Today we’re going to talk about troubleshooting some problems people might encounter in AEG ownership.
We will list and timestamp four sections of the gun that you can quickly diagnose.
The first problem would be the gun not feeding. If your gun sounds like it shoots but no BBs are being shot, we might have a feeding problem. We will check the first part of this which is the magazine.
Feeding
Bad BBs - by now you should know not to use low quality ammo because it will jam up your gun. This could potentially cause damage in more ways than one so be sure to use only the good stuff.
Magazine not wound - If your gun comes with a high capacity magazine, a lot of new players fail to wind the magazine sufficiently to make the rounds feed. They think one or two times is enough or when they see the BB comes up. Wrong. To wind the magazine, you will be turning the wheel a numerous amount until the wheel gets tighter from spring tension and you will finally hear a different type of clicking noise when you turn it. The magazine is now ready and can feed about ⅓ of its capacity before you have to do this again.
Magazine does not fit properly - rarely would there be a case where the magazine that comes with the gun be at fault, but nonetheless, it is a possibility. If you are mixing brands of magazines and guns you potentially could run into this too. This is not something that can be fixed without getting creative because the specifications and tolerances might be too different between brands.
Barrel/Hop Up Unit
Jammed barrel - if you shoot and nothing comes out and it sounds like a muffled thud, you likely have a jam. Do not look into the hopup chamber as you attempt to fire as a BB might come out. You will have to use an unjamming rod to clear the BB out. If you cannot get it out, you might have to take the barrel out of your AEG to do this. Taking it apart is advanced and most people screw up putting it back together the first time. If you put it together incorrectly you will have voided your warranty.
Bad bucking - Very rarely will the bucking be at fault out of the box on an AEG we offer, though some very low priced options out there or an old or used gun could run into this more frequently from what I’ve seen. A bad bucking could result in repeated jams, low or fluctuating FPS, or even inconsistent feeding. The first thing you could do is spray silicon oil on your bucking through the barrel and see if your feeding is improved in any way. Other than visible tears on the bucking itself, most of the time you will have this replaced outright, if not every year or two. Taking it apart is not recommended and will void your warranty, so do not attempt this on your own unless you know what you are doing. You will likely damage or disable your hopup unit or gearbox components by putting it together wrong.
BB rolls out - This one is very easy and not indicative of anything broken. Your hopup might be turned off completely. Turning it on a little bit to start with will be sufficient to solve this. Certain types of buckings require it to be turned on just a little bit to hold the chambered BB in place.
Electrical system
When installing batteries, take care to not crush or pinch any wires. Avoid using batteries with exposed parts altogether because you could end up with a short.
Battery not charged - if your gun gets a very minimal electrical response or locks up, chances are you may have an undercharged battery. Charge the battery fully and make sure the battery itself is in good shape and that should solve your problem. If your gun is locked up as a result, it might need a higher voltage battery to get it going. If that doesn’t work, you might have a problem located in the gearbox and will need some professional help to get that dealt with.
Fuse blown - if your gun has no electrical response but does have a fuse, check to make sure it’s not burnt. If your gun is stock, replace this fuse with the same type or up to 30 amps and see if your gun will work then. If your gun continually blows fuses something might be wrong with the electrical system or something inside the gearbox is broken and causing more strain on the electrical system.
Motor not connected - another possible cause of no electrical response is the motor leads have been disconnected. Sometimes the torque from the motor turning is enough to knock these off. On some guns, you can check this by taking off the motor base plate. These are sensitive screws and the wire placement is absolutely critical when putting this back together, so do NOT attempt this if you are unfamiliar. You will void your warranty or cause damage to your airsoft gun.
Gearbox
Stripped piston - this could happen when you have a gun with plastic gear teeth on the piston. Running a high voltage battery could damage this, however running a 9.6v battery is safe on these. If it’s time for it to go on these pistons, then it’s time to go. This will require gearbox work if you encounter this, but you will hear the gears spin but it will just keep going on full auto like a power drill. You might also encounter this if you repeatedly try and shoot a gun with a jam in the barrel as that air pressure is trapped in the gearbox causing the piston to be mistimed to the gears as the gearbox is attempting to cycle.
Stuck piston - this could occur if you attempt to fire your gun with a low charged battery. Now with the piston far back it will take much more voltage to overcome this portion of the cycle. If you got into your gearbox and swapped parts, there is a potential of the piston not fitting to begin with and this could continually happen. To clear this, you have to first attempt it with a higher voltage battery such as an 11.1v Lipo. If that fails, it will require some gearbox knowledge to clear. Releasing the anti reversal latch will release the gear tension and lower the piston. Do not attempt this if you have no familiarity with what is inside the gearbox. You could damage your wires and as a retailer we would never ask you to attempt this. You will void your warranty if you attempt this but for those DIY types, this is what you can do.
Stripped gear - stripped gears might continue to turn and your gun might continue to cycle, but it will sound really bad and screechy. This requires completely opening up the gun for repair. Do not attempt this, contact your retailer. If this is a brand new gun doing this, take advantage of your warranty.
That covers all the types of malfunctions you could have in an AEG both old and new.