Help! Gearbox won't turn!

iKliiu · November 24th, 2010, 21:44

I have a version 2 gearbox thats completely new, I dropped it in to my M4, yet it work. I've charged the battery (also used a multimeter to check if the current was actually getting passed through the gearbox, which it was). I've also checked the motor, it works fine. But when I put the motor into the grip, plug the battery in and pull the trigger, nothing happens, as if the motor was stuck. I've also tried adjusting the motor, it didnt do anything either.
Any suggestions on what is wrong and how to fix it?

Thanks

Boris the Blade · November 24th, 2010, 21:50

A couple of troubleshooting tips:
Did you connect the motor properly? If you reversed the cables and connectors it won't work.
Then check if your battery is fully charged.
What strength spring is in your gearbox? If the spring is heavy (<m120) it will require a strong motor and battery to pull it back.

iKliiu · November 24th, 2010, 21:57

Battery is 8.4v, and it was fully charged. The motor was connected properly, and spun freely, just not when put inside the gearbox. The spring is under M120, like probably a M100 or M110.

Boris the Blade · November 24th, 2010, 22:04

Did you get a complete mechbox built by a company (Systema, SRC, King Arms, etc.) or did you build it yourself?

Republican Kid · November 24th, 2010, 22:07

I've had that problem when I first got my M4. Make sure the wires are ran on either channel of the handgrip properly so there is no added resistance in the wires. From struggling with that the connectors on my motor initially broke working perfectly with the motor out but breaking the circuit when the cap is placed for the handguard. That was the first problem!

The piston seemed to be going in a half cycle every time with a 8.4V Nickel Metal Hydride and a 9.6V, both at full charge. After taking the mechbox apart several times i discovered a wearing of the wires at the opening to the motor in the bottom part of the mechbox! That was causing a ground looping problem which was overheating my battery. Caught that problem and re-wired the bugger. This was caused by the play in the motor where the wires weren't allowing it to freely move in the handguard! That was the second problem. Still no go with the 9.6!

Third times the charm

Two lovely weeks of misery later, my buddy had his 11.1 Lithium-Polymer 900milliAmpereHour batteries arrive. My gun being an A.P.S. ASR101 (M4A1) was recommended by E-Hobby Asia to use an 11.1 Li-Po, and of course hearing horror stories about Li-Po's ripping the guts out of gearboxes was hesitant at first, but at this point if I needed to order parts, I at least knew how to put the bloody thing back together.

VOILA an 11.1 Li-Po had enough juice to get her moving ... and then some! But having the same problem with my p90 led me to believe that the problem was a poor shim job, or at least in the case of the APS, ... NO SHIM JOB!... There wasn't a single washer in the mechbox stock from the factory.

The moral of the story is order some shims and visit mechbox.com and rip that bastard apart. There are a few shimming vids on youtube that are helpful also.

Hopefully this helps. Cheers!

coach · November 24th, 2010, 22:11

Is your piston locked back? You may need to release the piston as you motor won't have enough power to crank from the spring tension.

There are a few ways to do it. One is to use a thin screwdriver and release the a/r latch. Or you can stick a long rod through the nozzle and manually push the piston all the way back. But be careful and don't hold the rod in front of your face. If you let go of it, it will come shooting out.

iKliiu · November 24th, 2010, 22:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boris the Blade

Did you get a complete mechbox built by a company (Systema, SRC, King Arms, etc.) or did you build it yourself?

It was an SRC gearbox.

Boris the Blade · November 24th, 2010, 22:41

I would recommend finding a buddy who has a stronger motor and battery, and trying that. If that still doesn't work you'll need to open it up and see why its not working.
Generally when what your describing happens to me, I try another battery, then confirm my motor is connected red to red and black to black, and try what Coachster is saying and release the anti-reversal latch or release the piston manually. If that fails open it up. What your describing usually happens when your piston is stuck all the way back as Coachster has described. Can you see what position your piston is in?

iKliiu · November 25th, 2010, 00:20

Ok, here's and update, the gearbox shell has a opening near the bevel gear, so I tried turn the bevel gear. The gear didn't turn at all (the tooth I tried to move stayed in the same place). Also, the nozzle wouldn't budge at all either. Isn't the nozzle supposed to be able to move back and forth?

Boris the Blade · November 25th, 2010, 00:56

Yes the nozzle should be able to move back and forth. Did you try to release the anti reversal latch?

Styrak · November 25th, 2010, 00:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boris the Blade

Yes the nozzle should be able to move back and forth. Did you try to release the anti reversal latch?

No, not if it's mid-cycle.

Boris the Blade · November 25th, 2010, 01:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Styrak

No, not if it's mid-cycle.

You are right

Janus · November 25th, 2010, 01:33

Look at J. See if you can release that with a small screwdriver.

iKliiu · November 25th, 2010, 16:48

Ok, the piston is released completely and I've released the anti-reversal latch. It still doesn't work though. What exactly do you mean by release, cause what I did was use tweezers and pull the latch back a bit. BTW, the spur gear still doesn't turn.

coach · November 25th, 2010, 17:01

release as in allow parts to return to their starting position.

once you release the AR latch from the bevel gear, did it spin? is the piston fully forward?

you are going to find that the gears are hard to turn by hand since they are under load from the spring as well as the anti reverse latch prevents everything from spinning backwards!

you may need to open it up and determine if something isn't broken. I've had a broken tooth stuck in one of the gears before and it would lock the mechbox up.

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November 24th, 2010, 21:44	#1
iKliiu Trader rating Join Date: Aug 2010	Help! Gearbox won't turn! I have a version 2 gearbox thats completely new, I dropped it in to my M4, yet it work. I've charged the battery (also used a multimeter to check if the current was actually getting passed through the gearbox, which it was). I've also checked the motor, it works fine. But when I put the motor into the grip, plug the battery in and pull the trigger, nothing happens, as if the motor was stuck. I've also tried adjusting the motor, it didnt do anything either. Any suggestions on what is wrong and how to fix it? Thanks

November 24th, 2010, 21:50	#2
Boris the Blade Trader rating Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Toronto, Ontario	A couple of troubleshooting tips: Did you connect the motor properly? If you reversed the cables and connectors it won't work. Then check if your battery is fully charged. What strength spring is in your gearbox? If the spring is heavy (<m120) it will require a strong motor and battery to pull it back. __________________ Every word ever written will fall short, of it's intent Even sung, or spoke, or screamed, they will betray what they had meant.

November 24th, 2010, 22:04	#4
Boris the Blade Trader rating Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Toronto, Ontario	Did you get a complete mechbox built by a company (Systema, SRC, King Arms, etc.) or did you build it yourself? __________________ Every word ever written will fall short, of it's intent Even sung, or spoke, or screamed, they will betray what they had meant.

November 24th, 2010, 21:57	#3
iKliiu Trader rating Join Date: Aug 2010	Battery is 8.4v, and it was fully charged. The motor was connected properly, and spun freely, just not when put inside the gearbox. The spring is under M120, like probably a M100 or M110.

November 24th, 2010, 22:07	#5
Republican Kid Trader rating Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Torbay, NL	I've had that problem when I first got my M4. Make sure the wires are ran on either channel of the handgrip properly so there is no added resistance in the wires. From struggling with that the connectors on my motor initially broke working perfectly with the motor out but breaking the circuit when the cap is placed for the handguard. That was the first problem! The piston seemed to be going in a half cycle every time with a 8.4V Nickel Metal Hydride and a 9.6V, both at full charge. After taking the mechbox apart several times i discovered a wearing of the wires at the opening to the motor in the bottom part of the mechbox! That was causing a ground looping problem which was overheating my battery. Caught that problem and re-wired the bugger. This was caused by the play in the motor where the wires weren't allowing it to freely move in the handguard! That was the second problem. Still no go with the 9.6! Third times the charm Two lovely weeks of misery later, my buddy had his 11.1 Lithium-Polymer 900milliAmpereHour batteries arrive. My gun being an A.P.S. ASR101 (M4A1) was recommended by E-Hobby Asia to use an 11.1 Li-Po, and of course hearing horror stories about Li-Po's ripping the guts out of gearboxes was hesitant at first, but at this point if I needed to order parts, I at least knew how to put the bloody thing back together. VOILA an 11.1 Li-Po had enough juice to get her moving ... and then some! But having the same problem with my p90 led me to believe that the problem was a poor shim job, or at least in the case of the APS, ... NO SHIM JOB!... There wasn't a single washer in the mechbox stock from the factory. The moral of the story is order some shims and visit mechbox.com and rip that bastard apart. There are a few shimming vids on youtube that are helpful also. Hopefully this helps. Cheers! __________________ AK-47, G&G SCAR-L, TM P90, APS ASR101 M4A1, TSD VSR-10, SIG SAUER P226 X-Five...

November 24th, 2010, 22:11	#6
coach aka coachster Trader rating Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: T dot	Is your piston locked back? You may need to release the piston as you motor won't have enough power to crank from the spring tension. There are a few ways to do it. One is to use a thin screwdriver and release the a/r latch. Or you can stick a long rod through the nozzle and manually push the piston all the way back. But be careful and don't hold the rod in front of your face. If you let go of it, it will come shooting out.

November 24th, 2010, 22:41	#8
Boris the Blade Trader rating Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Toronto, Ontario	I would recommend finding a buddy who has a stronger motor and battery, and trying that. If that still doesn't work you'll need to open it up and see why its not working. Generally when what your describing happens to me, I try another battery, then confirm my motor is connected red to red and black to black, and try what Coachster is saying and release the anti-reversal latch or release the piston manually. If that fails open it up. What your describing usually happens when your piston is stuck all the way back as Coachster has described. Can you see what position your piston is in? __________________ Every word ever written will fall short, of it's intent Even sung, or spoke, or screamed, they will betray what they had meant.

November 25th, 2010, 00:20	#9
iKliiu Trader rating Join Date: Aug 2010	Ok, here's and update, the gearbox shell has a opening near the bevel gear, so I tried turn the bevel gear. The gear didn't turn at all (the tooth I tried to move stayed in the same place). Also, the nozzle wouldn't budge at all either. Isn't the nozzle supposed to be able to move back and forth?

November 25th, 2010, 00:56	#10
Boris the Blade Trader rating Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Toronto, Ontario	Yes the nozzle should be able to move back and forth. Did you try to release the anti reversal latch? __________________ Every word ever written will fall short, of it's intent Even sung, or spoke, or screamed, they will betray what they had meant.

November 25th, 2010, 01:33	#13
Janus Trader rating Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Red Deer, AB	Look at J. See if you can release that with a small screwdriver. __________________ Age Verifier - Lower Vancouver Island Brotherhood of Nod - Nod Prime \|\| Vancouver Island Airsoft League - President Unavailable for AV until April 2020.

November 25th, 2010, 16:48	#14
iKliiu Trader rating Join Date: Aug 2010	Ok, the piston is released completely and I've released the anti-reversal latch. It still doesn't work though. What exactly do you mean by release, cause what I did was use tweezers and pull the latch back a bit. BTW, the spur gear still doesn't turn.

November 25th, 2010, 17:01	#15
coach aka coachster Trader rating Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: T dot	release as in allow parts to return to their starting position. once you release the AR latch from the bevel gear, did it spin? is the piston fully forward? you are going to find that the gears are hard to turn by hand since they are under load from the spring as well as the anti reverse latch prevents everything from spinning backwards! you may need to open it up and determine if something isn't broken. I've had a broken tooth stuck in one of the gears before and it would lock the mechbox up.

Help! Gearbox won't turn!

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