Better Battery or Motor?

[pizzainthemorning]

Running a G3 with a PDI 170 and a stock motor (EG 700 I think). Running that powerful a spring, I get a lot of "jamming" problems. Meaning that sometimes the piston will cycle 70 or 90% of the way, then get stuck.

I used to be able to run this gun on a 7.2 v and occasionally it'd get jammed, but it was pretty safe. Now the 8.4v gets jammed all the time and my 9.6 v (it's a home job battery though, so it's better but not great) is sometimes incapable of completing the cycle once it's been stuck.

So, the question is, should I get a better battery, a better motor, or both?

I know a higher voltage gives more power and increases ROF, but I also know that a better motor can increase ROF (but does it help with the power issue?). Is my motor dying? Any help appreciated. Thanks.

Alex

[Amgoosen]

What kind of cells are you using in the homemade 9.6?

[CDN_Stalker]

Sounds like your jamming issue ismechbox related, not caused by you motor or battery (hence your saying that with the 7.2V it would only jam once in a while.) Sounds like it could be shimming, could be the grooves on the sides of the piston are a bit too tight on the rails of the mechbox (what mechbox and piston you have in there?), etc.

PDI 170% spring aren't that bad, at least the older ones are reasonable, newer ones could be shit. Higher battery voltage will give you higher RoF, but also just increasing the mAh rating of the battery will improve the RoF as well.

[Mantelope]

One explanation is that your higher voltage batteries are at the same time lower capacity, and thus have higher internal resistance. The other problem could be internal... maybe the gears are shimmed too tight?

[MadMax]

If you took too long to solder the terminals on your battery, you may have damaged the cells too. You should be using 1500mAh or higher cells for NiCD, I would guess at least 2000mAh for NiMH to drive a 170% reliably. If your motor is old, the brushes or commutator may be worn so they're not conducting efficiently. Also check your connections and mechbox switch.

Heck a lot of different failures could contribute to a mechbox stall. E-diagnosing requires complete data like: battery cell type and capacity, battery age (number of charge cycles), charger type (maybe your peak detecting charger is tripping too soon?), gears (are you pushing high speed gears?), quality of gearbox labour, etc.

Note: 170% significantly exceeds the allowable muzzle energy limits for airsoft guns in Japan.

[pizzainthemorning]

To be honest I don't remember the cells, bought them at radioshack, same size as you would find on a standard large airsoft battery, and I think they were 1300 mAH (and MadMax you said 1500 is a good number for NiCD so maybe that's it). I couldn't tell you too much more about the battery except I made it, oh, maybe 7 months or so ago, and it hasn't seen too many charges. Like I said though, it was home made so I could've quite possibly put it together poorly, thus getting poor performance. Charger was just a cheap one from radioshack also (but capable of charging 9.6v).

I shimmed the gears quite a long time ago (maybe like a couple years) and they've been working just fine. I also haven't noticed any weird internal sounds so the internals at least seem to be running....soundly (oh, wicked pun).

The gears themselves are not highspeed, just basic systema reinforced ones, have the metal brushings, and an aluminum piston (think it's systema also, though can't remember).

I'm not by any stretch an expert, but I don't think it's gear/part related. I've seen what a bad shim job can do and it doesn't seem the same.

Anyway, thanks for the input so far I appreciate it, I'll check that stuff out.

One question though, I remember hearing/reading somewhere that motors do die out after maybe 50,000 shots or so. Is this true? Because I've had this gun..ohh, maybe 3 or 4 years.

Lastly, forgot to change my profile, I'm back in Canada, and though PDI 170 with my setup can still be hot for some games here I know, 99% of the time gaming is done locally with our own group.

Thanks,
Alex

[MadMax]

I think your battery is crap. I haven't had any luck with any of the two RadioSchlock batteries I've owned and given up on. Both packs had one or more cells which had a much poorer capacity than it's fellows. Poorly matched packs make for not very long lasting packs. You cream the weakest cell shooting close to the end of the pack.

Motors do burn out a bit after awhile. Take a look at your comm'. If it's really blackened or oxidized, maybe it needs replacing. Try the battery pack first though. If that fixes it, then you're done. If you have to replace the motor, you also replaced a POS battery from RS.

[pizzainthemorning]

Good call, now I have my plan. Thanks again.

Alex