solenoid question

[PB_Keller]

Ive searched the stickies for 45 minutes now and as far as cleaning and lubing the solenoid i havent found much. My concern is this.. The other night for some reason i had the urge to dismantle my gun and clean and lube it... in its entirety. so i did and i lubed the solenoid valve... my question is... can you put to much lube on the valve? if so what are the consequences and what is the remedy?
thanks

[miniature-art]

http://www.kamworld.net/paintball/Solenoid_Cleaning.html

http://www.angelfire.com/mech/zds/skr/solenoidmain.html

Lubricate the o-rings on the spool valve sparingly with Dow 33, and you shouldn't have FSDO.

BOBBY

[toothpastedog]

Very sparingly...

[ikey]

dont do that. generally when you do that you end up having more problems than your would fix. i say dont mess with your solinoid untill it has a problem. people tell you not to do this, but every once in a while (i mean very rarely) i put a tiny (and i mnea tiny, like a pin head sized amount of dow in the ASA. mabe 2 pins heads worth. that should eventually circulate around untill a tiny bit of it gets to the solinoid. after it goes through all the parts in the reg and asa there is only a very small amount to make it to the solinoid. but do not do this too much or you will gum your gun up. however, i do not at all consider this to be maintainling my gun, i still take it apart regualrly and properly lube it. i just do that to hopefully prevent things like solinoid leaks.

[miniature-art]

Ikey,

Cleaning the solenoid is part of the servicing routine for an Impulse. As long as the metal core isn't removed, and you only carefully clean the spool valve, there should be no problems.

The links I provided give you just about all the knowledge you need to self-service the Impulse solenoid.

As for putting a bit of Dow 33 into the ASA....the Max Flow regulator has a mesh filter that will catch it. If it somehow gets through this, the solenoid filter in the body will get it.

BOBBY

[ikey]

it does manage to get though though. have you ever done t and tehn taken apart your gun? you will see a tiny bit of lube in your gun. im assumine a tiny bit gets through the solinoid filter too, otherwise why would people say not to put dow in your asa, because if you do it too often or you put in to much it gums up your solinoid and your gun. also, even TPD has said not to mess with your solinoid unless it starts having problems. i agree. they are extremely sensitive and can break really easily. they also really dont need a whole lot of maintaining. i say if you start noticeing performance problems then do it, but otherwise forget about it.

[miniature-art]

Ikey,

Of course I take my Impulse apart. That is why I have no fear of damaging it. Knowledge is power :)

That bit of lube you see in front of the solenoid, is seepage through the solenoid gasket from the spool valve itself; not Dow33 that circulates through the body.

If this were true, then both filters will be sitcky from the Dow33, as well as all the air passages in the body which isn't the case.

I know it's a common practice to lubricate machanical markers like the Spyder in this manner. But really, it just doesn't work for Impulses.

BOBBY

[ikey]

i know, but if you read my earlier posts i put a very very tiny amount in and i do it very very rarely. i dunno, i need some kind of proof. do these filters stop EVERYTHING? i still dont see how they dont let a tiny but trough. and in terms of lubine ur solinoid cant you just take your solinoid off the gasket and put tiny tiny tiny bits of daw where the inled holes are instead of taking apart the whole valve?

[miniature-art]

Ikey,

Absolutely! The filters do a great job in catching metal particles. The next time you disassemble your Max-Flow, check the filter.

The metal particles are usually aluminum bits from the ASA or On/Off switches that come off everytime you screw in or remove your bottled air source.

A great way to clean the filters is to simply immerse it in isopropyl alcohol, brush it gently to work off excss lube and metal bits, then let it air dry before reinstallation.

If either filters are crimped or bent out of shape, you can roll a sheet of paper into a cylinderical shape that is smaller in diameter than the filter. Then place the rolled up bit of paper in the lip of the filter and carefully reshape it.

If you overlube your Max-Flow regulator, you'll see that the regulator filter is sticky. But Dow 33 is simply not viscous enough to flow through the much larger solenoid filter. It runs the entire length of your Impulse's body. If you were to squirt something viscous...for exaple Tri-Flow or Gold Cup into the ASA, then that would probably make its way into the solenoid.

As for lubricating the solenoid through the holes in the solenoid body....the purpose of removing the spool valve as described in the Impulse instruction manual, is to place the Dow 33 EXACTLY on the spool valve o-rings. If it gets anywhere else (inside the solenoid body, or the metal areas of the spool valve) than it becomes useless. Such excess lube then can cause solenoid based FSDO.

BOBBY

[ikey]

i know how to lube the solinoid, i just dont like to do it, and thats not true, metal particels are solid. when the dow gets in the air it becomes almost like air. i have done this before and i took off my front cap and there was dow all in where the valve was. so it does get thorugh. i assume that if it gets through the maxi filter it would get through the solinoid filter. yes yes i know in order to see that much dow where the valve is i would have had to put way way to much in there that was very bad. i dont do that anymore.

[toothpastedog]

The reason i tell people not to mess with their solenoid is this: most people will end up messing up their solenoid by trying to clean it. That said, many many people can do it without anyproblem. If you know you can do it, and fully understand how to first, go right ahead and do it, you shouldn't have any problems. if done properly, it should help, the promblem is, most don't do it properly...

[ikey]

but will not messing with your solinoid cause problems. because i ahve not messed with my solinoid for over a year and a half and have had no problems. however if it will cause problems i would like to know. sofar i would say it doesnt cause i havent had any problems is a year and a half.

[the Ydna]

There are occasional shooting probelms that are caused by an undergreased spool. If you have a problem based from the soleniod then that's where to go.
Beyond that, it also matters a bit that every gun is different. most people don't service their solenoids and have a fine time with their guns....but others aren't so lucky. No way to tell. Becuase of that i encourage their cleaning. Unless you damage the thing in some way, there's no problem with overcleaning the gun. Sure there are lots of small parts and sure they need to go back together the correct way...but I don't think it's that intimidating. Some people would disagree since we're all different...

The grease blowing through the gun issue occurs becuase it transfers through the internals molecule by molecule. Filters will trap larger groups of the grease however not everything will be caugt.
However, I will tell you, the solenoid will not lubricate itself by such small amounts of grease...not by a long shot. The grease has to keep the seals and gaskets moist, which it will not do molecule by molecule. If you want to lubricate the spool, take it apart and do it directly...read a guide before doing so you know what all the parts look like...no prob.

[miniature-art]

Ikey,

Since we can't do a shootoff, let's just agree to disagree:P

BOBBY

[PB_Keller]

this thread kind of got turned into a heated battle between, im not going to say names, cough ikey and miniature art cough, anyways... now im nervous that maybe i put to much lube on the valve... i just wipe off what was on there (what was on there was whatever they put on in the factory last spring when i bought it) and then i put that much more on... maybe a tad more. But im playing saturday and im worried that i over-lubed it

can anyone tell me what signs i will see if i did over lube it?
and if i do see those signs when im playing on saturday then what do i do to fix it?

[Dr J]

my take...

Specifically lubing the internals of the solenoid is NOT necesary as long as you occasionally relube the Ram housing.

The lube will work it's way into the solenoid on it's own as you shoot the gun.



example...
I have never disasembled my solenoid. After applying a little extra dow to the ram assembly I played with the gun a couple times. When I took the grip fram off the gun to adjust my spring return on the trigger there was a noticeable "spray" of dow coming from the 'noid area.

Just know this. If there is lube in the ram area... then there will be lube in the 'noid.

So stop freaking taking them apart and losing all the little pieces or reassembling them incorrectly.(not directed at anyone in particular)

[miniature-art]

Quote:

So stop freaking taking them apart and losing all the little pieces or reassembling them incorrectly

+++

Only if you don't know what you're doing:D

BOBBY

[the Ydna]

eh, well, that's why we have all these wonderful online guides! horray!

What you can do to see if you overgreased it is remove the pilot/coil from the spool housing then push against the spool sticking out of it. Push it in and let go...it should spring back into position and not get hung up on the seals.

[PB_Keller]

ok so i got some air in my tank finally and i aired up my gun and it is leaking(the leak sounds like it is from somewhere in the grip frame hince the noid in my opinion)... something that it didnt do prior to me messing with my noid (im dumb i know... i regret messing with it) but im playing tomorrow morning and i need to fix this leak if anyone can tell me then please tell me how to fix this leak.
Ive checked all of the parts (spool valve and gasket) and nothing seems damaged.
please if anyone can give me some instructions on stopping this leak please please helpe me quickly!
thank you

[Dr J]

check the end cap on the solenoid it has a top/bottom. One side has a small line on it... that side needs to be on same side as the gun... so that it is hidden from view when installed.

Also check the middle oring on the ram housing and maybe even the oring on the ram itself.

[PB_Keller]

the end cap is correct and the orings are all in good shape... im very confused and extremely frustrated that i somehow messed this up.
I am supposed to play tomorrow morning and my gun is down. If anyone can help me please let me know i really need to fix this.

[PB_Keller]

if i un-lubed the spool valve would this stop the leak?