Adventures With Tippmann C3!

[Cdn_Cuda]

Grabbed a little propane tank from a local store and finally got to use the Tippmann C3 I picked up. Felt like being precautious so grabbed a mask and some gloves and screwed on the propane tank. No giant explosion, so that’s good, but everything else sucked.

Pump the gun, pull the trigger and nothing. Try again and pop, a few balls come out, try again and nothing happens. Looks like this C3 has some issues that need to work out.

So here is where I’m at:

[Cdn_Cuda]

After a tearing everything apart, adding some Exalt Vitamin G (is this stuff flammable?!) and reassembling I notice the ground is literally hang by a thread and upon so a give a little yank and the end broke right off. Should be an easy fix at least!

[Chuck E Ducky]

vitamin G is non flammable it’s the same stuff used on tank regs so no issues with building explosive vapor.

[Cdn_Cuda]

Thanks for the confirmation, Chuck! Figuring it was for the exact same reason you mention, but always good to double check.

[JeepDVLZ45]

Looking to live vicariously through you on this adventure….subscribed

[Chuck E Ducky]

Clean up the ground use some Dielectric grease. Next I would check the igniter.

[Cdn_Cuda]

Given that we don’t have a full tear down of one of these on MCB I guess I should do a full disassembly thread before I finish getting this back together.

[Cdn_Cuda]

Torn into the C3 several times. A little nervous at first, but really there’s much to this gun at all. Need to borrow a tool to fix my ground, but almost everything else has been cleaned, greased and reassembled. Hoping it will work properly once I get it back together.

[Cdn_Cuda]

Everything is back together. I’ve taken photos of the process and will update with those. A little frustration getting things back together, but much smoother once I had the pump arm in the proper position. Pump stroke feels much smoother now, so will hopefully get a chance to shoot it later this week.

[Carp]

Interested to see the info & pics, that you've been working on. I'm surprised that Killerito hasn't made his way here yet. He was/is ankle deep in C3's not too long ago.

[Meleager7]

I would like you to make a teching or shooting video at some point, but add a MacGruber style ending to it !

[Cdn_Cuda]

I’ve only done a video for my poo gun build. Still haven’t figured out how to post them properly on here either. I’ll keep it in mind though.

[Cdn_Cuda]

All righty, here's where the fun starts:

I'll start with the current rebuilt photo of the C3.


And now I'm slowly going to remove some parts.... grips and pump assemble (more on this later) have been removed:



And here's the clamshell removed and you can see all the fun little bits of the electronic assembly: Note things are a little different than in Xemon's C3. And my ground wire has no connector in this photo.




Bye-bye barrel and pump arm: Can see the feedback and the little numb at the back where the barrel is held in place.

[Cdn_Cuda]

Here's a better shot of the electronics. Nothing too complex in this gun. Parts are hot glued into place to they stay put, generally.


Here's a better look at the ground, which is currently broken. This is very important for the operation of the gun. My ground was held on by a single copper strand, so check this to make sure it's good.



And just for reference, here's the two halves of the clam shell, the barrel assembly and the pump handle.


And finally for this section the ignition point, basically the spark plug: Make sure this is nice and clean or you may have spark issues.

[Cdn_Cuda]

And if you've made it this far, let's dive into the main body of the gun, that plump round cylinder. where the boom happens! At the top right you can see the special o-ring that goes between the barrel and the cylinder. You will hate this o-ring is it can be a royal pain to keep in place. There is a little ridge for it to sit on at least.


Here's the top view of the location where that o-ring goes. Ignore the position of the left side of the tub, that spins freely (with effort) and is not currently in the proper place:


And here's the bottom of the cylinder showing the space with the "spark plug" goes and the fuel line (disconnected at one end):



Here is the front, pump end of the cylinder: The silver rod being the pump rod, the copper rod being the fuel delivery valve. Note the positioning is upside down in this photo.



And here's the back end, where you would make adjustments using a large slotted screwdriver:

[Cdn_Cuda]

Stay tuned for next time when I tear this cylinder down and show you all the inner workings. Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel! (eh, who knows when I'll get the next section posted).

[Carp]

Stay tuned for next time when I tear this cylinder down and show you all the inner workings. Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel! (eh, who know when I'll get the next section posted).

[Cdn_Cuda]

Now let's get this combustion chamber broken down: First, slide off the front portion that contains the valve and the main pump rod:



After a little work the portion with the o-ring (red) will pop out and the piece can be more easily removed. Note in this photo I'd already remove the silver main pump rod.



Next we have the silver main pump rod (not shown in photo above). This slides out as well, exposing a large thick black o-ring:



The back portion of the combustion chamber just screws off and contains the main spring and another silver piece with a large o-ring. These are what controls the velocity at which the gun will shoot, but adjusting the volume of the firing chamber.


And finally in the front cab I've removed the valve that adds the propane. This is actuated by the pump handle when you pull the pump toward the body of the gun. It's a brass fitting with 4 o-rings a spring and a pin. When manually pressed you can feel the air being forced through it. The valve body itself is held in by a circle ring, so a proper pair of circles ring pliers is necessary for full disassembly.