Tippmann Factory F/A Rebuild

[Cdn_Cuda]

Picked this up locally with some other treasures. Wasn’t familiar with this model of Tippmann, but it’s pretty wild. Has a hand-wound cyclone, a selector switch and two oil filled cyclinders that affect the firing rate. All in all, it’s a pretty unique model that paved the way for A-5s.



Upon initial air up, and to no surprise, this leaks and needs a rebuild. So when I get a chance I’ll start disassembling it and see if we can get this old beast slinging balls!

[Jordan]

This should be useful:

[Cdn_Cuda]

I’m hoping to avoid having to do much to these cylinders but we’ll see how it goes. Regardless, this will be very helpful, thanks!

[Meleager7]

grrrreat grab!!! psssst.....if you end up fixing it, and ever put up for sale, PM me.......

[Meleager7]

man , you fast on the draw !!

[Toestr]

Prolite valves are just as much of a pain to put together as they are to take apart (even with a 1/2" snap ring). I forget exactly how I did mine but iirc it involved a hand clamp and small socket.

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[Jordan]

Don't take the Star Feeder apart if you don't have to... the clockspring inside is tricky to put back in once it's popped out, and there are metal dowels inside that like to disappear.

Aaaand, don't over-wind the feeder.... I used to do 10-15 complete revolutions and then periodically wound it a couple times during games.

[William the Third]

How conveniently timed, as I too also recently picked up a Factory F/A that needs a rebuild.

[BigRed]

Nice find...what were the other treasures? Don't hold out on us!

[Cdn_Cuda]

Definitely. Off local Craigslist of all places as well. So it was relative safe from the rest of the vultures. The Palmer will be the next up on my repair list. Sydarm works

[BigRed]

A four alarm fire for this one! Do what you gotta do in this case!

[Cdn_Cuda]

Some things are worth living in the dog house over. This was one of those cases.

[BigRed]

Didn't someone's avatar used to be the mechanical action of an FA in motion on the old site? I want to say it was RuleOfSines for some reason.

[Cdn_Cuda]

So I got the easy stuff removed, but can’t get the hammer, power tube or valve out. Hammer won’t seem to exit out the back, power tube won’t budge. Yes, all bolts removed. Top sear is still there but oil cylinders removed. Any tricks for the Jedi masters?

[Jordan]

Top sears come off (with cylinder assembly) to remove the hammer - should be a "u" shaped spring that slides out the back once the back cap is off, to take the tension off. Then the cylinder assembly should have a couple of locking screws that get removed and the assembly slid off the site rail.

Is the valve stop out? Small wedge of metal held in by the front grip screw area on the frame.

[Cdn_Cuda]

Thanks! I’ll get those parts off.

[Cdn_Cuda]

And to no surprise your were right on both accounts. Everything is out now! That small wedge was easy to miss even when I have that piece above it removed.

[Cdn_Cuda]

Let’s get down to business:

Unhinge the hand guard, in the usualy fashion


Next I’ll remove the two bolts that hold the cyclone to the body. This make it easier to work on the body.



Once the cyclone bolts are removed you can access the detent screw and plate, as shown below. Having replaced many detents on A5s and 98s in the past, I really appreciate the detent being so accessible. Note: I am just using red macro to point out the detent plate.



And here’s the detent plate, screw and bead detent removed. Standard Tippmann detents still work with these.

And finally, once I put the detent back in you can see it will do it’s job. If you are continuing to disassemble the marker leave the detent out. Set the screw and plate safely aside for now.

[Cdn_Cuda]

Next, we turn our attention to trigger frame. There are four bolts you need to remove remove the grip frame, as well as removing the airline itself. Here you can see the seer as I am starting removing the trigger frame.



The airline has a pressure fitting that is easy to remove.



You’ll also need to remove the threaded adaptor from the body entirely to remove the internal. I used a deep socket to take it off.

[Cdn_Cuda]

With the air line removed and the grip frame free, I’ll turn to the top of the marker. There are two bolts that hold this in place. An upper bolt (maybe acting as a sight?) and a lower one that must be loosened.



You can the. Slide the front sight off the rail and set it aside.

You can now see the screws that hold the oil-filled cylinders in place, along with their adjustment screws. The two screws can be removed and the cylinders can be slide off the rail.


Now the only thing left on the to of the gun is the two sear mechanisms. These do not need to be fully removed, but we’ll have to deal with them a little more.

[Cdn_Cuda]

Still focusing on the top of the marker, we need to turn our attention to the cocking rod. This is set inside the body and was under the sight and cylinders. Notice the orings on the sear mechanism? We’ll be removing that in due course. But you can see the silver sear mechanisms and the cocker rod.



The cocking rod is recessed, but east removed. Flip the marker upside down and tap to use gravity or just use a pick to pull the rod out.



At this point the bolt is free and can be removed. Mine clearly has not been removed for a very, very long time and was pretty gross.

[Cdn_Cuda]

Also by thins point you’ve likely noticed the drive spring in the background. You can remove the end cap, drive spring and pin and set them aside. This exposes the metal clip that holds the sear mechanisms in place and applies tension. We need to remove those clip, seen above the hammer:


I just used a small flathead screwdriver and lightly pried the pin out. Below shows the pin partially removed.



And here and the sear mechanisms freed from the oppression of that pin, just hanging loose. Note: in order to remained the hammer and other internals these seats will need to be flipped like this, otherwise the sear catches the internals. (And a special thank you to Jordan for timely instructions!). You see the hammer sliding out in the picture below.