Damn, and I knew better too!
Well guys, I hang my head low in shame today as I write the following. I set out to do some more mods to the Condor today and all was going great. Next, I put in the new diy hammer with the rubber grommet mod… worked great. I am happy to report that the hammer slap is now acceptable.
Got her all buttoned back together and thought I would do the O-ring mod on the tophat. I got my shim tool from Autozone and took a measurement of what the gap was on the tophat before altering it. I then slid the O-ring on over the tophat and that was no problem. Next I started to adjust the tophat the same amount off the O-ring with the shims and got that done.
The last thing I needed to do was to tighten down the allen screws on the tophat to secure it in the new position and after snugging them up, I realized that they had gone in much further than before. 😯 That’s when it dawned on me… I had read a thread on this and had totally forgotten about it.
When snugging up the allen screws on the tophat, it’s a good idea to slide in a bit or something the exact size of the valve shaft hole to make sure that the valve doesn’t get damaged by overtightening the set screws. Damn it! I checked it out with a flashlight and sure enough, I screwed it all up! 🙄
My valve shaft is toast! I recently had knee surgery and have been sitting around the house bored out of my freakin mind on pain killers… mostly sleeping, watching TV, or on the computer. I have been chomping on the bit wanting to shoot the gun again as parts have still been showing up left and right, but I should have waited until I had a clear head!
I guess my question now is, should I persue a new valve stem from AF, or should I go with an aftermarket valve? The one piece valves are interesting, but not sure if they are adjustable and what all the pros and cons are. Your thoughts on the matter are greatly appreciated!
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oh, i get it, believe you me.
unfortunately, youse speakin to a former heroin addict… 😯
Just after surgery when I woke up from being under, I was in so much pain, my leg was jumping on its own and I could barely take it! I told the nurse that I needed something for the pain and she said “OK, after we finish this questionair.” I said “NO, NOW!” She proceeded to shoot me up with a Morphine /Demerol cocktail! Everything was peaches and cream after that my friend! :11:
I will say this though, WITHDRAWALS SUCK! The discomfort and pain in every part of your body seems never ending. Cold sweats and just an overall feeling of discomfort and body aches like I had never imagined. Glad I’m through that part. Heed my warning experimental ones! Drugs are bad, uhmkay.
I was working on the Condor and shot myself in the leg with a Kodiak! 😯 Lol. Jk! Naw, really, I just got out of knee sugery. I have had several knee injuries in my time all through my life and this last one was bad.
It happened in my sleep of all times! My knee would pop out of place and sometimes it was really hard to get it back in place as if something had moved and was restricting it. Major pain! It popped out in my sleep and I woke up realizing that I had forced it back into position while sleeping!
Needless to say, I awoke to a nightmare of pain. My knee was so swollen, it was roughly the size of a bowling ball! 😯
I took so many good pills, I went through withdrawals afterwards! :11: Man they really mask the pain.
wat happened to ya?
got any good pills?… :11:
Addict for sure. 😉 I have a tendency to go all in, hence the amount of posts in such a short time. In my defense though, I did just have surgery and I’m now reduced to an Internet junky couch potato. 🙄 If you see a guy in the woods hunting with a severe limp and a Condor in his hands, that’s me pushing the envelope as a result of severe cabin fever. 😀
1 more satisfied customer (or addict?)… 😯
My new valve stems came in. 😀 Ive been chompin at the bit to get her back on the road and now she is thanks to all the helpful folks here at TAG and their detailed posts.
I did the old flat head trick because of its simplicity and it worked like a charm. I did lube the stem before I popped her in and worked it in as far as I could with my thumb. As noted previously, I shot a few dry shots (with an O-ring behind the tophat ) to settle it in all the way. Very easy if I say so myself!
Thanks for the new polished high flow valve stem /tophat Tony. She works like a charm! I’ll be bustin nutters again in no time! Take care. 😉
Thanks for a more detailed explanation. It aids in feeling comfortable when working with 3000 psi. I ordered a factory valve stem from AF and I also ordered a high flow one piece valve stem /tophat from Tony. I’m going to pop in the TT high flow unit and be done with it. I figure why not step it up a notch while doing this repair anyway.
I will always have the original one as a backup should I ever decide to sell it or mess with tuning it differently. So the positive flip side to this disaster is that I ended up with a better setup for cheap and understand the valve pretty darn well now and soon to know it much better.
A big thanks to Tony for taking time out of his busy schedule to help me understand the procedure for changing out the valve stem /tophat over the phone. Thanks for your time and all you do for the club /site. Your presence and contribution takes us all leagues ahead in knowledge and performance! Two thumbs up!
Thanks again everyone! You, the members who are always so willing to help also make this club /site the wonderful place it is. I am honored to be a part of this community and it makes the pcp experience an amazing one! In short, YOU GUYS ROCK! Take care.
Cv 😉
You may want the TT very good finish and only 39 bucks!!
all you need to do is take a large straight slot screwdriver and pry the stem up and out of the brass retainer, remove your tophat and replace it on the new stem then push the new stem back into the retainer with your thumb as deep as you can, then go ahead and dry fire it once so the stem is seated into the valve seal.
also it’s a good idea to lube the o-ring in the seat with some silicon grease wile you have the stem out
Here are some links I found that will help me and others while attempting this repair.
http://www.stealthresource.org/valve.htm
http://talonairgun.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1272
http://www.talonairgun.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12148&highlight=replacing+valve
It’s really bad! One set screw went all the way through and the other left a big dent. My tophat won’t even spin nowand it’s in the wrong position. By the description above (pry off with screwdriver), I still don’t feel comfortable with this as being a thorough description of how to change out a factory AF tophat valve stem.
There is nothing mentioned on how to put the new one in and what precautions if any should be taken. Do I need to take out the brass piece etc. The part should be here in a day or so and it sure would be nice to know and feel confident about this.
Damn subconscious!
How big of a dent? If there’s no hole, it may not cause noticeable performance issues.
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Glad to hear you say former. That’s a scary one that really gets a hold of you. I knew someone that really struggled with it. I was so happy for them when they kicked it for good.