Returning to Airsoft with (mostly) AEGs not used in 10 years...

[SteamPunkSultan]

If I intend to go to a site soon with my mostly old kit, thats been sitting in cases and bags for 10 years, what do I really need to do to the AEGs before taking them out?

Test firing is a no no for me sadly!

Any advice would be welcome.

Thanks,

Rob

 

[Tactical Pith Helmet]

A degrease and relube for the gearbox and a check of all the seals tends to be in order with any machinary that's been stored for a length of time.  

 

[-davo-]

^^^^
clean and relube your barrel/hop/hop rubbers as well

Any batteries you had are probably naffed
unless you have a battery tester to verify, may be best to buy new batteries for any you plan to use
Any mags left with bbs in, likely need new springs (only if left under tension)
Would probably not use any old bbs either

Otherwise, if it's been stored in a "cool, dry place", and in cases and such, I can't imagine you'll need to do much else

tl;dr
give em a service

 

[EDcase]

Welcome back to the madness ?

As said above, first cleaning and re-greasing etc. (Don't use any lube in the hop area)

You'll definitely need new batteries so now would be a good time to get a couple of Li-Pos and intelligent charger.

There are several threads about what to get but the basics would be 7.4v with the highest mAh value that will fit.

Our generally recommended charger is the SkyRC S65.

 

[Sneaky]

Just turn up, as so much has change in regards to technology in airsoft, start a fresh!

Otherwise follow all the above posts.

 

[Rogerborg]

clean and relube your barrel/hop/hop rubbers as well

Click to shrink...

Eh?  What lube are you putting in your hop unit or barrel?

OP, I'd put some silicone (liquid or spray) into the nozzle, then blow it out with some auto blasts until it's clear so you don't get any into the hop rubber.  And maybe some low fling oil into the gearbox.  I mean, ideally you'd open it up, clean it out and re-grease it, but these aren't really precision machines.  I've dripped a little chainsaw oil into a gearbox before without calamity.

 

[-davo-]

Eh?  What lube are you putting in your hop unit or barrel?

Click to shrink...

Silicon spray
but you could use actual lube, as most are silicon based
Any lubrication is better than going in dry

lube;
it's just a catch-all term

 

[EDcase]

You know the hop works with friction right?

Its good to make sure the rubber hasn't dried out and become brittle/cracked but the inside should NOT have any 'lube' when in use.

 

[-davo-]

You know the hop works with friction right?

Its good to make sure the rubber hasn't dried out and become brittle/cracked but the inside should NOT have any 'lube' when in use.

Click to shrink...

Correct
Friction creates heat
Heat vs Rubber = Breakages

Am I saying bathe that shit in silicon spray? You could, but no, not really
Would that still be better than none at all? Yes

Any excess will be jettisoned after the first few rounds

Personally, after 10 years of storage, it would probably be best to just outright replace the hop rubbers, but keeping re-start-up costs low for now....
a can of silicon spray is likely cheaper than x-amount of hop rubbers

 

[-davo-]

I will agree, however,
that any excess should be cleaned off before use for better results

but the excess won't damage your gun
could it cause some deviation in the flight path of the bb? yeah, maybe, maybe not - but that will (in general) clear itself out

 

[Adolf Hamster]

tbf, i've tended to find any lube on the hop rubber will wear off after the first half mag or so, less if you've done a decent job drying it off before installation.

that said, hop rubbers are wear components and not particularly expensive relative to the performance you get from a decent setup, so frankly replacing it wholesale would also be my preferred path in this case.

same goes for gearbox seals, especially the piston head although the cylinder head and any nozzle o-rings too if they can't be saved by a little silicone bath.

ofc that's going with the caveat that the op feels confident in their ability to strip, clean and reassemble the box with fresh lubrication, otherwise 'borgs suggestion of a little silicone lube down the nozzle would be the cheapest and easiest route short of getting them booked in with a reputable tech.

 

[Emergencychimps]

Just turn up, as so much has change in regards to technology in airsoft, start a fresh!

Otherwise follow all the above posts.

Click to shrink...

I have to echo this. 

While it may not seem it, TM is still king etc a lot has changed in airsoft tech and the quality of some cheaper brands has apparently improved significantly. 

I'd recommend not wasting any time or money on gats that are older than 10 years.....invest new cash into new equipment or I think you'll end up chucking good money into the pit that is a 10 year old rif. 

Rent, get your ukara etc and then go and buy that RIF you really want, the right brand, the right platform etc. Buy once, cry once. It also means you can focus on the point of the hobby, enjoying it, the actual games. Not working on some RIFs for hours that are old, brittle etc and will never be as good as even the basic entry rif you can get now. 

Your current ones can be kept as momentos, sold etc but I think you'll be outdone by pretty much any other gun on the field. 

 

[Rogerborg]

For once I'm not trying to start a handbag fight over lubing rubbers, and silicone can't hurt in any way. I'm just curious where the idea for (habitually) lubing hop rubbers came from given that they're about the cheapest consumable part in a gun, and it'll be wiped off the mound rapidly anyway.

To be fair, Luke seems to be a fan of lubing at the end of the day and cleaning at the start, and shows a startling difference in air seal and energy between dried out (with alcohol, or time in this case) and lubed.  So after 10 years of sitting, I do actually agree that you might as well spooge whatever silicone based lube you've got in there.  I wouldn't use anything else though - I'm not at all fussy about metal to metal and will use any old grease or low-fling oil, but silicone hop rubbers and nitrile rubber o-rings only see silicone.

 

[Cannonfodder]

I've never understood the logic behind putting lubricant on something which works by friction. I would've thought it would play havoc with your hop up

 

[Rogerborg]

I've never understood the logic behind putting lubricant on something which works by friction. I would've thought it would play havoc with your hop up

Click to shrink...

It seems to be a maintenance thing, in the belief that it'll keep the bucking material (which may or may not be silicone itself) supple.  Which it may or may not do.  It's not going to harm them though, and if you have ten year old buckings, and silicone lube to hand, it's worth a try.