A-5 Problems
Printed From: Tippmann Paintball
Category: Paintball Equipment
Forum Name: Gun Maintenace and Repair
Forum Description: Important info for keeping your marker in top shape
URL: http://www.tippmannsports.com/forum/wwf77a/forum_posts.asp?TID=174602
Printed Date: 02 December 2025 at 8:18pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.04 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: A-5 Problems
Posted By: ninjaballin
Subject: A-5 Problems
Date Posted: 05 April 2008 at 7:50pm
|
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...  |
Replies:
Posted By: StormyKnight
Date Posted: 05 April 2008 at 8:00pm
|
What is your marker's velocity setting? What kind of paint are you using? ------------- 
|
Posted By: ninjaballin
Date Posted: 05 April 2008 at 8:05pm
|
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. |
Posted By: gardy90
Date Posted: 06 April 2008 at 1:12am
|
cyclone not feeding right, causing paint to be chopped...???
------------- "FIRST THERE" a-5 16" J&J ceramic polished internals X7 low profile hopper costom painted 20 oz tank |
Posted By: mysticmak
Date Posted: 06 April 2008 at 11:26am
|
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. |
Posted By: notom66866
Date Posted: 06 April 2008 at 12:22pm
|
Were you useing c02 or hpa? Do you own your own tank or a rental? Are you using a remote? |
Posted By: mysticmak
Date Posted: 06 April 2008 at 1:05pm
| In my case it was CO2, using their tank, not a remote. |
Posted By: ninjaballin
Date Posted: 06 April 2008 at 3:09pm
HPA, I used both my own tank and a rental HPA tank--its not the problem. And no I was not using a remote. |
notom66866 wrote:Posted By: notom66866
Date Posted: 06 April 2008 at 5:14pm
|
What do you have your e-grip settings at? Did you change them from the factory default? |
Posted By: ninjaballin
Date Posted: 06 April 2008 at 5:21pm
Semi-auto, and no I didn't change anything from the factory defaults. I pretty much kept everything on the gun as stock as possible. |
Posted By: notom66866
Date Posted: 06 April 2008 at 7:17pm
| Fresh battery? |
Posted By: ninjaballin
Date Posted: 06 April 2008 at 8:56pm
Lol, I checked and that isn't the problem either (I wish it was though). EDIT: I was wondering if the cyclone was the problem but I wasn't sure how I would check. And when the gun is breaking paint, there don't seem to be shells in the cyclone, just paint (which leads me to believe that it isn't the cyclone). Does anyone know of any parts which may be causing issues? Keep in mind that I unfortunately cannot readily shoot paintballs, as I live in a city, so I really just have to look at parts and analyze whether or not there is a problem; I can't exactly test the gun out until the next time I go paintballing. |
Posted By: notom66866
Date Posted: 07 April 2008 at 1:09am
|
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!!! |
Posted By: Mack
Date Posted: 07 April 2008 at 11:03am
|
One other thing to try, if you have a friend with a mechanical A5, is borrowing his grip frame and test firing your marker. If the marker works okay in this configuration, then you know the problem is related to the e-grip.
------------- 
|
Posted By: mysticmak
Date Posted: 07 April 2008 at 11:29am
| 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. |
Posted By: ninjaballin
Date Posted: 08 April 2008 at 1:44am
The air pressure in my tank is down to like 600psi...is this enough air for the test to still be accurate? Also, what do you guys think about me calling up Tippmann again? Have I just had a series of unlucky coincidences or what? |
Posted By: mysticmak
Date Posted: 08 April 2008 at 3:51am
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. |
Posted By: notom66866
Date Posted: 08 April 2008 at 12:10pm
| 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!!! |
Posted By: ninjaballin
Date Posted: 08 April 2008 at 9:39pm
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? |
Posted By: ThatGuitarGuy
Date Posted: 08 April 2008 at 11:30pm
|
I say just take the hopper off, and either you, or a friend, watch from the top as the cyclone feeds a single ball to be fired, and after that ball is fired, place another ball in the cyclone. See where the problem lies with that, if there's no problems, go up to maybe 10 balls, see if there's a problem then. It should trace it down to whether it's a bolt/chamber chop problem, or a cyclone problem. |
Posted By: mysticmak
Date Posted: 09 April 2008 at 3:03am
|
I agree, this is what I was trying to suggest, the "safe environment" described by the gents above is paramount of course. |
Posted By: StormyKnight
Date Posted: 09 April 2008 at 9:11am
|
600psi is pushing the operational line on the A-5. Optimally, the marker works best at the 800-850psi range. It would be best to do all your testing on a full HPA or C02 tank. -------------
|
Posted By: ninjaballin
Date Posted: 11 April 2008 at 12:09am
Ok thanks for that, I was wondering for a while... I'll try and get the tank filled up this weekend and give this gun another shot (pun intended). Hopefully it's just the cyclone or something that I can easily replace. We'll see. By the way, I was wondering where the air needed to make the cyclone work comes from. When I was taking it off the gun I noticed there isn't really any air line or anything (or is there?) going to it, unless it is that little tiny tube next to the manual pump, but that's attached to a screw or something. Where does it get its air? |
Posted By: thejudge
Date Posted: 11 April 2008 at 11:24am
|
the little line that comes drom the cyclone into the side of the marker is where the air for the cyclone comes from. ------------- Stay low, run fast, and hope that paintball doesn't hit your... http://www.deltasquad.info/"> 
|
Posted By: mysticmak
Date Posted: 11 April 2008 at 12:23pm
| Just a note to say that I stripped my A5 and as I was doing so a small piece of cast metal fell out, now I have no idea where it came from but I did manage to identify it, it would appear to be the spigot from one of the cyclone feed assemblies (basically the bit the pipe would fit too) i would hasten to add though that it is not from my marker, it was merely inside my marker somewhere, now I have not been able to test fire as I have no HPA or CO2 at home, but I will try and get to a range to test fire over the weekend, the cyclone does seem to be cycling much better than it did before though......... |
Posted By: ninjaballin
Date Posted: 15 April 2008 at 7:46pm
|
Hey...so in my last post I believe I mentioned taking my gun to a field to
fire it and try to fix it... So about that... Actually what I did was take it to this place nearby me that fixes paintball guns. I had the option between fixing it myself and having someone else do it so I did what seems would give me the best chance of having a nice working-order gun. They will fix it and probably I'll get it back in about a week. And hopefully they wont give me the same crap Tippmann did, twice ("oh look its fixed!--NOT" no offense Tippmann btw). Actually, they can't because I can go talk to them face to face which is nice. So I just thought I'd mention that, and I'll post again when I get my gun back to report its condition. Hopefully, that's that. |
Posted By: notom66866
Date Posted: 15 April 2008 at 11:39pm
| Your poor experience with Tippmans customer service is aipical of the norm. If you are unhappy with the mainteance they performed call them and let them know the problem still persists. Usually these guys bend over backwards for their customers. |
Posted By: ninjaballin
Date Posted: 19 April 2008 at 7:53pm
I did...remember I called them a total of 3 times... I think they hate me. 
|