valve question

i have a question. lets say you take your gun apart completely and take the valve out of the powertube. now you hook your air line back up to you valve (still out of the powertube) and put some air on it. should the valve leak be leak free or does it have to be in the powertube to function correctly?

the reason i ask is that i just got my new valve from tippmann, and i still cannot get my gun to seal up. i bought some blue GEL locktite and put it on the valve lock screws and the air line and oiled everything good and assembled the gun and it was leaking out of the barrel and air line still. i then took my valve out of the powertube and did what i said above and the valve leaked out the front(the new valve). i'm really getting frustrated with this thing. can you send guns to tippmann and have them seal the gun up air tight and whatnot?

i shot some oil through it and that didnt seem to help. i think i'll send it to tippmann cause its frustrating me and i'm not really sure what to do anymore. we dont have a local pro shop. 

Though Tippmann recommends against it, attaching the valve to the gas line and pressurizing it will show you where it is leaking...and it can also give you access to the pin to possibly help "seat" the valve parts to stop the leak. I have done this myself to re-seat a leaking valve.

With the valve aired-up, and your goggles on to protect your eyes, take the wooden handle of a hammer, not the steel head, and depress the pin releasing a spurt of gas. The abrupt release of gas may blow out any debris that may have lodged between the soft face seal and the ring against which the valve seats.

If you have looked at the info at Marker Trouble? Read Maintenance Archive (post #16)you understand where trash and grit can lodge to prevent the valve from closing properly.

If you cannot get the valve to re-seat, then air it down and disassemble it to check the sealing surfaces for damage.

If you have trepidations about airing-up with the valve outside of the marker body, then a somewhat less satisfactory method may be used.

With the marker aired-up and the hammer un-cocked and down resting against the valve pin, bump the cocking lever with that hammer handle to force it against the pin hard enough to open the valve. Done several times may also blast any debris from the valve while also snapping the valve abruptly shut which can also re-seat the mating surfaces of the valve seat.

bassist11 wrote: ok good news. the valve must have just been dry since it was new cause the lube i shot in there did the trick. i actually tried airing just the valve up already, i just wanted to know what it should do for sure. i did take apart my old leaky valve for the heck of it and i really didnt see anything that would have broken the seal, so i dunno. i got my gun leak-free though and i'm the happiest man in the world right now. thanks bruce for your awesome advice like always.

Glad it started functioning again!!!