My new Wildcat MK3 BT has had a small air leak since new. Wanting to make an improvement I replaced the rear regulator gauge with a SEKHMET mini and bonded seal gasket with the hope that would stop the leak. Unfortunately the air leak continued. I tried detecting the leak/s with several rounds of soapy water and then a commercial grade leak detecting yellow fluid with no joy. Calling the vendor and shipping the rifle back on a warranty claim did not result with any satisfaction: The vendor only tightened the gauges and returned the rifle to me, and yet the air leak continues. Hopefully one of my fellow members to this forum will have a set of suggestions that may work to stop this obnoxiously slow leak. Since the SEKHMET gauge is electronic I prefer not to dunk the rifle in a tub of water.
FX Wildcat MK3 BT air leaks
- Thread starter rdtricks
- Start date
Call FX. Apparently your dealer doesn't have much skill. FX is great to deal with and you may be able to fix it yourself. Way way more help than whoever you bought it from. I've dealt with FX several times and fixed it myself with a little help from their techs.
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100% agree on FX customer/ tech phone service.... really good. Morning is best to call. The wait isn't usually too long. Later in the day it's sometimes a longer wait.
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Easy to fix a gauge leak maybe little oil on that x ring. No need to over tightening. Hand tight with bottle off the gun usually is plenty
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Thanks for the input fellas. I will take the gun apart later this morning replacing all the seals dealing with the rear gauge and then do a timed leak-down test. Hopefully all will hold and I can spend my time shooting and not researching a fix.
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Are you positive the leaks stem from the gages? Have you tried removing your barrel shroud and taping on a balloon on the end of the barrel? What about around the regulator ports with leak detection fluid? The rear end cap where the air tube attaches to the block is another leak point.
Remove your bottle and see if the bottle is leaking. You can dunk the bottle in a bucket of water to see.
There’s a hole on the side of the block, where one can see the hammer hit the valve stem. Drizzle some leak detection into that hole.
These are typically other leak points besides the gages
Remove your bottle and see if the bottle is leaking. You can dunk the bottle in a bucket of water to see.
There’s a hole on the side of the block, where one can see the hammer hit the valve stem. Drizzle some leak detection into that hole.
These are typically other leak points besides the gages
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I appreciate your reply Bigragu. It came just in time to keep me from becoming overly frustrated, as this morning I replaced the x-ring and bonded seal gasket behind the rear gauge only to have a leak down from 230 to 220 bar in 4 hours. There must have been a little 'target fixation' going on in my head because of the new SEKHMET Mini gauge, and that is where the warranty work focused their lack of effort. Now I will focus my detection and repair efforts in finding this small leak to those areas you suggest.
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It would seem that Bigragu pointed me in a good direction troubleshooting my Wildcat BT with the suggestion of fixing a balloon onto the front end of the barrel. Within 15 minutes it is apparent the balloon is filling with air, and an hour after putting the balloon on the barrel it is inflated to the point of no wrinkles. Is this something I can fix at home or would it be better to place another warranty claim and take my chances. It would be a shame to void the warranty on a new rifle if I do the repair, yet sending it in again seems to be taking another chance at the shop being able to diagnose and repair the issue. Oh damn the luck.
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You don't void the warranty on an FX by doing your own work. If you call them, and it is something you can fix, they will send you the parts to fix it. I've done it several times.
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