9 replies to this topic

[finitewhite]

My idea
I didn't want to spend over 25€ (about 28$) for my primary, because I dont play that much and don't get that much pocket money. That is why i came up with this simple mod that anyone can do without much experience and money.

The Mod
I removed the electronic and mechanical locks, which didn't cost me anything and used some spare wire that I had laying around to rewire the blaster. Luckily I got a 2xAA battery holder from my school for free and used sticky tape to connect it to the existing battery holder in series. Then I used some more sticky tape to stick the battery holder to the stock from my broken Retaliator (I had to get a new primary, because my Retaliator broke). I used standard 1.5V alkaline batteries, which cost me about 5€/6$ for 12, to get 9V instead of 6V, because Trustfires or IMRs are pretty expensive in my country (14€/16$ for 2).


Klick here for fullsize image.

The Results
I got ranges of approximately 12m (39ft) flat, which is quite a lot, considering I didn't swap out the motors or batteries.


If you have any suggestions on what I could improve, please leave them down below.



Have a good day and happy nerfing,
finitewhite

[Birch]

If I were you, I would boost the number of AA's to 8. This will lead to 12 volts, and a fair amount of current. From my experience, stryfe motors can handle a pretty decent amount of current, but totally fry if you get higher than 16 volts running through them.

Also, I would coat the flywheels in something. What I do is wrap them tightly in electrical tape in direction that the flywheels spin. After the wrap, I use a hair dryer on the highest setting to warm up the electrical tape. It is crucial that the tape is wrapped in a way that when the flywheels spin, the seam that the tape makes is not able to be peeled back.

[Lunas]

If I were you, I would boost the number of AA's to 8. This will lead to 12 volts, and a fair amount of current. From my experience, stryfe motors can handle a pretty decent amount of current, but totally fry if you get higher than 16 volts running through them.

Also, I would coat the flywheels in something. What I do is wrap them tightly in electrical tape in direction that the flywheels spin. After the wrap, I use a hair dryer on the highest setting to warm up the electrical tape. It is crucial that the tape is wrapped in a way that when the flywheels spin, the seam that the tape makes is not able to be peeled back.

My stryfe shoots 50-70ft flat with 2 imr and full rewire. With that many AA you might as well jump to imr you will go through that many AA while playing.

[Birch]

My stryfe shoots 50-70ft flat with 2 imr and full rewire. With that many AA you might as well jump to imr you will go through that many AA while playing.

Did you even see what he said? Imr's cost 14 euro's where he lives for just a pack of 2. Then you also have to add a special charger to that.

I recommended 8 AA's because they are cheap and accessible. In Addition, the current from 8 AA"s is greater than 2 Imr's, which will lead to greater performance and less damage to the motors.

[finitewhite]

Thank you Birch, i'll try to get a 4xAA holder and see what it does. I'll update the post afterwards.

[meishel]

If I were you, I would boost the number of AA's to 8. This will lead to 12 volts, and a fair amount of current. From my experience, stryfe motors can handle a pretty decent amount of current, but totally fry if you get higher than 16 volts running through them.

Also, I would coat the flywheels in something. What I do is wrap them tightly in electrical tape in direction that the flywheels spin. After the wrap, I use a hair dryer on the highest setting to warm up the electrical tape. It is crucial that the tape is wrapped in a way that when the flywheels spin, the seam that the tape makes is not able to be peeled back.

Have you or anyone chrono'd a blaster with flywheels wrapped in e-tape versus a comparable one not wrapped in e-tape? I read somewhere (I think on another thread here) that e-tape was proven to have a negative effect on flywheel grip, and actually increase dart slip.

[Lunas]

Did you even see what he said? Imr's cost 14 euro's where he lives for just a pack of 2. Then you also have to add a special charger to that.

I recommended 8 AA's because they are cheap and accessible. In Addition, the current from 8 AA"s is greater than 2 Imr's, which will lead to greater performance and less damage to the motors.

Umm no alkaline can not provide more current than imr.

Alkaline can at most do 3 amps but most can only do 2.5A and they last 40 minutes tops so piss through those batteries like water and how long does it take to burn 14 euro in alkaline.

NiMh can do 5 amp discharges and last for 2.1 Ah so at 2 amp discharge you get maybe an hour.

IMR 10-60A depends on grade and size of cell most 14500 do 10A.

Now 8 AA in series is 12v the stock motors were rated for 6v we over volt them at a cost to life at a given voltage the stall current increases. It does not matter if it is an imr or if it is alkaline 12v will kill those motors just as well from either source.

http://www.amazon.de...rds=efest 14500
9.90 eur

http://www.amazon.de...rds=nitecore d4
charger does li-mn, NiMh, LiFE, li-ion, NiCD

or
http://www.amazon.de...rds=nitecore i2

Edited by Lunas, 15 May 2015 - 05:50 PM.

[Astech]

My idea
I didn't want to spend over 25€ (about 28$) for my primary, because I dont play that much and don't get that much pocket money. That is why i came up with this simple mod that anyone can do without much experience and money.

If you're looking for cheap but effective, Ebay is your best bet. While alkalines might seem like a good idea for a while, the math looks real bad in the long term (two weeks to a month, depending on how often you play) in comparison to a few expensive rechargeables.
Additionally, unless you have access to amazing sticky tape, that electrical connection you're currently enjoying WILL FAIL IN GAME. There'es no way around it, sticky tap - or even solder - on an exterior case is too vulnerable, especially considering its location on the easily bumpable side of the blaster.
What you have created is a cheap, effective performance improvement, just like to topic indicates. But if you're interested in something that not only shoots farther, but can also crawl through the mud with you, go for LiIon batteries. There's no way about it the expense is justified by their (generally) high quality, power and reliability. The link below is for an Ebay seller, who gives a pretty amazing deal on LiIon batteries.
http://www.ebay.com....=item2eda1294e5
f you run four of them, you'll have to take out the thermistor, which requires a soldering iron. in overpriced australia, they range from $10 Au to $60 for posh brands. All up, you're looking at either less than $25 USD to upwards of $70 if you throw in the quality equipment.
*Gasp for breath*
All in all, your improvement is one which is simple, effective and not without its advantages and disadvantages; welcome to the world of mods. I'm not familiar with postage to your location from china, so your solution may yet prove to be the most cost effective. Bravo.

Edited by Astech, 28 May 2015 - 02:44 AM.

[finitewhite]

The link below is for an Ebay seller, who gives a pretty amazing deal on LiIon batteries.
http://www.ebay.com....=item2eda1294e5
f you run four of them, you'll have to take out the thermistor, which requires a soldering iron. in overpriced australia, they range from $10 Au to $60 for posh brands. All up, you're looking at either less than $25 USD to upwards of $70 if you throw in the quality equipment.

Thanks for your very detailed feedback. Luckily I had a soldering iron and already took out all the junk from the inside of the blaster. Unfortunately your ebay seller doesn't ship to Germany I,ll try to solder the battery holder in place and feed the wires through the back of the stock mount, so that I'm able to close the original battery holder again. I will also mount the new battery holder with something more durable. I don't play that often (2-4 hours a week) so the alkalines should last relatively long. In fact 4 of the 6 batteries that I'm currently using are still the ones that I put in when I bought the blaster about 4 months ago, so they should still be cheaper and if I really need to I can still swap them for IMRs.

Have a good day!

[Lunas]

Thanks for your very detailed feedback. Luckily I had a soldering iron and already took out all the junk from the inside of the blaster. Unfortunately your ebay seller doesn't ship to Germany I,ll try to solder the battery holder in place and feed the wires through the back of the stock mount, so that I'm able to close the original battery holder again. I will also mount the new battery holder with something more durable. I don't play that often (2-4 hours a week) so the alkalines should last relatively long. In fact 4 of the 6 batteries that I'm currently using are still the ones that I put in when I bought the blaster about 4 months ago, so they should still be cheaper and if I really need to I can still swap them for IMRs.

Have a good day!

the links i gave were for amazon in germany... 9.90 euro for a pair of imr you only really need 2 and a bypass for the other 2 cells you can run 3 safely 4 will burn out the motors.

and the same charger for li-ions works with imr.