[David Klotz]

Folks -

My training partner has a Bumper Boy 4 shooter that seems to be in good repair, except that the tube furthest from the electronics intermittently fails to fire. I brought it home last night and gave it a thorough cleaning and charge, and this morning it was working fine on my workbench. In the field, that tube would not fire. Fiddling with and massaging the wires does not help. There are no obvious kinks, breaks, chafes, or wear in the wire runs. I doubt the servo on the tube in question is dead, because it does fire occasionally.

I would appreciate any ideas on how to diagnose this problem, or what inexpensive parts I might begin to throw at it to try and chase the trouble down.

Thanks-David

 

[AmiableLabs]

I have had that trouble too.

I read that the most common cause is telling the transmitter to fire too soon after the last time. It takes the transmitter several seconds to recharge before pushing the "fire" button again.

I haven't yet experimented to see if that is true.

 

[Shawn Riggs]

I have had the same problem caused by 2 different things. I have had a couple of loose pins at a connector and one broke wire. With these connection problems the servo would only move away from the trigger (as you have probably noticed the servo move towards the trigger, then away from it, and towards it again in each indivdual launch).
The other failure to launch problem was the firing pin not hitting the the .22. Which I had to stick a pair of needle nose pliers in around the handle, used to cock the launcher, and tighten the metal shaft up.

 

[John Lash]

If the servo is tripping the firing pin, but not hitting the .22 shell hard enough to make it fire. Open the mechanisn, and spray cleaner then lubricant in the firing pin area and let it run out of the bottom, where you cock it. Cocking and firing the unit a few times as you spray it, be sure to leave the mechanism open as you do it, so the firing pin doesn't hit the barrel. I have had that problem in the past. It would fire every other time. That is without replacing the shell. The firing pin usually really hits the shell hard, if you notice the shell isn't really hit hard when you reload, it's time to spray. I have had that problem in the past, the shell would have a little mark on it , but not enough to make it fire.


If the servo is tripping the firing pin, and it's hitting the shell hard (leaving a mark) maybe bad shells.

If the servo is not tripping the firing pin, could be everything else, wires, transmitter, timing.

Good luck,
John

 

[Novemberwitch]

Dave,

Is it always the same tube?

Try firing that tube first.

It could be something simple like the whole unit getting loose in the ground after the first 3 tubes have been fired. If the unit works its way loose, there is a little give when pulling that last tube, and it won't have any force from the ground to allow the unit to fire.

 

[Paula H]

I had the same trouble until I cleaned mine thoroughly. Hasn't missed since.

 

[obxdog]

I had similar problems with an 8 shooter, would work on bench flawlessly, in field servos would fail. Problem went away when I put a small amount of di-electric grease on connector, then wire-tied plug tight to connector and put on charger when not in use.

 

[JoAnn Stancer]

This post came at the right time for me since I was training yesterday and had the same problem with my 4 shooter. I now have things to try. I also thought the person running the transmitter was pushing it too fast.

Does anyone know what the delay time is between firing?

Thanks

 

[Dale]

Always the same tube my guess would be a servo. I have had trouble where not always the same tube. This I found out to be ( no help from BB) was a bad wire in the transmitter, the one that has the battery on it. It was broke at the circut board. Down to Radio Shack bought a new battery conection and soilder it in my ownself. Servo's are fairly easy to change and a pair will run you about 36 bucks. I have 2 new ones just so I can have a sprair.
Good luck and let us know what it was.

 

[John Lash]

normanj

The delay is very short, try it without cocking the firing pins. Just watch, and listen to the servos, with the BBs close to you.

I'd say you press the button, and let it off then press it again and it will work. You have to press it pretty fast the second time to have it not fire. I wouldn't call it a delay, it's more like you have to be sure to totally release the button before you press it to fire again.

John

 

[Angie B]

I have had that trouble too.

I read that the most common cause is telling the transmitter to fire too soon after the last time. It takes the transmitter several seconds to recharge before pushing the "fire" button again.

I haven't yet experimented to see if that is true.

It's true...

Angie

 

[NateB]

I have had that trouble too.

I read that the most common cause is telling the transmitter to fire too soon after the last time. It takes the transmitter several seconds to recharge before pushing the "fire" button again.

I haven't yet experimented to see if that is true.

It's true...

Angie

Absolutely, and remember to hold that button down a full second. A quick push and release sometimes will not fire. Sometimes the transmitter and receiver can get out of sync, that can cause probelms at distance, but you would not see the same tube all the time.
I suggest change the servo if the same one is failing. If you want to test fire just leave a spent shell in the chamber so the firing pin has something to hit.

 

[JoAnn Stancer]

thanks to everyone.

 

[Tim West]

I have bought my servos from BB. What kind are they in case I want to buy from a hobby shop locally or on-line for that matter.

Thanks,

Tim

 

[obxdog]

Replacement servos

Replacement servos for BB are the Futaba 3003, manual states use any 3000 series but there are about 30 servos in the 3000 series. Bought replacements on ebay for as little as $2.50 plus shipping.

 

[matt ottaberry]

I had the same problem with mine, and the bb tech support told me it was a common problem and it is usually a loose connection, all i had to do was unplug the plug that goes to the servos and replug it. it fixed mine. Tech said that if it didn't fix the problem that they could send me a replacement wiring harness. They said the recoil of the blanks causes this problem.

 

[LuckyNash]

Check the servos to make sure they are actuating. If the servo is actuating, then (I know they say not to do this), with the chamber empty, dry fire the tube that’s giving you problems, if the servo is actuating but not releasing the pin, or it takes 3 or 4 times to spring the pin, the nuts (on the bottom of the black plate) holding the stainless plate (the actuator arm) that is sandwiched between the black plates, are loose.. They may not look like it, but they probably are.

Apply some blue loctite and tighten them back down.

Matt

 

[elmer fencl]

i have 4 / 8 shooters, nothing but problems. too high maint. i had 3 / 4 shooters that worked great after tweeking them. all i get out of the 8 shooters is 5 consistant fires. thats not what i paid for. and after poor responces from who i got them from and bumper boy i will be going to the max 5000 12 shooters. HEY BUMPER BOY GET SOME QUALITY CONTROL!!! or buy stock in max 5000 thats how many people i will be demonstrating your product to.