Well, it is quite apparent, here, that I won my battle against the Sage Rats (Cal Ground Squirrels - a burrowing niusance).
Who'da thunk'd that I could beat a rodent?
Well, they're just not around anymore, and have been absent now for a good two years.
In these lean times, my Beeman has just been leaning in a corner, collecting dust; pressure gauge registers ø
So, I do the 120 or so AB crunches that it takes to go from zero to 2000psi, and I take it out, and take aim at my favorite property line stake, and, ping, it barely registers a sound of any air movement at all. And, as a bonus, I've got a pellet stuck in the barrel.
So, I try multiple rapid cocking and firings, and finally I get a slight pop, more like a bloop, just barely. but, it cleared the pellet. So, I try again; stuck pellet number two. Did I let that stop me? nope, I loaded a second pellet, and, masterfully, I get two pellets stuck in the barrel now. brilliance.
So, i find a piece of dowel rod that fits the barrel perfectly, and, I dislodge the two stuck pellets. And I try another dry-firing, and barely get a fart out of it, at 2k.psi - something amiss again in the valve.
So, I apply the degassing tool that screws into the breach, and, pushes against the hammer contact pin for the high pressure valve, to drain off the pressure through the barrel [kisses offf that 120 pumps of the hand pump); and, even that sure fire pressure bleed tool barely makes the valve allow for air to pass.
No problem, I've had that thing apart a hundred times. Piece of cake then,....
oh crap, I don't recognize any of this ****, and a two years later moment follows.
In fact, it only fires due to my DIY improv. overhaul of the valve poppet seat and seal. That DIY overhaul seems like the issue here, as it had failed before in early design attempts, and failed somewhat similar to these symptoms.
Jumps in with tools blazing,....
Damn!
I broke the rifle down to bare parts, and, dove into the valve expecting to find my DIY fix to be at fault.
Nope, it held up perfectly; JB-Weld is an amazing epoxy.
Then, it took me close to 10 hours to reassemble the workings (have to break it down to purely base essence nude parts).
I pump it up halfway, and, try a dry-fire - nada, just barely a poop. WTF? Pressure relief tool, round two.
This time, with the rifle back to bare parts, I cleaned and polished every nut, bolt and interface, and lubed them. But, I'd been told to never lube the high pressure regions of the rifle, as it operates at pressure that cause manual dieseling, just like a true diesel motor.
So, this time, I lubed the inner valve working with White Lithium grease, and, I put a small dab on the valve poppet and aluminum valve body seat, and reassembled yet again; this time quite a bit quicker, and sure in assembly. temporary brain fade, I reckon.
I put the hand pump to the pressure inlet one-way valve, and start pumping, and give it the 120 AB crunches, again, and get to 2k psi. I take it outside, and dry-fire, and get a rather loud pop just like the old days. A pellet loaded, and, blam, it goes perfectly.
Now, in recent years, my DIY fix leaked. but it held pressure better than the Beeman high pressure valve. But, this overhaul, with the dab of white lithium grease added to the poppet/valve seat interface, it is holding pressure tenaciously. Its been a week now, and I haven;t lost a single pound of pressure. Its all I ever wanted, to hold pressure while it is in storage; and all it took was to break the rule of never adding lube to the high pressure zone.
I know, I know, its likely a temporary fix again. But, its been a week since I had to pump it. Prior, I'd have to give it 40 pumps a day to maintain that pressure for a week.
Yay! small victory celebrated.
now I just need some rodents to use it on.
