-loss. Nice..

And guess what else? The reg-gauge-needle finally moved!

Sam -

Click to expand...

Back in time I was tethering my pre - FX non-regulated gun , from a paintball tank (I replaced couple regulators on the tank and toke them apart, playing with bevel washers until I got the pressure to speed ratio I was expecting). I broke at least 5-6 gauges (and ended up having a full drawer of cheap aliexpress gauges to have spares), just because I wanted to read the gauge from an angle I wanted. Stupid thing, most of the paintball tank regulators came with teflon or some sort of harder plastic washers....you cannot really tighten with hand but need a wrench to over-tighten but to the angle I like... this game costed me arms and legs) and the gauge broke. And me stupid again didn't throw away that gauge but put it back in a drawer for "just-in-case", so next time I just grab one and a f*n thing not working well.....

These days, Just received couple Wika gauges from Huma, these guys are more clever. In a small nylon bag with a gauge they give you two different thickness orings. I tried and figure very quickly...

Imagine this, the left handed guy and a right handed flips the gun in different way to check the gauge, for one would be a right position but for the other guy may be upside down? So the two thicknesses actually have a give for a different freedom of turn.

The next thing, whoever installed the FX oring at the very first step maybe install it "dry", now comes you, don't like the gauge orientation and start turning a gauge, but you just want to turn it for a hair more and you grab a wrench to help. And that oring inside is squeezed in the hole morphs (morphing object, right it is a relatively soft rubber) and closes the thin hole on the gauge....the rest of it you know.

The next thing I got frustrated lately...because I did not pay attention earlier, just use the wrench and "make it work"

Along the time I got some parts - especially high pressure hoses - of course from aliexpress. Let me make the story shorter. This was also a learning curve, whoever reads further can save some time for a life

Asians by default using M10x1 thread, Europeans BSPP 1/8-20, North Americans NPT 1/8-20. Lets assume you did not know this before. Just by a quick look the thread looks OK, you want to connect together, kind of little tight but with a wrench you "make it work". A-A

The metric thread using one style of washer to seal, the BSPP is different and of course for NPT better just take a teflon tape.

Right now me having an asian compressor and who knows what hoses (couple of them, shorter, longer) with american made fittings to connect to a Eu gun...of course I connect them all together, but n a quiet room I can hear the f*n hiss when I fill my tank or refill my gun.

So, no frustration, that is not healthy...put a smile on your face this is our game and hobby and sport and ...

bigHUN,

Great reply! Thanks!

I owned/operated custom auto shops for almost 15 years, 
worked at others for a few years before that, and one thing in common.. 
I used to do custom air ride suspensions for cars and trucks. Pneumatic/Hydraulic systems also.. 
In that time, just like you, I ended up with a lot of broken / faulty gauges. haha

Your tethered setup sounds awesome! Kudos to you for actually playing around with everything, 
and getting it to work for you. Even though it took so much trial/error, burned cash, and I'm sure some frustration.. 

There are also two different ways that things [gauges] can seal properly.. 
1 is by their threads interlocking properly. [you learned that too]
Yeah, Chinese have that one thread type, EU has BSPP, America has NPT.. 
I can't remember which way is which so I'll use Letters instead of actual Names.

If you have an A-male and a B-female, the A-male will fit into the B-female.
But if you have a B-male and an A-female, the threads will actually bind.. 
One way "works" the other way does not.
And I quote 'works' because it doesn't really work - as the thread pitches are slightly different.. 
This is why sometimes people 'think' that the threads work, but need extra snugging up, 
and end up stripping. Or, have to use excessive thread tape, goo, etc. So annoying..

A works with A. B works with B. Why the world can't standardize things by now is still beyond me.

Anyways.. The other way that things/gauges seal properly..
They have to perfectly 'seat' surface-to-surface. [This is how these FX gauges seal properly]
I spoke to a few techs yesterday to confirm that.
I was tempted to use a little wrap of 'yellow-tape', but, technically, that wouldn't help.
In my case - I just have to get the gauges to seat properly inside of their respective locations.

As you mentioned - with HUMA / WIKA gauges, they come with a few different o-rings.. 
I like that idea/method also.

My update: I'll be removing all 4 gauges from both guns [Impact MK ii and Dream Tac Compact]
checking both surface areas, as well as the 'gaskets' [for lack of better word]
and hopefully just re-installing properly. 
Also waiting on a new gasket/seal kit - just in case.. [Thank you FX-USA] 

Hey, it's funny that you brought up lefties and righties..
I'm actually left handed. But I had to teach myself how to shoot [and other things] right handed also
[I converted my Impact to left-handed-cocking already] so I know what you mean about component positions.. 
Us lefties just aren't right. haha

Back to fittings: 
I have like 10 other PCA guns.. I've always just used BSPP fittings, and they worked perfectly! 
I also have a Chinese [Yong Heng] compressor, and two different HPA tanks, and a hand full of hoses.. 
I use BSPP fittings for all of those too, and so far, Everything has been compatible and works 100%
Other things like moisture traps, converters, etc. also seem to work fine using BSPP.

I still have a habit of using a wrap or 2 of Yellow-thread-tape on every fitting that I put together.. 
Whether it's actually needed or not. [I don't ever use the thinner white thread tape anymore] 

Hey, thanks again. And you're right about stressing. I'm trying my best not to.. It's just hard.
Best of luck with the setup that you mentioned.. Hopefully you'll get that figured out, 
and get rid of that annoying and dreaded 'hisssssss'.



Sam -

lancehenley1

Sorry for highjacking your thread, but we can see that lot of valuable information started surfacing here, hopefully more ppl will join with experience.

Btw

Talking about threads...back about a decade ago I had a contract in SouthCarolina @ Linde (so German company have an assembly plant in USA). Parts coming in from all over the world and the assembly lines feeding North America with the product...At some point a complain came in that some bigger (M30x1) started stripping thread. 

Toke me some time trial and errors, but figure it out. Along the time Purchasing switched vendors for tooling. Metric thread...male threaded shaft into female threaded hole...the hole was made somewhere in the world with their local specs-standards tool, the shaft was threaded in USA with local specs-standards tool. When you match both together, no bueno too much gap...The specs here and there may wary in tolerance.

Just to keep in mind how we collect bits and pieces for our game.

DirtyDovi said:

If there's one thing I hate - It's "fanboys" - no matter what they're all about.
There's nothing more annoying than that lemming/sheeple/zombie type of mentality.
Sorry to hear that the FX-zombies attacked.. Remember, next time . . double-taps to their heads!

In the past 2 years, I've racked up over 10 different PCPs. They all ranged from $500ish to $1,500ish,
and with the exception of 1 Puncher Breaker valve snapping, and 1 Kalibrgun Cricket o-ring issue,
I have Never experienced so many headaches. Especially literally right out of the box. It's unreal..
Insult to injury when this BS Scamdemic is going on, so I don't even dare ship them back to fix under warranty..

On one hand, I'm beyond capable of doing anything required, and I actually enjoy tinkering..
On the other hand, I just want to be able to shoot the damn things.


Sam -

Click to expand...

“Scamdemic”? So the dead bodies are all fake too I guess … they are staged props .. lol you trumpets are pathetic

racingbirds said:

“Scamdemic”? So the dead bodies are all fake too I guess … they are staged props .. lol you trumpets are pathetic

Click to expand...

Yeah you tell him, he hasn't posted since summer 2020.

So I have the umarex hammer but I cracked the glass or plastic piece on it and am wondering how I can saftley replace the pressure gauge. If I degass the rifle all the way is it safe to unscrew the pressure gauge?