Post by Maverick on Apr 6, 2011 15:32:17 GMT -5
Basic Troubleshooting Guide
By Maverick
Please contact me about reproducing this guide. I will let you reproduce, just have to give me credit.
**I am not responsible for any damages or issues with mis-diagnosis, or for anything that comes of you working on your own guns. I am simply putting my experience as a tech into words in hopes it can solve some of your issues. **
How an AEG works
First off we need to get in the same mindset. You can think of a gun as two separate systems, operating simultaneously to feed and propel the BB.
1) The first system is the mechanical system. This is made up of the gearbox and its components, the motor, and the hop up. These are all mechanical parts which rely on motion to perform their duties. (The motor is technically in both systems, I just listed it in the mechanical as it moves.)
2) The second system is the electrical system which involves your wiring, connectors, battery, and fuse/MOSFET if you have them. This system simply carries the power of the battery to the motor which converts the electrical energy into the mechanical motion which propels the BB.
My gun stopped shooting, whats wrong with it?
Most of the time when you ask for help troubleshooting your problem, the people trying to answer will ask for more information. You can skip most of this asking step by answering the following questions in your initial inquiry.
** Before performing any of these tests, take the mag out of your gun and make sure it is pointed in a safe direction in case the gun suddenly fires and there is still a BB in the chamber.
1) When you pull the trigger, what happens.
a) The gearbox cycles, but no bbs come out.
b) There is a small click coming from the grip area of the gun, and the gearbox does not cycle. (Commonly referred to as a locked gearbox)
c) Nothing happens at all.
These are the three most basic categories of gun issues.
ELECTRICALLY
Looking at the electrical system is the first step to solving problems b) and c). A lot of the times these issues can be resolved simply by making sure that your battery is not dead, or simply testing with another battery which works on another rifle. Also, check the fuse and make sure that the fuse itself is not blown, and the fuse connections are still in contact with each other.
a) These problems are not electrical. The only way they may relate is if you have a front wired replica in which the routing of the wiring is interfering with the position of the hop up, gearbox, or mag.
b) This is generally caused by a dead or underpowered battery.
c) This case means that there is a break in the electrical circuit somewhere. This could be a dead battery, pinched, cut, or torn wire, blown fuse, internal connectors not connected, motor connections, or trigger contacts. My advice on these problems is to try and eliminate as many possibilities as you can by inspecting as many components as you are comfortable looking at. The more information you can give, the better than someone can help you.
Another common issue (mainly with v2 gearbox rifles) is the motor contacts coming off of the motor. In order to check this, simply unscrew the two screws on the bottom of the pistol grip and pull the plate off. Check to make sure that the two connections are snug on their tabs. If it was found that one of the tabs was not connected, reconnect it and plug in the battery. At this point you can pull the trigger before putting the motor plate back on, just to assure that the electrical system is functioning.
** With the tabs, if you get recurring issues, it could be from slight bending of the actual contact. I know that some of the tabs I have seen deform slightly over time with the vibrations from the motor, and hence do not friction fit as well as they should. Simply squeezing the contact on the end of the wire with some needle nose pliers will create for a better friction fit on the motor tab. Be careful not to squeeze too much or the contact will not go onto the tab at all.
MECHANICALLY
a) When this happens, it narrows the possible causes of the issue down to the following list. It is either the tappet plate, air nozzle, mag, hop up unit, alignment of hop up relative to gearbox, or a BB jam. These issues can get a little complicated at times, so more personal advice is required most of the time. If you are comfortable opening up your gun, inspect these parts for obvious cracks, holes, deformities, or other out of the ordinary looking pieces.
b) This case is generally caused by a locked up gearbox, or a burned out motor. The later option is a little more rare as the motors we use are generally pretty long living in an average setup. The more likely culprit to these problems is a shimming problem or a broken gearbox component. Usually stock guns do not come from the factory with great shim jobs. Coupling that with the generally underpowered batteries that the average airsofter uses, can cause binding or misalignment of the gears and a locking of the mechbox. This is easily remedied by an experienced tech, (or someone willing to learn,) opening the gearbox and taking a look. The most common issue found is the inadequate shimming of the gears from the factory. Other causes however, can be broken parts locking up the gears, dead motor, or broken parts blocking the travel of the piston.
c) Generally these problems are not mechanical.
Issues with a gun not firing can range from incredibly simple (dead battery), to a complex situation (gear axle breaking, resulting in many broken gearbox components.) These are just some of the simple things to look for so that you can give more information to someone looking to help you.
If you would like to know more about anything I said here, feel free to get ahold of me and we can discuss further.
By Maverick
Please contact me about reproducing this guide. I will let you reproduce, just have to give me credit.
**I am not responsible for any damages or issues with mis-diagnosis, or for anything that comes of you working on your own guns. I am simply putting my experience as a tech into words in hopes it can solve some of your issues. **
How an AEG works
First off we need to get in the same mindset. You can think of a gun as two separate systems, operating simultaneously to feed and propel the BB.
1) The first system is the mechanical system. This is made up of the gearbox and its components, the motor, and the hop up. These are all mechanical parts which rely on motion to perform their duties. (The motor is technically in both systems, I just listed it in the mechanical as it moves.)
2) The second system is the electrical system which involves your wiring, connectors, battery, and fuse/MOSFET if you have them. This system simply carries the power of the battery to the motor which converts the electrical energy into the mechanical motion which propels the BB.
My gun stopped shooting, whats wrong with it?
Most of the time when you ask for help troubleshooting your problem, the people trying to answer will ask for more information. You can skip most of this asking step by answering the following questions in your initial inquiry.
** Before performing any of these tests, take the mag out of your gun and make sure it is pointed in a safe direction in case the gun suddenly fires and there is still a BB in the chamber.
1) When you pull the trigger, what happens.
a) The gearbox cycles, but no bbs come out.
b) There is a small click coming from the grip area of the gun, and the gearbox does not cycle. (Commonly referred to as a locked gearbox)
c) Nothing happens at all.
These are the three most basic categories of gun issues.
ELECTRICALLY
Looking at the electrical system is the first step to solving problems b) and c). A lot of the times these issues can be resolved simply by making sure that your battery is not dead, or simply testing with another battery which works on another rifle. Also, check the fuse and make sure that the fuse itself is not blown, and the fuse connections are still in contact with each other.
a) These problems are not electrical. The only way they may relate is if you have a front wired replica in which the routing of the wiring is interfering with the position of the hop up, gearbox, or mag.
b) This is generally caused by a dead or underpowered battery.
c) This case means that there is a break in the electrical circuit somewhere. This could be a dead battery, pinched, cut, or torn wire, blown fuse, internal connectors not connected, motor connections, or trigger contacts. My advice on these problems is to try and eliminate as many possibilities as you can by inspecting as many components as you are comfortable looking at. The more information you can give, the better than someone can help you.
Another common issue (mainly with v2 gearbox rifles) is the motor contacts coming off of the motor. In order to check this, simply unscrew the two screws on the bottom of the pistol grip and pull the plate off. Check to make sure that the two connections are snug on their tabs. If it was found that one of the tabs was not connected, reconnect it and plug in the battery. At this point you can pull the trigger before putting the motor plate back on, just to assure that the electrical system is functioning.
** With the tabs, if you get recurring issues, it could be from slight bending of the actual contact. I know that some of the tabs I have seen deform slightly over time with the vibrations from the motor, and hence do not friction fit as well as they should. Simply squeezing the contact on the end of the wire with some needle nose pliers will create for a better friction fit on the motor tab. Be careful not to squeeze too much or the contact will not go onto the tab at all.
MECHANICALLY
a) When this happens, it narrows the possible causes of the issue down to the following list. It is either the tappet plate, air nozzle, mag, hop up unit, alignment of hop up relative to gearbox, or a BB jam. These issues can get a little complicated at times, so more personal advice is required most of the time. If you are comfortable opening up your gun, inspect these parts for obvious cracks, holes, deformities, or other out of the ordinary looking pieces.
b) This case is generally caused by a locked up gearbox, or a burned out motor. The later option is a little more rare as the motors we use are generally pretty long living in an average setup. The more likely culprit to these problems is a shimming problem or a broken gearbox component. Usually stock guns do not come from the factory with great shim jobs. Coupling that with the generally underpowered batteries that the average airsofter uses, can cause binding or misalignment of the gears and a locking of the mechbox. This is easily remedied by an experienced tech, (or someone willing to learn,) opening the gearbox and taking a look. The most common issue found is the inadequate shimming of the gears from the factory. Other causes however, can be broken parts locking up the gears, dead motor, or broken parts blocking the travel of the piston.
c) Generally these problems are not mechanical.
Issues with a gun not firing can range from incredibly simple (dead battery), to a complex situation (gear axle breaking, resulting in many broken gearbox components.) These are just some of the simple things to look for so that you can give more information to someone looking to help you.
If you would like to know more about anything I said here, feel free to get ahold of me and we can discuss further.