Paintball

[druid]

LMAO....I saw your edit reason....

40 x 0.5 = 20 ms + 8ms for the first blink = 28ms so you want a total of 41 blinks for a 28ms dwell.

The average working dwell for the 360 is around 25 ms. On a stock board that's 33 blinks for a dwell of 24ms. You were able to make the marker function at a low dwell and quite frankly, you are one of those "lucky" ones that got a working 360 at all...let alone get a dwell that low.
The reason I Upgraded it a few is because when setting the dwell, you should go 2-3 blinks above the minimum cycle rate to aid against shootdown. We both know that - but right now I'm more concerned about your erratic 10 fps spread...

I know you said you got it to cycle at 7 (blinks, I'm assuming) which is 11ms and is why you Upgraded it to 14 (blinks, again I'm assuming) which is 14.5ms of dwell time because you also knew you should go a few blinks over minimum dwell cycle time.

I know for a fact that your +/-10fps spread on the chrono is because your dwell is too low (even at 22 blinks for an 18.5ms dwell) and if you want better consistency over the chrono, you need to increase your dwell time.

This is another reason we (myself and people like me) tell others to avoid the 360. Adding it does very little for the marker because when it's tuned properly, there are few differences comparing the board settings of a bone-stock Ion to a 360 equipped one.

For instance. back when my Ion was still stock, I added an ANS qev. What a horrible mistake. The ANS is the one Smart Parts sold prior to designing the 360...and it's just crap. When it didn't leak, my dwell was 49 blinks on the stock board to get +/- 6fps at the chrono. That's 32ms dwell and the stock dwell of 52 blinks is a dwell of 33.5ms. What 'savings' did I get? Pfffffft.....

I tried to mount an Eclipse QEV and found it to be way too tall for the frame. So I wasted $40 on 2 QEVs that I couldn't use and then I got the Clippard for another $20. $60 later...my God...what a difference. The stock board cycled at 6 blinks (10.5ms) and I ran it at 15 blinks (15ms) for a consistency of +/-2fps over the chrono. Mind you, the only thing I did to it was the QEV.

Now...I'm running the Spitfire with MAC noid and a TechT L6 bolt and Clippard QEV. The Spitfire dwell is measured in 1ms increments starting at ZERO. My marker fires at 105-110 input psi with a ZERO ms dwell but is off at the chrono with a 14 fps spread. That's unacceptable to me...lol. I reset the dwell to 5ms and get an average spread of +/-0-1 fps for any given shot with a 10 shot string and at any speed (ROF). I don't want to be the one getting pulled off the field by roaming chronos when someone whines because he thinks that I might be 'hot.' I chrono all my markers 5 fps under the field limit so there's no griping.

Having such a large gap in the fps (yes, 10 fps is a large gap IMO) only serves to cause you some troubles on the field. If you currently chrono at a lowest speed of 275, you'd breech a field speed rule of 280 at some point in the day. It will also keep you from staying on-target from shot to shot. One ball launched at your highest speed of say...280fps, hits the intended target but the next ball launched at 270 fps drops several inches...possibly missing the target all together.

Accuracy and efficiency kind of go hand-in-hand in this respect. When chronod at the same speed each time, your marker is more efficient for you (not necessarily GAS efficient though...that requires a few more mods/aftermarket products) because it works relatively the same way for you on each shot. This is why I say raise your dwell. Get your paint at nearly the same speed for each shot and your marker's more consistent for you over the course of the day.

[sdawg]

Well... alright. I'm going to try a dwell of 34.

Does the stock ion reg require any time to break in to produce consistent velocities?

[druid]

yes. Even the absolute best regs (AKA 2 Liter and Evolve Pi) require some break-in time. My stock Ion reg took about 4-5 cases, cleaned and greased after every 1/2 case during that time. Right between the 4th and 5th case, everything started to level out. After that, I greased and cleaned the reg after every case/case and-a-half. There have been reports that the stock reg took more or less than mine so it's possible that yours could settle-in sooner or later than mine did. I've seen posts where it took up to 9 cases to break in so it's not out of the realm of possibilities that yours just needs a little more shooting than others.

According to YDNA and Chiumanfu (uber tech weenies found on here, Nation, Ion Owners, and other sites), who have done flow tests (dyno, I think) with measuring equipment, say the stock reg is actually an excellent reg. I tend to agree but I personally think it's an ugly design and it didn't 'flow' with my marker scheme. I would have kept the stock reg if I kept the marker near-stock but I didn't...

Another thing that gets overlooked a lot is that Dwell time=Recharge time. That's the length of time the bolt is forward, releasing the stored air (firing the paintball) and refilling to load for the next shot. Just adding a QEV but keeping a stock bolt will only marginally grant you savings because the stock bolt is too heavy. The QEV aids in cycle times because it dumps the air so it doesn't have to back-track through the noid...but the stock bolt is still the heaviest and requires more time (ms) and (volume of) air to move it than a lighter bolt (say...a Lucky bolt, TechT, etc.) and still requires an otherwise, higher dwell to move and reciprocate that mass(ive bolt). Since the stock bolt has greater mass and is lesser flowing, changes to the air cycle times can cause deficiencies at the chrono and play Hell with air usage.

Notice I left ROF out of the picture so far...heehee...

If you want the ability to lower your dwell to what others have done (especially with the 360), you need to decrease the mass (weight) of the bolt and make it higher flowing (volume). Right now I'm using a (discontinued model) TechT V2 bolt that has the dual tail Orings but it's installed in a Stage 5 (original) body. I'd be using the LBM V3 but it doesn't fit my breech (being it's a custom body and LE, that happens).

I don't knw how the mods would feel about it but here's a link to a thread I started on another forum. It's a listing of people's Ions, their upgrades and the board settings they use. As people add their settings, I add them to the first post:

Ion Owners-board settings thread

If I were to suggest adding only one more upgrade, it would be a better bolt. There are about 15 to pick from and some of them seem to be just hap-hazard copies of the stock bolt. In most cases, they are lighter than the stock but a few "aftermarkets" perform just as poorly.
Things to look for in a bolt include larger more aerodynamic flow chanels, lighter overall weight, breech-fit and resistance in the breech (friction). I created an aftermarket upgrades thread in this forum. Find "bolts" and decide what you like/what fits your budget. MCarterBrown thread HERE

The original list can be found here (for accuracy purposes): Original Ion Owners list HERE

My personal suggestions would be either a Lucky or TechT.

[sdawg]

Thanks for all the info... very helpful. I probably won't be doing much to upgrade my ion. I just want to get consistent velocities out of it.

[SportsJunky]

Ok well i finaly got all my parts in and i ordered a l6 but recieved a l7, which is pretty lucky. I have the qev as well now but i dont know how to install it with the 3 holes i know one goes in the gun one to the hose, but clueless on the 3rd.

thanks

[druid]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

Ok well i finaly got all my parts in and i ordered a l6 but recieved a l7, which is pretty lucky. I have the qev as well now but i dont know how to install it with the 3 holes i know one goes in the gun one to the hose, but clueless on the 3rd.

thanks

you screw the QEV into the firing chamber at the middle banjo fitting and attach the tube to it. That's it. The hole on the other side of the QEV is where it vents...there's nothing to put in there.

[sdawg]

Some instructions on the Nation