The "joys" (aka. trials) of being a gun doctor!

HKGhost · November 20th, 2012, 15:16

If you're in need of redoing your wires or just to upgrade them, please don't attempt it if you don't know or have any knowledge how to do it. Finding shit like this is really concerning and it can cause a serious problem for the user. This gun was brought in for repairs as the client complained that the wires got really hot and smoke was coming out near the connector. The mess you see here was done by the previous owner trying to extend the wires. Not only was it not soldered together, they were taped "TOGETHER". So both exposed leads were taped together causing a short. And the fuse that was installed was pretty useless as it came after the mess. So you can see the the ends were just "hooked" together then electrical taped. If the new owner were to use a lipo and continued to try and make it work, the battery could have swelled up and release flames and smoke everywhere. So a fair warning to everyone, if you see electrical tape on your guns or battery, confirm that the connection was done correctly and that all the exposed wires are soldered and shrink tubed. Electrical tape shouldn't be a permanent fix for wires, but only to keep wires together that aren't exposed. Do it correctly or bring it to a qualified person that knows how to do it.

Stealth · November 20th, 2012, 15:18

oh my.

Jaelommiss · November 20th, 2012, 19:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by HKGhost

If you're in need of redoing your wires or just to upgrade them, please don't attempt it if you don't know or have any knowledge how to do it. Finding shit like this is really concerning and it can cause a serious problem for the user. This gun was brought in for repairs as the client complained that the wires got really hot and smoke was coming out near the connector. The mess you see here was done by the previous owner trying to extend the wires. Not only was it not soldered together, they were taped "TOGETHER". So both exposed leads were taped together causing a short. And the fuse that was installed was pretty useless as it came after the mess. So you can see the the ends were just "hooked" together then electrical taped. If the new owner were to use a lipo and continued to try and make it work, the battery could have swelled up and release flames and smoke everywhere. So a fair warning to everyone, if you see electrical tape on your guns or battery, confirm that the connection was done correctly and that all the exposed wires are soldered and shirk tubed. Electrical tape shouldn't be a permanent fix for wires, but only to keep wires together that aren't exposed. Do it correctly or bring it to a qualified person that knows how to do it.

Pics removed to save space

That made me cringe in fear. I've not done much work on my guns, largely owing to having next to zero technical skills, but even I can see why that might be a problem. That scared me enough to dissuade me from trying to rewire one of my (broken) guns.

Stealth · November 21st, 2012, 10:15

This came across the bench:

This, kids, is what happens to polycarb pistons and hot springs. Yes the metal rack is BENT. Siegetek gears walked away unscathed.

* Stormtech polycarb piston
* M160 spring

lurkingknight · November 21st, 2012, 10:35

wait.. WAT.

Did that shear the FRONT of the piston off?

venture · November 21st, 2012, 10:53

Sure looks like it. I have seen that a couple of times now. Both were from the 427fps for import days.

Cheap Chinese piston + high fps spring = FAIL

Stealth · November 21st, 2012, 11:13

Yeah the front of the piston was buried at the cylinder head along with the piston head, which also exploded.

I'll probably put a Lonex piston head and an SHS 15T piston in there.

JerryMcGoulBerry · November 21st, 2012, 11:19

I stripped the screws on one of my ICS upper gearboxes. There's now a bunch of dirt and sand in it and there's nothing I can do.

Stealth · November 21st, 2012, 11:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by JerryMcGoulBerry

I stripped the screws no one of my ICS upper gearboxes. There's now a bunch of dirt and sand in it and there's nothing I can do.

You can drill and re-tap it.

lurkingknight · November 21st, 2012, 11:27

this is a pretty good visual on why polycarb is not a good piston material.

Bounce crap off the face of it and it will do it all day.. but as soon as you push, pull and twist along the length of it...

Strelok · November 21st, 2012, 11:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by HKGhost

If you're in need of redoing your wires or just to upgrade them, please don't attempt it if you don't know or have any knowledge how to do it. Finding shit like this is really concerning and it can cause a serious problem for the user. This gun was brought in for repairs as the client complained that the wires got really hot and smoke was coming out near the connector. The mess you see here was done by the previous owner trying to extend the wires. Not only was it not soldered together, they were taped "TOGETHER". - Snip -

Man. I remember buying a TM MP5A4 years back. The previous owner sold it for cheap, and claimed he had been gaming it on lipo.

So, Bought it, Got it, Opened it and wanted to run a battery through it. And what do I find?

The guy had 3 different sizes of wiring on this, and instead of solder, shrinkwrap and whatever... He had literally stripped two inches off of each end of the wires, tied them together in a knot, and taped them together tight.

Just to think this guy was running it on lipo..

ccyg8774 · November 21st, 2012, 11:40

I have been soldering a lot, but I still made a mistake one day, when I was changing a new gun/battery set to deans. I was not paying enough attention and I put the male dean connector on the battery. So glad I found it right after, and no short circuit was happened.

lurkingknight · November 21st, 2012, 11:51

when I first started converting batteries to deans, the first battery was a 9.6v nimh... I cut both the wires from the plug at the same time.

scared the crap out of me when they touched and shorted. Could not have imagined what that would've been like with a 7.4 or 11.1.... good lesson in only doing 1 wire at a time from then on.

And a reason why you don't trust crappy china chargers? My first experience with 18650 batteries, the charger started smoking when I went to charge the cells up. Pitched the charger and the cells into the trash and picked up disposable cr123s.

Maethori · November 21st, 2012, 12:55

Haha, I've done the exact same thing before without thinking.

I can't really complain about the guns I've worked on since they're mostly my own. However, in the learning process I have done some pretty bad temporary wiring that was gamed far longer than it should've been.

The worst gun I've worked on that wasn't mine was a "custom" pdw that had about 15 noticeable things wrong with it including a lack of hop-up nub...

Quote:

Originally Posted by lurkingknight

when I first started converting batteries to deans, the first battery was a 9.6v nimh... I cut both the wires from the plug at the same time.

scared the crap out of me when they touched and shorted. Could not have imagined what that would've been like with a 7.4 or 11.1.... good lesson in only doing 1 wire at a time from then on.

lurkingknight · November 21st, 2012, 13:03

sounds like the p90 I bought... no nub, didn't feed properly, gearbox was a freaking mess. ended up being the best and worst gun I've bought to date. Now that it's working I love it, but the time and money I invested into it to even try and begin to figure out what was wrong with it is what I hate about it. I'll never get any of that back. :/

Home	Forums	Register	Gallery	FAQ	Calendar
Retailers	Community	News/Info	International Retailers	IRC	Today's Posts

British Columbia	Alberta
BCAC	EAR
Op-For	JOC
Northern Arms Airsoft	Skunkworx Airsoft
Airsoft Kelowna	RAAT
Prince George Airsoft	Manitoba
Saskatchewan	MAA
SK Airsoft	Ontario
PDW	Airsoft Ottawa
South Sask Mercs	Snow Dragons
Quebec	1st Ranger Platoon
PQAC	Wolfpack Tactical
1st Pathfinders Regiment	TTAC3
Quebec Airsoft
MTX Airsoft	Atlantic
FAQc	Atlantic Airsoft

November 20th, 2012, 15:16	#46
HKGhost Trader rating Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Mississauga, ON	If you're in need of redoing your wires or just to upgrade them, please don't attempt it if you don't know or have any knowledge how to do it. Finding shit like this is really concerning and it can cause a serious problem for the user. This gun was brought in for repairs as the client complained that the wires got really hot and smoke was coming out near the connector. The mess you see here was done by the previous owner trying to extend the wires. Not only was it not soldered together, they were taped "TOGETHER". So both exposed leads were taped together causing a short. And the fuse that was installed was pretty useless as it came after the mess. So you can see the the ends were just "hooked" together then electrical taped. If the new owner were to use a lipo and continued to try and make it work, the battery could have swelled up and release flames and smoke everywhere. So a fair warning to everyone, if you see electrical tape on your guns or battery, confirm that the connection was done correctly and that all the exposed wires are soldered and shrink tubed. Electrical tape shouldn't be a permanent fix for wires, but only to keep wires together that aren't exposed. Do it correctly or bring it to a qualified person that knows how to do it. __________________ Please email me as I'm not on ASC too often. Custom Build \| Upgrades \| Repairs \| Maintenance Contact: ghostgunwork@gmail.com / Private Message Last edited by HKGhost; November 20th, 2012 at 20:08..

November 21st, 2012, 10:15	#49
Stealth Mr. Silencer Trader rating Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Toronto	This came across the bench: This, kids, is what happens to polycarb pistons and hot springs. Yes the metal rack is BENT. Siegetek gears walked away unscathed. * Stormtech polycarb piston * M160 spring Last edited by Stealth; November 21st, 2012 at 11:13..

November 21st, 2012, 10:53	#51
venture Trader rating Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Halifax	Sure looks like it. I have seen that a couple of times now. Both were from the 427fps for import days. Cheap Chinese piston + high fps spring = FAIL __________________ Visit us at :www.ventureairsoft.ca

November 20th, 2012, 15:18	#47
Stealth Mr. Silencer Trader rating Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Toronto	oh my.

November 21st, 2012, 10:35	#50
lurkingknight "bb bukakke" KING! Trader rating Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Ottawa	wait.. WAT. Did that shear the FRONT of the piston off?

November 21st, 2012, 11:13	#52
Stealth Mr. Silencer Trader rating Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Toronto	Yeah the front of the piston was buried at the cylinder head along with the piston head, which also exploded. I'll probably put a Lonex piston head and an SHS 15T piston in there.

November 21st, 2012, 11:19	#53
JerryMcGoulBerry Trader rating Join Date: May 2012 Location: Calgary Alberta	I stripped the screws on one of my ICS upper gearboxes. There's now a bunch of dirt and sand in it and there's nothing I can do. __________________ "This is the kind of grease I'd put in my girlfriend"

November 21st, 2012, 11:27	#55
lurkingknight "bb bukakke" KING! Trader rating Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Ottawa	this is a pretty good visual on why polycarb is not a good piston material. Bounce crap off the face of it and it will do it all day.. but as soon as you push, pull and twist along the length of it...

November 21st, 2012, 11:40	#57
ccyg8774 Trader rating Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Brampton, ON	I have been soldering a lot, but I still made a mistake one day, when I was changing a new gun/battery set to deans. I was not paying enough attention and I put the male dean connector on the battery. So glad I found it right after, and no short circuit was happened. __________________

November 21st, 2012, 11:51	#58
lurkingknight "bb bukakke" KING! Trader rating Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Ottawa	when I first started converting batteries to deans, the first battery was a 9.6v nimh... I cut both the wires from the plug at the same time. scared the crap out of me when they touched and shorted. Could not have imagined what that would've been like with a 7.4 or 11.1.... good lesson in only doing 1 wire at a time from then on. And a reason why you don't trust crappy china chargers? My first experience with 18650 batteries, the charger started smoking when I went to charge the cells up. Pitched the charger and the cells into the trash and picked up disposable cr123s.

November 21st, 2012, 13:03	#60
lurkingknight "bb bukakke" KING! Trader rating Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Ottawa	sounds like the p90 I bought... no nub, didn't feed properly, gearbox was a freaking mess. ended up being the best and worst gun I've bought to date. Now that it's working I love it, but the time and money I invested into it to even try and begin to figure out what was wrong with it is what I hate about it. I'll never get any of that back. :/

The "joys" (aka. trials) of being a gun doctor!

AEG Solutions