Tippmann Factory F/A Rebuild

[Cdn_Cuda]

Flipping the marker upside down again, we need to remove the velocity screw and deal with a hidden valve retention piece (Again, special thanks to Jordan for this). This little piece hides under the threaded cylinder that holds the grip frame screws. So this cylinder must be moved out of the way. They you can see the metal powertube retainer. Or in my case, not notice this a separate piece at all….


And here are the two pieces completely removed.


Be aware that that metal wedge is only held in by that threaded cylinder. So if you put the wedge back and not the cylinder, the wedge will just fall out and you’ll have to crawl around until you find it again…. (Yup, totally did that myself).

With this piece removed and the sear components flipped (as shown in post #15) you can now remove the internals. I use a barrel cleaner to push it out.

So the valve and the powertube come out:

And my powertube needs some serious cleaning.

[Cdn_Cuda]

Somehow I manage to miss taking any photos of the hammer…. So I’ll need to do that. After the rebuild My initial air-up was okay, with a slight valve leak. The next time I aired it up the vintage o-rings in the valve threw in the towel. Given their age I can’t blame them. So now I see whether I dig into the valve or save that for later and start on my next disassembly.

Update: Here’s the hammer:

[desertT1]

The coil spring is not stainless and when I got mine it had turned to red/brown dust in some areas. One part was rusted through and it broke. I called all over the place and finally found one. The place had 2 others and when I posted about that on the old MCB they were quickly spoken for.

The way it is anchored to the winding piece and the body is a little unrefined, but if needed I’m sure we could come up with a new way to do it. I recall having to use my soldering iron to unmelt and remelt the plastic to put the new one in place and stay put.

[glaman5266]

Great write-up! I think we've discussed this before, but I really like these long form teardowns & reviews. This is excellent. Thank you.

[Cdn_Cuda]

Thanks, glad they're helpful/interesting!

[Toestr]

Ok, I now remember how I disassembled these style valves. Take a small socket and put it over the stem of the side with the brass seat. Then put the valve between a set of hand clamps and compress the seat down in order to relieve pressure from the wire ring (make sure the opposite valve stem isn't being compressed as well). Use a pick, small flat head or knife (carefully) to pry out the ring (this is the most frustrating part). Replace it with a 1/2" snap ring and reassemble.

I just realized you could also drill into a block of wood and place the other valve stem in there so you can compress the clamp straight down instead of compressing it cocked to the side and having it fly out of the clamp.

Another tip is if you need to increase spring tension for recock/velocity you can put a 1/8" or so piece of macroline behind the spring on the guide pin. I'd recommend you make sure this cycles in semi before you start trying to tune the auto sears.

[Cdn_Cuda]

Thank you! This will be very helpful when I crack this back open. I’ve switched over to the Palmer now and am waiting on a valve tool to arrive.

[Tippster]

Did you end up having to do anything to the housing with the pistons? My FA works, but I have to refill it with fluid before each day, tried replacing the o rings a few years back with some I had laying around but still had the same issue

[Cdn_Cuda]

Not yet, but I still need to tackle the valve rebuild, so it’s not shooting yet.

[Cdn_Cuda]

Finally revisiting this, and starting off with Toestr’s advice. Not going to be fun, but need to remove the lock ring.

S first it goes in the clamp


And here you can see my target. These rings suck to remove at the best of times, but in this position it’s really going to suck.

[Meleager7]

reminder to replace the troublesome split ring, with a snap ring if you can !

[Cdn_Cuda]

Definitely will do. Need to source one, but should be easy to do.

[uglyduckling]

Great write up. I went through the exact same process with my F/A. The clock spring was broken of course, and I have replacements. However I feel a better solution would be to just replace the star feeder altogether. I know that cyclone feeds have been grafted on to F/A's with some success. My proposed solution would be this python Helix feedneck, which is made to delete the cyclone feeder on the A5. I think it would only require minor modification to mount it to the F/A and then use a halo/rotor another fast loader and enjoy not worrying with winding a clock spring that will inevitably break again. I just haven't had the time to experiment with this nor do I own a 3d printer. I think it's a promising idea though.

[Tippster]

Let me know if you ever end up making one of these! I would definitely buy one!!

[Cdn_Cuda]

Here’s the cyclone disassembled. I am luck as the spring in the hopper looks to be in good condition!

[Cdn_Cuda]

There’s three pins that just sit in the bottom of the cyclone casing and just rest in little cutout. Two are shown in place, one is shown removed.



And then here is the inside of the cyclone and the fins:

[Cdn_Cuda]

This leaves me with just the valve to deal with and source the replacement 1/2 snap ring.

[Jordan]

I think the snapring out of a WGP Ergo reg - the one that's there so you don't back the adjuster screw all the way out accidentally - is the right size, in case you have one kicking around.

[Cdn_Cuda]

Found a few moments of free time and wanted to do something tricky and frustrating. Turns out wasn’t too bad.

I used two picks, one straight one to lever under the snap ring to leverage it up, and one hooked one to pull the edge of the pin. Was a little tricky getting things in place but works very well.



And everything comes out nice and easy. The o-ring was pretty crusty and came apart when trying to remove it. New o-ring in place.

[Toestr]

Something I just discovered with the c clip installed in the valve is that it severely restricts velocity. The c clip causes the front brass seat to sit further down, which means the poppets have less travel. When the rear poppet is fully compressed the front poppet has absolutely no travel. You will get strong recock but poor velocity. I will be filing the step off the front of the brass seat which will have it sit as far out as it does with the stock wire ring and hopefully that will get it up to velocity.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

[Cdn_Cuda]

I ended up putting the stock ring back in. Wasn’t too bad to get it out. Was actually tougher getting it back in, but figured it out. Need some Teflon tape to seal things up, but cycles now!

[Cdn_Cuda]

So everything is back together, but I’ve got a stubborn leak at the main airline in the “trigger guard” air line. Added a couple orings to see if it would seal better, but no dice. My old standby Teflon tape isn’t helping either. Any tips? Or just drown the fitting in blue locktite?

[Cdn_Cuda]

The compression ferrule. When I poke the hose it changes pitch.

[Chappy]

Ok. It seems you fixed it by the below post, but if it continues you may have no choice but to replace the line and the ferrule. Once they get pinched too much there’s not much you can do.

[Cdn_Cuda]

Fixed the airline leak, but looks like the valve seal just went again….

[Cdn_Cuda]

Appeared to have fixed the ferrule leak and have blue loctited both ends of that fitting, which should make things air tight. Need to wait until it dries now to confirm.

Update: Loctite did its job, but then had a valve issue. Have everything apart and even without the clip ring, the valve won’t come apart, so definitely used the wrong o-ring. Ended up needed a wrench and a pier or pliers to pull it apart. Those soft jaws I bought have come in handy!