Flash Flood - opening and riot blast issues

Repairs to water guns. Please put repair topics in this forum so that people do not have to sort through so many topics when looking for a repair. If a fix is included in the topic, please add (Fixed) before the topic title to indicate so.
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Bzzz
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Post by Bzzz » Sat Jun 30, 2007 8:48 pm

Hey guys,
I wonder how to open the FF? I just tried to because the Flash Flood function has some slightly different problems - the valve doesnt open as much as it did in "former times" (in fact its not that old...) as well as it sometimes doesnt close completely again. This results in a maybe 5 second shot which is nice to cover sitting victims over and over, but its no longer the FF function I love so much

So, i removed all the screws from the FF (including the 2 hidden ones at the FF trigger) but it sticks together at the pump system. Any suggestions for a low-violence solution?

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C-A_99
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Post by C-A_99 » Sat Jun 30, 2007 10:43 pm

^It was probably better to start a new thread than use this one but anyways...

Sounds like a weak spring for your trigger. Usually the best solution is to pull the valve more directly and do so faster, but if that doesn't do it, you might want to try adding rubber bands to supplement the spring. (though that never really worked for me when I tried it) Another thing you can try is to reverse the spring, which did make mine work a little better. How does the valve behave when you open and close it without water or pressure inside the gun?

Bzzz
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Post by Bzzz » Mon Jul 02, 2007 1:47 am

Hi ;-)
How should it react? No special sound or anything...

Another thing I watched: Also, sometimes when the error occurs (filled with water of course) pushing the big trigger sometimes stops the water flow. OK not much water or pressure left, but after refilling the next shot will work perfectly alright...strange... :confused:

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C-A_99
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Post by C-A_99 » Mon Jul 02, 2007 3:47 pm

Sometimes you have to pull the trigger faster. (at least for mine, even though I "repaired" it) Anyways, open up the gun by removing all screws (beware of ones under the flood trigger), then for the nozzle caps, see if you can pry them off. However, the caps are made up of 2 pieces, one outside and one inside, and are screwed together, so it's typically best to try to get in and unscrew them. After that, use a flat-head screwdriver and a hammer on the pump cap. Create a straight line that vertically divides the cap in half, so that one half of the cap is on one side of the gun and the other half on the other side.

Afterwards it's a matter of experimenting with rubber bands. Try to find the best ones you can, you don't want to have to replace them often. The rubber bands should go where the springs would.

I assume the triggers work fine without pressure. In this case, try reversing the spring(s), and pull the triggers fast and directly. Adding rubber bands may help too, but they didn't work for me, only when there was no spring on the main trigger did they work well.

Hmm... There's been a lot of FF repair inquiries lately, we definately could use a sticky thread for the repair. (and an article definately should be added to the site as well, whenever Ben decides to bring everything up to date)

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Mon Jul 02, 2007 7:05 pm

Welcome to the forums!

The Flash Flood does use the complex and unreliable Max-D trigger system. With weakened springs, the valve doesn't always close. Cases like that have been documented often, but I haven't heard of the valve not opening all the way. Maybe I just haven't noticed that problem, being more concerned with the actual leaking.

It would make sense for rubber bands to snap the valve open and closed, however. So perform a standard open trigger valve repair and see how it goes. Using a metal spring instead of rubber bands would offer a more durable solution, but most people just use rubber bands because they're easier to implement.

CA-99, would you mind writing up an Arcticle for repairing the Flash Flood? The thread could be stickied and visible, as you suggested.

Bzzz
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Post by Bzzz » Thu Jul 05, 2007 6:49 pm

Hi,
just tried to put it all back together - and look, there is a screw that fits nowhere :mad:
Its a bit shorter than the long ones used to hold the water reservoir, but much longer than all the others. The only one this length....help :eek: :confused:

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SSCBen
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Post by SSCBen » Sat Jul 07, 2007 1:16 pm

Does the water gun look closed otherwise? If so, don't worry about it. Some of my water guns are held together by only a fraction of their original screws. Most aren't necessary. ;)

Bzzz
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Re: Flash Flood - opening and riot blast issues

Post by Bzzz » Fri May 23, 2008 9:28 pm

Guess what...I'm back :D
I can't say I really have time to fix up my gun, but I will have to...
In 4 weeks from now there will be a great party at my former school by the 2008 graduators. They will definitely try to beat our 2007 overall performance (the year I graduated in - see the date of my first post :) ), but they have no idea we'll be back with heavy artillery to stop them :D :D

So I picked up my FF and was very disappointed, of course the problem with the FF nozzle still exists. And also the smaller one didn't close properly, some water dribbled out all the time until pressure (and ammunition) were gone short after.

Today I finally opened the gun, which was a hard piece of work. I had to remove the cap around the pump system with a Zippo and some Screwdriver...but now it's done and I can easily access everything.
The repair of the smaller nozzle was quite easy (I hope it works, not yet re-assembled because of the larger problem): The small metal thing that controls it must not reach the end of the plastic element it is fixed in. I picked up some copper wire that already helped me mounting a (not-wallmountable-)Netgear WLAN device next to the broadband modem yesterday... :rolleyes: , added it to the plastic (maybe 5 times around), so the metal can not reach the end of it => the nozzle shuts decently => fixed!

But, the FF nozzle problem still exists. I tried out various angles, and only in two of them it shuts tight, and only in one it releases all the water pressurized in one big flood. In all other positions it's the oh-yeah-some-water-comes-out effect you can maybe irrigate your garden with, but not take a riot blast and make the masses scream. Oh, btw, I pray for great weather on Friday 20th and lots of girls in white shirts.. :D
Err back to topic, I can fix it to reach only those two zones by adding the spring and the metal-somewhat (which was flipped out I noticed), but the nozzle itself is very hard to move. That's most likely the cause of this desaster...
I moved it around several times, but there is no change. Even when I added some lubricant to the outside. Maybe there will be an effect when added inside - but I guess it will also pollute the water.. Any other ideas?

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SSCBen
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Re: Flash Flood - opening and riot blast issues

Post by SSCBen » Fri May 23, 2008 10:02 pm

Welcome back and good luck showing them how it's done. ;)

Have you tried adding rubber bands to make the valve close all the way as suggested by CA_99? Usually that does the trick. Below are some links taken straight off our repair section that you should find helpful.

http://www.didkovsky.com/supersoaker/index.html
http://forums.sscentral.org/t2730/
http://www.isoaker.com/Armoury/article. ... r_maxd4000

Bzzz
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Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2007 6:55 pm

Re: Flash Flood - opening and riot blast issues

Post by Bzzz » Fri May 23, 2008 10:41 pm

I've already read these pages. I don't know if rubber fixes the problem. However, I "ordered" some rubber bands from home, they'll arrive on Sunday. Not every detail of a students' life is that bad^^
Anyway, what about making the movement of the device somehow smoother? The springs are still 100% okay, but there is just too much friction :( (

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SSCBen
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Re: Flash Flood - opening and riot blast issues

Post by SSCBen » Sat May 24, 2008 2:36 am

While I haven't done that repair myself, I've read mostly good things about it. Try it and if it doesn't work look into lubrication or replacement.

You should be able to decently lubricate the valve by getting lubricant on the ball valve part. If you can take the valve apart in some way that would be the best way to lubricate the valve. From what I've seen though these valves are very smooth as is and I don't even know if they are lubricated. There might be something else preventing motion. If you could take pictures of the valve we might spot something you haven't.

If that doesn't work, there's nothing you can do aside from replace the valve with another one or buying a new water gun. These ball valves are simply problematic and getting a new one might help.

If you complain to Hasbro by phone they might send you a new Flash Flood or Arctic Blast (similar water gun) for free.

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