Broken Monster XL!

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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zortman66
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Broken Monster XL!

Post by zortman66 » Mon Jun 26, 2006 1:32 am

I made the terrible mistake of leaving my Monster XL in the garage with a little water left in it over the winter. When spring finally arrived, I took my Monster XL, filled it up, and when I pumped it, the water just leaked out of the bottom. I'm positive the water left in the gun froze, expanded, and cracked something inside. I know NOTHING about fixing water guns, and I DO NOT want to throw away this amazing gun. What should I do? Is there somewhere I could send it to be fixed? Can anyone give me a step by step on fixing it myself? Any information will be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks!

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Mon Jun 26, 2006 1:40 am

No, there isn't a place to get it fixed--maybe another thing for the tentative SSC Store? Anyway, all "repairs" are just that--there are individual problems that sometimes surface in individual soakers. It isn't like a modifications that works with all soakers of that model, so you need to give more specific details.

First of all, remove all the screws and open up the gun. Then, slowly pump the gun and note where the water squirts out--there's probably a hairline crack somewhere. If it's just a simple crack or hole, a good bit of epoxy is your best bet for plugging it up and creating a good seal. If it's any worse, the best you can do is look for other problems and post those, and more importantly, post a few good pictures. Good luck with the repair, and I hope it's not anything too bad--after all, there's no reason it should be so bad.

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SSCBen
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Post by SSCBen » Mon Jun 26, 2006 1:44 am

Welcome to Super Soaker Central.

We can't give you a step-by-step guide because every situation is different and every situation must be treated as different. There's no cure-all in broken water guns. The good thing is, I've been working on a new repair center for our website which should answer 90% of all repair questions.

If the problem is leaking on the inside, you'll definitely have to open up your water gun. I'd suggest opening up your water gun right now and taking a look inside. Tell us if you notice anything out of the ordinary or provide a picture.

To identify where the leak is, you will have to remove all of the water from your water gun completely, from the reservoir, pressure chamber, and internals. Put the water gun's internals in a full tub of water (a bath tub works good) and pump the pump with the water intake sticking into the air. The air will work it's way through the system and you should see bubbles where the leak is.

Afterwards, dry off your water gun thoroughly. Wait for it to be completely dry before continuing. Get some sand paper and a strong bonding glue such as epoxy. Tapes do not seal under pressure if you were wondering (I get a lot of emails about people who "fixed" leaks with tape - it doesn't work!).

Sand off the crack or the hole. The sanding helps the glue bond better. Then, apply the epoxy, but be sure not to clog the pipe or tube with it. Put just enough epoxy to fill in the hole or crack sufficiently. Too much will cause it to dry slower and probably not add much strength.

Hope this helps. Let us know if the problem is not a leak so we can think of other possibilities.

:)

zortman66
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Joined: Mon Jun 26, 2006 1:29 am

Post by zortman66 » Mon Jun 26, 2006 1:50 am

Is opening up the gun that easy? I'm afraid I'm going to damage the gun even more by opening it up. I understand the only way to fix it is to open it, I've just never done this before.

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SSCBen
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Post by SSCBen » Mon Jun 26, 2006 1:52 am

Nothing bad will happen if you open the water gun. From what I've read about opening the Monster XL, the hardest part is making sure you have removed every screw because there are so many.

zortman66
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Post by zortman66 » Mon Jun 26, 2006 2:01 am

Thanks a lot for the quick responses. I'll let you guys know how the operation goes!

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Mon Jun 26, 2006 6:46 pm

Make sure you keep track of the screws--yes, I understand it will work perfectly well with only a fraction of the original screws, but it's good to know which type goes where and to keep as many as possible. On a sheet of paper, draw a rough outline of the parts of the gun where the screws go and tape the screws onto the paper as you remove them. The MXL shouldn't be that hard to open--in contrast, I'm having trouble removing the red pump cap of my CPS 4100!

Peter MJ
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Post by Peter MJ » Tue Jun 27, 2006 6:50 pm

Opening a Monster XL is not that difficult, in fact it is one of the easiest to open, just a lot of work keeping track of all the screws ;) . As far as I can remember, there are three different lengths of screws used for the body alone. So marking them when removing the screws helps a great deal when putting the gun back together. The internals are quite straightforward; so removing them and putting them back in place should not be that difficult. Depending where the problem with the gun is, repairing it could be a bigger hurdle, especially if the valves or pressure chambers are damaged. One has to keep in mind that these are generally under a lot of pressure, so if these parts need to be glued this has to be done solidly or else the problem will re-emerge. One thing that puzzled me though was your comment that water was left in the gun. Was there any water left in the pressure chambers or just in the tank? One should take care to remove any residual water from the gun, as even it does not cause any problems, the water will go bad and smell of it can be quite nauseating.

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Jadefalcon09
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Post by Jadefalcon09 » Wed Jul 19, 2006 4:10 am

zortman66 wrote:I made the terrible mistake of leaving my Monster XL in the garage with a little water left in it over the winter. When spring finally arrived, I took my Monster XL, filled it up, and when I pumped it, the water just leaked out of the bottom. I'm positive the water left in the gun froze, expanded, and cracked something inside. I know NOTHING about fixing water guns, and I DO NOT want to throw away this amazing gun. What should I do? Is there somewhere I could send it to be fixed? Can anyone give me a step by step on fixing it myself? Any information will be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks!

How is this repair coming along zort? From my point of view, this sounds and feels like to me, a loose connection somewhere around the reservoir. You will need to open the gun to check it out. If there is a crack in the tubing, follow the procedure outlined above to fix it. Depending on the situation, I would say you have a 75% chance of fixing the gun perfectly, heck even higher than that. Check it out and see whats up. Operate the gun open so you see what is going on during actual use.

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NiborDude
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Post by NiborDude » Wed Jul 19, 2006 9:18 pm

Actually I think his assumption that the frozen water broke the pipes is correct. I fixed this problem for Belisaurius's Monster X.
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<span style='color:EEF2F7'>Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes! -Leonardo Da Vinci

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