This title is
model independent. The information and knowledge provided can be applied
to all full blown AEGs (TM, ICS, CA, ACX, SRC, UTG, Cybergun
and others) in the market. The new MP7 is briefly covered as
well.
In this latest
release we also cover advanced topics like sector gear delay
timing, ultra high ROF setup, 0.25g BB misfeed problem and
overview of motor driven mag architecture.
"By using the
maintenance and upgrade advice this title offers, my AEG becomes
more powerful, durable and dependable." J.C. Young
Before upgrading an
AEG, it is suggested that you first define your upgrade
objective(s). What do you want to achieve? High FPS? High ROF?
High accuracy? And how high is high by the way? The e-book is organized based on the primary upgrade objectives of
high FPS, high ROF and high accuracy. In addition, a section on
troubleshooting is included.
We tell you what to
do and what to avoid so you can achieve the best possible
performance without spending all your savings. And we do not
simply assume you have a particular model from a particular
manufacturer. The extensiveness of the brands and mechanisms
covered allows you to apply your know-hows towards almost all AEGs
(including the latest low cost entries such as the SRCs and the
UTGs)
in the market.
Rather than going
the cumbersome step-by-step way, we teach you the essentials
through an easy-to-read Q&A format backed up with annotated
photographs and diagrams whenever necessary.
With over 130 pages of text and illustrations, this e-book is a
MUST READ if you want to master the art of AEG upgrade and optimization!
LATEST NEWS:
The latest 2009 edition of this guide is now
available as printed book! With almost 300 pages of
information plus model specific coverage on MP5, M4, G3, G36
and AK, the printed edition offers you the MOST
COMPREHENSIVE coverage on airsoft technologies! Check it out
through
THIS LINK.
- Practical AEG Upgrade highly
recommended by Airsoft distributor:
view message HERE.
- Practical AEG Upgrade highly
recommended by Airsoft enthusiast:
view message HERE.
- Steven (an article writer for
the FPS Magazine) has recently reviewed our Practical AEG Upgrade
Guide. A copy of the review text is
available HERE.
The proper ways of taking things
apart and putting them back together
TM AEG: a baseline for measurement
ACX versus Cybergun
ICS versus AE
SRC Guns
ACM Guns
What is proper usage?
<< HIGH FPS
UPGRADE >>
What are the key
elements of a high FPS setup?
Version 2 mechbox versus Version 3 mechbox: any difference in
stock performance?
TM metal mechbox versus Cybergun plastic mechbox?
Are CA/ICS guns crappy for upgrade?
FPS increase in meter readings VS performance increase in a
practical sense: the law of diminishing marginal gain in
performance.
0.20g BBs versus 0.25g BBs versus 0.30g BBs: the heavier the
better?
Does FPS always go hand in hand with Joule?
What is the difference between the FPS system and the Joule
system?
How do you use FPS to measure Joule?
How do you use FPS to give an estimate of the range?
Higher FPS = lower ROF?
Softer spring = Higher ROF?
Harder spring = Lower ROF?
Is 8.4V insufficient for an upgraded mechbox?
Does battery size matter?
Is battery power important for semi-auto firing?
Is EG560 too weak and fragile to power an upgraded mechbox?
Can I use EG560 on my MP5?
Why (and why not) should I buy the high torque gear set?
Why (and why not) should I use helical gears?
Why (and why not) should I keep the stock plastic bushings?
Why (and why not) should I replace the stock plastic bushings with
metal bushings?
What is an easy way to (more accurately) shim?
How do I tell if shimming has been done correctly?
Anything special about shimming the AR-15 mechbox?
What is the recommended order of gear insertion?
Longer spring versus shorter spring: the longer the better?
What are the major parameters of a spring?
Is a harder spring more harmful for the internals?
Installing a long spring: tricks and potential danger.
Installing a short spring: tricks and potential danger.
Why (and why not) should the spring be ground?
How to facilitate spring spinning?
What is a variable pitch spring? Is it always better for AEG?
Use of spacers for spring compression: tricks and potential
danger.
What is wrong with a custom made spring?
Systema Springs versus PDI Springs
Can stainless steel spring offer better FPS?
Can Telfon Coated spring offer better FPS?
The long variable-pitch spring is very difficult to install. What
should I do?
What can I do to reduce stress on the gears?
Can an EG1000 increase FPS (through higher torgue) over an EG700?
Why (and why not) should I use a Bore-Up Cylinder?
Why should I replace the stock cylinder on my MP5K / G3 SAS?
Different guns use different cylinders that have different number
and position of openings. Why’s that?
Is it useful to block the cylinder opening altogether?
Why is it useful to put holes on the piston head? Any alternative?
Why (and why not) should I use a metallic piston head?
How about a silent head set?
Is aluminum piston more durable? Which piston material is better?
Is version 2 mechbox too fragile for M130 or above?
Do I need a heatsink motor plate on upgrade that involves M140 or
above?
How do I effectively reduce heat on the motor?
Why (and why not) is the one o’clock gear timing an issue?
Can I still use the smaller batteries to power my upgraded mechbox?
I want to hide my battery inside the grip and the stock but the
battery cells are too big. What should I do?
Chaining up your batteries: Parallel VS Serial configurations.
Should I use Sanyo battery cells for maximum performance?
How safe is it to remove the fuse? Any alternative?
Do I need a metal body to sustain the upgraded power?
Why (and why not) is it necessary to replace the stock wires?
Why is it necessary to shorten the wires?
Can I use stereo wires instead?
Why (and why not) is it necessary to replace the stock Tamiya
connector?
Are NiCd batteries superior to NiMH batteries for driving upgraded
AEG?
How do I optimize the overall performance of the stock motor?
Is it possible to increase the torque of the stock motor? If so,
how?
What else should I buy for a high FPS configuration?
What is wrong with the soda can test?
What is right with the soda can test?
What is the most accurate way to measure FPS?
<< HIGH ROF
UPGRADE >>
What are the key elements of a high
ROF setup?
Can I increase ROF while keeping the FPS at the stock level by
using 9.6V battery?
Voltage VS mah – which one matters the most?
Can I increase ROF by
replacing the mechanical contact switch with a solid state
switching mechanism based on MOSFET?
Can I increase ROF by
using capacitors at the power source?
Can I slow down the gun a bit by “regulating” the battery power?
Is high ROF a major cause of tappet plate breakage?
ROF-wise, why (and why not) should I replace the stock plastic
bushings with ball bearings?
ROF-wise, why (and why not) should I replace the stock plastic
bushings with metal bushings?
How about oil channel bushings?
Why (and why not) should I buy the high speed gear set?
Should I upgrade to a Teflon Cylinder?
How about a high speed cylinder set?
What makes a ball bearing spring guide meaningless for a stock TM
gun? How to work around?
Is there any cheaper alternative to ball bearing spring guide?
Why a ball bearing spring guide alone may not increase the ROF?
Can I use a Version 2 spring guide in a Version 3 mechbox?
Should I upgrade to an EG1000 for higher ROF?
How do I optimize the stock motor’s RPM without spending major $?
How can I increase ROF while keeping the FPS at
near-the-stock-level?
What is the right type of spring and battery to use for this
purpose?
Is ROF over 30/sec possible?
What is the major ROF bottleneck?
Is aluminum piston better off for a high ROF configuration?
Are lighter gears better off for a high ROF configuration?
What else should I buy for a high ROF configuration? Can I
increase ROF by cutting off some teeth from the piston and the
gears?
<< HIGH
ACCURACY UPGRADE >>
What are the key
elements of a high accuracy setup?
Does a V-HopUp help?
How to improve accuracy with short barrel?
Can a long barrel deliver higher accuracy and range?
Why (and why not) should I replace the stock cylinder when using a
longer inner barrel?
What is good about a high precision barrel?
How to maximize the effectiveness of a high precision barrel?
What is the drawback of using a high precision barrel?
Can the one-piece type hopup increase accuracy? Does it worth the
$?
How do I hide the longer inner barrel?
<<
TROUBLESHOOTING >>
My stock TM gun is
dead after 3000 shots. Why?
What will happen with improper shimming?
And what should I do to remedy the problem?
How do I prolong the life of the mechbox?
When the mechbox is running, the nozzle does not move at all. What
is wrong?
My mechbox got stalled after replacing the tappet plate. What’s
wrong?
My gun stopped working in semi-auto mode. What’s wrong?
What cause the piston gear to break prematurely?
My EG1000 was overheated. What should I do?
What should I do for proper motor maintenance?
What cause the strange noise from the motor and/or the motor gear?
The two screws that attach the mechbox to the lower receiver are
completely stripped. What should I do?
What causes gear stripping?
What can cause the hopup rubber to break?
I have to wind my hop almost all the way up just to get flat
flight. What is wrong?
How to prolong the life of my battery?
Is slow charging always good for my battery?
How to safely charge a battery?
Is NiMH battery free from the memory effect problem?
Should I fully discharge the battery every time after use?
How do I fix the battery memory effect problem?
My gun keeps mis-firing. How do I tell if this is a magazine
problem or a mechbox problem?
I suspect that the hi-cap magazine is not working. What should I
do to fix it?
What causes air leakage?
What causes double feeding? My gun makes an unwinding noise after
full auto firing. What’s wrong?
What needs to be regularly replaced to keep my gun in good shape?
<< SPECIAL TOPICS >>
BE Tech plastic mechbox series:
Are the stock plastic gears durable enough?
Should I replace the plastic gears with metal gears?
Should I replace the stock cylinder set?
Can I mix and match TM piston with the stock cylinder?
How do I fix the fore grip wobble problem?
Can I use the TM high cap on it?
Springer-to-AEG conversion - creating your Kitty Kat AEG:
Is springer-to-AEG conversion possible?
What are the steps involved?
Technical Appendix Guide also
included FREE OF CHARGE. Updated on July 11, 2006.
Contents:
Safety precaution
Cutting wires
Tools you don’t absolutely need
Handling of screws
Better trigger squeeze for accuracy improvement
Ball bearings: how they work and why they break
Soldering techniques
More on battery configurations
Parallel configuration
Battery chargers
Steps needed for successful motor break in
Motor bushing break in
How does heat hurt the motor?
Adding torque to the motor Barrel length / FPS correlation and performance compensation The mechbox runs noisily on a new setup The switch plate has been burnt...
Cleaning of electrical contacts
Choosing wire: Stranded wire VS solid wire
AEG water resistance Troubleshooting mechbox electronics Troubleshooting a weak Hi-Cap mag Making your AEG quieter Do-It-Yourself Electric Motor Driven Hi-Cap Mag Achieving ultra high ROF Achieving ultra high ROF through piston teeth removal The sector gear delay loading chip Misfeed when using heavier BBs Why is One Way Piston Head preferable?
Screen Shots
Sample Text:
Upgraded piston heads usually have holes on
the front face of the head. When the piston is moving
forward, air goes through these holes and forces the
surrounding O-ring outwards to create a seal for preventing
air leakage.
On a stock TM piston, it is quite difficult
to take the piston head apart. However, as long as you are
careful enough, there is no need to take it apart. Just
remove the O-ring and drill the holes directly on it (use a
small battery-powered drill only – a drill that is too
powerful will break the piston head). The holes do not have
to be big. A diameter of 0.18~0.2 inch will do just fine. Do
make sure that the face of the piston head remains
completely flat.
The number and position of the holes do
matter. You want to have at least 4 holes, and based on our
experience there is no need to have more than 8 holes:
4 holes are good enough
for gentle performance improvement. A 8-hole configuration
offers slightly more performance improvement over the 4-hole
configuration. Some people
prefer to cut the piston head into slices instead, which is
not recommended as this approach will make the piston head
more fragile then it should be:
If you plan to upgrade to 400FPS+, you may
better also move to 0.25g BBs. 0.20g BBs are way too light
at this power level and will not deliver the accuracy you
need. If you plan to go over 450FPS+, consider the use of
0.30g BBs for maximum flight path stability. Marushin has
some very nice 0.30g BBs (USD$18 something per bag of 1800…
L
).
By the way, heavy BBs do drag down FPS quite
a bit (due to the heavier weight) but may in occasion produce
higher impact (also due to the heavier weight). And
they are VERY expensive… you should really take this cost
element into consideration when defining your desired
upgrade level.
As previously stated, heavier BBs may produce
higher impact. What this indicates is that FPS
rating alone may not truly reflect how powerful an AEG is. While FPS measurement (feet per second) looks
primarily at the “speed” of the flying bullet (i.e. the
muzzle velocity)(!), Joule measurement (a system commonly in
use in the UK) does take bullet weight into the equation to
more accurately measure the force generated (i.e. the impact
energy). In fact, we at The AirsoftPRESS prefer Joule
measurement over FPS. However, it seems like the market in North America is biased totally towards the FPS system.
(!) For FPS measurement
to deliver fairer results, one should REQUIRE all
participating guns to use BBs of the same class (eg. 0.2g)
and have hopup completely released.
BTW, the Formula for calculating Joules uses
MPS (meters per second) rather than FPS as the unit for
representing velocity - as you know, the US uses non-SI (Système
Internationale) units such as feet, gallons and miles, while
most other parts of the world use SI units such as meters,
liters and kilometers. To translate FPS into Joule, you will
need to first convert FPS to MPS. The conversion rate is
(roughly) 3.28, so you may do the math accordingly:
where E= the impact energy in Joules; m= the
mass in kilograms, which is the weight of the bullet; and Vx=
velocity in MPS.
...... The harder the spring, the more
horsepower it takes for the motor to pull the gears, which
may reduce the ROF. However, this problem can usually be
solved by using a higher voltage battery. Remember, a higher
voltage battery is dangerous only if your spring is too soft
for it. With an upgraded spring, a higher voltage battery
doesn’t hurt as much.
When you put a load on a spring (which means
making it “shorter”), it pushes back against the load and
tries to get back to its original length.
In theory, a softer spring costs less energy
to compress and is therefore facilitating a higher ROF.
However, one must also consider the fact that a softer
spring is usually less responsive in its return journey
(i.e. the “pushing back” movement). A harder spring is
harder to compress, but when it is released it extends much
faster. This explains why many powerful AEGs can also shoot
at an amazing ROF......
It is widely believed
that you need to set your sector gear with the tappet plate
post at the one o'clock position when reassembling your mechbox.
Although doing it this way doesn’t hurt, it
does not have to be strictly "one o'clocked". Think about
it, the sector gear is a half-toothed gear which has
multiple teeth partially formed on the periphery and an idle
area formed on the remainder of the periphery. This design
is supposed to provide an optimal means for pulling the
piston into a compressed position when needed. When idle,
the teeth formed on the periphery are not in touch with the
piston. When you pull the trigger, the sector gear is driven
anti-clockwise, which eventually will have its teeth getting
in touch with the piston. This is when all the actions get
started. Effectively, this mean the gear system will time
the gears properly by itself.
What we are trying to say is that as long as
the sector gear is in a position where all the teeth are
facing downward (a position anywhere between 12:30 and 3:00,
such that no tooth is in touch with the piston at the time
of installation), it will do fine. Still, by having the gear
"one o'clocked", you can enjoy a slightly faster initial response time
(and peace of mind too). That’s all.
Smaller batteries have higher internal
resistance and can get heated up easily. If you really want
to use smaller batteries for fitting into the grip or the
stock, you may need to go up to 10.8V or 12V. Practically
speaking, the output of a 12V Sanyo 600mah is roughly on par
with that of a 9.6V GP 2000 mah. And 600mah is way too
insufficient. If you really need to go small, consider the
GP 1100mah NiMHs instead.
As said before, the small batteries are no
longer sufficient for powering an upgraded gun. However, the
bigger batteries have to be housed externally, which is not
convenient at all.
If the grip and the stock have space to house
the smaller cells, one thing you might want to do is to use
a parallel configuration. That is, you can have two sets of
9.6V small batteries chaining up together to double the
capacity. The connection must be parallel, NOT serial ...
Some people
argued that 12V should never be recommended. Although it is
understandable that from a warranty concern 12V may give
more troubles to the RMA department, 12V (small mah)
configuration has been around for a long time and as long as
the upgrade has been properly done (and the gun is under
proper usage), it is not that dangerous (keep in mind,
almost all manufacturers have included 12V in their test
specification and have internally approved it).
The stock wires found in most TM guns are of
very high quality in terms of shielding – they are very
difficult to tear. However, they are also very thin, meaning
their ability to dissipate heat (generated due to current
flow) is not as good. Always remember, the larger the wire
cross section the better able it is to dissipate heat. The
problem with excessive heat is that the wire shielding will
eventually get melted down. Our experience shows that the
stock TM wires are good enough under smaller mah battery
(voltage is not the primary concern while the current is).
If you are using high mah battery to drive an upgraded
mechbox, consider replacing all the stock wires.
When selecting the proper wire to use, pay
attention to the American Wire Gauge (AWG) system. An AWG
gauge of 14 or 15 can sustain higher amps for power
transmission than the standard 16 or 18 wires...
