On the advice of several here on the forums, I removed my power tube to check for cracks and such... and found none. Now, around the valve itself, there isn't a good 'seal' around the rear part of the valve (where the pin is). Now, the inside portion of the tube isn't in bad shape, seems to be free of imperfections... but I did notice the last game I ran, the hammer O ring was completely stretched out and deformed (could be too much oil... could be deformities in the power tube's inner surface grabbing onto the O ring during operation, not sure)...

I'm thinking of going with a JCS Blew tube (all aluminum, polished), replacing the valve's O ring, and possibly a new titanium hammer. Problem is, by the time I do all that, I could just go out and buy a whole new 98C...

Any suggestions or ideas? Anyone been able to restore a 98C by replacing the power tube and/or the hammer (O rings and all)?

rathrock wrote: On the advice of several here on the forums, I removed my power tube to check for cracks and such... and found none. Now, around the valve itself, there isn't a good 'seal' around the rear part of the valve (where the pin is). Now, the inside portion of the tube isn't in bad shape, seems to be free of imperfections... but I did notice the last game I ran, the hammer O ring was completely stretched out and deformed (could be too much oil... could be deformities in the power tube's inner surface grabbing onto the O ring during operation, not sure)... I'm thinking of going with a JCS Blew tube (all aluminum, polished), replacing the valve's O ring, and possibly a new titanium hammer. Problem is, by the time I do all that, I could just go out and buy a whole new 98C... Any suggestions or ideas? Anyone been able to restore a 98C by replacing the power tube and/or the hammer (O rings and all)?

Then don't do any of that stuff. The "O" ring may be stretched from previously running it without enough (or no) lube. Could be damaged from being installed and removed. Sometimes there is a sharp ridge on the power tube that can catch the "O" ring as the hammer goes in to hit the pin...chamfer it carefully with a pocket knife.

There isn't a good seal on the rear of the power valve? Install a new "O" ring there also. The "O" ring areas do not make a "tight" fit when there is no gas pressure. Gas pressure forces the "O" rings against the sides of the groove and against the inside of the bores in which they fit. There is really very little wear in those areas that is not made good as new with a new set of "O" rings and some oil. "Too much oil" just blows out of the action. There is nothing damaged by excessive amounts of oil. (unless it gets into the barrel...there it damages your accuracy...easily fixed by cleaning the barrel.)

I won't say that some aftermarket parts wouldn't make the marker perform marginally better, but there is nothing you described that isn't fixed by a little maintenance type repair.

Finally I have the solution... on a whim I went out and bought a factory Tippmann kit... Scott thermal goggles, 20oz tank with remote plus the 98 Custom for 150 bucks from a local shop... but before I took my Flatline off and started putting it on the new marker, I decided to take my old 98 out and give it a try.

Without the CAR stock from Tippmann.

Went through 2 full hoppers of paint without a single break/chop/having to recock.

Disassembled the marker, and measured the amount of drive spring that went down into the factory endcap vs the Tippmann stock, and discovered it was almost a full 1/4 inch difference (the factory endcap allowed far less of the drive spring to seat inside it). Used a small piece of hard plastic from an old retaining clip (Dremelled it to fit nicely in the hole where the drive spring goes into the stock),  reassembled the marker and went through another hopper of paint, not a single issue. Velocity is consistent, and that familiar ping is back.

So, the good news is my marker is fixed, even better the entire incident all but forced me to become intimately familiar with the gun, which I think will serve me well in the future. Not to mention I have a perfect backup gun should problems arise :) I can break my gun down in and have her back together in less than 5 minutes now, something I couldn't have said three weeks ago.

Thanks for the help Bruce, your post's last sentence got me thinking about it and gave me the idea to leave that stock off (which led to the resolution!).

-Bobby

Very glad that you took the initiative to really think the process out and discover the problem. It is the perfect solution when one is inspired to get into the mechanics of the marker...so it is not just some unfathomable piece of equipment that is going to take a certified mechanic to fix.

There are few markers as simple and easy to work on as Tippmanns. Once you understand which-part-does-what, a malfunction becomes a simple exercise of analysis. Then open it up and go to "this" part. Usually takes longer to get the front sight spring realigned without it going "sprong" across the room that it does to physically fix most problems.