After I got my Enmey/Vibe/Envy mechs working perfectly, I decided to move into original Ion bodies. While they have worked reasonably well, they have been giving me various issues that I don't get from my later body styles. I have been working through these problems, and I have finally gotten the build to the point where I think it should be.
Air Flow:
The Ion grip frame doesn't have the space that the later plastic frames have inside for air lines. I had been doing various small lines down the right for the rear chamber while routing air from the front air entrance in the frame back to the valve and then to the front chamber. I removed the guage, and made a macroline run down the left side, which should be less finicky than the 5/32 hard lines were. That allowed me to use the bottom of the donut to route air to the SMAV inlet, and then out to the QEV at the front. This makes kinks a non issue, and also makes breakdown of the gun a snap. Remove the two top grip screws, which go into holes in the SMAV mount, and the two halves can pull apart without issue.
Bolt Issues:
I had been using Shocktech Superfly bolts for these two builds thinking that they would be better. I had a couple breaks out of 1500 or so balls, and noticed that the ball rollback was greater than my stock Vibe/Envy/Enmey bolts allowed. I got some stock bolts double o-ringed and then tested them. Still, a lot of rollback. I made a round foamie out of 5mm foam sheet using a hole punch and CAed it into the front of a stock bolt. This placed the balls into the chamber perfectly with zero rollback and just enough room to enter the chamber without resistance from either the foamie or the detents.
I just ran 3 hoppers full of 3 month old craptastic paint as fast as I could pull the trigger. Had no issues and accuracy was good. I am hopeful that these Ion bodied builds are now equal to their later brothers. Can't get to the field for a few weeks, but I am excited to stress them a bit and see how they do.
Air Flow:
The Ion grip frame doesn't have the space that the later plastic frames have inside for air lines. I had been doing various small lines down the right for the rear chamber while routing air from the front air entrance in the frame back to the valve and then to the front chamber. I removed the guage, and made a macroline run down the left side, which should be less finicky than the 5/32 hard lines were. That allowed me to use the bottom of the donut to route air to the SMAV inlet, and then out to the QEV at the front. This makes kinks a non issue, and also makes breakdown of the gun a snap. Remove the two top grip screws, which go into holes in the SMAV mount, and the two halves can pull apart without issue.
Bolt Issues:
I had been using Shocktech Superfly bolts for these two builds thinking that they would be better. I had a couple breaks out of 1500 or so balls, and noticed that the ball rollback was greater than my stock Vibe/Envy/Enmey bolts allowed. I got some stock bolts double o-ringed and then tested them. Still, a lot of rollback. I made a round foamie out of 5mm foam sheet using a hole punch and CAed it into the front of a stock bolt. This placed the balls into the chamber perfectly with zero rollback and just enough room to enter the chamber without resistance from either the foamie or the detents.
I just ran 3 hoppers full of 3 month old craptastic paint as fast as I could pull the trigger. Had no issues and accuracy was good. I am hopeful that these Ion bodied builds are now equal to their later brothers. Can't get to the field for a few weeks, but I am excited to stress them a bit and see how they do.
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