Why does everyone hate the coloured oring kits?

[Toestr]

So I've heard it from a few people on here that they dislike the coloured oring kits, and I'd like to know why. Is it the material itself, or is it tolerencing/manufacturing issues?

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[Sdawg]

Allegedly the coloring affects the quality and/or resilience of the orings.

[OpusX]

I have put a lot of those o-rings in builds of late and really haven't noticed any issues. Perhaps I just don't use them enough.

[Cdn_Cuda]

Same here. I ended up with a big Dye o-ring kit and it’s proved very handy. The colours just make it easier to ensure you don’t end up with the wrong sized o-ring in the spot. Way easier to identify o-rings than just getting a pile of black o-rings of different sizes (cough, cough AGD rebuild kits…)

[Chuck E Ducky]

It depends on the orings you get. The majority of those orings are pore quality. The focus is cosmetic and ease of use for a customer. Versus a true to size quality oring. If you take the time to fit orings for spool valves you really notice the tolerance issues associated with making them look a certain way.

I always use Black Buna they are pretty consistent in both performance and tolerance. That feel you get from a well broken in spool marker is just in the orings the bolt rides on. If it moves fit it so it moves as smooth as possible I start with a had full of orings until I find one that fits just right.

I learned this technique working on Dye and Early Luxe markers because they often don’t work without turning the FSDO way the hell up and shoot like crap if you don’t and you get an efficiency boost. It’s Also the only way to get em to shoot in the cold well. That and adding a lil oil to the grease.

[Tarsun2]

As far as i can tell, there are 2 types of colored o-rings.

one set are regular o-rings that are painted. the paint comes off...

the other set is more expensive. they are not painted but rather the "rubber" is dyes before the o-ring is formed.


the 1st ruined the second.

[OpusX]

Ahhhh my comments are regarding, and assuming we were discussing, orings where the actual material was colored. I didn't realize there were "painted" orings O_o ... that doesn't even sound like a smart idea.

[imped4now]

Most of the colored seals I've come across have shed the "coloring", which appears to just be a surface coating with poor adhesion. When it begins to flake, there's no stopping it, and the contaminants literally end up everywhere.

Years ago, I received an Angel A1 that had countless issues. As I started to disassemble the HPR, a scary sight appeared - colored seals throughout, all flaking. I found orange and purple contaminants on the cupseal and as far downstream as the LPR seat and solenoid spool. When that happens, you have no other choice but to fully disassemble every component, wash, and replace every seal with ones that don't suck. It made what could've been a fairly quick job a very long, tedious job.

The *ONLY* colored seals that I have verified do not suck are the NEW/current Dye seals, which were introduced with the DSR and M3. Otherwise, stay far, far away.

I suggest reading this for further information: https://www.reddit.com/r/paintball/c...ef_source=link

[Chuck E Ducky]

The ones they give you in the Dye kits seem to be decent. I agree. It’s actually hurt good products like the Bang switch for the Emek. It’s failure was created by pore quality colored orings that don’t seal well. Swap in black buna and they work great. Looks good in the package sitting on the shelf tho.

[Shaftski]

Even black buna rings can be el-cheapo, poor quality, and inconsistent. The spares kit that came with my KP3 was pretty useless, every single ring had bumps/seams on the interior mating surface making a tight seal impossible.

Had an annoying pin-hole leak i could not hear coming out of the front cap, lose 10-15 psi in a few minutes. Poor stock-oring, replaced with a 20 year old buna from a parts bin and good as new.

[Grendel]

I have had no issues with "colored" o-ring "kits" never really had any problem with them but I tend to buy bulk from reputable suppliers.

[dano_____]

I picked up a generic rebuild kit from Captain Oring a few years ago and every gun I have put them in has ran great without any issues. They are as mentioned a completely colored Buna vs the coated ones that sound like a nightmare.

[Toestr]

Thanks for the input guys. I was wondering if it was the material having some sort of adverse reaction to lubes. I went and ordered some HNBR orings since they're supposed to be a bit stronger than NBR.

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[punkncat]

My issue with several purveyors of these colored rings is that they all lack overall quality. In particular, if you look up close they commonly have little tabs and rings from the molding process. So, about a good 25% of the time they don't work from the start and you chase a problem around because you "just changed that ring", and then figure "well maybe I cut it installing" etc. and waste the heck out of your time when it was the (lacking) quality of the ring all along. The other is when it works for half a moment when you put it in, make it over the chrono, and leaks before the first day of play is over...also resulting in this huge time suck chasing the incorrect problem.

Good quality black buna, or the nice clear/white urethane (for certain builds). Eff that colored smeg.

[Trbo323]

For me it's a couple things and while I think the colored o rings were created with good intentions I think they have kind of evolved into

1) it facilitates lazy players. Why bother knowing the size when you just need the "red" o ring?

2) allowed for huge mark ups from manufacturers. A 5 cent o ring now costs $1 because the "red" o ring can only be purchased from dye

3) allowed the manufactures to force players to buy from them. If you need the "red" o ring for your dye marker, nobody else sells it. And while sure that ring is a common size and durometer, dye removed the specs in the manual.

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[MrBarraclough]

Related question: How important is it to replace buna with buna? Would it be a problem to replace, say bolt and bolt can o-rings on a spoolie, bunanitrile o-rings with urethane?

[Grendel]

On a non-working seal I will use whatever works and have had non-standard material o-rings last long times. Working Seals it is never good to substitute materials without a good understanding on the differences. Pneumatic Tools are designed around very specific material and sizes and to mess with that can get you in hard to troubleshoot territory is you are not careful. That being said both in and out of paintball I have had to make due with less then optimal material and size selections with little downside but I usually will correct the issue when I'm back in the shop.

[Shaftski]

Ring durometer is probably the most important factor, stay as close to spec as possible.

[Trbo323]

Related question: How important is it to replace buna with buna? Would it be a problem to replace, say bolt and bolt can o-rings on a spoolie, bunanitrile o-rings with urethane?

Depends on the marker. I have a dm6 that has some poly rings in it from the factory, I run all buna and it's fine

My brother in law has a 2011 rail. I rebuilt it with all buna, it leaked, replaced the rings that were originally poly with poly, still leaked, turned out they had to be material AND durometer matched to what the manual said for it to not leak. I had some poly 90duro rings around, it required 70. I had to special order them

So yeah, trial and error

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[Toestr]

Any tips for prolonging the life of orings in storage? I just ordered a bunch. I assume storing them in an airtight container helps?

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[Grendel]

Use them, all degrade over time some worse then others. Keep them clean and out of sunlight is the best thing for longevity. Never worried about air tightness and have buna o-rings that are 10+ years old that still seam to work fine.

[Shaftski]

All polymers gas out over time, and it affects material stability. Like Grendel said, light is a real killer too, avoid UV exposure at all costs.

Here's a handy article about o-ring failures:

https://www.prepol.com/services/why-do-o-rings-fail-a-brief-guide-to-o-ring-failure-modes