Build log - my first B2K

[martix_agent]

I’m part of the group there already and will see if anyone has a gasket if that’s where the leak is. I just prefer to spend as little time on FB as possible.
I also read that there was someone who used old gift cards and small 1x3mm o-rings to make his own rebuildable gaskets. It’s worth asking about, I suppose.

If my lpr is overpressurizing the solenoid, where would the air vent from?

It's going to seem like a solienoid/manifold leak if that's what is happening. I don't think it's very likely this is the case, however. Does the leak get worse as you increase the LPR? If so, I tend to believe the LPR is working correctly. The only true way to know is to get your hand on an LPR tester for it, but I wouldn't worry about that right now.

The credit card and oring idea seems likely to work, if not frustrating to do correctly.

[Myrkul]

Since you fixed the manifold "o" rings, the next thing I'd check would actually be the ram. If the ram has a leak sometimes it sounds like it's coming from the solenoid. I guess in theory it could be the noid gasket, but I've personally never encountered one that was actually bad.

[lhamilton1807]

I’ll admit, this is the first time I’ve tongued a marker.

Moving on… here’s where the leak is. Pointing to the hole with the end of my hex wrench. Seems like the manifold is fine - nothing leaking from between the manifold and body.

[Myrkul]

That's where it blows off if your LPR is too high (most likely), or if you have the wrong durometer rings on the manifold (ruled out) or if your ram has a leak, or if your noid has a bad internal seal (least likely).

What does the seat look like in your LPR? How about the cup? Did you remember your cup spring?

[lhamilton1807]

I’ll take apart the ram and check for failed o-rings. Here’s the cup seal, cup, and spring.

I put a new spring in the plunger from the minor rebuild kit when I serviced it a few weeks ago. The leak starts just a few turns in from where the adjuster is flush with the outer rim of the lpr - I assume this is around when it begins supplying air to the manifold/noid so I doubt it’s over pressurizing the solenoid unless I’ve put something together wrong.

Edit: yeah apparently I’m an idiot and was so excited at how shiny the ram was that I completely missed putting an o-ring on it 🤣

[Myrkul]

Yep! That'll do it! Glad you got it sorted out!

The solenoids on these are rock solid, I think a lot of people assume they are bad because so many different parts can all cause a leak from the same spot, but it's almost never the solenoid.

Glad you got it sorted!!!

[lhamilton1807]

And it’s cycling! Can’t wait for the last piece. Modded bolt should be back in my hands soon…

[BrickHaus]

Looking forward to another b2k gracing the fields in 2025.

[martix_agent]

I was right about the LPR sending too much pressure? Feels good to still have it, I guess.
Congrats on the working marker!

[lhamilton1807]

No, there was no o-ring on the ram shaft so the first hint of pressure to the ram caused a leak. I had to burn out the loctite again to find this.

[lhamilton1807]

I picked up the bolt from SSC at the local field yesterday and popped it in. A big shout-out to BrickHaus for loaning me his bolt to get measurements!

Had to swap out the 015 o-rings for 014, and I’ve got the B2K running! The eyes don’t seem to detect paint regularly so I’ll have to troubleshoot that. it doesn’t seem to care, though!

can’t seem to get the velocity beyond 250fps.

one thing I noticed when cranking in the lpr screw is that it never overpressurizes the solenoid. I can crank it in all the way and it’ll bottom out without causing the noid to leak. I’m assuming this is part of the reason I can’t reach field velocity. The ram doesn’t open the valve enough to let sufficient air through the valve.

open to everyone’s ideas.

[Myrkul]

Don't discount the washer trick either, if it's not able to output enough pressure to vent from the noid I would keep adding them until it does.

[lhamilton1807]

Will give the washer trick a go. Our vehicles are all in use so I’ll have to go to the hardware store later.

[Myrkul]

Ya, I definitely think just a washer will clear it up. Had to do that on a local players B2k4s just this past weekend. Damn thing just refused to go higher then 40 psi without being shimmed. It was running a fresh reg seat from a rebuild kit I had. The older B2Ks didn't seem to have this issue, it looks to be specific to the 2k4s when using the last generation of reg seats. I've also had 2k4s pass through my hands where this never even came up though.

[lhamilton1807]

#6 flat washers seem to fit perfectly - the recessed hole in the lpr cap is about 3/8” in diameter, just over the diameter of these washers. Two SS washers, 250psi on the hpr, and it’s shooting at field speeds. It’s been such a fiddly marker, hoping it’s consistent in-game! Sure is fun to shoot tho.

Chopped the last ball in the breach, but that was a feeding issue. No pressure on the stack. Once I repair the pinched eye wire, that shouldn’t be a problem.

This paint was horrible, lumpy practice grade paint from last season, which is why there was one ball that shot outside the 271-280 range. Big bore stock barrel.

https://youtu.be/wpklxY3eoSI

[lhamilton1807]

Many thanks for all your guidance. Wouldn’t have made it to the end without the B2K Whisperer.

Considering how awful the paint was, I’m pretty impressed with how consistent it is. Love the shot characteristics of this - I’m used to spoolies and this is such a different animal.

Super Nova, I’ll make sure this is at SuperGame!

[Super Nova]

Black and red is always a classy color combo too

[Myrkul]

More then happy to help! I've figured these things out slowly the hard way over the last 15 years, glad to see what I've learned getting put to use 😁

They really are fantastic markers, completely different animals from modern spools, but in a very good way. Definitely worth the elbow grease up front to get them going, especially with how cheap they are to acquire!

[MrKittyCatMeowFace]

I hope to see this gun on the field in person someday. Great job man!

[Sneak Miester]

Sweet Nancy that’s a real looker

[BrickHaus]

I'm happy to see you got it all dialed in!

It makes me very excited to shoot mine at caveball. I've not shot mine since Myrkul sent it back to me all tuned up. The love for these is well deserved.

[Brandon]

I just picked one of these up from eBay, mines black and silver fade. On the feed neck is it special ICD thread?

[Myrkul]

I had my eye on that black and silver fade, great buy!

Yes, the feednecks are ICD specific threads. Impulse/Ion/Empire threads can work sometimes since they are close, but you do run the risk of damaging either the feedneck itself or the body.

Personally I'd recommend just sending the stock feedneck off to a machinist like bearded works or BMC fabrication and have them mill it into an empire stub.

[Brandon]

I made an offer of 100 and he took it. Also that's a good idea on the feed neck. I checked Nummech but he doesn't make an ICD threaded feed neck adaptor, not that it would matter he never has any stock.

[lhamilton1807]

You could ask Gary at ICD if he has any old stock clamping necks kicking around. They aren’t lever lock, but the threads will definitely work. That’s what I did with mine. Doesn’t bother me that I have to use an allen key to clamp down the neck - how often do you really need to (un)install a loader?