Issues and Solutions for Electric Airsoft Guns

Troubleshooting FAQs: Issues and Solutions for Electric Airsoft Guns
 

This is an in-depth guide on how to discover the most common issues of Electric Airsoft Guns, electric airsoft pistols and rifles and how you can easily solve them.

Note:  Some troubleshooting steps may require disassembly.  Disassembling your airsoft gun may void the warranty!  Please check with our support team if you are unsure!

1.Gun Doesn’t Do Anything on a Fully Charged Battery (MOSFET Not Installed)

Possible Issue i: Blown Fuse.

Solution: Get a new fuse with a 20~40 AMP rating and replace the old one. To confirm that you’ve narrowed the issue down to the fuse, temporarily bypass the old fuse.

Possible Issue ii: Break in connection at your gun’s motor.

Solution: Make sure the positive (red) and negative (black) wires are connected firmly (or soldered in some cases) to the motor.

Possible Issue iii: The contacts of your trigger are broken, burnt from arcing or the sliding contacts of the male aren’t in touch with one or more of the contacts of the female.

Solution: Clean the contacts of the trigger or replace them in case they are broken. If the problem is that they are just not coming to contact with each other as they should, then bend them in a way that they’ll come into contact with one another. You can easily narrow down on this issue in a number of ways; if you don’t already own a voltmeter, disassemble the mechbox then reassemble it only with your trigger and the complete trigger switch components (the trigger trolley, the spring of the trigger trolley and the wires as well). Now, connect the plugs of the motor to the motor then hook up your battery and fire (i.e. pull the trigger). If the motor spins, the you’re good to go, if not then you are supposed to re-adjust the contacts of the female.

Possible Issue iv: In case you are operating an AEG set-up which needs a metal contact on your selector plate, then you have to ensure that the contact of the selector plate is in direct contact with the exterior contact or contacts from the trigger switch.

NOTE: This will be on your airsoft gear box’s exterior

Solution: Bend the exterior contact or contacts so that they are in direct contact with the selector plate’s metal contact.

Possible Issue v: In case you are operating the conventional Tamiya Connectors, then a crimped plug or several crimped plugs have come out.

Solution: Ensure that you push the wires into the plug as much as you can and make sure that the plugs are even on either side (equal lengths aresticking out). If this doesn’t solve the issue, then it’s wiser to convert to Deans connectors.

Possible Issue vi: The Spring or Springs of the Motor Brush have come off and aren’t pushing the Motor Brush(es) onto the Motor’s armature.

Solution: Push the brush(es) back in well then re-install the spring or springs properly so that they are able to push the brushes onto the Motor’s armature.

Possible Issue vii: Split or broken cable.

Solution: Use a soldering unit to complete the broken circuit.

2.Gun Releasing A Clicking Noise

Possible Issue i: Locked Gearbox.

Solution 1: Plug in a high-quality battery (If possible one with nominal Voltage of at least 9.3 Volts) to your AEG. Test the AEG (by shooting) and see if it cycles. You should also keep in mind that in case your gearbox keeps on locking up, you have to replace your battery and/or buy a motor that has a higher torque - in case your stock motor is too under powered.

Solution 2: Slightly expose the lower section of the gearbox then stick in a thin, sturdy, pick-like rod and gently pry or push the anti-reversal (AR) latch to the side or up so that you can take it off the AR gear that’s on the bevel gear. Typically, when it comes to stock guns, you can do this every time but with the gearboxes that use strong springs (starting from 2 Joules and above) there’s a higher risk of you breaking the anti-reversal latch on heavier springs since the gearbox is under much higher stress.

Solution 3: If you aren’t able to get to the AR latch, the next best thing for you to do is opening up the gearbox and resetting all components to their relaxed positions.

Possible Issue ii: Stripped gear with teeth being blocked by debris.

Solution: Replace the gears that are stripped with new ones.

Possible Issue iii: The shimming of the gears is too tight.

Solution: Re-shim the gearbox yourself or take it to a professional for re-shimming. That way, all the gears will mesh properly; with minimal or no play and they’ll start spinning freely once again.

Possible Issue iv: The height of the motor is too high.

Solution: This is quite simple, just lower the height of the motor.

3.Loud Whirling/Screeching Noise

Possible Issue i: The height of the motor is too low.

Solution: Raise the height of your motor till the shooting of the gun returns to normal. Make sure that you continue raising the height of the motor’s adjustment screw just before you hear a drop in the firing rate.

Possible Issue ii: The pinion gear is shimmed too far away from the bevel gear leading to insufficient meshing of the pinion and bevel.

Solution: Add some shims to the upper side of the bevel gear and this will force it to come into contact with the pinion. If you are not sure about your shimming, the best thing is to ask a professional or let a professional do it for you.

Possible Issue iii: Stripped gear or gears.

Solution: You should replace the stripped gears with an upgraded set of gears.

Possible Issue iv: The shimming of the gears is way off.

Solution: Re-shim the gears properly. You can do it yourself or ask a professional to do it.

Possible Issue v: Exploded ball bearings.

Solution: Convert to ceramic bearings or replace the bearings to bushings made of solid steel.

4.Gun Won’t Shoot and Makes a Plastic Grinding Noise

Possible Issue i: The piston is stripped.

Solution: Replace your old piston with a new/upgraded piston; make sure that you correct the AoE (Angle of Engagement).

NOTE: You are going to see the back and forth movement of the air nozzle.

5.Gun Fails to Feed All the Time

NOTE: Before you start carrying out any of the solutions below for this, please ensure that you aren’t just having a simple issue with the magazine.

Possible Issue i: The air nozzle isn’t retracting back as far as it should to give room for a BB to swiftly pass through the feed chamber of the BB.

Solution 1: Shim the hop-up away from the mechbox’s front side. Do this simply by adding some material to the hop-up’s back so that it sits much further on the front side of the gearbox shell. Please make sure that you do this adjustment in very small increments by trial and error. That’s because if you happen to shim too far, you are going to lose a tangible FPS amount. You can make use of hard rubber as long as it can easily be cut and sanded to shape.

Solution 2: Just like the solution discussed above, add some material to the front side of the tappet plate.

Possible Issue ii: The air nozzle isn’t being held back for a sufficient amount of time.

Solution: If you have a sector clip, add it. You can make one if you don’t have it.

6.FPS Is Way Lower Than Expected

Possible Issue i: Leak in the internal compression (gearbox). It’s the loss of compression through the cylinder head to the air nozzle, cylinder to cylinder head or through the piston head.

Solution: Please start by carrying out a compression test to find out whether there are any air leakages whenever you press down the piston head. All the components of compression need to be in optimal shape; this is rather obvious so I will not dig deep into details. If you have to replace any part, replace with something that does much better sealing. Better yet, seal all of them up so that they won’t have any additional problems.

Possible Issue ii: Loss of compression through the hop-up.

Solution: As far as consistency is concerned, a high-quality metal hop-up and bucking such as Prometheus and Lonex are excellent choices. Moreover, it is smarter to get rid of the brass ring that is sealing the hop-up and shift to using the O-Ring modification which will solve compression leak problems and aid with improving accuracy. However, this will throw out any need of using a hop-up spring. Buy the HS5 O-Rings if you aren’t sure what you are supposed to purchase. In case you don’t have the O-Rings or something that you can use to seal, the you can use Teflon tape which is also quite good in sealing.

Possible Issue iii: Loss of compression through the air nozzle to the bucking.

Solution: Remove some material from the front side of the tappet plate (the part that contacts the front end of the gearbox shell) to make it shorter. If there’s any material from the tappet plates upper portion where the air nozzle sits, don’t remove too much of the material. This adjustment will give room for the air nozzle to be pushed much further into the hop-up unit and as a result, create a better seal from air nozzle to bucking. You can also do this using trial and error too; i.e. remove some material then test, remove some material the test again and so on. It will not take you too long.

Possible Issue iv: Too much friction between the cylinder and the piston head.

NOTE: You should have noticed this issue during the compression test. You shouldn’t force the piston through the cylinder.

Solution: This depends on the part that’s rubbing itself against the walls of the cylinder; either the O-Ring or the piston head itself. You should first try out a new piston head. However, this is the kind of problem that comes up when you decide on mixing and matching the compression parts.

Possible Issue v: The air leak is being caused by cracking or breakage of one or more of your compression parts.

Solution: Replace the part that’s cracked and/or broken.

7.Hop-Up Adjusts Very Little or Won’t Adjust at All

Possible Issue i: The nub has dislocated from its position of the nub slot of the hop-up arm.

Solution: Just take apart the hop-up unit and reposition the nub back into its proper slot.

Possible Issue ii: The hop gears aren’t turning each other. This only pertains to both the one and two-piece TM M4/M16 hop units.

Solution: This will depend on whether one of the plastic gears has just shifted out of position and isn’t in contact with the rest of the gears or one of them is broken. In case there is breakage, you can still easily adjust the hop-up while the barrel is out then rotate the last gear (the gear that adjusts the arm of the hop-up). Alternatively, replace the hop-up gear set for your AR mechanism.

Possible Issue iii: The nub is way too soft or it might be damaged-not likely but still possible.

Solution: Switch your nub with a much harder one such as the MadBull buckings which have a reputation of insane hardness.

Possible Issue iv: The bucking is way too hard.

Solution: Replace it with a softer one; e.g. Systema, SHS, Lonex 500

Possible Issue v: The barrel window isn’t aligned with the window in the hop-up.

Solution: Take the components apart and readjust the hop up and line it up with the barrel window.

8.The BB Curves Sideways (Right or Left)

Possible issue i: The bucking isn’t lined up properly or it isn’t seated suitably on the barrel and the ridge of alignment on the backing isn’t aligned with the alignment cut in the barrel.

Solution: Re-adjust the bucking to line it up properly on to the barrel. If you face any difficulty while setting it in place, add 100% silicone (the fluid from the bucking then gently slide the hop-up unit over it).

Possible Issue ii: The mound that gets into contact with the BB inside the bucking is not consistent and this leads to inconsistent trajectories (right or left).

Solution 1: Try using the Dental Floss modification.

Solution 2: Buy another bucking.

Possible Issue iii: Your barrel has been clogged with debris and dirt.

Solution: You must thoroughly clean your bore.

Possible Issue iv: There is excessive play between the arm of the hop up and the hop unit.

Solution: Shim the arm of the hop-up by adding an equal amount of material on either side of the hop-up’s arm to prevent side to side movement. The best material for this is metal sheet, either brass or aluminum.

9.The Wiring, Motor and Battery Keep Heating Up When Firing

Possible Issue i: The gearbox is undergoing too much stress because; the shimming of the gears is too tight; the height of the motor is raised too high or the strength of the spring is too much for you motor and/or battery.

Solution: Ensure that your shimming is tip-top; if you decide to shim from the bevel gear, there is really no need for you to adjust the height of your motor after completing. In case the spring you are pulling is quite heavy, then you are supposed to be operating a torque motor with neodymium magnets already. Furthermore, torque motors are usually cooler while running when compared to speed motors since they typically have more windings.

Other common problems that are related to stress of the gearbox; the piston cannot cycle because it’s too tight. This is particularly related to aftermarket pistons on some selected gearbox shells.

10.LiPO Warms Up When Shooting

There’s a very high chance that you will require a ‘C’ LiPO with a higher rating, depending on your set-up.

In case you are already using a fairly low stress set-up, then you might have to go back to tweaking your gearbox since there could be excessive stress within.

11.Trigger Jamming in Semi-Automatic

Possible Issue i: The sector gear is being stopped in a certain position and from that position, the cut-off cam that is on the sector gear is already engaged with the lever of the cut-off. Consequently, this lever ends up blocking the forward motion of the trigger trolley.

Solution 1: Replace your battery with a better one.

Solution 2: MOSFET switches usually make a solid difference in such cases. Active braking on the other hand will stop the problem but leads to an increase in wear and tear on the brushes/motor thus producing excess heat.

Solution 3: In case the issue still persists, try shaping the cut-off lever so that it moves as far as it is needed only (quick up and down movement with no delays).

Possible Issue ii: The safety latch is set on semi-automatic mode (only for Ver. 2)

Solution 1: Shave down the knob where the selector plate engages the selector switch. Shave such that, the selector plate doesn’t come into contact with the safety lever on semi-automatic mode.

Possible Issue iii: The trolley is unable to properly stop its cut-off gear because the cut-off lever is too thick/high.

Solution: Shave down the mound that protrudes on the screw hole of the cut-off lever. Completely shave it down such that it nicely flushes with the cut-off lever’s surrounding edges. Avoid too much drilling since the cut-off lever may not be able to move at will. The objective here is slightly lowering the position of the cut-off levers.

12.Gun Won’t Fire Even When Wired Up Properly

If you fire the gun while the gearbox is open, you are going to notice the electronic components of your airsoft gun (the motor, wires, MOSFET, trigger switch etc.).

There’s a very high chance that this is just a simple mechanical issue and not an electrical issue.

Possible Issue: You gun is not firing because when you press the trigger to a certain extent, it slips off and the springs of the trolley pull it back to the original position. Thus, it doesn’t make any contact.

Solution: Add some material to the top of the trigger or the trolley’s back to prevent the slipping. You will easily be able to test your modification.

13.Unexplained- Drop in the Trigger Response and RoF

Just to make things clear, this is an issue that happens gradually over time, it doesn’t suddenly occur out of nowhere.

Possible Issue: The brushes of your motor need replacement.

Solution: Simply clean the motor and replace the brushes.

14.Inconsistent FPS

When you carry out troubleshooting process for this, ensure that you set off the hop-up for the initial test particularly with the Flat Hop and R-Hop. Apart from the preparation, you should either try a different gun on the same airsoft chronograph or test your gun using another chronograph. That way, you’ll easily be able to establish whether the problem lies with the chronograph or not.

There are actually a lot of details that are involved in this but it would just be too long and messy if I covered everything here.

Possible Issue i: Excessive back and forth play in the front of the gearbox shell and the hop-up unit. In fact, there will be a great deal of FPS inconsistencies when the hop-up unit alone keeps shifting back and forth around a fixed gearbox shell.

Solution: Carry out the O-Ring modification. In case you are using the hop-up spring just know that they are hardly ever sufficient enough.

Possible Issue ii: Improperly ported cylinder

Solution: Port the cylinder with the length of your barrel. You can find lots of tables online for this but in actual sense, there is no specific ratio or formula set for this. The most effective way of doing this is purchasing the right cylinder for the length of your barrel. If you are planning to use much heavier BBs (.28g and above) take a cylinder one size up. For instance, a standard ported cylinder ports M4 and so if you are planning to use heavier rounds, you should go for a type 1 cylinder instead.

Possible Issue iii: Leak in compression

Solution: Refer back to the solutions on ‘Problem 6: FPS Way Lower Than Expected’. This has already been thoroughly explained there.

15.Wind-Back Noise After Each Cycle

You are going to notice this weird noise whenever you release the trigger.

Possible Issue: The reversal gear isn’t being engaged by the AR latch on the bevel. When this problem comes about, the motor and the gears are going to torque backwards, leading to a couple of issues that I won’t go into.

Solution: Find out the reason why the reversal latch is failing to engage. It could simply be because the spring is off or its broken. If not, it may be because of incorrect installation or breakage of the AR latch. If those are not the causes, then you might have to shim up the reversal latch so that it can properly engage with the bevel gear. However, these kinds of modifications are only really appropriate when you install and add new parts.

16.Delayed Response of the Trigger/ The Trigger Must Be Pulled Completely to Start Cycling

Possible Issue i: The contacts of the trigger are either melted or broken.

Solution: Replace the contacts of the trigger or the complete trigger switch. They are both quite cheap.

Possible Issue ii: The female contacts aren’t properly contacting the sliding male contact because they are too spread out.

Solution: Optimize the shape of your female contacts on your trigger switch in order to have them properly contact the male sliding contact.

17.The AEG Works Irregularly

This means that it shoots then dies out, it shoots well then probably slows down and dies out; the motor could even start smoking.

Possible Issue: The motor wire or wires are slipping on and off the terminal or terminals of the motor.

Solution: Properly secure the slipping wires to prevent them from moving about. In case you don’t have a version gearbox, they are almost always soldered on and a heat shrink wrap is used to insulate them.