My L85 plans – a spanner in the works

[NickM]

Hi all,

Well I was supposed to be getting an ICS L85A2 today, but the shop I was getting it from have sold out and there will be a wait for at least 2 weeks till they get a delivery. I’m a noob and while chatting with some guys today I was told by quite a few that doing anything to the gearbox of the L85 and L86 is really difficult, and that they struggle, one was the gun tech for a team.

So, is it as bad as I’ve been told, should I ditch my plans to get one and buy something else instead. I’m thinking something that would be easy ish to learn to work on and maybe come back to my L85A2 plans in a year or 2. Or do I plough ahead and get the L85 anyway and just man up and try to figure it out when something goes wrong.

Thanks in advance for any advice,

Nick

 

[Saltyyy]

Get the new G&G one, by far the best on the market (So I've been told..)

 

[Hubert]

You sure they mean ARES/Star and not ICS? (Wouldn't be the first time someone's done that)

The ARES L85/L86, I know for a fact, are a down right nightmare. The ICS is easy by comparison, but if you're not technically minded, it could be tricky. (That said, gearboxes in general can be tricky to work with if you're not good with mechanics)

The G&G is somewhere in between the ICS and the ARES.

If you're really not sure (and you don't get an answer you're happy with from the forum), you could always ask your retailer if they have any guns with easy (and reliable) gearboxes.

 

[Airsoft-Ed]

It depends what you want to do.

ICS L85s can't take mosfets I don't think, but I don't think that matters. The gears, motor, gearbox shell and everything else are flawless. My ICS L85 is the best gun I own by a mile.

Easily the best L85 AEG on the market.

 

[Panoptes]

You dodged a bullet there. The ARES is the better replica.

Granted the gearbox is fiddly to get to but also has a quick change spring like the ICS. How often to you need to get to the gearbox anyway?

 

[NickM]

Basically a couple of guys said they were a pig to open up, to clean or replace any parts. One claimed to be the gun tech for his team, and that he had taken them apart and found them to be a nightmare to get apart and then do anything to. There wasn’t anything about reliability, the retailer also owns one ( but he’s been fixing guns for ages) but I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going for something I won’t be able to fix once it’s out of warranty

I've found a video of the reassembly of the ICS L85 gearbox and it looks ( I haven't worked on any gearboxes) easier than say a V2 or V3 gearbox, mainly because the spring and spring guide can be put in after the gears are reassembled and secured with the cover. I’m fairly technically minded so I’d actually be quite happy to give it a go.

I knew there were different makes of L85 and had assumed that the gearbox would be relatively similar for each, maybe he thought I was talking about the ARES.

Sounds like the ICS isn't as bad as they were making out.

Thanks A-Ed, Hubert, and Salty

 

[Airsoft-Ed]

The only major components of the ICS are the hop unit, trigger mech and the gearbox/motor and ALL the parts can be bought online from a great many places, the trigger mech and the gearbox and motor can be bought as one piece units.

The gearbox is SO easy to get to it's untrue, taking it apart is a pleasure - I can change the spring in under a minute EASY, it also has an adjustable spring, 3 settings for everything from CQB to DMR fps levels, and the icing on the cake is that it comes with 2 hi-caps.

What plans do you have for it?

 

[NickM]

Cheers Ed thats pretty much what it looked like on the video.

No plans for it at the moment although a few guys said gearboxes were often either over or under greased ( not that I'd know at this point). Just thinking into the future and if I'll be buying something I can't look after propperly. I'll look at upgrading parts when it's not in warranty or if the parts won't void the warranty (if it ain't broke and all that). I've been looking at the stuff you and Hubert have done to yours as a bit of a guide at this point.

 

[Airsoft-Ed]

Finius would be a good person to talk to as well, by the sounds of it his L85 is basically god in gun form lol.

If you want to know anything specific about mine then let me know and I'll help the best I can.

 

[Hubert]

My LSW's gearbox was over-greased, but to be frank, I didn't notice and it wasn't until a tech told me that I realised.

If you're looking at what I did to my LSW as a guide - I wouldn't, what I did was done as quickly and cheaply as possible, and with little knowledge of what I was doing, and the results have been pretty poor. (not to mention I was given bogus information...)

Ed and Finius however, have taken guns which work brilliantly, and turned them into even better shooters. Do what they did :lol:

The L85 carbine is fine, shooting at 300 (lowest setting, 0.2g), and I have no intentions of opening it up until I actually have to. (I don't want to mod it just incase I repeat what I did to my poor LSW...) The hop isn't great, but as I use .28g it doesn't matter too much, sort of counter-balances it.

(To make this clear- they're fine, and incredibly easy to maintain. BUT - if, like me, you try to do something despite having no technical skills, you can quite easily break it).

 

[NickM]

Thanks Hubert, definitely think I'll stick with "if it ain’t broke don’t fix it" as my mantra till I absolutely have to. I was always happy with the quality of ICS guns ( lots of users at my local sites and they love them) now I'm happy that I can probably work on it without any major headaches.

Cheers guys for all your help.

Nick