A1 Eye failure

[godfree]

Before I whine, I apologize as I know this topic has come up several times before, but I've still be unable to find a solution.
Each of my teammates(7) and I have encountered eye problems with our A1s, in that it will function perfectly for a hopper or two, but will randomly fail, not detecting a ball in the breech. Now this is a relatively minor issue, as we just turn the eyes off and keep shooting just fine, no breaks, no problem without eyes. It's getting to the point that we just leave them off at tournaments. We've all replace eyes, seated them perfectly, and tested to ensure they're working, and all seems well, but still at random they crap out on us. None of these markers show any other problems, no leaks, no bolt stick, full batteries, etc. Is this common, or could there be another solution?

[pittbull01231]

what software version are you running?

[godfree]

All running 2.2, joy/rage settings, all stock, fresh batteries, etc.
Have tried various paint type settings, all same result, works great for a while, eyes fail at random. Got a tourney next weekend, not looking forward to using these eyes.

[frazer]

Not sure what you guys are doing here but if all of you are having this issue i will bet it is something that you are doing or using that is causing this issue, eyes are something that I do not use very often in terms of repairs or replacements.
e-mail me and let me know a bit more about your set ups and I can see if there is anything that jumps out from that.

[drkanglr]

You guys all still have the stock grips on there? What settings are on your hoppers (and what hoppers are you using)? I had a teamate that was having "eye" issues that resolved when he stopped using his reloader B, or his magna, and switched to a VLocity. Also, some aftermarket grips let some light in and will screw with the opto switch intermittently...this is usually solved by putting a piece of black electical tape or duct tape on the inside of the grip near the opto switch. Also, if you lose one of the screws for the grips, make sure that the two you have are in the bottom and the front top spot to keep the front of the grip closed enough to keep light out.
Some hoppers are also affected by the light, halos will sometimes pick up ambient light and the eyes won't function right...then the loading is inconsistent and the eye software on the angel acts funny, makes it seem like the problem is the marker and not the hopper. I've been using mine almost weekly for 6 mos without any eye-type problems...used a pulse at first with no problems and now a Vlo with no problems. Everyone on my team that has experienced these types have issues have resolved them by changing hoppers.

[pittbull01231]

I dont know about the hopper thing. I have a HALO B on mine for about 8 months now and the only problem I have had as far as the hopper goes is how fragile the paint is and busting paint in it. One thing I didnt think of untill the switch suggestion came up is and I had this problem is how far in do you have the trigger set in. If it is in to far and is messing with the switch it may cause the eyes to fail. so that might be one thing to look at.

[godfree]

You guys all still have the stock grips on there? What settings are on your hoppers (and what hoppers are you using)? I had a teamate that was having "eye" issues that resolved when he stopped using his reloader B, or his magna, and switched to a VLocity. Also, some aftermarket grips let some light in and will screw with the opto switch intermittently...this is usually solved by putting a piece of black electical tape or duct tape on the inside of the grip near the opto switch. Also, if you lose one of the screws for the grips, make sure that the two you have are in the bottom and the front top spot to keep the front of the grip closed enough to keep light out.
Some hoppers are also affected by the light, halos will sometimes pick up ambient light and the eyes won't function right...then the loading is inconsistent and the eye software on the angel acts funny, makes it seem like the problem is the marker and not the hopper. I've been using mine almost weekly for 6 mos without any eye-type problems...used a pulse at first with no problems and now a Vlo with no problems. Everyone on my team that has experienced these types have issues have resolved them by changing hoppers.

No aftermarket parts at all, grips or otherwise. The whole team uses Vlocitys, but then I can't see it being a hopper problem as with the eyes turned off there are no issues, so the hopper feeding is fine. Grips seal properly as well. Checked all the wires/ribbon, all are perfectly intact, no scratches or marks of any kind, and are seated properly.

[Backman]

Not sure what you guys are doing here but if all of you are having this issue i will bet it is something that you are doing or using that is causing this issue, eyes are something that I do not use very often in terms of repairs or replacements.
e-mail me and let me know a bit more about your set ups and I can see if there is anything that jumps out from that.

Get in touch with Frazer and he can figure this out for ya.

[Mavrick]

Do you guys all set your own triggers and do maintenance or does one of you 'tech' for all?

[godfree]

we all tech our own stuff.

[budda]

I had a similar problem and it was because the eyes were not total clean i had to remove them and used some alchol and some canned air and they are working great now.

[godfree]

Yeah, cleaned my eyes too in simelar fashion, but still having periodic issues. Will see how they perform at the tourney this weekend.

[godfree]

Strange. Had the same problem over this past weekends tournament. First was right at the beginning of the day, aired up, loaded up with paint, went to chrono, not detecting a ball in the chamber even though their was. Turned off eyes and it shot just fine. Second time was right off the break in game 5 of the day, had just turned the marker on, as I turn it off in between games, ran for my bunker pulling the trigger but nothing coming out. Did not have any breaks or dirty eyes at any time.

[pittbull01231]

What mode(s) are you using? Have you tried diffrent modes? Are all of your Serial Numbers close together or in sequnce like say you have 001 do the rest of them go 002, 003 ect.....? Cause maybe if you all got them at the same time and from the same place you could have like a bad batch or something like that with the board. Just a guess.

[bit_bucket]

Same issue encountered here and it turned out that the noid was just clogged with grease causeing the gun not to fire even though it detected a ball. Worth a look since these things come from the factory with way too much grease on the noid. Once my noid was cleaned I have never had the issue again. I am running a stock a1 with velocity xsv loader, just for my setup info.

[godfree]

Nah, not a bad batch. Two of our A1s are about 2 years old, serials in the.....600s I think, the rest of the teams markers are in the 1000s. All have encountered the same issue.
Will have to check the noid. Never really noticed any grease on the noid, but will check it out after work.

[Mavrick]

Same issue encountered here and it turned out that the noid was just clogged with grease causeing the gun not to fire even though it detected a ball. Worth a look since these things come from the factory with way too much grease on the noid. Once my noid was cleaned I have never had the issue again. I am running a stock a1 with velocity xsv loader, just for my setup info.


Good catch!

Another thing that was already mentioned was cleaning the eyes with ISP Alcohol. This will cut through the paint that will eventuially get on them. The electronics for these eyes are pretty sensitive as to how they read resistance. A small amount of paint would be all it takes to act like a resistor itself. This would in turn give you a false positive. The paint can get behind the photo detector and without you even knowing it bridge the solder pads. So the ISP Alcohol will redemy that. Soalking for a half hour or so then using canned air carefully should get the job done.

GL

[tehVirus]

dont know if this is solved yet but one thing could be detents or the ram (perhaps the pillow isnt pushing the paintball up far enough).

[lucky7s15]

I have heard of random problems steming from the software, so I would have to say that reflashing the marker is at least worth a shot.