A-5 Problems

Hey so I already posted this on another forum but they weren't too helpful...Haha I'm kidding they were great but I was wondering if maybe someone at the official Tippmann forums might be able to help out more.

Ok its a long story so here goes.
I got a Tippmann A-5 w/E-Grip some time in December of 2006, and right off the bat the gun was chopping paint like crazy.  The first time I took it paintballing was a few months after I bought it (in good weather, not cold or hot) and it was chopping practically every other shot.  I tried multiple barrels, including the stock one.  The same paint I was using (RPS Premiums, good stuff) was working fine for all of my friends, who had Custom 98's.  So afterwards I called Tippmann and sent it in to them, and they sent it back a few weeks later.  When I took the "fixed" gun out paintballing a little while afterwards, it had the exact same problems as it had before.  I was using a different kind of paint, which, again, caused my friends no problems but chopped like crazy in my A-5.  And then I realized that the velocity screw was missing (**edited** ?) and that the gun was leaking air.  So by then I was super pissed and so I called Tippmann and they told me to send the gun in again.  So I did, and they eventually sent me a different gun, with a different serial number.  I took that gun out paintballing and guess what, it was chopping.  I was in total disbelief but I managed to convince myself that it was just because of some cold weather, though it wasn't really that cold.  So finally I cleaned it out and took it paintballing about a week ago, and it was still chopping.  Might I stress the point that this was a different gun than I started out with.

I've changed all the variables, I've tried to keep everything stock, and I've followed the manual on everything I do.  I don't know where the paint was chopping, but I do know that some paint always ends up in the cyclone, and of course its in the barrel.  But I don't think the cyclone is chopping because I haven't seen any shells in the cyclone.  My question here is, what should I do?  I'm hesitant to call Tippmann again because I know what they'll tell me (oh just go ahead and send it in...) and then I know what the end result will be (still non-functioning gun).  I think I want to try and fix the gun myself, but the problem is that I don't know what needs fixing, and it's frustratingly discouraging to have a gun that seems inside and out to be in perfect shape, but that keeps chopping paint.  A year and a half of owning a Tippmann and I still haven't been able to get it to work...any suggestions?

And just to stress this...the different gun still had the same problems...

Sorry I didn't mention velocity in the first post.  I was shooting no higher than 280-290, no lower than 230-240, pretty standard stuff.

And I was using various different kinds of paint, from cheap to medium type, I don't even remember half the weird names the paint had, I think I remember like stinger, diablo, and then of course RPS Premiums.  But again, no one else had issues with their paint any of the times we went.

I have had exactly the smae issue, just tried my new A5 on a range in the uk, first outing and I think I would have been better with a brush to apply the paint, the range were using BT-4's and they were quite frankly outstripping the A5! Curious to see where this goes really.

In my case it was CO2, using their tank, not a remote.

What do you have your e-grip settings at? Did you change them from the factory default?

Fresh battery?

If you have air in your tank try removing your cyclone and fire. Watch the front bolt as you fire through the space now not occupied by the cyclone. MAke sure the bolt has a full range of motion. Do test, tell us the results. WATCH YOUR FINGERS PLEASE!!! 

Just a mention, my marker uses the standard trigger assembly, no RT and no E Grip, and I have found partial paintball shell residue in the Cyclone. Looked for the modifications/upgrades A on the base plate and clear ratchet mech too.

notom66866 wrote: If you have air in your tank try removing your cyclone and fire. Watch the front bolt as you fire through the space now not occupied by the cyclone. MAke sure the bolt has a full range of motion. Do test, tell us the results. WATCH YOUR FINGERS PLEASE!!!

This I think would be the best test, could it be done with paintballs in the cyclone and the hopper removed, so that you could see not only the chambered balls, but the balls to be fed also? This would at least allow you to see both chamber and cyclone to see which one is potentially causing the issue.

notom66866 wrote: Sorry bud, but I don't know about hpa psi, I suggest pming one of the mods, they most likely all use hpa. And as for using paintballs in the test, you could lay a plastic garbage can on a table an fire into it make sure there is something in the can to cushion the balls or they fly back out. Make sure you have your mask on!!!

So are you suggesting that, with the cyclone off, I manually feed ball by
ball
into the gun by hand?
BTW thanks for the idea of shooting in a can, I once tried shooting at a
wooden board once and ended up spraying paint all around the house...

EDIT: And again, what do you guys think about calling Tippmann once
more?
Worth it, or should I ditch them based on past experiences?



Edited by ninjaballin - 08 April 2008 at 10:48pm