Here are some pictures to illustrate some of the points I made in the post up above:
Here is $.10 worth of o-rings I paid $39.00 for from AOA...all of these can be found in the 172 piece O-Ring Assortment Pack that costs $4.97 at auto parts store.
I let the air out using the brass air bleeder screw, loosened the four screws of the trigger/air tube frame, and unscrewed the air tank tube by hand. You can see the one end stayed on the receiver. It is easier to remove this part with a 15mm wrench if you remove the trigger extension rod first.
Here you see the part removed from the receiver block and the o-ring to replace. This was barely tight and may have been location of slow leak?
Here you can see the regulator sitting in the air tank tube (note the position of the ring spacer)...this is how it looks from the factory installation. To reinstall just push the regulator into the regulator seat all the way, push that into the air tube, then put the ring spacer in a little bit, and then just screw the end cap all the way in, just a hair more than hand tight is sufficient.
This shows the ring spacer, regulator, regulator seat, and wood dowel rod I used to push it out from the other end of the air tube. The ring spacer acts as a depth gauge to seat the regulator into the air tube to the correct depth. Just install the new o-rings, push the regulator into the regulator seat all the way, push it into the air tube, lastly push the spacer ring in just far enough to allow the endcap to thread on the end. Then just screw the end cap all the way on the tube... a hair past hand tight is sufficient. If you do it wrong all the air will leak out of the little tiny hole in the air tube that equalizes the pressure for regulator to work. Hopefully you do it the way i said and there won't be a problem.
Do not lube or grease up the small regulator o-rings.
To remove this end cap from the air tube just insert a pencil or small wood dowel into the probe fill hole and unscrew it. It is only a hair past hand tight...just remember to change the o-ring on it. I removed the air gauge to see if there is an o-ring under it and there is not one under it...so don't bother removing the air gauge. But be careful not to bang it against anything as it is very easily damaged...how do i know this you wonder? My new one should be here in a couple days...
These are the eyeglass screws I used to reattach the trigger extension ends. The little crush pins that FX used were impossible for me to put back in, so my wife came up with this idea...works a hundred times better than the factory pins because these can be remove and reinstalled very easily.
This is the eyeglasses repair kit with screws, they are about a dollar at Walgreens. You can see in this and the next picture how well they fit.
This is available at any scuba shop or online. It greatly extends the life of o-rings by keeping them soft and pliable. "A little dab'll do ya!":
NOTE: DO NOT LUBE THE LITTLE O-RINGS ON THE REGULATOR! If you grease up the little o-rings on the regulator what happens is that when you try to fill the tank up with air, the pressure will push the regulator out of the regulator seat body just far enough so that all the air will come out of the little tiny hole in the air tube. You will go crazy trying to figure this out...don't worry you are not going to have to change these o-rings again in 20 years probably. But also remember to change these and put new o-rings on the regulator every time you take it out and put it back in or you will end up doing it later anyway.
I am editing to let you guys know I chronographed my gun with the 34 grain MKII pellets today before I went shooting...For 8 shots I got an average of 802 ft./s, with a 10 ft./s spread, a standard deviation of 3.5, and a yield of 48.5 ft.lbs energy. (3 1/2 ft.lbs energy more than I had before)
My previous average before changing the o-rings with these pellets was 775 ft,/s. that gave me 45 ft. lbs energy. Not that it matters other than to show that something improved besides ending the slow air leak.
Best regards to all, Chuck
