Help with A5 cyclone feed not feeding

[scuzzy]

Bought an older used model. All cyclone gears appear intact. With the "assist" it spins, but will not spin when firing. Banjos seem to be sealed, and the cup in the feed cylinder seems fine. Velocity is up. But I am testing on a 300psi ninja hpa tank. Do I need higher pressures or CO2? Any and all help appreciated!

[warbosschoppa]

They need up to 350 PSI to operate, try a friend's tank to see if works with it. In the meantime take the cyclone apart and clean and lube it just to make sure nothing is cracked or the ratchet isn't damaged.

[William the Third]

The A-5, like nearly everything Tippmann, was designed with CO2 in mind, so 700~1,000 PSI depending on temperature. If you want to use HPA, I recommend turning the tank reg up to at least 800 PSI, but I'd personally aim for 1,000 PSI.

I've worked on two customers A-5 that were having similar issues as you. There were some difference in the A-5 over the years. One of those differences is the air port for the cyclone/response trigger in the body. Early models had one port, later models had two ports in the right body clam shell. I'm not sure, but I believe all of the power tube/valve housing assemblies from Tippmann just have one hole, but some aftermarket ones have two holes.

The first A-5 that I worked on was an early single port body, but had an aftermarket aluminum power tube/valve housing with two holes (also an e-trigger). This meant the bridge between the two holes was right where the single port in the body was, so it basically blocked air from getting to the cyclone reliably. A quick cut with a Dremel rotary tool to turn the two holes into one slot fixed the problem.

The second A-5 was having problems with the cyclone, response trigger, and getting to velocity while using HPA. This was a later two port body, but was using a response trigger setup like from the old single port body (the response trigger and cyclone being both fed by the same "T" fitting). This A-5 had a stock plastic power tube/valve housing which only had one hole. This would have been probably fine with CO2, and maybe if the response trigger and cyclone were being fed off different ports. The fix again was to use a Dremel rotary tool to make a slot in the power tube/valve housing that allowed more air to be fed to the response trigger/cyclone. This worked perfectly with his HPA tank that was outputting ~600 PSI. Even with no barrel and the velocity screw backed out, thus as little back pressure as possible, the response trigger/cyclone worked when dry firing. I then turned his tank reg output up to ~1,000 PSI, installed a new main/drive/hammer/striker spring. Now velocity was no longer a problem, and the response trigger was amazing. I told him it could possibly be even better if he ran the response trigger and cyclone off the separate ports, but it worked so well that he never worried about it.

[Trbo323]

Yes you need more cowbell.

If it's operating normally, when your tank starts getting low on pressure usually the first sign is the cyclone stops feeding

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[scuzzy]

Thanks guys. It's a really neat design idea, but it's certainly not without it's issues. I'll either get some CO2 or my higher output hpa tank filled to try it out.

I had forgotten about that Tippmann kah-chunk every time you pull the trigger.

[scuzzy]

Got this plus 3 CO2 tanks, a very old HPA tank, a bunch of pods and 2 holders, plus a Scott mask in good shape. The A5 came with an electronic frame that the seller thought was broken, but I got it working. Shocktech front grip and drop. 32 degrees whisper barrel, Stiffi barrel, and the 98 came with an ACI barrel. Parts kit and manuals. Solid for $50! Needed cleanup and lube, but they shoot and seal.

[Chappy]

Good vintage, these are Tippmann pneumatics , not later Tippmann USA. Those pre badge custom 98s are rock solid.

[Trbo323]

Got this plus 3 CO2 tanks, a very old HPA tank, a bunch of pods and 2 holders, plus a Scott mask in good shape. The A5 came with an electronic frame that the seller thought was broken, but I got it working. Shocktech front grip and drop. 32 degrees whisper barrel, Stiffi barrel, and the 98 came with an ACI barrel. Parts kit and manuals. Solid for $50! Needed cleanup and lube, but they shoot and seal.

Nice job even if you just got the 98 at $50 I would say it's a good deal you got a really good deal on all that

I'm not surprised about the e-frame those things can be finicky and confusing I've had plenty of people say they're broken and they're not

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[scuzzy]

It's a 691 Stiffi and a 32 degrees whisper barrel. What's the general consensus on these barrels?

[Trbo323]

It's a 691 Stiffi and a 32 degrees whisper barrel. What's the general consensus on these barrels?

For the stiffi make sure you use a squeegee and not a barrel swab. Fiber swabs will get caught in the fiber weave. They are not bad barrels but pretty much their only selling point is that they are made of carbon fiber

The whisper is a decent barrel I wouldn't say it's anything super special but much better than stock

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[markdem]

The ratcheting mechanism inside the cyclone should have neat, sharp mating surfaces. When those parts get old, they round-over which causes them to skip when blasted with exhaust gasses. Ratcheting by hand is gentle in comparison and the rounded teeth wont skip

[scuzzy]

Got my Tippmann HPA tank in from ANS gear ($25, seriously?!), output at 800psi. Cyclone working like a champ! Nice shooter!