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Tuning FX Impact M3 Regulator problems
- Thread starter 2muchair4leyla
- Start date
I just wanted to mention something I picked up on while watching your videos...you mentioned planning to refill at 150 bar on account of the 1st regulator being set at 140bar. There is no need to do that. You can shoot down to the 2nd regulator's setpoint (~90 bar). If anything, the gun will get _more_ consistent as the pressure falls below 140 bar because the 2nd regulator has a less demanding job to deliver 90 bar to the valve.
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I just had a thought...I wonder how far can you go down on the first reg before the 2nd reg no longer works properly. It seems there should be some sort of minimum a reg can function properly at on the front end pressure before regulating its output pressure consistently. Maybe this could be a reason why FX recommends leaving the first reg alone??? I haven't ran across any discussions about this thought.
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I was wondering the same thing Ernest Rowe said on the master class that it should come set at 150 from the factory ans leave it alone when mine was at 190 I could definitely see an extreme POI shift when bottle pressure fell off the 1st reg I'm conditioning myself with a new hand pump I just bought so I've been refilling at 150 but I think I'll take it down to 90 today just to see if there's a significant POI shift.
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In that case, it means the 2nd regulator is not working particularly well (i.e. poor input regulation). By setting their values closer together, that may improve overall consistency over a wider pressure range.
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I believe if this were my gun I would leave the first reg at 150 to 180 bar and be done with the first reg. That would be quite the decrease in pressure to the 2nd reg,, which is the point of having two regs. I also probably would not go below 110-120 bar on the 2nd reg. This is because I prefer a much quieter shot report with having a short high pressure burst instead a long drawn out lower pressure burst. My MKII just performs much better with a short HP burst. It's your gun, so do what you want, but I would suggest testing both ways so you can experience the differences.
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Very helpful videos. If its worth anything, my new M3 (.25, 700mm) has Reg #1@125, Reg#2@90, Macro wheel@16, Micro is slightly over 3. Dealer said he never touched so settings are factory. Manual claims factory set with JSB and FX ammo. I only have H&N Baracuda Hunter Extreme in 28.24 gr. Plan to shoot during cool of evening, Florida sun pretty hot this time of year. Did my heart good to see you so kind and pleasant to your kid, nothing more important than being a good Dad!
WM
WM
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Update: M3 didn't like H&N Baracuda Hunter Extremes. No groups better than 3 inches @ 50yds. Not going to re-tune since I used almost all up with that huge magazine. Been waiting on Air Gun Depot since March 8th, for $45 (.25) JSB order. M3 functions great, with only two complaints. Foster fill port too far inside frame to fit my hand pump and trying to install and seal the FX female foster on end of air hose is a struggle. Other concern, M3 doesn't fit on MTM Predator Shooting Rest. Guess I'll put M3 aside and use Wildcat (.30) for now. Pellet shortage really slowing progress. Best to you and yours,
WM
WM
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So I thought I might have fixed the 1st reg by resetting it to 120 and after locking down the set screw seeing the pressure increased to 140, well now I've noticed the the reg slowly drops down to 120 as i shoot so from 250-180 bottle its 140-130 1st reg and from 160 bottle its @ 120 1st reg.
Wait for it!!!
Tuned the JSB Ultra shock to the tune of 905 fps and got an extreme spread of 30 and standard deviation of 5.9 across a 95 shot string.
should i be concerned with the 1st reg ?
Wait for it!!!
Tuned the JSB Ultra shock to the tune of 905 fps and got an extreme spread of 30 and standard deviation of 5.9 across a 95 shot string.
should i be concerned with the 1st reg ?
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I think it would be worth a call to FX regarding this. I say this because there have quite a number of post that I have noticed across many social media platforms regarding these M3 regs. I am not saying there is an issue, but I am starting to suspect there might be. I don't have an M3 to know much of anything about them. However, I might be wanting to upgrade my MKII and I have been following closely.
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Having the M3, I'll be honest that personally I think they could have put a higher quality front reg in. It's a very basic screw type...reminds me of the cheap regulator in my aea element. Crazy up/down with just slight adjustments made to the screw. It's just there to be a sponge, not a precision adjustable regulator. Kinda pisses you off when you think about it...
I liked the dual amp reg setup on my maverick better and it definitely was more consistent where ES is concerned. The other thing with the M3 is the macro valving...no longer just for fine tuning. A single turn will drastically increase/decrease fps and I've learned you have to scale the valve for the tune.
In my layman's opinion, FX has removed the fine tunability of the Impact with the M3 by making 'improvements' to make it be an 'everyone' rifle.
I liked the dual amp reg setup on my maverick better and it definitely was more consistent where ES is concerned. The other thing with the M3 is the macro valving...no longer just for fine tuning. A single turn will drastically increase/decrease fps and I've learned you have to scale the valve for the tune.
In my layman's opinion, FX has removed the fine tunability of the Impact with the M3 by making 'improvements' to make it be an 'everyone' rifle.
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I think you just hit the nail on the head brother. To think I was going to tear down my MKII in 700mm .22 cal and rebuild it on the M3 I'll have to rethink that one the MKII is so good I want to blame the caliber (.177) but it might be the gun
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Thanks! This makes a whole lot of sense to what I have been noticing with M3 posts/reports.
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Beginning to think the Maverick may be better that the Impact M3 at least in the reg and consistency areas
I have a 600MM 30 Cal Maverick that shooting 990 FPS with NSA 43.8 Slugs into 1/2 50 yd groups consistently usually with an ES of 2 or 3
beginning to wonder if the M3 will do that ?
I have a 600MM 30 Cal Maverick that shooting 990 FPS with NSA 43.8 Slugs into 1/2 50 yd groups consistently usually with an ES of 2 or 3
beginning to wonder if the M3 will do that ?
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Yeah I was expecting better out of a duel reg but I don't have precedence to compare but from what you say about the maverick sounds like It should be alot better I'll keep tuning and see
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Guess I’m sticking with an older impact till they work out the problems. These kind of things are always present in the first batch or two of a brand new gun. Good thing is, fx is very open to constructive criticism, and if they hear of a problem, they get right to work fixing it. When the maverick and wildcat mk3 came out, they had issues with excessive wear to the adjustment dial. A fix was introduced pretty quickly. I’m sure they are already working on this fix, and they’re good about sending out repair parts under warranty for you to fix it yourself to save holding up your gun at a repair facility for weeks.
call me an fx fanboy, but these are the reasons I buy mainly fx guns.
call me an fx fanboy, but these are the reasons I buy mainly fx guns.
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I hope so, the front reg is...meh.
I wished they would have taken the dreamline bottle adapter with the amp reg and side foster and actually changed the impact chassis to fit that piece. That is the front reg piece of the maverick, the dreamline bottle adapter.
BUT if they did that, they instantly make any accessory vendor obsolete with some of their current product lineup and sadly you know they all hold hands.
I wished they would have taken the dreamline bottle adapter with the amp reg and side foster and actually changed the impact chassis to fit that piece. That is the front reg piece of the maverick, the dreamline bottle adapter.
BUT if they did that, they instantly make any accessory vendor obsolete with some of their current product lineup and sadly you know they all hold hands.
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Been following the comments, especially on regulators and M3 Sniper in .25 caliber. My factory settings based on WIKA gauges were 150 on 1st reg and call it 93 on second, with macro 16 and micro 2.5 with valve at line 4. With JSB 25.39 or Air Arms 25.4 (same pellet?) I get 915 fps and good groups. Move macro to 15 and velocity drops to 895. Keep macro at 15 but move micro to 3 and I jump to 925 fps. So, lots to play with there but I'm still learning hammer spring effects and seems like maybe 14 saves some air (more shot count).
The big news for me was switching to digital gauges and finding, after some verification, that the WIKA analog gauges were reading way high, i.e. the actual pressure was 20% less than the WIKA said. Back to the drawing board but I'd love to here input on second stage reg pressure with 700mm barrel. I'm wondering if less than the manual's 90-95 psi recommendation is better.
The big news for me was switching to digital gauges and finding, after some verification, that the WIKA analog gauges were reading way high, i.e. the actual pressure was 20% less than the WIKA said. Back to the drawing board but I'd love to here input on second stage reg pressure with 700mm barrel. I'm wondering if less than the manual's 90-95 psi recommendation is better.
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