Tippmann Pro Lite Questions

[FlightMedic938]

How it’s looking so far. All that’s left to do (hopefully) is mill micro channels on the stem bases, taper the stems, and hook up a 90 elbow I got coming from Palmers. I might need a union on the 90 but hopefully the Palmers will reach the line.

The Custom Pro drop is perfect, for me, ergonomically and lines the hose up really well with a slight lead (in front of the valve inlet). I want a small lead because the valve reciprocates. This’ll make that valve movement smoother and stronger (hopefully). The best way is actually the stock configuration with the line going through the grip and then out pushing the valve forward. No way for me to do that with a 45 grip though.

On a Mini, I theorize, that one could use steel braided hose and instead of the stock configuration, have a large loop pointing back to the rear of the marker. This would assist the hammer in valve movement instead of impede it like the stock line. My “low pressure” tricks won’t work on the Pro Lite because you don’t want to add any mass to the valve (Shocktech VASA, volumizer, etc) because it’ll just make the valve that much harder to push forward in to the striker bar in the powertube. On a mini though, one could negate that mass with a line that’ll assist in pushing the valve forward, I think. So one could run an HPR in the vasa and then 2 lines coming off, one from the VASA and one from a 1/8 npt port on the reg, to the valve inlets. I’m going to try that out one day.

Im using the bottom line ASA from a Tippmann Raider lol. Surprisingly it’s very high flow! Large exhaust port and the fitting goes on the front which allows a much more straight shot in to the valve.

[FlightMedic938]

Worked on it a little more. Picked up a really nice aftermarket front bolt. Aluminum and true Venturi face. I had to modify it and the powertube a little to make it work but I’m happy with it. It does weigh twice as much as stock but hopefully a good polish on the inner bore will help negate that a little. Might need a stiffer spring but I’m not thinking it will.

Palmers came through like always. I ordered two 90 elbows. One traditional in nickel and one barstock in brass. The brass looks like it flows a lot more volume so I’m going with that one. Did a fitment test and everything looks good. Only this now is to modify the valve stems and then put it all back together with loctite.

[Chappy]

Please do an a/b comparison with the stock and Venturi bolts, I’m very curious. Every Venturi I’ve used has been a net negative in fps because they act as a diverter and just block airflow. But I’ve never used one in an old tippy and I’d be very interested in seeing the results .

[FlightMedic938]

I do have an open face bolt with no O ring channel as well. I made one. I’ll definitely try that one out as well.

[Chappy]

I rebuilt a Shutter for a buddy. I ditched the reg and put a torpedo on it and started it topped at 600psi. Stock bolt was shooting below 250, which was the “Venturi” open face with the trusty screw in the middle. Had another Venturi aftermarket that sorta look like the face of yours, and was about the same. Took the twisty screw out of the stock and turned it into an open face bolt and was able to turn down the reg some to get to 280 on hpa. Other than that it was all high pressure and probably co2.
I hypothesize that the valve train and breach of a tippy are far too open to allow the Venturi affect to work. If Venturi bolts work, then it would seem to me that the stock tippmann velocity adjusters wouldn’t. But they do. This is all anecdotal I couldn’t begin to prove this lulz. Which is why I love to see stuff like what you’re up to.

[FlightMedic938]

I’ll definitely let you know and post it up. It may be pure junk. I’ll try it, the bolt I made, stock bolt, PICCO bolt, and some weird Delrin bolt I got coming from Bacci. I’ll get my brothers chrono but that means I gotta buy extra beer lol. I hope my homemade is the best. Damn that would be great lol. Some jankass cut down Spyder bolt being the best lol

[Kit352]

Curious as you to why you didn't try the delrin version?

[FlightMedic938]

Some pics of the valve work. I was able to be a lot more aggressive on the back of the stem base than the front. On the front I didn’t want to nick the cup seal. I worked inbetween all of the fins but most of the work was on the rear. I probably only went a millimeter or so on the channels in between each fin themselves (the sides of the stem). Hoping the 98C valve seat seals. I gave it a nice polish. Kinda weird using it “backwards” and able to see that blue o ring.

If you look at the stem you can see I tapered it on one side only. It looks flat. I’m directing that towards the bottom of the powertube because the striker bar is horizontal. I’m hoping more air will go underneath the bar instead of hitting it and the going around.

I did the same on the rear stem (hammer side) but I was a lot less aggressive since I’m not wanting to increase blowback much more than stock .

[FlightMedic938]

Another interesting discovery is I found that the Pro Lite hammer works in the Pro Carbine. I have to use a Pro Lite linkage arm to make it work but it cocks and dry fires fine. Front bolt lines up perfect in the breech but it doesn’t extend nearly as far in to the barrel when using the stock hammer/linkage arm. It still goes in the barrel though and I think it should work. The Pro Lite hammer weighs 25g less than the Pro Carbine hammer. So a 20% weight reduction. Thing is, it’s like an inch longer (I can’t remember the exact measurement) so it’s traveling much shorter of a distance than the stock hammer which will decrease momentum before striking the valve. I did some napkin map and equated this decreased momentum and it’ll be like the hammer weighs 70g.

[FlightMedic938]

Visa versa getting a Pro Carbine hammer to work in a Pro Lite is a lot more tricky. I may mess around with it more but I haven’t found a way to remove the valve stems from the base without damaging the cup seal. That, and the Pro Carbine hammer lacks the striker extension on the face (the little nub on the end). Losing that extension could negate any benefit from using a heavier hammer, I think.

[FlightMedic938]

Worked some more on the valve. I really didn’t think my first pass was aggressive enough and looked sloppy.

This brass is soft and unforgiving. It’s totally different than working on a CVX. I milled out the channels even more and did my best to blend them in to rear and front inlet/outlets. I tapered the exhaust stem even more and smoothed it out. Then I decided to make two agressive channels on the blowback base and taper the stem to try and line up with those channels.

After taking these pictures I can still see obvious areas that could be improved but I may leave well enough alone because it’s going to get to the point where I mess something up if I haven’t already.

Since the exhaust stem protrudes more from the valve because of the 98C seat I’m thinking about making a flat spot on the striker bar. I think with it being cylindrical some energy is going to be lost when the exhaust stem hits it.

[FlightMedic938]

Edit**** Don’t do this. If you port the valve stem bases and switch to steel braided you’ll have more than enough velocity on standard tank pressure. It’s just weakening an integral part of the marker.


Just did the powertube bar (striker bar, powertube boss, whatever it’s called) real quick. I’ll clean it up with a file and polish it later. It seems like a good idea. Now when I press the exhaust pin against the bar it’s not slipping all over the place and allows more of the pin face to strike the bar.

Edit- It’s surprisingly easier and smoother to move the valve. I attached the steel braided line to the valve and manually moved the valve by pressing on the steel braided fitting. Before this it was kinda difficult to do and felt slippery. Now it’s easier and feels more smooth with solid contact.

[FlightMedic938]

Aired it up yesterday and it’s blowing down the barrel. I either F upped the cup seal or the 98 seat isn’t compatible and it’s letting air escape. Maybe flipping the seat over so the o ring is against the cup seal will work? I’m going to work on it later. Hoping it’s not the cup seal.

[FlightMedic938]

So what was happening is that with the 98 valve seat the stem extends too far from the stem channel and was making contact with the striker bar at rest. So when I tried to air it up the cup seal wasn’t sealing against the seat because it was being pushed back, letting air escape. Works fine with the stock valve seat in now. I’ll make an even deeper recess in the bar so the stem isn’t pressing so hard against it when the 98 valve seat goes back in. That should allow it to seal.

[C26G]

This is all great! I'm wondering about the Dowel Pins you used instead of the factory Spring that retains everything in the Valve. Maybe the Valve Seat is sitting too low, being pressed in by the new Dowels? Just a thought - again loving all this work you're doing. I wanna try shaving down my Valve Stems now. Keep us informed of your progress

[FlightMedic938]

C26G Apparently the earlier models of the Pro Lite used dowel pins to retain the seat and then Tippmann later switched to the infamous retaining ring. I actually don’t think there is a recess for a ring on the valve I have but I’ll check again soon.

Lots of interesting developments building this but I wasn’t going to post until I had everything figured out. I lucked out on a very low serial number 68 carbine on EBay and it had a floating valve. These valves were in the first run of the 68s, around 10k I think, before Tippmann switched to the CVX. From what I gather players were having a hard time getting the velocity down to playable limits and the valve freezing up. That’s why they released the CVX early.

It’s dual poppet just like the Pro Lite but it’s much larger and holds a considerable amount of air. It’s like a Pro Lite valve on steroids. It’s also Spyder esque in ways too. So, unfortunately, since I can’t get my hands on any cup seals; the poppets I had in the Lite are now in the 68. The seals on the 68 poppets were missing

Also the Venturi bolt and powertube are in the 68 and the Pro Lite hammer and linkage arm. It’s actually pretty awesome. The Pro Lite hammer only weighs 100g and it has a striker extension on the face which really helps to push the poppet in. The way everything lines up the front bolt barely enters the barrel and now I think I can get away with getting that old vintage Tippmann Sniper barrel freak bored.

I aired it up for a test run a week or two ago. Using only tank pressure @700psi. It was blowing air out around the rear end of the valve all the way out of the top of the marker. Not a small leak. It was literally blowing air out of the back and top lol. Crazy thing though..,,, It fired. And recocked. And fired again and again. It was shooting so hot that the paintballs were swerving. This was with a massive leak. At 700 psi.

An assessment revealed that air was getting past the two rear o rings and escaping. I was stumped for a bit but I read the manual and something stuck out to me. The manual stated to cover the 2 rear o rings in white lithium grease… that’s some pretty thick stuff. I had used silicone oil on my first attempt so no wonder it leaked. So I did what anybody would do in my situation that didn’t have any thick paintball grease on hand…. I slathered the rear end of that zaddy in vasoline lol… for science. Only thing though, my 700psi tank was empty and I only had my 450psi tank.

Aired it up and no leaks. Took a shot and I’ll be damned if this thing didn’t recock like a champ. At 450 psi. Slathered in vasoline. A Ninja Super Low Pressure I shimmed a little has this old 68 shooting like a champ. Obviously I can’t use vasoline long term so I got some DOW 111 coming and hopefully that’ll do the trick.

I’m also up to my same old tricks and built a volumizer out of some stuff I got from Palmers. I have a Torpedo reg that I finally fixed which is a story in its own (it has a Planet Eclipse SL3 spring in it now) and a bunch of other stuff I need to put on it before it’s done though. I’m thinking this one might be something special. Or it’ll explode. One or the other.

[C26G]

That's great! I never read those manuals, didn't know about the Lithium Grease. I'm about to polish my trigger and hammer on a newly acquired Tippmann - then button it all up with a aluminum front bolt. I may polish that front bolt and the power tube also

[FlightMedic938]

Getting close to the finish line with the project. Swapped over the valve poppets, Venturi bolt, linkage arm, and hammer from the Pro Lite. Port and polished the powertube, added a small bumper on the powertube to prevent any damage to the front bolt if the hammer recocks too hard, put on a RVA, TechT 98C main spring, Pro Line VASA/powerfeed, APP double trigger with size 1 TechT trigger pin and M98 spring, 98C Pro drop, and a DYE DFF-20 HPR shimmed to 650psi max output. I covered up the ring of barrel ports on the Tippmann Sniper barrel with a PE barrel grip to close them off and added Palmers reg foam behind it for aesthetics. I’m going to get this barrel Freak bored soon.

The volumizer consists of a Palmers 1/8 npt to 1/4 npt adapter, Palmers 1/4 npt to tank threads VASA, TechT gas thru gauge adapter, and a Taso tank to 1/8 npt remote line adapter. I’m waiting on a gas thru male to female tank threads adapter from muh boy Bacci to finish it. The goal is to drill out the inlet in the VASA and run a steel braided to the bottom of the volumizer using high flow 90s. I got a feeling this valve is very sensitive to volume changes though so I may have to shorten the stack and remove the gauge adapter.

The vasoline trick was very short lived. It won’t even get a hopper off without the leak coming back. This girl likes it THICK and with mucho stamina so hopefully the DOW 111 does the trick and has decent longevity. If not it’s going to suck because I’m going to have to find a modern solution to those wax rope seals.

[FlightMedic938]

[FlightMedic938]

Here’s some pics of the old 68 Carbine floating valve that were only in the first run of 68s before they switched to the CVX.

The last 4 are mine and the first is one from Peculiar Paintballs facebook page. That’s what it’s supposed to look like with the wax retaining rope rings.

So the Pro Lite has the same poppets as the 68 with one difference. The stem length. On the Lite it has a long stem on the exhaust side and a short stem on the hammer side. The 68 has 2 medium length stems that are the same size.

Im using Lite poppets in a 68 valve. I think this is necessary to use the much lighter but longer Lite hammer.