417 Draining Battery/Motor Trouble

[Abbot]

I went to Kzoo airsoft and had my VFC 417 wired to deans. The gun has always had a slow ROF (even Chronoing at 354 FPS...). It ran out of battery (go figure, hadn't been charged) after about one hi-cap (I'm using a Tenergy 9.6v 1600mAh battery) so I went home and charged it. Didn't think much of it. I charged it for a couple of hours on a wall charger (not a huge amount of charging time) and used the gun once again. This time, the battery drained in 5-6 shots. Again, I didn't think much of it as I had only charged it a couple hours. Also, the ROF dropped a huge amount, also thought this was due to battery.

Just yesterday, I charged the battery on a smart charger for about 45 minutes (pretty fair amount of charging on a smart charger) and fired it once again. Now when I pull the trigger on semi it takes 3/4 of a second to get off one shot. The battery was drained within 2-3 shots. What am I dealing with here? Is it a battery problem, motor problem, weather problem? What should I do?

[Zzan]

I would try another battery to isolate if it is the gun or the battery.
My bet is on the battery. I can't think of anything in the gun that would cause that, at least not without noise or heat to let you know something was wrong in your gearbox (shimmed too tight, spring too strong for motor).

If you haven't changed the gun at all or opened the gearbox then it is a strong bet that your battery is the issue. How old is the battery? How many times has it been charged? Do you generally run it completely dead before charging to full? Batteries are touchy, and some have a "memory" function which causes them to no longer hold full capacity/charge. 

[Elvis]

I agree with zzan, it is likely something to do with the battery. I would also suggest the charger, but you tried two separate chargers, so that is probably ruled out.

Also, check and see if it is soldered correctly. I own the same battery and mine recently came un soldered so it had poor or no connection.

[T6e9a]

Having worked on the 417 platform, I would like to say the trigger contact design is absolutely horrible. There is a good chance your battery/motor/internals are fine, except for the trigger contacts. The trigger contacts might be split too far apart where you have to pull the trigger really hard or hold it for a while for it to barely cycle.

I still have yet to come up with my own solution to the problem, but my bet is the trigger contacts. I was thinking of some sort of spring/spacer setup that keeps the contacts together so that it contacts without all the issues.

If you want some help with it, let me know, I'll do what I can to help you.

And just a little background info on the platform, it takes the V2.2 gearbox, where the trigger contacts are actually attached outside of the gearbox, and has sort of a split design.

[Abbot]

So, do you have any advice?

[T6e9a]

Check your trigger contacts and go from there, if you are ok with taking it apart.

[Abbot]

Well, went to take it apart, but the previous owner stripped one of the motor plate screws. Murphy's law. Gotta love it.

[Roger Monk]

Did you test your battery in another gun?

[Tex]

Nov 11, 2014 16:24:25 GMT -5 Abbot said:

Well, went to take it apart, but the previous owner stripped one of the motor plate screws. Murphy's law. Gotta love it.

Use a Dremel and cut a slot into the stripped screw turning it into something a flathead can unscrew.