Fatbobs
08-06-2004, 10:39
What HPA system should I get?
Optimal input pressure to a torpedo regulator is 500psi. That said, anything between 400 and 900psi works fine. Any preset or adjustable tank will work.
If you use a Halo or similar forcefeed loader, you may need to get extra hard detents if you have problems with double feeding.
Lubing the regulators:
Please note that both regulators on Intimidators must be lubricated properly before firing! You follow more-or-less the same directions for both regulators.
Disassemble regulator into its two halves
Remove washer, spring, and piston
Wipe the parts decently clean with a rag or paper towel, careful not to leave any fibers on it
Apply a light coat of Dow 55 to the piston's o-ring
Reassemble, careful to leave the skinny end of the piston towards the reg valve
Adjusting the ram cap:
Gas your Timmy up so the bolt is all the way back, with no loader or paintballs
Feel down your feedneck into the breech and note where the front of the bolt lines up
Using a 5/64" allen key (at least for Hybrid ram caps), move the adjuster screw in or out to line the front of the bolt up so that it is just barely sticking into the feedneck, about 1/16"
Ultimate Timmy tool kit:
· Allen keys used:
1/8": grip frame->body, regulator housing screw
3/32": clamshell grip frame screws, trigger screw, trigger frame screws
5/64": grip screws, trigger adjustment screws, adjuster screw in ram cap (at least for Hybrids)
1/16": board retaining screw, solenoid screw, eye cover screws, side plate screws
· Crescent wrench that goes up to 1" wide
· Replacement o-ring kit
· Spare cup seals if not using a Black Magic cup seal (Unless you have a poppet stem with the delrin end, in which case a cup seal isn't needed. The Empire and Alias Intimidators both come with these poppet stems.)
· Spare ram bumpers (unless using Shocktech ram or Alias)
· Spare ball detents (Spyder detents work, but you may need extra hard detents if you use a Halo B)
Common problems and their solutions:
· Leaking down barrel: Lube, flip, or replace cup seal.
· Leaking from bolt area: Front ram o-ring needs lubed and/or replaced.
· Chopping paint: Make sure the adjustable ram cap is screwed in tightly and adjusted properly. If you are using a non-forcefeed loader or are and only the last few balls chop, and are using a newer board, set your ball in place delay to 3ms.
· First few shots spiking significantly (greater than 25fps): This is a problem with the machining of the torpedo's spring, and is solved by diassembling the torpedo and sanding down the edges of the torpedo's spring so they are smooth.
· Velocity fluctuating (over 10fps): This is probably a dwell that is set too low. See "The dwell question" below.
· LCD screen doesn't show anything or is garbled/unreadable: This is almost always one of two things. The first is the top left-hand grip screw tightened down too hard when it has no o-ring. This results in the screw pushing down on the ribbon cable, distorting or blanking the LCD screen.
The other possibility is the LCD ribbon cable itself isn't attached properly. Insure that the metal contacts are clean on the one side (if they aren't, a little steel wool cleans them up very quickly), that the side with the contacts is facing towards the left side of the board, and that the connector is secured, with the white tabs on either side of the ribbon cable's connector pushed down towards the board.
· Very slow ROF (Rate of Fire): First, make sure the eyes aren't bypassing, which is generally capped to around 13bps.
If that is right, ensure that your adjustable ram cap is adjusted properly! As a ram bumper wears down, the bolt will sit further and further back the breech. If paint is allowed to roll back just a little bit from where it should be (in front of the eyes), the eyes think there is no paint. If you have to shake your Timmy occasionally to make it shoot, this is almost always the culprit.
If the board isn't picking up trigger pulls at all, make sure your trigger's activation set screw (the middle one) isn't too far in. Most people need a longer pull with switch activation in the middle for the fastest pull. Along these same lines, make sure the wires to the trigger switch are in tip-top shape.
If none of these is the cause, practice walking your trigger, since it's probably you!
Maintenance :
Pull up the bolt pin and slide out the bolt, get a wet rag and wipe down the bolt, if there are any dark spots scrub hard and it should go away
Take off your barrel and screw it apart if you have a 2-piece, then wash it with water and squegee it dry
Take out the ram by unscrewing the ram cap and tilt the gun backwards, holding your hand under the hole... it should slide right out
Check the front and back o-rings on the ram for tears or rips, also look at your ram bumper and see if its not cracking or spilting
Wipe all the old grease off and put a fresh coat of dow 55 ( DO NOT use white lithium grease, it will eat your orings), and put it back in, also put a little dab of dow on the ram cap threads and oring
Take off the bottom of your torpedo regulator, there should be a o-ring there lube it so it seals, put that back on, for people who have other regs, lube the orings, this is a vital part of your gun!
Now on to the front reg, if you have a volumizer take it off and lube the oring on that then carefully pull out the piston with some needle nose pliers and wipe all the old grease off that and apply a new coat
Put that back together, make sure the fat end of the piston is back towards the spring when you put it in
Back to the bolt, get some tri-flow from a bicycle stop or hardware store and put a few drops on the bolt and smear it around on the o-rings, then insert it and line it up with the ram and your done
After all this wipe it down with a damp rag and put the barrel back on and you're done
Grease the ram after every 3,000 shots or so, and grease the poppet every 5,000-6,000 shots, and finally grease the front regulators after every 2 times you play.
Gassing up for the day
When you first gas up your Timmy for a day of paintball, screw in your tank (or turn on the on/off ASA). Your gun will pressurize and you will be able to fire it.
Take a hex wrench and back the set screw of your LP Reg out (counter clock-wise) until it is flush with the end cap. Do the same to the HP reg. Fire your marker a few times as you do this and you will immediately notice that the system loses pressure to the point that it will not cycle (Kinda like when you de-gas a CO2 bottle from a marker).
After both reg screws are flush and the gun cannot fire, slowly begin turning the LP reg screw in (clock-wise) in small increaments (i.e. 1/16 of a turn) as you fire the gun. Keep doing this until your main gauge reads 70-75 psi. Now your opperating pressure is set.
After you have set the operating to 70-75 psi, slowly screw in the set screws in the the HP reg (clock-wise), until you see about 4 threads. This should put you in the neighborhood of 250-310 fps.
Go to a chrono and fine turn the HP reg setting until your marker is shooting at the velocity you want.
DO NOT DE-GAS YOUR GUN FOR THE REST OF THE DAY. Bob keeps his marker pressurized until his is done for the day. Only use your power on/off switch to disable your gun.
The dwell question
The best way to determine what your recommended dwell should be is to look at the wires coming out of the solenoid. If both wires are black or black/red set your dwell to 8ms to be stock. If your wires are green/black and the solenoid is a Humphrey H040-E1, set your dwell to 8ms to be stock. If your wires are green/black and any other manufacturer or model number, your dwell should be at least 16ms. You'll find the slower solenoids mostly in older Timmys.
High flow barbs or not?
If you can fit a .050" allen key inside the barb, it is high flow. All new Intimidators (since April 2003, or so) have come with high flow barbs.
Optimal input pressure to a torpedo regulator is 500psi. That said, anything between 400 and 900psi works fine. Any preset or adjustable tank will work.
If you use a Halo or similar forcefeed loader, you may need to get extra hard detents if you have problems with double feeding.
Lubing the regulators:
Please note that both regulators on Intimidators must be lubricated properly before firing! You follow more-or-less the same directions for both regulators.
Disassemble regulator into its two halves
Remove washer, spring, and piston
Wipe the parts decently clean with a rag or paper towel, careful not to leave any fibers on it
Apply a light coat of Dow 55 to the piston's o-ring
Reassemble, careful to leave the skinny end of the piston towards the reg valve
Adjusting the ram cap:
Gas your Timmy up so the bolt is all the way back, with no loader or paintballs
Feel down your feedneck into the breech and note where the front of the bolt lines up
Using a 5/64" allen key (at least for Hybrid ram caps), move the adjuster screw in or out to line the front of the bolt up so that it is just barely sticking into the feedneck, about 1/16"
Ultimate Timmy tool kit:
· Allen keys used:
1/8": grip frame->body, regulator housing screw
3/32": clamshell grip frame screws, trigger screw, trigger frame screws
5/64": grip screws, trigger adjustment screws, adjuster screw in ram cap (at least for Hybrids)
1/16": board retaining screw, solenoid screw, eye cover screws, side plate screws
· Crescent wrench that goes up to 1" wide
· Replacement o-ring kit
· Spare cup seals if not using a Black Magic cup seal (Unless you have a poppet stem with the delrin end, in which case a cup seal isn't needed. The Empire and Alias Intimidators both come with these poppet stems.)
· Spare ram bumpers (unless using Shocktech ram or Alias)
· Spare ball detents (Spyder detents work, but you may need extra hard detents if you use a Halo B)
Common problems and their solutions:
· Leaking down barrel: Lube, flip, or replace cup seal.
· Leaking from bolt area: Front ram o-ring needs lubed and/or replaced.
· Chopping paint: Make sure the adjustable ram cap is screwed in tightly and adjusted properly. If you are using a non-forcefeed loader or are and only the last few balls chop, and are using a newer board, set your ball in place delay to 3ms.
· First few shots spiking significantly (greater than 25fps): This is a problem with the machining of the torpedo's spring, and is solved by diassembling the torpedo and sanding down the edges of the torpedo's spring so they are smooth.
· Velocity fluctuating (over 10fps): This is probably a dwell that is set too low. See "The dwell question" below.
· LCD screen doesn't show anything or is garbled/unreadable: This is almost always one of two things. The first is the top left-hand grip screw tightened down too hard when it has no o-ring. This results in the screw pushing down on the ribbon cable, distorting or blanking the LCD screen.
The other possibility is the LCD ribbon cable itself isn't attached properly. Insure that the metal contacts are clean on the one side (if they aren't, a little steel wool cleans them up very quickly), that the side with the contacts is facing towards the left side of the board, and that the connector is secured, with the white tabs on either side of the ribbon cable's connector pushed down towards the board.
· Very slow ROF (Rate of Fire): First, make sure the eyes aren't bypassing, which is generally capped to around 13bps.
If that is right, ensure that your adjustable ram cap is adjusted properly! As a ram bumper wears down, the bolt will sit further and further back the breech. If paint is allowed to roll back just a little bit from where it should be (in front of the eyes), the eyes think there is no paint. If you have to shake your Timmy occasionally to make it shoot, this is almost always the culprit.
If the board isn't picking up trigger pulls at all, make sure your trigger's activation set screw (the middle one) isn't too far in. Most people need a longer pull with switch activation in the middle for the fastest pull. Along these same lines, make sure the wires to the trigger switch are in tip-top shape.
If none of these is the cause, practice walking your trigger, since it's probably you!
Maintenance :
Pull up the bolt pin and slide out the bolt, get a wet rag and wipe down the bolt, if there are any dark spots scrub hard and it should go away
Take off your barrel and screw it apart if you have a 2-piece, then wash it with water and squegee it dry
Take out the ram by unscrewing the ram cap and tilt the gun backwards, holding your hand under the hole... it should slide right out
Check the front and back o-rings on the ram for tears or rips, also look at your ram bumper and see if its not cracking or spilting
Wipe all the old grease off and put a fresh coat of dow 55 ( DO NOT use white lithium grease, it will eat your orings), and put it back in, also put a little dab of dow on the ram cap threads and oring
Take off the bottom of your torpedo regulator, there should be a o-ring there lube it so it seals, put that back on, for people who have other regs, lube the orings, this is a vital part of your gun!
Now on to the front reg, if you have a volumizer take it off and lube the oring on that then carefully pull out the piston with some needle nose pliers and wipe all the old grease off that and apply a new coat
Put that back together, make sure the fat end of the piston is back towards the spring when you put it in
Back to the bolt, get some tri-flow from a bicycle stop or hardware store and put a few drops on the bolt and smear it around on the o-rings, then insert it and line it up with the ram and your done
After all this wipe it down with a damp rag and put the barrel back on and you're done
Grease the ram after every 3,000 shots or so, and grease the poppet every 5,000-6,000 shots, and finally grease the front regulators after every 2 times you play.
Gassing up for the day
When you first gas up your Timmy for a day of paintball, screw in your tank (or turn on the on/off ASA). Your gun will pressurize and you will be able to fire it.
Take a hex wrench and back the set screw of your LP Reg out (counter clock-wise) until it is flush with the end cap. Do the same to the HP reg. Fire your marker a few times as you do this and you will immediately notice that the system loses pressure to the point that it will not cycle (Kinda like when you de-gas a CO2 bottle from a marker).
After both reg screws are flush and the gun cannot fire, slowly begin turning the LP reg screw in (clock-wise) in small increaments (i.e. 1/16 of a turn) as you fire the gun. Keep doing this until your main gauge reads 70-75 psi. Now your opperating pressure is set.
After you have set the operating to 70-75 psi, slowly screw in the set screws in the the HP reg (clock-wise), until you see about 4 threads. This should put you in the neighborhood of 250-310 fps.
Go to a chrono and fine turn the HP reg setting until your marker is shooting at the velocity you want.
DO NOT DE-GAS YOUR GUN FOR THE REST OF THE DAY. Bob keeps his marker pressurized until his is done for the day. Only use your power on/off switch to disable your gun.
The dwell question
The best way to determine what your recommended dwell should be is to look at the wires coming out of the solenoid. If both wires are black or black/red set your dwell to 8ms to be stock. If your wires are green/black and the solenoid is a Humphrey H040-E1, set your dwell to 8ms to be stock. If your wires are green/black and any other manufacturer or model number, your dwell should be at least 16ms. You'll find the slower solenoids mostly in older Timmys.
High flow barbs or not?
If you can fit a .050" allen key inside the barb, it is high flow. All new Intimidators (since April 2003, or so) have come with high flow barbs.