Changing PTW cylinders
 

Folks,

Apologies if this has been asked and answered, but I seem to recall reading somewhere that you had to fire the PTW on Semi before changing the cylinder to make sure it was all lined up properly. Is this true? I have a 150 in there right now, and I'll be picking up a 9.6 battery and 110 tonight. Of course, I haven't fired the thing yet and I don't have a 12v to put into it.

Is this an issue?

i've never heard that but i also never shoot in full.

The circuitry in the PTW detects sector gear position when firing in semi. At the end of a semi cycle, the sector is rotated until the teeth that engage the piston are clear of the piston and oriented downwards. Firing in full auto can result in the piston hung at half cock. QD in this configuration would release the piston. I'm guessing that it might even be possible to discharge a breeched round, which I would consider a safety related design flaw.

Also, closing a rec'r with the teeth up would cause a clashing engagement with the piston as the sector teeth would be at half cock and piston fully forward.

Cycle the mechbox in semi mode to rotate the teeth clear of the piston before QD takedown or closure of the rec'r. Clear breech in safe direction to be sure you do not discharge a breeched round on QD takedown.

It is also possible to manually rotate the sector gear by rotating the exposed step gear next to the sector gear before closing a rec'r. There is sufficient advantage in gearing to manually move the sector gear around by turning the step gear to overcome the passive resistance of the motor. Be sure to keep fingers clear of the trigger and selector "safed" or you may shred your thumb if the motor powers up and decides to router your finger with the sector teeth.

for your initial cylinder change i dont think it should matter. ive never heard that yet, but i wonder. i think it more so applied to the gearbox after a full auto burst in the field. if it "half cocks" and you split the body the cylinder will "pop" (return to the ready), but the mech box would most likley stay in position (half cocked), so when you go to insert a new cylinder the gears wount be timed with the piston. easy way to remedy this would be to cycle it in single with the mechbox open before you insert the new piston.

the cyclinders wont be the problem, the mechbox would be. so to answer you question, youll be fine, your takeing the 150 without fireing it you dont need to cycle the cylinder just the mechbox, just cycle the bex once before you close the gun.

Thanks folks!

Any issues charging PTW batteries on a regular charger? Any additional settings I need to be aware of?

I charge my PTW batteries on my Systema Fuzzy Logic charger... I guess it'd be considered a "regular" charger, albeit an expensive one. For all intents and purposes, the Sanyo cells used in Systema packs are "regular" cells, so there should be zero issues using a charger built for your pack chemistry.

One final thing you should be aware of: A lot of users like to leave their batteries plugged in to the gun when storing them - DON'T do this with a PTW. First of all, it will draw current from the pack even when not firing which can lead to a reversal of the polarity of your cells if the voltage drops too low. This type of damage is irreversible.

Hey Morb,'

Make sure your charger can do 10 cells if you are going with the 12v, some chargers will only go up to 8 or 9 cells.
Not sure if this is the same for the smaller (Length) size PTW batteries but my charger will only go up to 10.8v 9 cell sub-c batteries.

Someone more in the know should confirm this.

MD

I have had some complaints from reliable users of the TLP15 charger which is supposed to be able to go as high as 12v, but does not work for 12v packs.

I have had good results with my Triton (hobbico) charger.

If I remember right,Systema say's not to use anything other than the 12v battery for the M150 and to use the 9.6 for all others as they got rid of the 7.2 for the M90.I I belive in the same area it mentioned not to use the 12v on the other cly.'s I might be off,but thats what I seem to remember.It might have even been off the Systema webpage or the Systema forums?

12v for everything!
 

If I had a charger that would do 12v that is what I would be running in all my AEG's, push the envelope, max the extreme, eat power sauce bars!;)

7.2 is no longer available, discontinued but everything else you said sounds right.

i use my 4000c tlp charger just fine for my batts (only 9.6 tho)

Rob I use my bb bastard charger just fine. Then again, I also switched my plugs to dean's on the ptw and battery pack.

A reminder, when you get your new cylinder to break them down and loctite (red) the appropriate areas. Ala;

http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showthr...t=ptw+cylinder

There is no need to go to semi and fire off a shot before opening the receivers. The sector gear stops in the same position everytime, no matter if it's in full or semi. If it doesn't, then you have a problem with the PTW, and recent discoveries by users with this problem have identified it as a motor problem, or blocked sensor holes on the sector gear. Stoping in any position other than with with no more than 1-2 teeth showing on the sector gear at all is abnormal operation.

This is the maximum number of teeth that should ever be showing, and this does not engage the piston:

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...ofoto011-1.jpg

Change cylinders whenever you like, just be sure to follow the Systema recommended battery/cylinder matching. M90-M130 use 9.6v and M150 uses 12v only.

I'm with mcgyver, my gears stop at the same point every time when on auto. Also Madmax I don't think its possible for the piston to stop half cocked. I had a problem where my motor would move away from the connector (solder broke, my bad) when it started to move from the torque. As soon as it disconnected it just unwound. I'm under the impression that there is no anti-reversal in a PTW because this kept happening to me.