The Airsmith Survival Guide The Airsmith Survival Guide © 1997-2003 All Rights Reserved - John Amodea Copyright 2000 John Amodea. All rights reserved. Written permission from John Amodea is required in order to quote, photocopy, fax, or reprint any material in this publication. Write to; John Amodea - PO Box 66 - Occoquan, Virginia, 22125 The Airsmith Survival Guide is written for players and airgun technicians that are experienced with paintball equipment. Before you work on any paintgun, always depressurize the gun and wear paintball approved goggles at all times. Please be careful. About The Airsmith Survival Guide Before you start tearing apart all of your paintball gear, or your customer’s gear if you are in business, please remember that doing so may void the warranty. Once you’ve established yourself as a qualified technician, many manufacturers may warranty your work however. Please check with the manufacturer before working on any paintball equipment. Also, when using this manual, please keep in mind that not everyone is good at everything. I’ve met many players that were very capable of “airsmithing” their Angel, but were clueless when it came to working on an Autococker, even after some serious time was put in trying to learn. You can easily destroy a $500 paintgun trying to save a few bucks upgrading it yourself. If you have any questions or concerns about airsmithing your gun, please leave it to a professional airsmith. For your convenience I’ve listed some contact information to some of the best technicians in the industry. Bad Boyz Toyz (708) 418-8888 Gramps & Grizzly (909) 359-4859 J & J Performance (330) 567-2455 Pev’s Paintball Pro-Shop (703) 491-6505 Predator Marketing (916) 482-GAME Pro Team Products (904) 439-3600 Smart Parts (412) 539-2660 Warped Sportz (308) 234-WARP There are many qualified airsmiths located in all parts of the country. Please e-mail me at [email protected] if you are having trouble finding one in your area. Table of Contents About the Guide Manufacturer’s Manuals Image and Schematics Paintgun Safety Tools of the Trade Sandpaper and Emory Cloth Screw Chart Taps and Dies Dremel Tool Soldering Filling CO2 Understanding CO2 Handling Bulk CO2 and Nitrogen Understanding High Pressure Hydrotesting Custom Paintgun Finishes Materials Used Chronographing How Paintguns Work Paintgun Oils O-Rings and Seals 68 Automag Automag RT WDP LED Angel WGP Autococker Bob Long’s Intimidator Budget Electronic Blowbacks ICD Bushmaster The Matrix 32 Degrees Rebel Brass Eagle Stingray 32 Degrees PT Xtreme Smart Parts Impulse Tippman Model 98 PMI Trracer Kingman Spyder Tippman Pro-Lite Directory of Manufacturer’s Manuals (click on the links to open manuals) ACI Bulldog ACI Sonic AGD Automag AGD E-Mag AGD Intilliframe AGD Retro Valve AGD Warp Feed Angel AGD Warp Feed Exploded AGD Warp Feed Mods AGD Warp Feed Airtech E-Matrix Apocalypse Air Autococker Automag RT Diablo Matrix Dye Cocker E-Mag Intimidator Max Flow Manual Mega Booster Model 98 Pro Carbine Pro Chrono Ranger Smart Parts Impulse Smart Parts Impulse Eye Adjust Sheet Smart Parts Impulse New Board Install Smart Parts Impulse New Eye Sheet Smart Parts Shocker Spyder 2000 Spyder Aggressor Spyder AMG LCD Spyder AMG Spyder E-99 Spyder Electra DX Spyder Electra Spyder EM-1 Spyder E-Spirit Spyder Flash LCD Spyder Flash Spyder Imagine Spyder Java Spyder Shutter Spyder Sonix Spyder TL Plus Spyder Victor Spyder Xtra Tapeworm Install Tippmann SL 68 II Tippmann 98 Custom Tippmann A-5 Vengence Cocker Clickable Manufacturer’s Hi Res Images and Schematics 32 Degrees Rebel ICD Alleycat ICD Bobcat ICD Bushmaster ICD Desert Fox ICD Puma ICD Thundercat Kingman Compact 2 in 1 Kingman Compact A Kingman Compact Deluxe Kingman Compact P Kingman EM 1 Kingman Shutter Kingman Spyder Elite Kingman Spyder Kingman Spyder SE Kingman Spyder TL Kingman Spyder TL Plus PMI Piranha BL G2 PMI Piranha BL G3 PMI Piranha Ext G3 PMI Piranha Pro TS G3 PMI Piranha Sts G3 PMI Piranha VTL G2 Tippmann Model 98 Custom Tippmann Model 98 Tippmann A-5 Tippmann SL 68 WDP Angel 14 Way WDP Angel LPR WDP Angel Minireg WDP Angel RAM WDP Angel Wiring WGP Autococker Paintgun Safety To quote a friend, "The moment you forget how dangerous this machine can be, is when you'll get yourself hurt." The holds true with a paintball gun. When used properly, a paintball gun is as safe as a toy. However, the minute you let your guard down a paintball gun becomes a dangerous instrument. Here are a few safety procedures you should follow when using or working on your paintgun 1. Never point a paintball gun at anyone not wearing paintball approved goggles. Even at the lowest possible operating velocity, a paintball will cause serious injury should it hit someone in the eye area. 2. Never look down the barrel of your gun with or without wearing paintball approved goggles. 3. Always disconnect your air-source and dry fire the gun before working on or cleaning your paintgun. Always have a qualified airsmith do repairs or modifications to your paintgun. 4. Some paintguns are ready to fire when your air-source is connected. Use the trigger safety whenever you're not playing and always use a barrel plug in your barrel until you enter the playing fields. 5. Only play at commercial playing fields that have a chronograph, referees, and clearly marked safe fields. Chronograph your paintgun before each game to ensure your gun is operating at safe velocities. Remember, safety is your responsibility. Make sure your gun is not shooting at a dangerous velocity and all participants are wearing the proper paintball safety equipment. You will be held liable if someone is hurt by a paintball fired from your gun regardless of whether it's your fault or not. Know your equipment. If you are working on a paintgun for someone else, make sure you chronograph the gun below 300 feet per second (fps) before giving it back to that player. Again, you will be held responsible if someone is hurt by a gun you worked on if you do not follow industry standards. Tools of the Trade Before you can really do any airsmithing, there are some things you’ll need to know. First, if you are working on someone else’s paintgun, you will be responsible for any damage that you may do to the gun. Don’t take any unnecessary chances. Before you begin work on a paintgun (anything more than general maintenance, cleaning etc.), you may want to call the company that makes the gun to find out if you are going to void the warranty with your work. Tools you will need Depending on what type of work you plan to do, you will need a good set of tools before you get started. Below is a list of tools that you will need to work on a variety of paintguns and equipment. Goggles: Paintball approved goggles are the single most important “tool” in your box. Even with the power source disconnected, some paintguns can still fire a shot or two. Always wear goggles when working on paintguns. If you are looking for more information on paintball safety, visit www.paintballsafety.com. Safety Glasses: When you are sanding, filing, or even filling C02, be sure to wear eye safety glasses. Don’t take chances. Never substitute paintball goggles with safety glasses when working on paintguns. Screwdrivers: Get yourself a good set of flat-head and phillips screwdrivers--you will need them constantly. Don’t skimp here. Get a good brand name set of screwdrivers in a variety of sizes. Remember, if the screwdriver head doesn’t match the size of the head of the screw, chances are you’ll strip the head and you’ll be screwed. I would also recommend getting a set of jewelers’ screwdrivers. Allen wrenches: Allen screws are used on literally every paintgun on the market. Like screwdrivers, allen wrenches can strip the allen screw head if the quality of the wrench is sub-par. What happens is the wrench starts to “round” and does not provide a good grip in the screw head. You really should have t-handle wrenches and a smaller size set--the fold-out type is alright. The t-handle wrench gives you good torque when space is not a problem. In many cases you won’t have room for the handle so you’ll need a smaller set. Pick: You will need both straight and bent tip picks to work on paintguns and accessories. Bent tip picks are great for removing springs, o-rings, etc. from within a small area such as the Automag power tube. Straight picks work well for removing o-rings from tanks, bolts, etc. Be careful using picks—they can do some bodily damage if you’re not careful. Wrenches: You should have a good set of open end wrenches. You’ll need them for removing/installing air fittings. You probably will need an adjustable wrench as well. It also won’t hurt to have a socket set as well. They come in handy in certain situations. For instance, a 1/4" socket works great when removing the Autococker vertical-bottle adapter. Be careful using adjustable wrenches as they can easily stip the bolt head. Vice: You will be amazed at how many times you’ll wish you had a vice once you get started working on paintguns. Make sure you get one that has removable rubber “feet” so you don’t damage the surface of the material you’re working on. Remember, you can easily damage metal or plastic parts in a vice.