This thread applies to all current SP markers, Shocker Nerve Ion, but is especially geared for the Ion owners. This is because the Ion may be your first SP marker for many of you, and there are some cold weather issues you should know about. This will be the gun's first trip through the cold weather season, of course.
Cold weather performs two negative actions on the guns. The main one is that the internals often tend to stick up a little bit, due to the temperature of the grease on the o-rings becomming colder and resisting movement. This isn't always a large problem, but it can lead to some velocity drops and other cir***stances that require you to offset your settings (bad for efficiency and consistency). If you experience this problem, what I suggest you do is simply apply a more thick coat of grease onto the firing assembly than you normally would. What this does is help to keep the temperature up on the grease, since it would promote more movement (theoretically). In bad cases, such as if you are playing all throughout the day (more than three hours apart) you may wish to crack the gun open in the middle of the day and quickly give it another coat of grease. Letting it sit a while in the cold won't be good at all, and will cause the same issues in perhaps worse results.
This applies to all the different bolts out there, Shocker or Ion, whatever you're using. Doesn't apply as much to the Nerve becuase it is less o-ring depdant, but can still have the problem.
If you're not using dow and plan to play with the gun during the winter, all I will say is don't come and post "why isn't my gun working". That's all I'm going to say about that....lol
With the Ion in particular, hoses will be more prone to leaking (namely, the hoses that are attached to the barbs) if stress is applied. There isn't much you can do about this, except keep spares on-hand and be prepared to switch them out. Thi is only my guess from the other guns that use similar hoses, but like I said this will be the first cold weather season for the Ion so we'll have to take it as it comes.
Anyways, the only other cold weather issue is regarding barrel breaks on the SFT o-ring. if you don't know, this is the o-ring that is placed inside the body, right in front of the barrel, that seals against the bolt during firing. When it's cold out, this stiff o-ring will stiffen up even more, and can very easily cause some problems when combined with stiff paint. When you fire normally, the paint will squeeze through the o-ring, which is okay if everything is warm and flexible, but not so much in colder conditions.
This applies to the Nerve, Ion, and Shocker.
For this problem, there isn't much you can do. You can try using smaller paint, that should help, or you can try using paint with a more thick shell. In extreme cases you can try removing the 17/90 SFT o-ring and replacing it with a softer 17/70 one, however I will WARN YOU that the softer o-ring will be more prone to popping out of place during regular play, which would be a huge problem if it happened during the middle of a game. I don't normally suggest this o-ring switch, but in the cold weather it may be the only thing you can do (as in, take the risk).
**I take no credit for this post**
Cold weather performs two negative actions on the guns. The main one is that the internals often tend to stick up a little bit, due to the temperature of the grease on the o-rings becomming colder and resisting movement. This isn't always a large problem, but it can lead to some velocity drops and other cir***stances that require you to offset your settings (bad for efficiency and consistency). If you experience this problem, what I suggest you do is simply apply a more thick coat of grease onto the firing assembly than you normally would. What this does is help to keep the temperature up on the grease, since it would promote more movement (theoretically). In bad cases, such as if you are playing all throughout the day (more than three hours apart) you may wish to crack the gun open in the middle of the day and quickly give it another coat of grease. Letting it sit a while in the cold won't be good at all, and will cause the same issues in perhaps worse results.
This applies to all the different bolts out there, Shocker or Ion, whatever you're using. Doesn't apply as much to the Nerve becuase it is less o-ring depdant, but can still have the problem.
If you're not using dow and plan to play with the gun during the winter, all I will say is don't come and post "why isn't my gun working". That's all I'm going to say about that....lol
With the Ion in particular, hoses will be more prone to leaking (namely, the hoses that are attached to the barbs) if stress is applied. There isn't much you can do about this, except keep spares on-hand and be prepared to switch them out. Thi is only my guess from the other guns that use similar hoses, but like I said this will be the first cold weather season for the Ion so we'll have to take it as it comes.
Anyways, the only other cold weather issue is regarding barrel breaks on the SFT o-ring. if you don't know, this is the o-ring that is placed inside the body, right in front of the barrel, that seals against the bolt during firing. When it's cold out, this stiff o-ring will stiffen up even more, and can very easily cause some problems when combined with stiff paint. When you fire normally, the paint will squeeze through the o-ring, which is okay if everything is warm and flexible, but not so much in colder conditions.
This applies to the Nerve, Ion, and Shocker.
For this problem, there isn't much you can do. You can try using smaller paint, that should help, or you can try using paint with a more thick shell. In extreme cases you can try removing the 17/90 SFT o-ring and replacing it with a softer 17/70 one, however I will WARN YOU that the softer o-ring will be more prone to popping out of place during regular play, which would be a huge problem if it happened during the middle of a game. I don't normally suggest this o-ring switch, but in the cold weather it may be the only thing you can do (as in, take the risk).
**I take no credit for this post**
, but i did say at them bottom i take no credit for it