CA Sportsline M15A4 gearbox chewed!?

defenderdude

Sportsline calved on me today while at GTAC - sounds like I've stripped the piston but not sure till I get the gearbox open. I wasnt the only one either - both Sci-Ops and CPB's sportslines died in a similar manner also today! 3 of em!!

anyway; having a problem with the mag release - is it realeased by the "dboys" (push and screw) method or is there a very small allen key in the button (I cant really tell as painting it may have filled it slightly - and I dont have a key small enough eitherway...:rolleyes:

Appreciate any experience you may have with this little beast.

TIA:)

Masada

yup its an allen key aidan., its a really small one though i cant remember the size.,

defenderdude

vtec wrote: »

yup its an allen key aidan., its a really small one though i cant remember the size.,

Thanks Richie, been looking a bit closer and scraped a bit of the paint off - little tiny bastid of a allen screw.:mad:

Apparently it's 1.3mm... smaller than any I have - I'll pick one up tomorrow and resume the operation then:D


Thanks again:):):)

Masada

i just used a really small flat head screw driver on one of them, was pretty easy., on another one i used a torx bit.,

defenderdude

I've tried the small flat-heads, no avail yet, must give a torx a try;)


Scratch that, T8 is the smallest I have. paaahhhhh lol

Masada

LOL., use a small screwdriver and tap it into the head of the screw with a hammer or something, then you should be able to turn it easily.,:)

defenderdude

I'll either get it this time or give you a laugh with the results:p


K, got it out - by the "Dboys Method" - little screw was jammed solid with paint...

Opening the gearbox revealed chewed selector gear


:mad:pox bucket:mad:

Ahh well, could be worse:rolleyes:

Masada

Hmm, hate that.,
looks like high quality gears, metal bushings and shims are the next things on your credit card.,lol

defenderdude

I assume it's good practice to replace the nylon bushings, shims, piston etc. if I am going to the bother of replacing the gears (and I assume you replace the gears as a set)?


any recommendations for make of gears - CA or aftermarket parts from the likes of ehobby...?


edit: you just answered my question even before I had it typed:D:D:D:D:D

Cheers R!

Masada

yep replace them as a set, you can get individual ones though, personally i dont rate CA parts highly at all, i wouldnt fit new CA gears in it, id rather go for uprated ones from some of the known upgrade manufacturers,
these are supposed to be good, havent fitted mine yet though,
http://cgi.ebay.com/Guarder-STEEL-GEAR-SET-Original-Type-V2-3-AEG-GE-02-01_W0QQitemZ280212920116QQihZ018QQcategoryZ64635QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

the piston isnt essential really, the shims and bushing are a lot more important, the standard sportline are just cheapo blue plastic ones so ya have to get rid of them.,.,

cpb

Will be keeping an eye on this thread vtec can you recommend what shims and bushings to get. Aidan let me know how you are getting on with repairs if you do a good job on your own I let you fix mine

kdouglas

The prometheus and systema shims/bushings are fairly good, i'd go with them.

cpb

What size bushings for the sportsline?

kdouglas

off the top of my head, it's 6mm but i can check later when i get home and crack one open or vtec might be able to confirm

Masada

yeah i think there 6mm but i cant be 100% sure from memory, if i get a chance later on i check if KD didnt already.,

sci-ops

cpb wrote: »

Will be keeping an eye on this thread vtec can you recommend what shims and bushings to get. Aidan let me know how you are getting on with repairs if you do a good job on your own I let you fix mine

cpb, you might want to check your gearbox for what you need first. Cracked mine open today expecting to see the gears in ribbons, only to find the piston was worn down. Just need to replace the piston for the time being, will be ordering a full tune up kit aswell though, just for spare parts etc.

cpb

Did not get a chance to open it yet but will be getting the parts to upgrade it anyway want to use a 9.6v in it. Was very impressed with the ROF yestherday when I had 9.6 in it. Although that may have contributed to its downfall.

Darragh77

Hey guys,

I have recently purchased one of these from Tony ( and thanks for the excellent service ), No problem with the AEG and a minor issue with the mag ( which Tony is sorting out ) .



But from the posts here I was wondering is this something I can expect to have to deal with at some stage .



Is there instructions for this , as Im sure taking this apart would provide me with hours of fun for the springs that are bound to shoot out of it as soon as I remove the first cover .



Also what is this upgrade pack ? is there a specific one I should be aware of ..



and Finally what is the hop unit about and what does it do how do I know when it is set right ? ..





Thanks for any help guys .
Dar

Witcher

Darragh77 wrote: »

Hey guys,

I have recently purchased one of these from Tony ( and thanks for the excellent service ), No problem with the AEG and a minor issue with the mag ( which Tony is sorting out ) .



But from the posts here I was wondering is this something I can expect to have to deal with at some stage .



Is there instructions for this , as Im sure taking this apart would provide me with hours of fun for the springs that are bound to shoot out of it as soon as I remove the first cover .



Also what is this upgrade pack ? is there a specific one I should be aware of ..



and Finally what is the hop unit about and what does it do how do I know when it is set right ? ..





Thanks for any help guys .
Dar

the hop up puts backspin on the bb, giving it more range, just adjust it until

you are getting the max range from it, shoot, adjust, shoot, adjust like that.

if you fire a shot a the bb swerves up you have too much hop, lower it until

the bb is on a flatter trajectory



:cool::cool::cool:

Darragh77

Thanks Blay1 , will give me an excuse to line up some targets out the back ..
Cheers
Darragh

sci-ops

Darragh, I think you should be okay if you are using just an 8.4v battery. I know we were using 9.6v which I am pretty sure is the primary cause for current dilema.

cpb

Got around to opening up mine last night one of the gears has a few teeth missing so now just waiting on replacements to arrive. Nearly everything in the gearbox had good coating of dirty black grease on it I presume this should be all cleaned off and replaced. Also the o ring in the piston is very loose is this normal ? My first time to open a gearbox so sorry for all the questions.

kdouglas

cpb wrote: »

Got around to opening up mine last night one of the gears has a few teeth missing so now just waiting on replacements to arrive. Nearly everything in the gearbox had good coating of dirty black grease on it I presume this should be all cleaned off and replaced. Also the o ring in the piston is very loose is this normal ? My first time to open a gearbox so sorry for all the questions.

I've seen several different o-rings vary from perfect fit to unbelievable sloppy, but unless your having compression problems with low fps, then you can leave it as is, if it isn't broken, dont fix it

defenderdude

I was looking more closely at the chewed selector gear and was wondering why it chewed...

I realise the higher voltage (9.6) battery didnt help in it's life but I was wondering what actually caused the chearing of the teeth from the gear.

As I looked more closely at the inside of the gearbox housing I noticed alot of wear along the side - the groves which guide the piston and the piston itself, which has wear where it looks like the piston jammed after gradually moving from its guide on one side... There was alot of crud (looked like grease but was fine plastic and metal grindings) from both the housing and the piston where it wore away.


I'd be interested to see the inside of your gearbox CPB to see if it's similar or even if it was the selector gear that chewed.?

Anyway, stuck in a set of shims, bearings, gears and a piston and it seems fine again.:) for the mo.:p

sci-ops

And I'm back:D.....doing little happy dance, new piston in place, aeg firing, everything is cool and the gang:) Life is just gravy

Masada

sci-ops, should have shimed it while ya had it open., it'll be a lot more reliable then.,

defenderdude

vtec wrote: »

sci-ops, should have shimed it while ya had it open., it'll be a lot more reliable then.,

He's getting an upgrade kit (shims, bearing bushings, new gears etc..) soon for it.

I was looking at his gears and chewed piston - his selector gear is a different (much heavier and stronger) than the one in my SLine which chewed. I suspect CPB's chewed selector is the same as my own - afterall they were bought on the same day from the first batch that were released. Maybe CA learned a lesson - or just ran outta sh1te ones:D:p...

I did notice that Sci-Ops old piston did have the same wear (but less) on the side guide-rails as my own.

Just been looking on ehobby etc. and it seems that you could spend an absolute fortune on "upgrades" and still some stupid little shim or mis-aligned bearing will cause you heartache and packet.
Makes me wonder if I shouldnt just sell all my bits and be buying a systema model or something.

However you look at "higher end" models and they seem to die just the same...:rolleyes: but I guess it feels better to spend 50 or 100 euro repairing a 400 euro AEG as opposed to spending 50 or 100 on a 140 euro worth of AEG...

All part of the game I suppose...:D

Masada

personally ive been very put off by anything made by CA recently,
the SL8 piston head came off on the first day i used it, then the gear shredded the teeth off the piston., the sportline is pretty decent though but it could do with a few small upgrades, ive seen bushings from them that had enough wear on them to allow the gear to wobble in it, id just change the bushings and shim it, then ya have a decent AEG that comes with a great barrel and motor as standard.,:)

Beast ASI

vtec wrote: »

personally ive been very put off by anything made by CA recently,
the SL8 piston head came off on the first day i used it, then the gear shredded the teeth off the piston., the sportline is pretty decent though but it could do with a few small upgrades, ive seen bushings from them that had enough wear on them to allow the gear to wobble in it, id just change the bushings and shim it, then ya have a decent AEG that comes with a great barrel and motor as standard.,:)

The CA motors are terrible, I've heard really bad reports about the Sportsline motor and from personal experience, and many other people's the standard CA motors are bad too.

Pistons are the worst in the business. I've yet to find a worse piston.

Masada

id actually agree on the piston but the sportline motor in my opinion is great, i was very impressed with it., however they seem to always just screw the motor ajustment screw all the way in and not align it at all., one of the small things ya have to do with a new sportline,.

defenderdude

vtec wrote: »

id actually agree on the piston but the sportline motor in my opinion is great, i was very impressed with it., however they seem to always just screw the motor ajustment screw all the way in and not align it at all., one of the small things ya have to do with a new sportline,.

I have to agree with your comments on the CA motor - I think it's a great job, and the motor in my CA AUG is the business!:)