AA S200 Bells & Whistles - Poor Results

[bezzer]

When I regged my AA400 carbine I ended up eventually after a lot of trial and testing with 114 shots before it dropped off the reg (Lane). I would expect the 200 to reach 80 shots at least.
Did you get any instructions with it? I had to open up the transfer port, remove the firing pot, increase valve preload a bit then use a shorter stronger hammer spring, I didn't have to but also made a a longer/lighter hammer. The reg was set to 105bar.

[air-tech]

Well 12fps variation is not bad right up to around 101 bar - appears reg is nominally set at 95 or your gauge is not incredibly accurate.

As for air consumption - you may need to tweak hammer spring and perhaps hammer opening, the factory setup tries to give its best over a wide range of pressures, working well at full pressure, and opening further/longer when the pressures drop, so now the gun is regged and the pressure is permanently low too much air may be being wasted.

[rabbitslayer]

Well 12fps variation is not bad right up to around 101 bar - appears reg is nominally set at 95 or your gauge is not incredibly accurate.

As for air consumption - you may need to tweak hammer spring and perhaps hammer opening, the factory setup tries to give its best over a wide range of pressures, working well at full pressure, and opening further/longer when the pressures drop, so now the gun is regged and the pressure is permanently low too much air may be being wasted.

Yes, reg set at 95 bar. I'll lessen the hammer spring tension and then test again and see what happen.

Thanks.

[rabbitslayer]

As for air consumption - you may need to tweak hammer spring and perhaps hammer opening.

What is hammer opening and how do you adjust / alter?

Thanks

[bezzer]

What is hammer opening and how do you adjust / alter?

Thanks

dunno but the adjustments you make to the firing valve spring tension together with the strength of the hammer spring affects the opening of the firing valve. slacker the firing valve the more/easier it will open and let more air in, tightening it and using a stronger/shorter hammer spring means less air- more shots, but it can take a lot of testing to get the right balance. Don't know about the reg not "breathing" I've only fitted Lane ones that need a breather hole drilling take it the Huma one doesn't and is a sealed system?

[rabbitslayer]

Don't know about the reg not "breathing" I've only fitted Lane ones that need a breather hole drilling take it the Huma one doesn't and is a sealed system?

It's not a sealed system. It needs to breath but instead of drilling a hole, you remove the 'o' ring from the brass end plug (on the S200 cylinder) before you refit it and don't tighten the end plug totally shut. You leave a small gap, about the thickness of a sheet of paper.

dunno but the adjustments you make to the firing valve spring tension together with the strength of the hammer spring affects the opening of the firing valve. it can take a lot of testing to get the right balance.

Hmm... that means having to empty the air tube each time I need to alter the firing valve spring.. Ah well. I'll start with the hammer spring and see how far I can back it off and what the outcome is before touching the valve gate spring again.

[imorik]

Did same to a 200 but using Altaros reg. Got similar results to you too but with the odd very high power shot. Had weeks of trying to balance it by adjusting reg, hammer spring tension and power adjusting screw. Have you had the hammer and spring out and cleamed it and removed any roughness, makes a difference to consistency. Had enough after many stripdowns and sold it (was better but still not sorted) being left dissallusioned with regs and pcp's and went back to springers.

[rabbitslayer]

Did same to a 200 but using Altaros reg. Got similar results to you too but with the odd very high power shot. Had weeks of trying to balance it by adjusting reg, hammer spring tension and power adjusting screw. Have you had the hammer and spring out and cleamed it and removed any roughness, makes a difference to consistency. Had enough after many stripdowns and sold it (was better but still not sorted) being left dissallusioned with regs and pcp's and went back to springers.

I can understand your frustration. Thing is it's something that can be sorted as there are lots of regulated rifles that perform correctly. The only problem in this case is me and my lack of knowledge.

Although it now makes sense to me (because of helpful bbs members), it would have been helpful if the suppliers mentioned that there'd be a need to rebalance the hammer, firing springs setup for simpletons like me.

[bezzer]

Hmm... that means having to empty the air tube each time I need to alter the firing valve spring.. Ah well. I'll start with the hammer spring and see how far I can back it off and what the outcome is before touching the valve gate spring again.

It's a pain having to empty and refill each time but if you put a piece of brush handle or similar in the reservoir at least you won't be using/wasting as much air each time you alter it. I used a piece of nylon bar in mine.

[ChrisC]

There are those on here that know a lot more about this than me and it is a long time since i went into a s200. my thoughts are that normally with a 180 bar fill that pressure is being overcome by a strong firing valve spring sealing the firing valve, now the reg is there and the pressure delivered to the firing valve is 95 bar then the firing valve spring is too strong and the hammer spring is working too hard to overcome that tension. When i set up a Steyr it's about the balance of reg pressure vs firing valve spring vs hammer spring, i think that's your problem. see if you can find a 'softer' hammer spring or contact the reg supplier as he must have had this question before?

[rabbitslayer]

It's a pain having to empty and refill each time but if you put a piece of brush handle or similar in the reservoir at least you won't be using/wasting as much air each time you alter it. I used a piece of nylon bar in mine.

That's a good idea. Didn't think of that at all... Thanks

[rabbitslayer]

When I regged my AA400 carbine I ended up eventually after a lot of trial and testing with 114 shots before it dropped off the reg (Lane). I would expect the 200 to reach 80 shots at least.
Did you get any instructions with it? I had to open up the transfer port, remove the firing pot, increase valve preload a bit then use a shorter stronger hammer spring, I didn't have to but also made a a longer/lighter hammer. The reg was set to 105bar.

With the reg and the bigger air tube, I though it realistic to get around 90 full power shots. I've already opened up TP to max. I only got fitting instructions with the reg, nothing about tweaking or what to tweak. There's an XTX Youtube video showing how to install the regulator and he does mention 'Zig Zagging' which are large jumps both up and down in FPS which is to do with the regulator not breathing properly. Whilst this could be the answer to the inconsistency, I can't work out why I'm getting such a low shot count. Could it just be that the reg is faulty or are there too many other variables involved that can contribute to give the same effect?

Should I back off the hammer spring tension and see what happens? Screw out the TP further (in case its still slightly restricted)? I know there's an adjustment on the firing valve. I was told to screw this all the way in and then screw it out 1 full turn. The only other adjustment I know of is the regulator pressure setting. This was set at 95 bar.

Anyone have any ideas on where I should start in terms of eliminating possible causes?