Ares L85A2 overhaul- what to expect?

[Schock]

My son bought a used Ares L85 which has been working OK, but it is not very accurate, and we had to upgrade to a much stronger spring just to achieve 370fps.

This weekend we decided to take the gun apart, clean the barrel, and check the hop up rubber. The barrel was very dirty, but the hop up looked OK. We reassembled the gun, and dry fired it and everything sounded right, but when we put a mag in to test fire some rounds it didn't even have enough power to leave the barrel. When we pointed the barrel down the rounds just rolled out.

One thing I noticed was that when I removed the spring from the back it would not come out easily. I had to carefully twist it until it came loose. Also, my son was so eager to test fire it that he fired it a few times before he realized he hadn't put the spring in. Could that have caused some damage, or displaced the piston?

I guess our next step is going to be to take the piston out, but I don't know what to expect. Do I have to open up the entire gearbox? I can't find much information about the Ares gearbox.

Has anyone got experience with these guns? Any tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated.

[Schock]

Wow! Nobody?

So we decided to jump in with both feet! I found an exploded diagram of the gearbox so I had some reference if something was out of place.

The box was a bit of a pain in the a$$ because you can't split it without disconnecting a motor lead...and the motor leads are soldered! And of course my soldering iron is dead, so I had to buy a new one. We eventually got it apart, cleaned everything up, replaced the o-rings and greased what looked like it needed it. Got it all back together, and test fired it. It seemed to be working fine so we reassembled the gun and tested again. It fires OK and feeds OK but we haven't been able to test accuracy and velocity yet.
Now the problem we have is that it sometimes fires a 2 or 3 round burst in semi auto. Looks like we are going to have to go back in

[Danke]

Soldered motor leads are better. Done right they never fall off mid game.

[Schock]

Originally Posted by Danke

Soldered motor leads are better. Done right they never fall off mid game.

Yeah I guess it is more the routing of the wires. They come along the outside of the frame and then wrap around the outside of the motor cage making it impossible to split the casing. Next time I take it apart I will try to re-route the wires but there is not a lot of slack to play with.

[Schock]

Took it apart again today and discovered the anti reversal pawl spring was out of place, and I had a piece of the trigger mechanism in wrong so the micro switch wasn't disengaging after every rotation in semi auto.

It's sounding much better now and hopefully working better too! Now it's time to source a few replacement parts, and then open it up once again! Before long I will be an expert on Ares L85 gearboxes! And it's not even my gun!

[Schock]

So the gun was shooting nicely, with much better accuracy. My son took it to the field on the weekend where it performed well for half the day before it stopped feeding. Turns out the culprit is a broken Tappet plate! I guess I need to order up more parts!

So the first question would be: which parts are proprietary and which can be replaced with aftermarket? I assume the piston and piston head are interchangeable, but what about the Tappet plate? The cylinder head and Nozzle?

I haven't found any retailers that carry the Ares Tappet plate, so I sent an email to Ares customer service, and I was impressed to get a reply back within a couple of hours! I can get the stock parts through them, but should I be looking to upgrade components rather than just replace with stock? They have an upgrade stainless nozzle with an internal o-ring that seems it would be a massive improvement in air efficiency over the stock plastic one, but do I need the upgrade cylinder head as well? The stock one seals fine on the cylinder. What about the "bearing ventilation piston head" vs the stock piston head? I assume by ventilation they mean that there is some kind of check valve that allows air through on the back stroke? Not sure what a bearing does on the piston head...

Are these things I should order from Ares or can I get them anywhere?

[ThunderCactus]

UGH post got deleted by login timeout. So annoying.
Anyway, didn't see this post come up till now, sorry for not replying earlier.

Google search for a list of what's proprietary in the ARES mechbox. Ideally you don't want to buy the same plate with the same problems.

Always upgrade broken parts. If they broke, it's usually because they're crap.
Metal is not an ideal material for an air nozzle, they can scuff the BB in loading, affecting accuracy. Just about every aftermarket company makes a plastic air nozzle with an O-ring.
If the cylinder head is metal, it should be fine. If it's plastic, upgrade it.
Just about ever piston head out there is vented. The vents are on the piston head face, which allow air to rush in and press the O-ring against the cylinder wall causing a dynamic seal. When the piston is moving back, there's no seal, so the O-ring doesn't drag on the walls. The alternative is an UNvented piston head, which maintains a static seal, but increases wear on the O-ring, and can be unreliable.
Before you ask, BB suckback is a RARE symptom of another problem, but never happens under normal circumstance.

Bearings are usually on the back of the piston and spring guide. Springs torsion as they compress, so the bearings are there to allow it to twist freely. Allegedly this increases shot to shot consistency, but more practically it further compresses the spring netting an extra 10-15fps.

Most important things for a new gun; shim the gears properly, do a compression check and replace any parts to fix leaks, and upgrade the hop rubber.
Stock barrels CAN be okay, just make sure it's not bent (just roll the barrel on a flat surface) or has a bad finish inside.
Shimming the gears will reduce noise and wear, and can increase battery efficiency.
Achieving perfect compression will increase shot to shot consistency (sometimes drastically) and allow you to get the most power out of your spring (efficiency).
And the hop rubber is the largest contributor to range and accuracy. Stock rubbers are most generally crap. Flat hop and Rhop are the best, but you can just use a maple leaf or firefly rubber and get consistent 200ft accuracy.

Use the heaviest ammo you can without loosing range for the best range and accuracy. So if you're shooting around 400fps, you'll probably want to run .28s
And another common mistake; DO NOT use silicone oil to clean the barrel. Use a degreaser. The BB ideally doesn't touch the barrel as it's travelling through it, so it doesn't need to be lubricated. And a thin film of silicone will only result in attracting more dust and dirt.

Use a light film of synthetic grease on the cylinder. Too much grease will cause compression issues and barrel fouling. And greases containing petroleum will eat the O-ring (as most companies don't use synthetic Orings).

Firing the gun without a spring in, although HIGHLY not recommended, doesn't always result in damage. The main gear is sectored, and designed to release the piston at the rear position. So without the spring, the gear will simply shoot the piston to the back, then spin freely. Damage from this will usually be on the release tooth.

[Schock]

I was able to get a replacement tappet plate and an upgrade Nozzle from Asia airsoft. I was given a piston by the guys at the local field, (thanks guys!) But when I look at the stock head it is definitely not vented in any way, and it looks like the new piston takes a different head. I could modify the piston a bit to make the stock piston head fit, but I think I will find an upgraded head instead. I am getting tired of taking this thing apart...I might as well upgrade what I can while it is apart!