12 replies to this topic

[meatballica]

Maybe there is something clogging the dumb valve. Maybe too much silicone?

[Blue]

The lube might have congealed on the end of the rubber piece, so when that piece is supposed to go back to release the air it stays stuck. Use mineral oil for lubing your guns.

[Curly]

You definitely over-lubed the valve. The stock lube probably doesn't mix with silicon grease. Your best bet is probably to make the blaster fire manually, by pushing the pilot in a few times. Worst case scenario here, you dremel out the tank and use an expanded hornet tank instead. They shoot farther too.

[Dude13]

I recently ran into the same problem with a Secret Shot 2. I bathed it in warm water and poured about a tablespoon of Mineral Spirits down the barrel.

After a few minutes of repeatedly pumping up the gun and firing I eventually got it working like new.

[Dude13]

Mineral spirits == lacquer thinner == total destruction to almost all thermoplastics

Maybe you meant mineral oil.

Nope, I mean mineral spirits. I know what I have, I used the same stuff to thin enamel paint. Mineral Oil doesn't smell terrible and dry out your hands.

It's not like I immersed the internals in it.

I dunked the internals in warm soapy water, pumped it up, fired the valve a few times, no dice.

So I poured a small amount, less than a tablespoon's worth, of mineral spirits down the barrel and repeatedly fired the tank. After about 15 minutes it was firing perfectly.

I didn't let the stuff sit in the gun so all it did was remove whatever grime was messing with the piston.

The gun still works and it's been a week.

I'm not an idiot.

Edited by Dude13, 15 July 2011 - 09:08 PM.

[Sin Un Nombre]

First of all, sorry for the slight necro and de-rail. I'm having a similar problem, and didn't want to start a new thread. I'm building a blaster with an SSPB pump and trigger, but with a Hornet tank. All I've done so far is cut the SSPB through its original tank to make way for the Hornet piece, and attach them together with some vinyl tubing. After a few 20-ish pump test fires, it started releasing the tankful of air slowly through the trigger valve. It stopped the problem and fired normally for awhile, but now is trigger-firing 8 out of every 10 shots. Does anyone have any ideas as to what could be causing this? I've checked the valve in the Hornet tank, and it seems to be working just fine. Also, I have not added any extra lube beyond what the blasters may have come with from the factory.

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

S_U_N.

[Curly]

Was it like that before? SSPBs aren't exactly the most precisely built. I think the hornet tank is too much for the trigger valve to open, so the next closest air output is the trigger. It sucks, but there's not much you can really do.

[Boot]

I think the hornet tank is too much for the trigger valve to open

Actually, the hornet tank has a relatively tiny pilot tank. In the actual hornet uses a valve barely larger than the SSPB release valve is used to simultaneously dump all six hornet tanks successfully with considerable constriction in between. Air release shouldn't be the issue.

In my experience with the second iteration of "tiny tim" Sin Un Nimbre's setup should vent the air just fine, and yield amazing ranges of around 100 feet. If it does not do this something is probably broken. My guess is that the rubber gasket on the SSPB release valve has come loose, and instead of venting the valve by moving the gasket, it is sliding out of position creating a tiny leak of air. This would also explain why 2 out of 10 shots work (when the gasket actually is engaged). To fix this you would have to secure the gasket back on the blast button, a process which I am unsure of how to complete.

Another (less likely but much nicer) possibility is that a bit of plastic shaving is stuck between the hornet tank and the dump valve from when the SSPB was cut. This would be easier to fix simply by running a drill through the ports to widen and clear the connection.

Rest assured that as long as the hornet tank works this can be fixed. The absolute worst case scenario would simply be to dish out another couple dollars and buy another dirt cheap SSPB.

Best of luck!

Edited by Boot, 30 July 2011 - 09:49 AM.

[Boot]

None of those scenarios is at all likely, in my opinion.

It's true that the problem would normally be with the hornet tank, but I was just looking for what else could be wrong considering he said the hornet tank "seems to be working just fine".

[Sin Un Nombre]

Well, I've been investigating more deeply into my trigger problems. Well, OK, maybe not THAT deeply, since I have 2 jobs now and my free time is...limited. Anyway, I noticed an interesting trend. from 1-4ish pumps, it fires from the trigger, but I'm guessing it's because there simply isn't enough pressure to open the tank valve. From 5ish-12 pumps it fires from the tank just fine, though without a whole lot of oomph. From 13 and up it fires from the trigger. Next chance I get I'm going to open up the trigger and see if there is anything obviously wrong. May need to put up some pics. Oh, also, it's been said that I should just go out and new parts to build another. I actually have the pieces to build 4, and I would like to if possible for loaners, gifts, experimenting, etc. Thanks to everyone for their ideas so far.

Jon