Nova Balanced Autococker Valve

[jetenginekyle]

Not super impressed with the small details, as @Araphel said the transfer port looks like it was done drunkenly.

The anodizer didn't clean the sealing solution off leaving it sticky to the touch. This is easy to fix though just use a solvent such as isopropyl alcohol, I used wd40 as that's what I found first. The photos are from before I cleaned the residue off.

I found that you have to use a 1/4" drive socket as the 3/8 drive ones I have are slightly to big.

[jetenginekyle]

I'm willing to bet Nova did the ano in house and they did a good job! If I'm correct I don't fault them at all for missing the final step to remove the sealant residue as there is little information on this online and you have to go digging for it.

[superman]

pretty sure they do not have ano in house. however, i do think they have an industrial anodizer locally.

[Masonhd81]

Had the same issue, just went to Walmart to get a nut driver. Kind of a bad idea to use such a big size for a little valve

[William the Third]

So I was going to do a before and after test, but then I couldn't find my Autococker valve tool... so now that's on hold till I get another one.

Personally I wish that they would have made it out of something other than aluminum (brass or bronze (SAE660/C932 specifically) would have been my choice). It's not really a big deal, largely just personal preference.

[flyweightnate]

A hex coupling in a socket is a good substitute for a valve tool, in a pinch.

[xicer]

In regards to my email asking about shipping options internationally:



Safe to say I won't be buying anything from Nova anytime soon.

Not trying to dump on these guys, because I get it, they're a small business selling niche products to an already small market.

But come on.

More than a few things at Nova seem really comically out of touch with how the rest of the market operates...

[ChuckLove]

Has anyone installed and tested this valve yet? I'm going to install mine tonight. I'm wonder if velocity is best adjusted off the reg or IVG? I heard the guys from Nova on a podcast say they set the IVG in roughly 3 turns.

[superman]

Which podcast?

[ChuckLove]

superman I believe it's called "Nite At The Museum" by General Paintball.

https://www.facebook.com/Generalpaintballmuseum/videos/1197127194583564/?app=fbl

[superman]

Thank you.

[Masonhd81]

This was a handful. Socket size they chose was a terrible idea. But it’s in. Let’s see if it actually seals now.

[Masonhd81]

Update it seals and shoots, I can tell I’ll have to turn the ivg quite a bit to get velocity. More testing to come in the near future.

[superman]

It looks like you need to align the valve to the port.

[Masonhd81]

Yea I adjusted it later on. My socket got stuck to it for about an hour, so I gave up lol.

[tyronejk]

Does anyone have pictures of the poppet outside of the valve body? I'm curious how they made this pressure balanced.

[Masonhd81]

Looks a lot like how the Lazarus valve is. Basically looks like a backwards valve seal.

[timekeeper]

It looks like it's using the same principle as the empire balanced valve for gen2/3 intimidators, where it's not completely balanced, but pressure runs through the poppet stem and pressurizes behind the poppet o-ring in the valve body (which also requires an o-ring in the valve body around the protruding valve stem). Personally, I like the way the Lazarus valve does it better, there's 1 less possible point of failure and the valve is more balanced (forces acting both ways are closer to being the same).

[Masonhd81]

tyronejk taken from nova’s YouTube video breakdown of the valve.

[iamthelazerviking]

FYI someone made a 3d printed piece that fits a regular valve tool to work with these

[Brandon]

Thanks for the tip

I printed it last night in PLA+, had to sand it a bit to make sure it slid in and out of the lower tube freely. Saved me from going to Lowes and getting a bunch of different sockets to find the right fit.

[ChuckLove]

I messed with my sniper equipped with it last night. It has a CCM hammer. At around 220psi and with the IVG in 3 turns it was shooting in the 260's. I tried turning the IVG in more and it didn't seem to have much effect but I was running low on air. It's a very quiet shot (most likely do to pressure).

Things I'm going to try:
Install a stiffer main/hammer spring
Install a lighter hammer

More results to follow.

[Grendel]

You might need to sweet spot your regulator due to the balanced valve really changing the whole pneumatic dynamics of your setup. I've not played with any of them yet getting tempted to now.

[ChuckLove]

Grendel I'm going to try that before I change anything.

[Masonhd81]

Grendel ChuckLove I had the same issue, definitely needs sweet spotted again. Gotta wait till I get to the field and use the chrono.

[ChuckLove]

Swapping in a CCM main/hammer spring definitely did the job for me. IVG turns have little to no effect on velocity all adjustments are done with the reg. Sound signature is wild.

https://youtube.com/shorts/5xatJ4En53Q?si=ld37KSEvTmS0RFgw

[Frmrspec]

Any chance you have a Lazarus or morph valve setup to do a side by side?

[goofyman23]

Plan on testing in a mech?😘

[ChuckLove]

goofyman23 I hadn't really considered it. Maybe I'll throw it in my FreeFlow.

[Ssimplechoke]

Does this valve/springs soften the pump stroke?

[ChuckLove]

Yes but I stuggled to get passed 250fps with their supplies springs. Although if you had an lightweight hammer I think it would work well.

[Frmrspec]

Anybody else have an experience with this valve yet? Running CCM hammer and their spring.. needed 3 turns in on IVG to hit velocity.. waiting on gauges to see what my pressure is at.

[Myrkul]

I should be getting one in later this week. Going to try it on a 2k RF with SLPS springs and a polished Shocktech Phat hammer. I'll report back on how it does.

[Daltech]

damn, that ish is quiet as fudge. I hear the spring twang.

[ChoSanJuan]

I got a bunch of them along with all my other Nova stuff. (1 for Myrkul, 2 for Zinger, 1 for me) I got mine installed a little more than a week ago, but I haven't had time to actually tune it in. Used the supplied springs with the valve and can't chrony over 175fps, so far. This is running it with the Nova Guardian reg running at 270psi. It's clearly a springing issue so I'll throw my stock spring back in since it's much stiffer and I'll keep the low pressure spring in from Nova. Eventually, I need to get a full on spring kit. Heads up too, I had to swap the hammer since my 99 STO had one of the cupped faces. It was barely even touching the stem till I swapped.

Once I get the springs sorted, I bet I can get it down to TJ pressures, I think he said something like 280fps at 180psi?

(I've been having too much fun with my N2 to get back around to this tho. Maybe this week? )

[Frmrspec]

275 is pretty high for this valve. I actually debated inserting a steel rod into the rear of the valve stem to get a little more valve lift.. I know why they built it this way (trying to preserve some semblance of efficiency).. but I don’t shoot for ultra low pressure for efficiency sake.. I want it whisper quiet

[ChoSanJuan]

Whoops, that's a typo. 260psi. But still, I'm shooting for sub 200psi once I get around to diving deeper into this build.

[Myrkul]

Got mine in today. Boy that was a ride.

Issue one: Jam nut was crooked as all hell.




Nothing a hand file couldn't fix, but damn it was bad. I'm quite sure Nova would have replaced it had I asked, but I was impatient and wanted to get going on this thing so I just filed everything flush...ish.




Issue two: No socket works. It HAS to be a 1/2" nut driver. Harbor freight had a whole set for like $10, but still the extra trip for it was annoying.

Issue three: It did not like SLPS Valve springs. Like at all. After hours of tinkering, I gave up. It flat out refused to hold air at sub 400 PSI with an SLPS Valve Spring. Swapping to the spring Nova provided resolved the issue and the gun seals fine in low pressure ranges, but with a crazy weak valve spring it leaked excessively.

Issue four: The provided main spring was too soft. I wish I could tell you what main spring I ended up going with, but I just pulled it out of my spring box so who knows. It was definitely lighter then the springs I had in the gun previously, but also definitely stiffer then the spring Nova provided.

After finally getting everything dialed in:
Gun: 2K+ right feed, Stock Bolt, Shocktech Phat Hammer, Nova Reg, Drift Kit.



The IVG ended up being 3 full turns in from flush.
Reg sweet spotted @ 190 PSI
Over the Chrono it was 280 +-2, which I was incredibly happy with.

Over all: The main spring that worked best WAS weaker then what I had been using, so it definitely gives you a smoother pump stroke. It also had a lower sound signature because of the lower pressure operation so that was nice. The consistency over the chrono also seemed to improve, but that easily could have been user error on my part with the prior configuration. Overall it does work, definitely could have been machined nicer, but the sloppy machine work doesn't seem to impact performance at all. I'm happy with it anyway, definitely looking forward to running this next time I actually make it out to the field.

[superman]

I wonder if you increased your mechanical dwell in relation to the normal valve since it was shortened.

[Myrkul]

@superman

That's definitely possible and did cross my mind when I was doing it.

[Frmrspec]

superman absolutely. On my valve that I had to “fix” I turned it down until the rear shoulder of the valve stem met the port opening (basically increasing the amount of possible valve lift as much as possible)… I don’t care about efficiency (much). We will see how it compares to my non-fubar’d valves