Others New member, new Zelos .22

[406 Rick]

Nothing really exciting to most of you, I know. But what started as watching a random video about PCPs, led to this as my first one, in just a matter of a few weeks. Nothing really radical, but I am not one to be happy with anything bone stock.


C88 bottle adapter
C88 CF shroud
580 bottle off the jungle
Buck Rail mod
B3D mount (impressive quality!)
Heartland trigger guard pic rail
Mission First grip that I run on all my AR platform. It was a comfort and intuitive thing for me.
Cheapo jungle bipod for now.
Even cheaper UTG glass, which is temporary.
GX CS-3 compressor
And probably the piece that will bring the most debate... A Sehkmet reg gauge.

I chose the gauge for the simple fact that as a new PCP owner, I think it will allow me to better understand and track results, and make adjustments from there. After i get some trigger time, and some tuning experience, I will go back to analog. I have heard several say that these come right out of the box pretty spicy, and they tend to favor the 25s. Which will benefit me, as my location is known for almost always at least a light breeze.. Primary use will be 75-80yds typically pesting skunks, jackrabbits, and especially pigeons around my acreage.

Just finishing up a 24hr pressure test after my first charge. Probably overkill, but that's me. At 6am when came out to my shop, it had dropped 8 psi, but I attribute that to the ambient temp in my shop dropping overnight. As the furnace brought the ambient up, the pressure came back up also. This track with you guys?

Anyway, I am open to tips, opinions, ridicule... whatever you've got.

 

[hameditor]

That's an impressive way to start! Thanks for sharing and welcome to the HAM Community

 

[pan60]

Welcome to HAM!

 

[FL22]

Hello and welcome to HAM.

 

[Pumacarl]

Welcome to HAM, and that's a great rig! It still amazes me, how well all these airguns are shooting these days, you've got a lot of fun ahead of you.

 

[Danman]

Welcome to Ham & solid choice for a first PCP!
Your temp/pressure fluctuations are 100% normal, not to worry. It's great in summer when u put you black gun on the table and the tank gauge slowly creeps up back to full.
Now.....do you have a chronograph yet? Indispensable piece of airgunning gear for those initial tune sessions!

 

[duchunter007]

Welcome yo HAM! Its a great place for some good advice, so don't be worried about asking questions.

 

[PapaT]

Seen you around a bit, but officially welcome to our HAMlet. The place is cozy, and a safe space. Ask away your questions.

 

[406 Rick]

Welcome to Ham & solid choice for a first PCP!
Your temp/pressure fluctuations are 100% normal, not to worry. It's great in summer when u put you black gun on the table and the tank gauge slowly creeps up back to full.
Now.....do you have a chronograph yet? Indispensable piece of airgunning gear for those initial tune sessions!

Perfect! thanks for the confirmation.
And a new FX Pocket chrony should be here Wednesday , and find it's home on the bottle mount.

 

[BanjomanMI76]

Welcome aboard, You'll love the Zelos and all the shots you'll get from one fill.

 

[Rick64]

Welcome aboard. My first was a zelos as well

 

[406 Rick]

Welcome aboard. My first was a zelos as well

WAY too many similarities here...

 

[406 Rick]

OK guys... this is where I admit defeat, and have to 'phone a friend'. When I originally said I did and passed a leak down test, that was in a out of the box configuration, and not as pictured after all the bolt on goodies. Fast fwd to tonight when I finally had a chance to do some more tinkering. Meaning it's now configured as in my first pic. This was my first attempt to charge with the new GX filter, into the C88 bottle adapter. I already knew about the 2k pressure build through the filter before passing to the Foster. So I expected the extra minute or 2 to see a reading on the bottle. Wouldn't even begin to build pressure. Discovered a leak at the gauge. Checked for snug, which it was. Tried again, still leaking. New O-ring made no difference. Start looking a little deeper , and find this. I'm pretty stubborn when it comes to troubleshooting, but this is testing my 18 years of sobriety. The threads of the gauge are bottomed out in the adapter before it even attempts to compress the O-ring. (Pic 1) Thought maybe the backside of the gauge was hitting the adapter, but I have .020 clearance. Mic'ed the depth of the bore in relation to the length of the threads on gauge, and they are identical. (Pic 2)
SO.... I understand what the problem is, I just don't understand WHY. Was the threaded bore not drilled deep enough? Was the gauge 'flat' machined too deep? (Pic 3) Or am I just stuck on stupid tonight, and overlooking the obvious?
I hope all that made some sort of sense. And thanks in advance.

 

[pan60]

@406 Rick
Welcome to HAM

I am going to assume that should seal on the bottom not the shoulder but someone familiar with that gun I am sure will chime in and confirm

 

[406 Rick]

@406 Rick
Welcome to HAM

I am going to assume that should seal on the bottom not the shoulder but someone familiar with that gun I am sure will chime in and confirm

I'm questioning myself on that as well. The C88 site is down right now to verify, and I haven't had a chance to look elsewhere just yet.

 

[Danman]

I'm questioning myself on that as well. The C88 site is down right now to verify, and I haven't had a chance to look elsewhere just yet.

@pan60 is right here, I installed a set of Huma gauges last year on my Ghost and running gauges upside down is not an option for me, lol.
I spent a decent amount of time looking for the correct thickness sealing solution to get em straight. The gauges came with an o-ring that sealed on the bottom (threaded portion) but only works if the port is drilled in the center. One side of the ghost it was, the other side the port was drilled on the edge so I needed to seal it on the back flange of the gauge.
Looking at your setup on the block i would go with a thick sealing washer, not an o-ring. To get the gap filled/sealed you could cut down some of the threads i'd think? If that is too extreme you may need a different gauge?
You may have luck with a spacer in front of that o-ring...I ended up going with a copper brake hose washer and a o-ring inside that....has been holding air for a year now without issue.

 

[406 Rick]

@pan60 is right here, I installed a set of Huma gauges last year on my Ghost and running gauges upside down is not an option for me, lol.
I spent a decent amount of time looking for the correct thickness sealing solution to get em straight. The gauges came with an o-ring that sealed on the bottom (threaded portion) but only works if the port is drilled in the center. One side of the ghost it was, the other side the port was drilled on the edge so I needed to seal it on the back flange of the gauge.
Looking at your setup on the block i would go with a thick sealing washer, not an o-ring. To get the gap filled/sealed you could cut down some of the threads i'd think? If that is too extreme you may need a different gauge?
You may have luck with a spacer in front of that o-ring...I ended up going with a copper brake hose washer and a o-ring inside that....has been holding air for a year now without issue.

If the pic lead you to think the gauge was clocked to face straight down, I apologize. It is not. And too many attempts to count trying to find out the correct shim stack to get it right. (Pic 1)
And as soon as I posted that last night, common sense snuck up and smacked me upside the head. Despite all the troubleshooting and trying to figure out what was wrong, I started asking myself WTH made me think an O-ring was going to hold pressure without a chamfer or shoulder to capture it. Back out to my shop at 0115, and went at it like I should have. One Dowty washer later, and it was fixed that easy (Pic 2)
With that side sealed up, I knew I'd better check the fill side as well. Sure enough, I had just the slighest leak there too. This took a little more work. And as you suggested, meant pulling the check valve and spring assembly out of the fitting, and milling about 2.5 threads off the overall length, and reassembling the check valve. Another Dowty under the Foster, and everyone holds pressure now. (Pic 3)
So this all leads me to believe that the Umarex gauges may have a slightly longer threaded body that other gauges?!?! Long term goal is to upgrade to Wika or Huma gauges, but for now this is holding.

Hope everyone got a giggle and/or a "get a load of this newby idiot" over my issue. And thanks for those with the suggestions!