CA M15A4 Rebuild

[Meades93]

Hi guys,
After 7 years on zeroin i had a peek here and that confirmed that the other place is dying so ive flown south and migrated here
 

I've been out the sport for a few years now but swinging back round to it again.I have a CA M15A4 which was my main until I left, however It has an issue where sometimesthe trigger will lock or the power will just cut out out of nowhereAnyway, my aim is instead of fault finding and what notI'd rather take the money I'd typically spend on another AEG and rebuild my current one from the inside out.I want to replace almost everything if i have to, gearbox although finding a replacement seems quite difficult, motor etcI'm looking for advice as I'm not fully aware of all the internals in an AEG.How would people recommend I do this?I'd like to build something ultra reliable work horse that's accurate.If I could get some tips on a potential shopping list. Or a list of everything to replace or just advice in general I'd really appreciate itThanks

 

[Sawyer]

I'm not tech so can't help in a lot of ways, but the trigger locking up in semj is common with AEGs, and can be solved with making sure you completely pull the trigger and release every time, or getting yourself a mosfet. 

 

[Skara]

Check for air leaks (piston head, cylinder head, nozzle, nozzle to chamber alignment, hop rubber to barrel in this order). replace if needed.

Check for damaged gears/piston rack, replace if needed.

Check the trigger contacts. give them a good cleaning.

Check the hop rubber condition, if it's old or damaged, replace with a prometheus purple.

Basic stuff really, nothing too complicated.

Optional:

Install a mosfet/fcu of some sort, it helps with trigger lock ups and gives some room for performance customization (most importantly it saves your trigger contacts from dying when using a 11.1v battery)

High Torque motor + 13:1 gears for increased trigger response

Harder spring/tighter barrel for muzzle energy increase (mind you, there is NO visible difference between a 1J gun and a 1.1J one, they both have the same performance)

Your CA M4 has a bog standard V2 gearbox, there are billions of spare parts/upgrades available for every budget range you can think of..

Go have a look at Negative Airsoft on youtube, shows that you can get good results without spending a fortune!

 

[Meades93]

Thank you for the replies. 

Ive always wanted to install a mosfet anyway as i love the idea of a 3 round burst, the M15A4 came with a high torque motor but i bought that thing used back in 2011 so would it be an idea to replace the motor when installing a mosfet?, as for gearbox, is there anything complete out there that could be a drop in? ive had a shop around the internet today looking for completes but not many place seem to sell them. i know i may not need to replace the gearbox but im just thinking worst case scenario

Its also still running large tamiya connections, where i typically use 8.4v 3300s as the large solid stock has a tonne of space. would it also be ideal to move to lipo at this point?

i just want to create something that i know i can rely on, pick up take a few beatings and perform.

 

[Skara]

Avoid new shells, unless yours is cracked. Can screw up the alignments.

Best thing you can do to your current shell is to radius it (plenty of guides online), takes 3 minutes and increases the shell's durability.

If the motor is still going, don't change it.

Again, don't fix what is not broken.

As I said a mosfet is not mandatory but it's nice to have.

A 7.4v LiPo will (out)match your 8.4v performance and it won't discharge over time or suffer from cold temperatures, no memory effect either. The con is that it requires a dedicated charger and needs some care when charging/storing them. Less mAh but who cares, batteries are cheap these days and you can carry a spare on you.