self-destruction of the Ion

Well, that was a lesson learned.

I'm not an idiot because I tend to believe I have some common sense: like not applying too much pressure to a screw or else you may strip the threads. But today, on a whim, because I hadn't test-fired my marker since the last time I cleaned and lubed it, I decided to put the air tank on just to dry-fire it once or twice.

And after I heard the satisfying "hiss" of the tank's pin-valve making contact with the Ion, I started to hear a constant but much quieter "hissing" noise. Uh oh. I listened carefully and determined that the leak was coming from the front of the marker - either the breach or the regulator itself. At first I even thought perhaps the marker was supposed to leak if the barrel was not on right (then I came to my senses and realized, no that can't be right - the barrel has nothing to do with the air system; it's just there to aim your paint when you shoot.

So I took the tank off, made sure the regulator read zero-pressure, and proceeded to strip the marker... all the while I hadn't noticed that the front-grip was a little loose (I'll get back to this later). Anyway, so with the grip off, I started to check the banjo-fitting that connects the regulator to the rest of the marker... I pushed the AllenWrench into the slot and gave it a gentle twist. Nothing too hard. There was a little give but I had intentionally left it like that the last time I closed it up.

But well... if there's a leak...

I gave a bit more pressure. And then... "pop." Well, it didn't actually make any noise because it turns out that the screw is a relatively soft metal. Photos speak louder than words, however.

Here's the broken banjo-fitting... which in itself is not too bad. That's about a $12 mistake I just made.
And below is the "screw-end" that was stuck in the hole after it broke off. This is what really scared me. The following 2 photos show how the piece cannot be pushed up from below so it's a matter of "pulling" it out.


As luck would have it, I happen to have a drill-bit just the right size. Wrapping double-sided tape around the bit, I was able to make a "reverse-clamp" and unscrew the broken piece back out. It could have been a lot worse: maybe it wasn't a hollow screw that might have broken in there. Or I just happened not to have a screw-driver or drill-bit that was small enough...

What REALLY drives me up the wall after the fact (besides the fact that the local pro-shop is not open on Sundays or Mondays) is that I realize after removing the regulator from the grip that it was loose... in fact it was probably loosened the first time I was at the chrono-station. That is, I now believe the "leak" had nothing to do with the banjo fitting at all, and if I had thought to check the fore-grip FIRST and made sure to screw it in all the way, I never would have attempted to open up the marker and adjust the banjo (which was probably already just fine the way it was! ARGH!