98 Custom Eating co2

98 C wrote: MY 98 custom goes through co2 tanks like crazy! When I was in the field my fore grip gets cold like co2 is hitting it. I took my gun apart to see if everything looked fine and it did. I think co2 is leaking from my powertube somewhere or from the braided metal hose going into the powertube. How can I find the problem. Is it hard to disassemble and reassemble the powertube? I took it to **edited**s Sporting Goods and they said they don't work on guns. I'm gonna try taking it to the other **edited**s Sporting Goods and Gander Mountain in the meantime.

First, clearly you are new to the forums. Please read this,

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before you post again. Profanity and vulgarity are not tolerated and, if the moderators are on the ball, you will get strikes for such abuse. Three strikes and you are banned from the forums.

Now, on to your problem. If the braid were leaking, it would leak from the moment you attach the tank until you remove it. If the front grip were being cooled by a spray of gas from the braid, you would hear it...loudly.

It may be that your power tube is cracked allowing part of the CO2 charge from each shot to leak into the receiver. Thus reducing the  amount of gas available to push the ball. That gas cools the receiver which you may feel in the front grip area dependent on exactly where the crack may be. Obviously with part of the gas charge leaking away more is needed to maintain ball velocity...eating up your tank of CO2.

There is another possibility. If the screws located on the right side of the receiver, which hold the power valve firmly in place, are loose or missing excess gas can escape into the area between the outside of the power tube and the inside of the receiver...cooling the receiver and reducing the quantity of gas getting to push the ball.

I sort of lean towards the cracked power tube idea, but let me hit you with one more idea. Wear between the front bolt and the extension of the power tube, on which the bolt slides, could cause excessive gas leakage right there above the forward grip. I have seen an after market bolt that used an "O" ring, between the inside of the bolt and the slide tube, in which the "O" ring was missing. The missing internal "O" ring allowed great quantities of gas to blow out the back edge of the forward bolt making it nearly impossible to get ball velocity needed and waisting half the tank of gas during competition.

Good luck!