Air Venturi Avenge-X leaks from day one even replacement leaks. Air Venturi refused to fix

[Sky King]

UPDATE:

Turns out to be a leak from the fill probe.

I need to find out how to fix that.

I wish I had put a balloon on it weeks earlier.

Sandy (He Him)

I have had leaks on my Avenge-X since I received them and I've sent them back to Air Venturi for repair or replacement and Air Venturi sent it back allegedly repaired. I've just now found out that they said that they found no leak when I returned the gun to them for repair of course they never told me that they just sent me the gun back as if it were fixed. I've documented the leaks in numerous photographs that are time and date stamped. The leak has progressed to from 4000 to empty in less than an hour and Air Venturi is telling me "find somebody else to help you (me)". Refusing to honor their warranty. I've had great experiences with Air Venturi in the past and found their support Superior but now I just don't understand how they're telling me to take a hike. I'm not going to accept that. This is the second Avenge-X that I received with leaks and could not be resolved. I tried working closely with Pyramyd Air and Air Venturi to find and fix leak to no avail. I even asked them to sell me a new block or a complete action and they said they don't sell those.

Soaping it down all over failed to reveal any bubbles. The Avenge-X is unusable as it now leaks from 4000 psi to 0 in less than an hour. More like 30 minutes. Nothing audible.

The time and date stamps on the images show the progression of the leak.

This is not a problem with Pyramyd Air, this ball is squarely in Air Venturi's court.

 

[DeanB]

If leaking down that fast you should be able hear it no problem, if new you should be able to return until you get a good one from Pyramid if thats who you purchased it from.Especially if leaking from new.

 

[MikeAllen]

Try using CRC Aerosol Leak Detector. Also try putting a balloon on the end of the barrel.

 

[Gerry52]

If under warranty send it back for a refund. I'd refuse to deal with a co. that basically stole my money & sent me junk. Doesn't instill much faith in their business ethics! I'd be majorly TICKED OFF (to say it gently). There's something strange about not being able to even detect that fast of a leak.

 

[Sky King]

I could not hear it but I put a balloon on it and it turned out that it's the Foster

fitting

 

[Dr. Kralenstein]

When did you purchase this and how long before you notified them of the issue. I think they have a no hassle 30 day return guarantee. At PA that is.

 

[davee1]

If it leaks from the base of the fitting where it threads into the tube, then it needs tightening or maybe some teflon tape. If it leaks from the end of the fitting then its the oring not seating right inside of it. The oring may be distorted or have a little debris on the seat. You could take the fitting apart and clean/inspect it, or replace the oring.

 

[Sky King]

When did you purchase this and how long before you notified them of the issue. I think they have a no hassle 30 day return guarantee. At PA that is.

This isn't a PA problem. When I purchased it from PA it leaked when I got it so I returned it and they replaced it promptly. The replacement leaked as well same speed of leak. I then contacted Air Venturi and worked with them extensively to find the leak and fix it. I ordered every single part in the schematic for the AVX just in case. I tried to buy a new block from Air Venturi they wouldn't sell me that. I tried to buy a whole new Action and they wouldn't sell me that. I sent the gun back to Air Venturi for repair. About two weeks later I got it back. It still had the leak. Now I find out that when they got it in for me they couldn't find any leak. Why didn't they tell me that? They just sent it back and it has the same leak. And the leak progressed from slow to from 4000 psi to zero in less than an hour. I soaked it down looking for bubbles could not find them any place. I put a balloon over the barrel and no joy on that either. Finally somebody suggested it might be the foster fitting. So I wish I had tried that in the very beginning. So it's obvious, see the image, that it's the foster fitting with the tube end cap. I'm waiting for Air Venturi to get back to me with how to remove them or how best to remove them or do they just want to send me a new tube. Yesterday before I discovered where the leak was coming from they denied fixing it under warranty and said for me to "find somebody else to fix it". If that is an outrageous, I don't know what is and I'm not gonna stand still for that!

 

[Sky King]

If it leaks from the base of the fitting where it threads into the tube, then it needs tightening or maybe some teflon tape. If it leaks from the end of the fitting then its the oring not seating right inside of it. The oring may be distorted or have a little debris on the seat. You could take the fitting apart and clean/inspect it, or replace the oring.

I'll try removing the fitting and see if I can detect the problem there and in the meantime I'm waiting for Air Venturi to get back to me with their solution. I'm really pissed at them. Did I say I'm really pissed at them?!?

 

[Sky King]

When did you purchase this and how long before you notified them of the issue. I think they have a no hassle 30 day return guarantee. At PA that is.

Like I said this isn't a PA problem. I've done business with them and bought all of well most of my air guns from them and buy from them every week, pellets and things like that and Airguns when they have one I want. I am very aware of their outstanding customer service and 60 day satisfaction warranty but I don't want to put this on them. They already returned and replaced one for me and that had the leak even though they did the 24 hour leak test on it and claimed that they didn't find the leak, but of course when I got it back, the replacement, it leaked, same kind of leak. So much for the 24 hour leak tested I paid additionally for.

 

[Dr. Kralenstein]

Like I said this isn't a PA problem. I've done business with them and bought all of well most of my air guns from them and buy from them every week, pellets and things like that and Airguns when they have one I want. I am very aware of their outstanding customer service and 60 day satisfaction warranty but I don't want to put this on them. They already returned and replaced one for me and that had the leak even though they did the 24 hour leak test on it and claimed that they didn't find the leak, but of course when I got it back, the replacement, it leaked, same kind of leak. So much for the 24 hour leak tested I paid additionally for.

No, this WAS a PA problem. It's probably past their help at this point.

Me personally, I would have sent the replacement leaker right back and said GIVE ME A PRODUCT THAT WORKS. Yes, I would've all caps yelled at them in email. If it was under their warranty time limit, it would be covered. The replacement would be also covered under that time limit.

I'm an auto mechanic and now a journeyman electrician. If I would send off a defective part and receive a defective part back, it goes right back. If I allowed them to send me another junk product and just accepted, I would have piles of useless items laying around and be broke and out of work.

You have to be stern with retailers sometimes or you just get taken.

 

[Sky King]

No, this WAS a PA problem. It's probably past their help at this point.

Me personally, I would have sent the replacement leaker right back and said GIVE ME A PRODUCT THAT WORKS. Yes, I would've all caps yelled at them in email. If it was under their warranty time limit, it would be covered. The replacement would be also covered under that time limit.

I'm an auto mechanic and now a journeyman electrician. If I would send off a defective part and receive a defective part back, it goes right back. If I allowed them to send me another junk product and just accepted, I would have piles of useless items laying around and be broke and out of work.

You have to be stern with retailers sometimes or you just get taken.

I hear you loud and clear. I have done biz with Pyramyd Air for about 5 years and their customer service is the best (IMHO) in the industry. I have bought several Pcps from them. Assoon as I found the leask on 1st and 2nd, I notified and worked with them and Air Venturi to fix/resolve. Air Venturi said they could not find a leak. They never told me that when they sent it back to me supposedly repaiured. I don't need or want to put the hammer down on them because they don't need that approach. Course I'm pissed off at the first one I received had a leak in the second one I received had a leak in the one that was supposedly repaired by Air Venturi never was repaired because they said they couldn't find the leak. So finally the leak progressed so it completely leaked out from 4000 to zero in less than an hour, more like a half an hour. Thank goodness somebody on Facebook suggested to check the foster fitting which I wish that I did in the first place. See the attached image. Obviously that's what it is and I'm waiting for them to tell me how they wanna handle it. This isn't a Pyramyd Air problem. This is an Air Venturi problem.

 

[Trucker3573]

That is a super easy fix actually. First just try adding some silicone oil into the fill port and filling it back up. This often will do the trick. If not then you can take it out when the gun is empty and replace the tiny oring inside. THEN WHEN NO LEAK ….(if it were me )…..I’d sell it and never ever never ever buy another AV product again.

 

[Sky King]

Thank you for the ideas on the fix. I'll explore that method and keep you posted. The Avenge-X is a fantastic PCP IMHO. Air Venturi has been great up to this point when they told me to "take a hike" and to "get someone to fix it". I'm sure they'll reverse their stance on that and I'll get apologies. I don't know what got into them this time because they've been great in the past. Although I've had my share of problems with the Avenger POI and the Avenge-X (2 of them) leaks that were not fixed (yet).

 

[DeanB]

I would think Pyramyd would keep replacing it until you got a good one as long as you didnt wait too long to return the 2nd leaker same warranty return policy still applies. The time shipping back and forth shouldnt matter as you have 30 days for each replacement I believe.
But since you found the leak should be a easy fix but will then void your warranty if you remove nipple and tell them how you fixed it.

 

[WorriedMan]

While easy to recognize the value in a Chinese-made airgun, it's always a roll of the dice you'll get a good one. Personally won with Umarex Gauntlet and Snowpeak M60B, lost with JTS Airacuda Max. Silver lining with MAX is knowledge gained working thru the problems. With supportive members like Motorhead, Nervoustrig, Heavy Impact, Firewalker and others, coupled with 45Bravo's YouTube videos, been a fascinating ride. JTS, believe it or not, has been stellar in providing warranty parts, no questions asked. Pre-Max PCP understanding versus post-Max is night and day. Like Trucker said, foster fitting is easy fix, agreed it's not your responsibility but consider what you'll learn. Well, my two cents, anyway. WM

 

[scottblair]

No, this WAS a PA problem. It's probably past their help at this point.

Me personally, I would have sent the replacement leaker right back and said GIVE ME A PRODUCT THAT WORKS. Yes, I would've all caps yelled at them in email. If it was under their warranty time limit, it would be covered. The replacement would be also covered under that time limit.

I'm an auto mechanic and now a journeyman electrician. If I would send off a defective part and receive a defective part back, it goes right back. If I allowed them to send me another junk product and just accepted, I would have piles of useless items laying around and be broke and out of work.

You have to be stern with retailers sometimes or you just get taken.

This *** should have been the process to follow. Always return to the retailer you purchased from, NOT the manufacturer. The route you took, allowed PA to step back out of the loop.
Just my 2¢

 

[JimD]

We all have to make our own choices but I've pretty much decided not to send guns back, at least when I am pretty sure I can fix them. I got an Avenger early (only paid $300) and it leaked from day 1. I paid $40 to ship it to Air Venturi and they returned it fixed 5 weeks later. So I was out the $40 and lost the gun for 5 weeks. I don't know what they did but I doubt it was anything I could not have done. I bought it from Midway (normal sources were out).

Part of my logic is that I will need to go into them sooner or later to replace an O-ring or something so it's best just to get used to taking them apart.

I'm sorry you got two "bad ones". My Avenger has been fine since the initial fix. My 3 SPA P-35s did not have an initial leaking problem but 2 of the 3 have needed an O-ring or two subsequently. They seem to be lower in quality than the replacements from Mr. O-ring. I plan to do a little review but my slightly more than 1 week old Caiman (not chinese) is noticably better made than my chinese guns but it's needed some attention too. It didn't leak and would shoot straight out of the box but I don't know how anybody could have wanted to leave it the way I got it. Having to tinker a little seems to be common in airguns. Fortunately it is kind of fun.

 

[DeanB]

Dont mind giving guns attention after warranty's are out until then that's what warranty's are for. While I dont mind working on some guns part of the reason I buy new is for the 2-5 warranty manufactures say they will honor.

 

[DesertSilver]

PA is owned by the same company as AV. Get ahold of PA and tell them that the foster check valve is leaking and they need to fix it.