Tuning My Red Wolf won’t fire - fixed!

[Maineiac]

(EDIT - Problem solved. It was a defective GCU board. AoA replaced under warranty and all is well.)

Yesterday I shot my Red Wolf just fine. I mounted a new scope on it and went out today to shoot and now it doesn’t work.

When I pull the trigger you can hear an internal click and the gun registers a shot being fired but no air is released.

Any ideas? I’ve already tried cycling the safety, changing power levels, and disconnecting the battery. No luck so far.

 

[elh0102]

I have a Red Wolf, and it's a great rifle, but this is the kind of thing that drives me nuts about electronic rifles. One day it's nirvana, the next, a $2,500 paper weight! But, I bet the problem is minor and someone will have an easy fix. 

 

[Maineiac]

No luck. I managed to get the chambered pellet out with a 1/8” wood dowel but the rifle still won’t fire. Battery is fully charged.

Interestingly, I can change the settings so I know the trigger is working but the normal vibrate upon accepting a new setting is gone.

 

[trlrman]

Try taking the battery out and fully charging it. This will give time to do a soft reset when you plug it back in ?

 

[Spray1Mark]

I presume you didn't remove the barrel to clean it?

 

[Maineiac]

Try taking the battery out and fully charging it. This will give time to do a soft reset when you plug it back in ?

Tried that. No luck. :-(

 

[Maineiac]

I presume you didn't remove the barrel to clean it?

No sir. I just got it back from AoA where they upgraded the software and tuned it. I fired a few test shots after getting it back to make sure it worked and then scoped it yesterday afternoon. Everything was fine until I picked it up to shoot today. Very frustrating.

 

[cworkman74]

Sounds like the solenoid or the circuity that controls the solenoid has gone bad. You should give AoA a call to get it serviced.

-Clayton

 

[Flintsack]

I remove my barrel all the time to clean it. Is that a problem? Or does it cause problems? Because I do have one red wolf that’s not firing.

mike

 

[Spray1Mark]

If you can feel the coil discharge when you fire, then check the barrel TP is in the downward position, very easy to rotate the wrong way it after removing the barrel for cleaning.

 

[Maineiac]

If you can feel the coil discharge when you fire, then check the barrel TP is in the downward position, very easy to rotate the wrong way it after removing the barrel for cleaning.

It’s a fuzzy picture but I can see the transfer port opening when I shine a light down my barrel.

 

[Arzrover]

Watch the display when you pull the trigger. If it goes off or dims, the battery connector likely needs attention. The wires do weaken or break from handling and may have enough connection to run the display, but not fire it. Also, one case was presented on AGN of the safety switch needing adjustment. If it doesn't sense a safety or side lever actuation (same switch), it won't fire. Unfortunately, I don't know a way to troubleshoot that without disassembly. Your skills here would matter. If you DID manage to remove the action from the stock safely, it's just a matter of taking off the side cover to watch the action of the switch when cycling the safety or side lever. Given that it worked... then didn't .... the battery connector would get my inspection first.

Hopefully can be resolved without shipping back...

Bob

 

[Maineiac]

Watch the display when you pull the trigger. If it goes off or dims, the battery connector likely needs attention. The wires do weaken or break from handling and may have enough connection to run the display, but not fire it. Also, one case was presented on AGN of the safety switch needing adjustment. If it doesn't sense a safety or side lever actuation (same switch), it won't fire. Unfortunately, I don't know a way to troubleshoot that without disassembly. Your skills here would matter. If you DID manage to remove the action from the stock safely, it's just a matter of taking off the side cover to watch the action of the switch when cycling the safety or side lever. Given that it worked... then didn't .... the battery connector would get my inspection first.

Hopefully can be resolved without shipping back...

Bob

I did take it out of the stock to inspect the connectors inside. I repair computers so I’m fairly comfortable with electronics.

I can see that the pin pushes down on the connector every time the safety switch is flipped and also when the bolt is open. There’s also a blinking red light at the back of the action that goes solid red when the rifle is ready to fire. 

I don’t see any loose connections but it’s hard to tell because there is a grease compound on all the connection points.

One disconcerting thing I’ve discovered is that simply switching the safety from off to on again is enough to “cock” the rifle and it will attempt to fire.

The screen is not dimming when I hear the internal click when I try and fire but the shot counter is going up so the gun seems to think it is shooting.

 

[Arzrover]

Can you safely measure the solenoid voltage when the trigger is pulled? The board sources quite a bit of current, so extreme care is required. Also, I have forgotten to tighten the solenoid wire screws on one occasion on mine. Sounded similar to what you're experiencing. You might check those while you're in there. Make sure the wires are actually in the connector , also.

The hammer might actually be jammed. Not sure what would be in there to do it, but I'm struggling to see anything else with all that you've checked.

Pm me if you want to go further with it.

Bob

 

[Maineiac]

Can you safely measure the solenoid voltage when the trigger is pulled? The board sources quite a bit of current, so extreme care is required. Also, I have forgotten to tighten the solenoid wire screws on one occasion on mine. Sounded similar to what you're experiencing. You might check those while you're in there. Make sure the wires are actually in the connector , also.

The hammer might actually be jammed. Not sure what would be in there to do it, but I'm struggling to see anything else with all that you've checked.

Pm me if you want to go further with it.

Bob

I sent some videos of what was happening and pictures of the board to Shane @ AoA and he spoke with a tech and they’d like me to send it in. The rifle will be on it’s way back to Arizona this afternoon.

 

[coder6910]

There's a ball bearing underneath the probe that comes out when you remove the cocking mechanism. This might be your issue (it's #37 in the Breech Assembly exploded view). I was changing barrels on my Red Wolf and it just fell out (this wasn't covered in Tom's video at https://youtu.be/DA7luL-1GTA). I tried to dry fire and had the same symptoms you had; I found the bearing on my table, put it in and it's firing again.

Pat

 

[Maineiac]

There's a ball bearing underneath the probe that comes out when you remove the cocking mechanism. This might be your issue (it's #37 in the Breech Assembly exploded view). I was changing barrels on my Red Wolf and it just fell out (this wasn't covered in Tom's video at https://youtu.be/DA7luL-1GTA). I tried to dry fire and had the same symptoms you had; I found the bearing on my table, put it in and it's firing again.

Pat

Thanks! AoA received it today and Shane is hoping to look at it early next week. I’ll post back when they figure out what the problem was.

 

[Maineiac]

I got my rifle back from AoA. They didn’t tell me exactly what the problem was, but they said that they replaced the GCU 2 board and that fixed the problem.

New board: