Slow leak

[DonkeyHote]

Hello,
New here and have a question.
Wanted to get back to air rifle shooting, so just recently I purchased an Air Arms 510s extra from an online vendor. The rifle was discounted as a rebuilt version.
It included a limited warranty and short return window. I also paid for them to shoot a 10 round test that looked fine.
It arrived and it looks like new, no marks of any kind that I can tell.
The issue is that it had about 100 bar of air when received, and now a week later it is almost empty, it seems to have a slow leak.
My air tank is getting hydroed so I can't fill it up yet.
Should I get it repaired under warranty, get it returned and get the refund and by a different gun ?
I feel I paid good money for it, so it shroud work without any hassle especially since it was "refurbished"
Long time ago I used to have an Air Arms TX200 spring gun, and it was an awesome airgun.

Did I make a mistake , What would you do?

 

[Dr. Kralenstein]

Nice choice in rifle! What caliber did you go with?

As for the leak, I would try a few drops of silicone in the fill port and give it a couple shots. Might just need a little lube and working of the valve and seat lip. Sounds like a minor leak.

I know you said you can't fill it yet, and I wouldn't shoot it at only 100 bar, just in case it's too low of pressure. Some guns that can damage the valve seat. If you could get it topped off by a shop or with a hand pump, I'd try the method I suggested. If it still leaks, send it back.

 

[cavedweller]

Hello,
New here and have a question.
Wanted to get back to air rifle shooting, so just recently I purchased an Air Arms 510s extra from an online vendor. The rifle was discounted as a rebuilt version.
It included a limited warranty and short return window. I also paid for them to shoot a 10 round test that looked fine.
It arrived and it looks like new, no marks of any kind that I can tell.
The issue is that it had about 100 bar of air when received, and now a week later it is almost empty, it seems to have a slow leak.
My air tank is getting hydroed so I can't fill it up yet.
Should I get it repaired under warranty, get it returned and get the refund and by a different gun ?
I feel I paid good money for it, so it shroud work without any hassle especially since it was "refurbished"
Long time ago I used to have an Air Arms TX200 spring gun, and it was an awesome airgun.

Did I make a mistake , What would you do?

Get warranty service while available but if you shot it down below reg pressure it may have dumped

 

[DonkeyHote]

Nice choice in rifle! What caliber did you go with?

As for the leak, I would try a few drops of silicone in the fill port and give it a couple shots. Might just need a little lube and working of the valve and seat lip. Sounds like a minor leak.

I know you said you can't fill it yet, and I wouldn't shoot it at only 100 bar, just in case it's too low of pressure. Some guns that can damage the valve seat. If you could get it topped off by a shop or with a hand pump, I'd try the method I suggested. If it still leaks, send it back.

Thank you! it is 177 trying bench-rest at our club. I have not shot the rifle yet. I would only do it at operating pressure.

 

[DonkeyHote]

Get warranty service while available but if you shot it down below reg pressure it may have dumped

I have not shot it yet, waiting on the tank so i can do some shooting, testing. Will call the vendor on Monday....

 

[Trucker3573]

What is pyramid airs return policy on refurbs ? Usually you have a decent window of grace on new guns. I would find that out and if you have enough time to wait until you can fill it again then maybe see if you can pin point the leak. Might be as simple as the fill port. If there isn’t enough time I would return it. That is way too much money to have to deal with a leaky gun.

 

[DonkeyHote]

What is pyramid airs return policy on refurbs ? Usually you have a decent window of grace on new guns. I would find that out and if you have enough time to wait until you can fill it again then maybe see if you can pin point the leak. Might be as simple as the fill port. If there isn’t enough time I would return it. That is way too much money to have to deal with a leaky gun.

30 day warranty 60 day return, I feel the same, I usually don't mind working or fixing something that I had for a while but it is practically a new rifle.
Will try to find out what they had done to make it a refurbished one, could be a simple return? May have a tank this week or see if I can get it filled somewhere in the meantime.

 

[Trucker3573]

30 day warranty 60 day return, I feel the same, I usually don't mind working or fixing something that I had for a while but it is practically a new rifle.
Will try to find out what they had done to make it a refurbished one, could be a simple return? May have a tank this week or see if I can get it filled somewhere in the meantime.

The return should be simple. If they have more maybe that just might be the easiest route. Otherwise you can fill it and put a balloon over the fill port area and see if that is leaking. Often that can be fixed by just adding a bit of silicone oil. If the leak is any deeper I would just send it back.

 

[bdzjlz]

Get it fixed under warranty. It should last a few lifetimes after that.

 

[greg1978]

Another thing it may be, if the reg is set close to 100 bar the gun may have just leaked off. Had one do that to me a couple times and found I couldn't store the gun near the 100 bar mark. Kept it 125+ after that and never experienced a leak again...

 

[John "spysir" Blount]

Do not know the newest models but Greg is absolutely correct about hen intentionally by design degassing 100bar (ish).
Perhaps notifie them about your circumstance hopefully preserving your warranty a reasonable amount of time. and wait happily to fill and uses.
If everything is good on an airarms you should be good for 10 years perhaps longer if you want to shoot until something leaks.
John

 

[terrykuz]

I had the same thing on a new 510XS.
It would leak down from 250 BAR.
I read up on leaks in new 510s, and two o-rings that seal the cylinder to the receiver were at fault. So I had similar orings on hand, so I swapped them out. That reduced the leak considerably. I next ordered the correct orings, and since that swap it is 100% sealed.
I did not want to spend 50 bucks on shipping and risk damage or loss of the rifle. All rifles leak at some point, so it is a good idea for me to be able to maintain my own stuff. I bought a mess of orings for the AA510 and HW100. So for 20 bucks I am pretty secure against leaks.
I can send you those 2 orings if you send a PM. Not very complicated fix, if that is the problem. Naturally you need to get to 200 BAR first to see if there is a leak. Good luck.

 

[DonkeyHote]

I had the same thing on a new 510XS.
It would leak down from 250 BAR.
I read up on leaks in new 510s, and two o-rings that seal the cylinder to the receiver were at fault. So I had similar orings on hand, so I swapped them out. That reduced the leak considerably. I next ordered the correct orings, and since that swap it is 100% sealed.
I did not want to spend 50 bucks on shipping and risk damage or loss of the rifle. All rifles leak at some point, so it is a good idea for me to be able to maintain my own stuff. I bought a mess of orings for the AA510 and HW100. So for 20 bucks I am pretty secure against leaks.
I can send you those 2 orings if you send a PM. Not very complicated fix, if that is the problem. Naturally you need to get to 200 BAR first to see if there is a leak. Good luck.

Thank you for the offer, and the response! I will call the vendor tomorrow and see what they proposing.
I'm also a bit hesitant on shipping it back and forth, and I understand o rings are not a warranty item, so will see what happens.

 

[wildcj5]

Like others above have mentioned. If it only had 100 bar it may have reached the point where it just dumped.

I have shot many of my rifle past reg pressure and put them away only to find an empty gun the next time I take them out.

No actual leak, just pressure fell below the strength of the spring and physics took over.

If you can get it filled do that. Just be aware that when you first fill you may need to have it cocked to get the pressure off the valve.

Also it will fill to a certain pressure and then cool off some settling at a slightly lover pressure. So don’t sweat it if you fill and come back a half hour later to a slight drop. After that if it drops
You have a leak.

 

[Peashooter]

Air Arms 510s

Thats a nice rifle.
If it loose pressure ever so slowly it dont matter to me, my FX Cyclone do that, i pumped it to 200 BAR 2 days ago and today its at 50 BAR or so, which it will hold much longer.
At least when i picked up the rifle 2 days ago to put glass on it, and also change a couple of O-rings, it still had a little pressure in it, and last i used it was like 2-3 years ago.
But really that slow leak and you spend air faster shooting it than it will leak, also i personally shoot tethered to a 12 L bottle, so plenty of air at hand.

So if it is really small like that i would not bother, but i would probably get a repair kit to have at hand if it should become bad.
Then come the question of are your DIY sauce strong enough to overhaul it yourself, or do you have to reign in a expert.

You can probably find videos on youtube on how to maintain / overhaul a air rifle, generally it should be strait forward.
PS: You might not find a video on your exact brand / model of rifle, but like cars ASO it is generally the same.

you could go in segments, so for instance first overhaul the air tank, just to get your feet wet with tinkering with this stuff.
Or the barrel, they in general only have a few O-rings, and most should be very easy to get at, only the breech O ring that seal for the shot, might need a set of dental picks to get out

 

[DonkeyHote]

Thats a nice rifle.
If it loose pressure ever so slowly it dont matter to me, my FX Cyclone do that, i pumped it to 200 BAR 2 days ago and today its at 50 BAR or so, which it will hold much longer.
At least when i picked up the rifle 2 days ago to put glass on it, and also change a couple of O-rings, it still had a little pressure in it, and last i used it was like 2-3 years ago.
But really that slow leak and you spend air faster shooting it than it will leak, also i personally shoot tethered to a 12 L bottle, so plenty of air at hand.

So if it is really small like that i would not bother, but i would probably get a repair kit to have at hand if it should become bad.
Then come the question of are your DIY sauce strong enough to overhaul it yourself, or do you have to reign in a expert.

You can probably find videos on youtube on how to maintain / overhaul a air rifle, generally it should be strait forward.
PS: You might not find a video on your exact brand / model of rifle, but like cars ASO it is generally the same.

you could go in segments, so for instance first overhaul the air tank, just to get your feet wet with tinkering with this stuff.
Or the barrel, they in general only have a few O-rings, and most should be very easy to get at, only the breech O ring that seal for the shot, might need a set of dental picks to get out

Thank you ! and thank you for the long reply. I do like the rifle and the way it looks, hope it will work for a long time.
Once I will discuss my predicament with the vendor, I will need to decide which way to go.
I feel that being an old toolmaker my " DIY sauce" should be good enough to tackle this baby.
Mostly it is simple enough, provided you have some custom tools.

Maybe if I decide to keep it will ask for a free oring kit, should save them some time and money?

 

[Peashooter]

former Machinist and cut/die toolmaker myself,,,,, and other stuff too, CUZ learning is cool.

 

[DonkeyHote]

Some update. First I like to thank all the people who responded to my posts! It was helpful to make a decision.

Well after talking to the vendor who stated that if something is not working they will exchange it and after 30 days I can return it with shipping on me.
I was inclined toward keeping it and with my curious nature decided to investigate a bit. Took the stock off and almost immediately found that the screw holding the air gauge adapter had been damaged. The hole where the hex wrench supposed to go was rounded off.
Trying to remove the screw was difficult. I had to use an oversized star wrench, forcibly inserted, to be able to turn and remove it, either that, or drill it out.
(Should never been that tight, not a good way to seal a leak, which by the way is a less than optimal design anyway.)
What I found that someone, who should not touch anything similar, tightened the screw so much that the head of the bolt damaged the edge of the counter bore for the o ring where the leak most likely occurred.
So I cleaned the damaged edge as well as I could, and ordered a M5 screw with a larger diameter head that I custom fitted to the adapter.( 10mm ID)
In this way the screw head fits the adapter with minimal side clearance and can't damage the o ring groove so it can create the good seal.
After all this, I got my tanks hydroed and filled and eagerly filled the rifle.
It has been two days and still holding air at 200 bar, so the journey begins....