it replaces the "stock" plastic parts that are in the gun.

some say you dont need it, but it's nice to have if you got the money. it will help your cylone cycle a bit faster and dont have to worry about breaking it when you want it to go faster then normal.

Enos Shenk wrote: If you arent having any problems with the cyclone, then dont mess with it. Honestly, unless you NEED the upgrade to feed faster, I wouldnt waste my money.

Been running the stock internals of my cyclone for 4-5 years and they are still beasting the fields.  If it breaks I will change it out but not until then.

The reason I ordered it is because I am Playing with guys that are shotting 30-35 BPS

I cant keep up with them Guys. Every Time I go to shot I have so many Paintballs comeing at me I have to get back down so I will not get hit.

A5 E wrote: I will have to improve my Skill. The Upgrades have been shipped out so I will put them in my A5. My ratchet Broke the other day so it is a good thing I got the Vortex mod.

yea tho's ratchet's are quite random, some will break in a week of play or 5 years of play or not at all lol.

yea they will break as soon as you install an e-grip and change the speed to anything other then the stock settings, i ordered a tech t setup from special ops, but they messed my order all up and said they were in stock when they werent so i cancelled my order and this is what i did instead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLvWyGKkVxc - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLvWyGKkVxc

by the way tippmann should admit these things are junk and need to be made from a more suitable material. I called them and they sent me 2 new ones no questions asked, but 2 pieces of junk arent much better then 1.

blmartech wrote: yea they will break as soon as you install an e-grip and change the speed to anything other then the stock settings,

Is that indeed a fact?  I must be in the extreme minority.  I've had my A-5 (bought second hand on eBay) for about 5 years.  I've had an E-Grip on the marker for 4 of those years. My ratchet didn't break after putting the E-Grip on.  When I did swap out the Cyclone's innards in favor of the TechT upgrades (less than two years ago) the stock ratchet was still in good condition.

by the way tippmann should admit these things are junk and need to be made from a more suitable material. I called them and they sent me 2 new ones no questions asked, but 2 pieces of junk arent much better then 1.

I can't even begin to imagine how many cases of paint I went through over the years on that original ratchet at 13bps+.  Now since your post seems to be based on fact instead of opinion, please share your numbers with us.  Such a strong statement must be backed up with some kind of figures.  So, how many hundreds if not thousands of people do you know have had ratchet failure after installing an E-Grip or E-Trigger on their markers that have Cyclone feeds?  Where does your data come from?  Is it verifiable for all to see?  If so, please point the way to the data for our public consumption. 

StormyKnight wrote: blmartech wrote: yea they will break as soon as you install an e-grip and change the speed to anything other then the stock settings, Is that indeed a fact?  I must be in the extreme minority.  I've had my A-5 (bought second hand on eBay) for about 5 years.  I've had an E-Grip on the marker for 4 of those years. My ratchet didn't break after putting the E-Grip on.  When I did swap out the Cyclone's innards in favor of the TechT upgrades (less than two years ago) the stock ratchet was still in good condition. by the way tippmann should admit these things are junk and need to be made from a more suitable material. I called them and they sent me 2 new ones no questions asked, but 2 pieces of junk arent much better then 1. I can't even begin to imagine how many cases of paint I went through over the years on that original ratchet at 13bps+.  Now since your post seems to be based on fact instead of opinion, please share your numbers with us.  Such a strong statement must be backed up with some kind of figures.  So, how many hundreds if not thousands of people do you know have had ratchet failure after installing an E-Grip or E-Trigger on their markers that have Cyclone feeds?  Where does your data come from?  Is it verifiable for all to see?  If so, please point the way to the data for our public consumption.

Have an egrip on mine and I still use the stock ratchet.  I shoot 11 or 13 bps depending on what i set it on and its still going strong after 4+ years and THOUSANDS of paintballs.

actually tippmann themselves told me when i called to get the replacements, i purchased the e-grip for the x7 when it came out 45 minutes later my first ratchet broke, so i ordered the tech-t  from special ops which stated it was in stock but several days later found out it was on back order so i cancelled the order, i then called tippmann to buy new ones, when i spoke with person at tippmann (sorry i dont recall his name but ill be sure to get it for you next time so you will be happy) he told me he would send me two, no charge, he also said they had been having alot of problems with them, a few others i play with frequently have also had the same problem with their x7's as well one in fact went to dicks, bought a new x7 and put his old one in the box after 3 different shops couldnt figure out the problem with the hopper(ratchet wasnt broke but still wasnt working), the new one from dicks also started to malfunction so he sent it to tippmann to see if they could fix it, tippman fixed it quickly sent it back to him, when he recieved the gun x7 it had a tube from the a5 without the ports installed on it and they told him they had been having trouble with the x7 cyclone.    phew !!!

but as far as statistics cant help you out, didnt know that was the criteria for making a post here...

By the way I Love my x7, my fav tippmann by far, just has a few bugs (in my opinion)

oh and 13 balls per sec is below the factory default on a x7 e-grip

You stated that 'they' (meaning the ratchets) break when an E-Grip is attached and used.  'They' in the context that you used it in meant 'all' ratchets.  It was a very broad sweeping generalization especially when you didn't identify which marker you were talking about.  That is why I wanted statistics to back up what you posted. 

13-15bps is what the original E-Grip for the A-5 was capable of doing without further modification to the marker.  Well within posted specs.