Troubleshooting Wrath grip frame air leak

pbagent · 02-24-2006, 09:21 PM

For the last couple of days, my wrath had an air leak coming from near the grip frame. At first I thought that it was a LPR damaged hose, but I discovered otherwise.

Here were the symptoms:

As soon as I pressurized the gun, I would hear a higher-pitched air leak coming from the trigger frame. My HPR was set to about 200 psi. I tried adjusting my LPR all the way in and back out again, (and all the way out and back in again) but that did not stop the leak.

I had just installed my macro line and endo cradle, so I thought that perhaps some threadlock or something had come loose and was floating around in the gun... so I completely disassembled the gun and oiled all o-rings manually. I didn't find any dirt or debris, so I reassembled and that did not stop the leak either. I tried shooting some oil through the gun, and again failed to stop the leak.

I visually inspected the LP hoses, and did not see any damage, so I left the grips off my gun and pressurized it again. I found that the air was coming out of a small vent hole at the front of the solenoid (the part of the solenoid nearest to the trigger).

So I took apart the solenoid and I found two things:

1) A tiny, tiny, tiny bit of metal at the very front of the solenoid. I don't think it had much to do with anything, but I still removed it.
2) One of the o-rings inside the solenoid was deformed. There was extra rubber around the inside of the o-ring, which was removed with an exacto knife.

I put the gun back together, and it still leaked!

It was then that I noticed that my HPA tank was almost on zero. I grabbed my CO2 tank, which was full, and pressurized the gun.

To my surprise, the gun did not leak at all! I took it outside and dry fired it about 30 times, and no leak. I hooked up the almost empty HPA tank, and it immediately started leaking again.

This is my first electro gun, and my first gun with an HPR or LPR, so maybe this was a newbie discovery... but my guess is that the gun's min pressure was not being met, which caused the gun to vent. The other issues I found in the solenoid probably didn't really have anything to do with my "air leak".

So the upshot is this: if you think you have a leak in the area of the grip frame, try a full recharge on your air/CO2 tank before you take your gun completely apart.

Shadow21 · 02-24-2006, 09:32 PM

When an HPA Tank is low or close to empty, there will be leaks, because there is not enough presure pressurizing the o-rings. This is why your Co2 worked, it was full and pressurized the o-ring enough so that they would not let any air escape. This is a normal thing.

I know this is a Trouble Shooting Guide, but you didn't put in the reason, only an answer how to do it, so I posted it.

pbagent · 02-24-2006, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shadow21

When an HPA Tank is low or close to empty, there will be leaks, because there is not enough presure pressurizing the o-rings. This is why your Co2 worked, it was full and pressurized the o-ring enough so that they would not let any air escape. This is a normal thing.

I know this is a Trouble Shooting Guide, but you didn't put in the reason, only an answer how to do it, so I posted it.

Thx that explains what the problem was! I played the last 2 years with a Tippmann 98c, and when the air gets low on that it just "burps"... I think I just earned the title electro newbie...!

pbHoowah · 02-25-2006, 05:33 AM

you may be an electro noob but not an avatar noob

pbagent · 02-25-2006, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pbHoowah

you may be an electro noob but not an avatar noob

pbagent · 02-27-2006, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shadow21

When an HPA Tank is low or close to empty, there will be leaks, because there is not enough presure pressurizing the o-rings. This is why your Co2 worked, it was full and pressurized the o-ring enough so that they would not let any air escape. This is a normal thing.

I know this is a Trouble Shooting Guide, but you didn't put in the reason, only an answer how to do it, so I posted it.

Just to confirm: This weekend I aired up my HPA tank and now there are no leaks. So if anybody does have what sounds like an air leak coming from the grip frame, be sure check your air supply before dismantling your marker!