SC400 broken pipe system

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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C-A_99
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SC400 broken pipe system

Post by C-A_99 » Mon Aug 14, 2006 5:54 pm

http://img150.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 726uh9.jpg

Sorry the pic isn't that good, basically the black piece to the left of the long screwdriver is supposed to be connected to the end of the pump. I personally think it's better to wait until next year (they stopped selling soakers since I live in the north) and get a defender than to try to glue and tape it up since it'll probably just break again and the gun isn't as good anyways. Maybe I can get it replaced by hasbro for free instead of waiting till next year. (buying onlnie has all the shipping costs, not worth it for a compact gun like that) And yes, those are DDR pads.
Last edited by C-A_99 on Mon Aug 14, 2006 7:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Tue Aug 15, 2006 12:30 am

I hope I didn't miss anything, but what exactly appears to be the problem? A more detailed description would be welcome.

I can't really see what's wrong from the picture, possibly because I'm not too familiar with that technology, but a better explanation and/or a picture that is cropped or brightened in one place to highlight the problem might be better. Thanks!

The SC 400 is a good gun, and whatever replacement you get might not be that great. At any rate, even if you do request a replacement, you should certainly try to fix this one!

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C-A_99
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Post by C-A_99 » Tue Aug 15, 2006 12:55 am

Sorry about the pic, here are some better shots.

Image

Image

Image

That's the area I'll plan to epoxy together, then maybe some duct tape to reinforce it. For replacement, I thought the defender would be a better gun, the filling is quicker (this is my only gun that uses a QFD) and it holds somewhat more water though the output is a bit less.

Edit: Crap, half of it is blocked. Basically, the broken area is like a turn to a thin tube (barely visible in the pic, if at all), which leads to the reservoir. The pump pushes air into there, and it's designed to prevent air pressure from going into the pump. The tube leads to a small hole (again, not visible in the pic) in the screw on piece. When you pump and you put your hand there (with the reservoir out of course), you can feel air coming through the hole, but not anymore, the air goes out where that cracked area is.

The gun takes 16-20 pumps to pressurize, but I think I've been doing a lot more, even at 40 pumps, it still doesn't feel that hard to pump. I'm guessing this is part of what caused the problem, but I don't really know how to manage the pumping when I pump 20 times, shoot a bit, and want to pump again to get a bit more pressure. (like the tap and pump method/tactic)
Last edited by C-A_99 on Tue Aug 15, 2006 1:01 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Tue Aug 15, 2006 1:10 pm

Okay, I see it now...I was just confused about where the black piece was supposed to go. It sounds like the pressure release valve might still be functional and that it does work; perhaps it's just hard to notice when it activates since the airstream is now in a different and impossible-to-notice location. You could try pumping up the gun when it's open to see how many full pumps it takes, or if you really want to be able to feel the air the epoxy should do the trick. Thanks for the pictures, and good luck!

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C-A_99
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Post by C-A_99 » Tue Aug 15, 2006 6:59 pm

The broken area is where the air pressure is routed into the thin tube, which takes the pressure to the reservoir. Since it's broken, the air pressure won't go through the tube, it instead goes out of the broken area, so the water reservoir doesn't pressurize, making any number of pumps absolutely pointless. To fix this I have to glue the piece back on so the air pressure from pumping goes where it's supposed to.

Image

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JLspacemarine
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Post by JLspacemarine » Tue Aug 15, 2006 7:38 pm

Do you know how it broke like that? I have the yellow version of this gun and I don't know how the pressure release valve would break like that, since it is located inside the gun's casing.
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Silence
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Post by Silence » Tue Aug 15, 2006 10:10 pm

So you're saying the pressure release valve was in the part that broke off? I was assuming it wasn't and that you just couldn't tell when it activated, but I guess I was wrong. And to confirm this: how strong, if applicable, is the shot?

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Post by C-A_99 » Tue Aug 15, 2006 10:40 pm

The broken area is an essential part of the pumping system so when I pump, the air pressure goes out of that broken area and doesn't go to the reservoir so I can't get any shots. I believe it is the pressure relief since nothing else on the gun would work for it. Plus, when I plug it into the QFD and the reservoir is completely filled, excess water goes through that piece.

As to how it broke, I have no clue, I had a 1 on 1 fight one day and it was working fine, then I let it dry for a day, then I try it the day after. Next thing I know, it won't pressurize.

Sorry if I'm not explaining it very well.

Edit: I'll be gone for a few days so I won't be fixing it anytime too soon anyway.
Last edited by C-A_99 on Fri Aug 18, 2006 2:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Tue Aug 15, 2006 10:50 pm

No, no, the explanations are great. It will be somewhat difficult to epoxy the piece back on since it's near a tee and since some pieces of plastic fell off, but since one of the check valves is probably there, you have no choice. Good luck!

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Post by SSCBen » Sun Aug 20, 2006 1:12 am

The best way to repair this would be to get a brass pipe that has the same outer diameter as the inner diameter of the broken pipe and use that to bridge the hole. After sanding the pipe and the broken area, you can epoxy that carefully onto the area. That should fix the problem.

I'm not too sure about how this is set up, so you will have to do some thinking for yourself on this. If a pipe would block off the tube, put a hole in that spot on the pipe to avoid blocking the tube.

Don't even both using duct tape. I don't know how many times I have to say it, but here's the truth: tapes do nearly nothing for seals like this. That's just going to make the part hard to fit back in. If you do a good epoxy job, you won't need anything to reinforce it.
Last edited by SSCBen on Fri Jan 04, 2008 9:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by C-A_99 » Wed Sep 06, 2006 12:32 am

Finally, the repair has been done. (it took so long since I had my 2100 to worry about) The little bump on the smaller piece (the one with the PRV) had to be sealed up too. Overall it looks fairly strong but if it gets messed up again I can put a bit more glue in that area. However, too many tiresome repairs are not worth it for a gun like this (I already have a Max-D 5000 anyway, much better capacity and uses a cap instead of a screw on reservoir) so hopefully this is the first and last repair I'll have to make on it.

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Wed Sep 06, 2006 2:17 am

Congratulations!

So did you end up keeping or getting rid of the pressure release valve? If you got rid of it, how's the performance now?

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C-A_99
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Post by C-A_99 » Wed Sep 06, 2006 7:27 pm

I left it on, though that would've been a good time to just put glue around it as an easy way to freeze it. I could however, clog up the other end but I don't think I'll do that. Actually, I don't recall ever having a PRV making sounds when pumping a pressurized reservoir gun. I just stop when the pumping gets hard, and I'll probably be more "scared" to try to push the limits due to what just had to be repaired.

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