The Tuning series, 24 twice monthly articles on budget tunes to get the most from your aeg.
Dis-assembly of the mechbox
Make
sure your work area is clean and open. Many times lost parts occur
simply because the part rolled under something. I also suggest clearing
the floor around you so that in case a small part takes off and falls
down you have a better chance of finding it (I have numerous times had
to get on hands and knees with a tac light to find a small part I
accidentally knocked to the floor.)
Use the proper sized tools.
Substitutions for an improper screw driver bit or hex key will often
result in stripped screws and parts. This, while minor in some cases,
can lead to future problems, especially when closing and reopening the
box later on.
Take your time, if you are in a rush, it is best to
delay opening your mechbox for another day. Rushing usually means
skipping steps, and can be costly later on.
Mapping the parts
Mapping
is simple process that many people seem to think to trivial. Even
though I know what all the parts are, I still do my best to map, or lay
everything out in a particular order. I've actually seen people draw a
mechbox on paper, and lay all the parts, screws, and items out on it,
so as to not forget. This not only helps to make sure you know where
they go, but it keeps from having to re-open a box for something simple
you forgot to put in, and keeps parts in the right order. In my case, I
use a wooden tray with black neoprene on the bottom; I lay each of the
parts, in order as I take them out, in small groups.
De-greasing and cleaning the mechbox and it's parts
De-greasing
can be as simple as wiping off the excess grease from all your parts,
or as complex as making sure all lubricants are baked out and removed
in order to apply coating agents and getting them to stick.
Since I prefer to clean and then coat most of my parts, I use a multi step cleaning process:
Disassemble all the parts
- Wipe off all visible grease
- Place each part one at a time in very hot soapy water (dawn dish soap) allow to sit a few minutes to cook out the greases
- Scrub each part with an old toothbrush using the hot soapy water (if excessive grease comes to the surface be sure to switch out the water)
- Rinse under running hot water and dry with a clean towel
My good friend Jong at Tactical Airsoft arena has a similar method: he hits the metal parts with a blast of hot air from a heat gun, and then drops them in the cleaning solution that is in a vibrational jewelery cleaner.
De-stressing the mechbox corners
This
isn't something that has to be done to most mechboxes but I have found
it is a bit better to do than not. The squared corners of the mechbox
take a large amount of stress when the piston slams forward, especially
on very high FPS or ROF replicas. Many times the Version 2 mechbox will
break right off in front. To prevent this, we round the corners with a
file, ensuring that the stresses are spread out and applied equally in
the circle, not all at the single angled corner.
Next time: Tune 2 - Polishing Piston Rails and Tappet Guides plus Installing metal Bushings or Bearings
- END ADM
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Everything
is In Our Opinion Only - We lay no claim to any of these ideas,
suggestions, tunes, etc. We learned, in person and online, from
people who are a lot smarter than us and we merely use and try to
improve upon what we consider to be useful. ADM
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