mfrench
Addicted Member
explaining, ^,.....
The Beeman high-pressure air valve is a faulty design. It leaks. I've tried numerous times to get it corrected in warranty (I lived close to Beeman, and, was able to hand-carry warranty work, same day in and out). Even with having been given a whole new air chamber tube under warranty, and all of the high-pressure air works, it kept failing.
So, when the warranty ended, I tried modifying the valve on my own, trying to get it to hold air. At least my DIY mod worked better than the Beeman stock units. My DIY fix was a nylon washer, and slow-dry JB-Weld to the end of the plastic valve poppet.
Well, my fix kept working, just alright, but satisfying enough. It worked for a few years, in fact.
Then the rifle got shelved, because I ran out of Ground Squirrels.
When I pumped it up, recently, and tried to shoot it again, after a couple of years of being shelved, it pumped to pressure just fine, but, something in the valve was stuck, and, it wouldn't shoot. So, I disassembled it again for the odd hundredths of times, and I lubed all of the works, and, it fired again. And, it seemed to hold perfect pressure this time, as I had applied some grease to the valve seat on reassembling it all. I was ecstatic. This worked out for the better part of a month.
Well, I store the rifle in a corner of the bedroom, in a slot beside a dresser. Its out of the way there. We also sleep with the cat on the bed, as she insists on being there.
We were all asleep, when suddenly at like 1am, my DIY fix, the nylon washer at the poppet valve seat, which had lasted a few years, it failed, and cracked into a "C" shape, producing a lot cracking pop, and then a long extended air escaping hissing noise as 2000lbs of pressure leaked out the "C" crack in the nylon washer.
Sarge and I sat straight up, and Kitty, she hit the ceiling, and was clawed in up there until things settled.
So, for the umpteenth time, I tore into the rifle again, as the valve is the deepest part of it, and the heart of the system.
In the ensuing years, I had found a person that turned me a new valve poppet out of white delrin plastic, to the exact specs of the OE poppet. So, I tried it, and had to reassemble everything in order to pump up the air chamber, and,.... guess what?,..... it leaked as well.
So, I tired polishing the valve seat, but that met with various levels of fail. I tried re-epoxying a new washer to the poppet, and fail. I tried spinning both the new poppet and washer repired poppet, and melt them into compliance, so to mate it to the valve seat,... various layers of failure, and leaking.
Finally, in desperation, I took a Dremel grinding bit, and, chucked it into my hand-drill, and, slowly rotated the grinder bits end grain, and slightly ground a new seat in the aluminum body of the valve. It worked, and I was able to pump to 2k, and it passed the soap in water leak bubble test.
That is,.... it worked until the first shot was fired. Then it was unable to find its seat again, and leaked. This time, I lost 2k.psi in just a few hours.
As one last try, I chucked the grinding bit into the Dremel motor, and, used the lead end to grind the valve seat from the inside, to create a larger freshly lapped valve seat, and also did the spin-in burnishing of the plastic poppet end, the palstic half of the valve seat interface. and, this time,... it worked. It held pressure, and, I've since dialed in the scope, and, shot it likely 20 times at a sighting target/pellet trap, and, then repumped it for a two night pressure holding test to monitor, and even after having shot it a bunch of times, we are still holding pressure, perfectly. And it has held now for three days. This might just work out well.
I spent a lot of time with a disassembled Beeman this past week.
The Beeman high-pressure air valve is a faulty design. It leaks. I've tried numerous times to get it corrected in warranty (I lived close to Beeman, and, was able to hand-carry warranty work, same day in and out). Even with having been given a whole new air chamber tube under warranty, and all of the high-pressure air works, it kept failing.
So, when the warranty ended, I tried modifying the valve on my own, trying to get it to hold air. At least my DIY mod worked better than the Beeman stock units. My DIY fix was a nylon washer, and slow-dry JB-Weld to the end of the plastic valve poppet.
Well, my fix kept working, just alright, but satisfying enough. It worked for a few years, in fact.
Then the rifle got shelved, because I ran out of Ground Squirrels.
When I pumped it up, recently, and tried to shoot it again, after a couple of years of being shelved, it pumped to pressure just fine, but, something in the valve was stuck, and, it wouldn't shoot. So, I disassembled it again for the odd hundredths of times, and I lubed all of the works, and, it fired again. And, it seemed to hold perfect pressure this time, as I had applied some grease to the valve seat on reassembling it all. I was ecstatic. This worked out for the better part of a month.
Well, I store the rifle in a corner of the bedroom, in a slot beside a dresser. Its out of the way there. We also sleep with the cat on the bed, as she insists on being there.
We were all asleep, when suddenly at like 1am, my DIY fix, the nylon washer at the poppet valve seat, which had lasted a few years, it failed, and cracked into a "C" shape, producing a lot cracking pop, and then a long extended air escaping hissing noise as 2000lbs of pressure leaked out the "C" crack in the nylon washer.
Sarge and I sat straight up, and Kitty, she hit the ceiling, and was clawed in up there until things settled.
So, for the umpteenth time, I tore into the rifle again, as the valve is the deepest part of it, and the heart of the system.
In the ensuing years, I had found a person that turned me a new valve poppet out of white delrin plastic, to the exact specs of the OE poppet. So, I tried it, and had to reassemble everything in order to pump up the air chamber, and,.... guess what?,..... it leaked as well.
So, I tired polishing the valve seat, but that met with various levels of fail. I tried re-epoxying a new washer to the poppet, and fail. I tried spinning both the new poppet and washer repired poppet, and melt them into compliance, so to mate it to the valve seat,... various layers of failure, and leaking.
Finally, in desperation, I took a Dremel grinding bit, and, chucked it into my hand-drill, and, slowly rotated the grinder bits end grain, and slightly ground a new seat in the aluminum body of the valve. It worked, and I was able to pump to 2k, and it passed the soap in water leak bubble test.
That is,.... it worked until the first shot was fired. Then it was unable to find its seat again, and leaked. This time, I lost 2k.psi in just a few hours.
As one last try, I chucked the grinding bit into the Dremel motor, and, used the lead end to grind the valve seat from the inside, to create a larger freshly lapped valve seat, and also did the spin-in burnishing of the plastic poppet end, the palstic half of the valve seat interface. and, this time,... it worked. It held pressure, and, I've since dialed in the scope, and, shot it likely 20 times at a sighting target/pellet trap, and, then repumped it for a two night pressure holding test to monitor, and even after having shot it a bunch of times, we are still holding pressure, perfectly. And it has held now for three days. This might just work out well.
I spent a lot of time with a disassembled Beeman this past week.
