Mechbox Review - Lonex drop-in mechbox

[venture]

That is a common problem. It stops the trigger from slipping of the block. With it gone, the block tips and slips off the trigger and the gun does not fire.

Get a new gearbox shell or you have to improvise. I have stopped doing that. The proper solution is to get a new gearbox. You could also switch to a mosfet trigger replacement like the ascu, etc. They don't require that part of the casting to operate.

[Stealth]

This is not the first time I've heard of this. I just sent out an email to all my customers who bought one of these boxes in the past months. I've been able to track down all affected boxes to being part of the July shipment.

I have also alerted Lonex of this issue and they are looking into the problem. In the meantime, I will continue to monitor the situation and report back in this thread. My personal boxes, as well as two from the July shipment that I installed for friends, are holding up so far.

Rodrigo - I just sent you an email about this. Lets chat offline and keep this thread for updates on the situation.

[MaciekA]

Any thoughts on the version 3 counterpart of this mechbox? I'm thinking of throwing one of these in an JG AK but I'm a little skittish on compatibility. In particular, I'm curious what AK hopup units the Lonex AK nozzle likes best...

[MADDOG]

Originally Posted by MaciekA

Any thoughts on the version 3 counterpart of this mechbox? I'm thinking of throwing one of these in an JG AK but I'm a little skittish on compatibility. In particular, I'm curious what AK hopup units the Lonex AK nozzle likes best...

I have a lonex AK nozzle on my Beta project cyma mechbox and it feeds with my King Arms plastic hopup extremely well (I took out the metal Cyma stock hopup unit). You saw it at the last game worked amazing until the battery died.

[MaciekA]

Originally Posted by MADDOG

I have a lonex AK nozzle on my Beta project cyma mechbox and it feeds with my King Arms plastic hopup extremely well (I took out the metal Cyma stock hopup unit). You saw it at the last game worked amazing until the battery died.

Awesome, thanks for the datapoint.

[MaciekA]

Well I couldn't help myself and I pulled the trigger on the V3 version of this box. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

[MaciekA]

Hoo boy. I was pretty sure nothing gets me excited anymore in gearboxes but I was wrong. This thing is immaculate.

Remember the part where Stealth said everything in the gearbox stays in place when you open it and you all said "yeah right what a bunch of hyperbole bullshit"? Well, you were wrong. I have just witnessed a V3 -- yep ... V3 -- trigger stay in place the entire time I worked on a gearbox, through many openings and closings, insertions of springs and such over a couple hours of shimming and tinkering. Awesome.

You should all be tripping over yourselves to get your hands on these gearboxes, they're very very nice...

Here's some quick pix of the gearbox. Note how the ARL, trigger, and bevel are perfectly in place and not flying off somewhere.

[Stealth]

Rad.

The piston assembly is quite heavy so if you're using that motor, make sure you are aware of the dangers of pre-engagement. I know the kinds of batteries you use...

[captainafternoon]

wicked. I'll be getting one of those soon enough.

The finish on that gearbox makes my cyma gb look like the moon.

[MaciekA]

Originally Posted by Stealth

Rad.

The piston assembly is quite heavy so if you're using that motor, make sure you are aware of the dangers of pre-engagement. I know the kinds of batteries you use...

I have no idea what you're talking about



Side note, I really prefer the AoE offset position that I generally get after sorbo'ing V3 gearboxes as opposed to V2. I find that I never have to remove as much or sometimes any of the 3rd tooth in a V3 setup, where as on V2 it's pretty common. This gearbox is no exception.

Also, I know it's a bit cheesy, but I'm already liking the acoustics of this gearbox before even putting it into the receiver. High expectations...

EDIT: Kidding aside i'm testing with this:

[lurkingknight]

I totally wish they had a true g36 flavor of this thing.. I'd be all over it.

[MaciekA]

Originally Posted by lurkingknight

I totally wish they had a true g36 flavor of this thing.. I'd be all over it.

I tried my G36 motor cage on it and couldn't get it to fit at all, but I'm not certain why that would prevent you from throwing on a G36 firing selector and nozzle.

The AK motor cage in my pictures had to be, well, let's just say I had to really really push. I gave up and then drank some wine and came back 30 minutes later and gave it another go and it went on. It suffices to say that it is an extremely solid and stable fit now

G36 nozzles and selector plates are widely available. So what gives?

[MADDOG]

Nice to see it comes with what appears to be a different colour extreme toughness piston and the sector clip already installed. Any idea what the gear ratio's are on this version mechbox?

On a side note, I just switched my SHS motor to Lonex orange (short) and there is a significant improvement in rate of fire and trigger response performance, more than I expected. The SHS is still great but the Lonex is an improvement.

[Stealth]

Originally Posted by MADDOG

Nice to see it comes with what appears to be a different colour extreme toughness piston and the sector clip already installed. Any idea what the gear ratio's are on this version mechbox?

On a side note, I just switched my SHS motor to Lonex orange (short) and there is a significant improvement in rate of fire and trigger response performance, more than I expected.

I think Maciek has the SP120 standard one with 18:1 gears. We can get them in 3 flavours: SP120 with 18:1 gears, SP100 with 16:1 gears and SP150 with helical torque-up gears (not sure what the ratio is on these, probably 32:1?). We're putting a restock through over this weekend, so hit me up if you want something other than the standard one.

Maciek swooned over the SHS short, so if the Lonex orange is THAT much better then he may just jizz his pants. The thing with SHS though is that because of their low price, they have to make and sell a ton to make money on volume. The thing with high-volume is that you often take the eye off the ball on quality and SHS QC is TEH PITS.

[lurkingknight]

Originally Posted by MaciekA

I tried my G36 motor cage on it and couldn't get it to fit at all, but I'm not certain why that would prevent you from throwing on a G36 firing selector and nozzle.

The AK motor cage in my pictures had to be, well, let's just say I had to really really push. I gave up and then drank some wine and came back 30 minutes later and gave it another go and it went on. It suffices to say that it is an extremely solid and stable fit now

G36 nozzles and selector plates are widely available. So what gives?

Finding an extra g36 safety is a bit of an issue, though since it's external, it's not a huge deal to swap it over.

The locking tab on the top that allows the gearbox to be screwed into the upper is a hard part to track down, and defeats the purpose of a hotswap gearbox if I have to take apart an existing gearbox to get the part.

There's an extra lobe on the cutoff level that needs to be filed off to make it worth with g36 selector plates.

The trigger is an ak style trigger.. not a huge deal but for the purists who want a g36 trigger, they'd have to source one.

And as you mentioned, motor cage fit. I'm not sure if the AK motorcage will work in a g36 lower if you said it didn't fit. I tried to source a cage, it's a blue aluminum one, and it's too long where the height adjustment is, it hits the grip plate and the gearbox won't sit into the lower properly.

So no, there's nothing stopping me from scavenging the part sI need or replacing the different ones that are available, but my purpose for buying one would be for setting up separate outdoor/indoor configurations.