Anyone ever opened a T98 response trigger cylinder?

[lhamilton1807]

A number of years ago I refurbed a former rental T98 that had grit everywhere through it. It’s a loaner now, but the bonus was a RT cylinder, tube, and female fitting. I just installed it in my T98 backup gun and noticed it has a really hard time cycling consistently. My T98 has a cyclone with aluminum ratchet & rod and a ported piston housing. I have the Custom, so only one air accessory port, and I have the double banjo with the 1/8 line for more airflow. The cyclone side has an air restrictor, which came with the air line kit.

I’m having trouble getting the RT to work consistently on co2, even running through an X chamber AND remote line. Am I just not dialing it in right? Is it too cold to work well with co2 (~50 degrees F / 10 C) even with all the room to expand? When just using the cyclone, my gun does fine even in cool weather- it’ll only fail to cycle when the liquid is gone from the tank. My thought was to take the RT cylinder apart and clean and lube it, but I’m having trouble getting it open.

Any ideas?

[gabe]

I opened one up a couple years ago but it was an older manufactured RT cylinder and iirc had flats to simply thread the front off of it. There's simply a piston with a unique flat type seal on it with the piston rod coming out the front.

Try disconnecting and plugging the cyclone feed and see if you can get good RT then. I'm not sure theres enough blowback to reliably run both systems even with a restrictor. Also have you tried adjusting the RT level needle valve? You should be able to open up the gas flow and maybe get better action.

[lhamilton1807]

Yes, I’ve tried the needle valve. I saw some videos where the RT plunger could simply be removed by pulling it out the front. Mine has caps on both ends and only one side has flats for a wrench or vice. I chewed up the other side a little by trying to twist it off with pliers while the flat side was in a vice. Still seals fine - the damage seems cosmetic only.

So I decided to get rid of all the lube and grime inside it by removing the hose, then soaking the cylinder in 99% isopropyl alcohol and actuating the plunger constantly. This turned the alcohol a cloudy color, I presume from all the old lubricant. I’m letting it soak some more and will wash it out again the same way later today. When I put my finger over the air inlet and try to push the piston in, it seals really well.

After the alcohol dries, what should it be lubed with? Should i spooge some Dow 33 or similar lube into the air inlet, or should I use gun oil instead? Can’t find a RT-specific manual, and the A5 manual doesn’t have much regarding RT maintenance aside from checking for leaks.

[lhamilton1807]

Fixed. For posterity, here’s the process:

After soaking the main cylinder in alcohol and pumping the piston, I changed the alcohol out for a fresh batch - the first bath became cloudy with old lube and there was a bunch of grit that washed out of the cylinder. To ensure all the grit didn’t get sucked back in, I pulled the piston rod slowly forward with the air inlet just below the surface of the alcohol and then quickly pushed the rod back in to quickly wash dirt out.

Through the small front vent hole I could also see there was brown grime on the piston. After the second bath, all that grime was gone. I plugged the air inlet with my finger and confirmed there was a good seal still, even without any lubricant. The internal seal was still good, so there should be no reason to disassemble the piston.

The short hose that runs on the inside of the grip was also washed. I pulled off the 90 fitting and saw a brown layer of grimy dirt and lube inside. After soaking the fittings and hose in isopropyl, I used a soft pipe cleaner from my wife’s craft collection to get all the grime out, rinsing every so often. I lubed the piston with oil from both the air entry side and the piston rod side, actuated the piston to ensure the seal was well lubed, and put it all back together. Initial testing without paint shows it’s ripping consistently at a high ROF. I honestly should slow it down some so it doesn’t just blend paint. 😈 I have squishy paddles and a metal ratchet/rod set and a X chamber, so it still shot fairly consistently with a cold co2 tank. I intend it to be used with a remote line and harness as well for extra insurance against liquid co2.