Macdev Drone 2 solenoid leak

[Macdave06]

Picked up a couple of Drone 2s to repair. Previous owner had replaced the o-rings and said they sounded like they were leaking from the solenoid. One needs a battery harness but the other I've gone through and re-replaced the o-rings, matching up what was on there. I've also opened up the solenoid other than pulling the main shaft and oiled the o-rings and greased the mating surfaces.

I also pulled the regulator out of the grip and replaced those o-rings. It does shoot but sounds kind if loud for a modern gun. I can screw in the reg adjustment and zero it out so I assume theres not a reg seat I'm missing. This seems to be a fairly common problem so is there a common solution?

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[Alexndl]

Not sure if that help but Macdev use a mix of SAE and Metric oring on my clone... the list is in the manual on Macdev website
might be one reasont to be louder but not sure

https://macdevpaintball.com/support/

[imped4now]

Unless it's a Clone 5, it and the Drone 2 share very little in common.

[Trbo323]

Chrono it. If it's loud and leaking what you could have is an over pressure situation. Most modern markers will vent through the noid if you are feeding them too much pressure to avoid damage.

If your velocity is high, could just need some adjustment or your problem is in the regulator

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[Macdave06]

Not sure if that help but Macdev use a mix of SAE and Metric oring on my clone... the list is in the manual on Macdev website
might be one reasont to be louder but not sure

https://macdevpaintball.com/support/

As far as I can tell watching the rebuild video, the drone 2 is all sae o-rings, but maybe I missed something.

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[imped4now]

It is until you get down to the solenoid spool.

[imped4now]

Just to be clear, the solenoid spool seals should be greased, not oiled.

That era of MD solenoids tended to be a bit inconsistent from what I've seen, both on the valve body and pilot sides. I highly doubt you want to drop much money on them, but if you want a dead reliable Drone 2, give it the following:

- Updated purging HPR (the one with the green piston)

- Prime solenoid (these are dead ass reliable)

- Red can and Gold bolt

[Macdave06]

Just to be clear, the solenoid spool seals should be greased, not oiled.

That era of MD solenoids tended to be a bit inconsistent from what I've seen, both on the valve body and pilot sides. I highly doubt you want to drop much money on them, but if you want a dead reliable Drone 2, give it the following:

- Updated purging HPR (the one with the green piston)

- Prime solenoid (these are dead ass reliable)

- Red can and Gold bolt

Yeah. As you said not really worth dumping that kind of money into a $250 gun.

I'm assuming since you mentioned the purging reg piston that the stock one doesn't vent when it's over-pressurized?

I'm thinking maybe the reg seats are bad and maybe it damaged the o-rings on the solenoid spool. It didn't seem like the spool wanted to come out so that's why I dropped oil in vs grease. Should the spool just pull out of the housing?

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[imped4now]

By purging, I mean that it vents the shot chamber when you degas. It's not an over-pressure feature. The updated HPR also has a much larger tank regulator output acceptance range - it's the same regulator in all of their spools from the Clone 5s to the current XTS and XDR.

The HPR seat is very easy to check and is also flippable. I'd be surprised if the spool seals are damaged but yes, it should just pull out for you to check.

Also an FYI - the Prime solenoid has a built-in overpressure feature that's not present on the previous era solenoids, as well. If you can hunt down a used/spare Prime solenoid, that would be worthwhile IMO, both for the improved valve body AND the more reliable pilot.