[Henchman]

Originally Posted by ubermick

Well, the Phenom showed up yesterday and love the thing. As I mentioned to someone else, the SP1 felt like a toy, whereas the Phenom (granted it's modded with stock, flatline, and I tossed a red dot on there as well) feels like a weapon.

Turns out the SP1 blew the solenoid. Spoke to GoG over the phone, and they basically just told me to RMA it. Suggested sending out the replacement to me rather than ship it out, have them install it, and ship it back, but they wanted it there for some reason. So that's winging it's way east now.

Anyways, thanks again to everyone for the words of advice and encouragement. Makes a newb like myself feel all warm and fuzzy...

Hope your Phenom is better than the three I owned.

[vijil]

Just gonna claim the solenoid blowing:

CALLED IT.



*ahem*

Well, hopefully it'll make a good backup gun. Or, you might find that the solid feel of the phenom is just because it's giving you sore arms - most high end markers are significantly lighter again than the sp1 for a reason!

[Robotech]

Originally Posted by ubermick

Turns out the SP1 blew the solenoid. Spoke to GoG over the phone, and they basically just told me to RMA it. Suggested sending out the replacement to me rather than ship it out, have them install it, and ship it back, but they wanted it there for some reason. So that's winging it's way east now.

Having worked for a major Hobby/Sport type manufacturer I understand why they do this. Look from their perspective. They are a big company and have people call them all the time. Most are good people but you also get quite a few that flat out lie to you. (Case in point, the company I worked for made model car engines that ran on nitro methane. We would have people tell us they ALWAYS ran with an air filter and took care of their engine. When we would open up the engine, a half teaspoon of dirt fell out.)

So while you want to help your honest customers, you don't want to be taken advantage of by those who are less than honest. So to make sure you're not someone who has a five year old marker stating that they "just" got it and had issues they may be having you send it back just to make sure the story you gave them was legit.

Does it suck for you? Yes. Does it seem a little cold? Sure. But I'm sure they've been burned enough times to have this policy in place because of the pricks that try to get something for nothing by deception. Such is the state of the world these days.

Let us know how things work when you get it back and how your Tippmann works when you get it to the field.

[ubermick]

Haha, vijil, I'll never doubt you again mate! And Robo, you're bang on - can only imagine that every company gets phone calls and emails from people who claim that something went wrong with their product, and oh, just send me out replacement stuff, I'll take care of it, no need to worry about evaluating it, just take my word for it. And in hindsight it didn't suck - a mere $10 to send it back, and the time without it made me fall in love with my Phenom. In fact, the SP1 came back from GoG (excellent customer service, by the way) last week, and it's still sitting unopened in the box since I've been giving the Phenom some love. Here's what it looked like when it showed up...



And after some painting, cosmetic upgrades, and upgrading the bolt/cyclone kit with gear from TechT, here's what it looks like now...





In short, in answer to the title of this thread I started ages back, Tippmanns most certainly do NOT suck. (At least mine doesn't!)

[The Inflicted]

Any progress with the SP-1?

[ubermick]

Yep - returned to GoG, spent about a week with them, and it showed up a week ago today. Was out of town, didn't get back until Wednesday, and the box is still unopened. Haven't had a chance to pull it out to test it.

[Punisher068]

Like your version a ton better,looks like you've been customizing for years now
Always like that particular stock the best
Techt=awesome aftermarket parts

[NoX13]

Originally Posted by ubermick

Haha, vijil, I'll never doubt you again mate! And Robo, you're bang on - can only imagine that every company gets phone calls and emails from people who claim that something went wrong with their product, and oh, just send me out replacement stuff, I'll take care of it, no need to worry about evaluating it, just take my word for it. And in hindsight it didn't suck - a mere $10 to send it back, and the time without it made me fall in love with my Phenom. In fact, the SP1 came back from GoG (excellent customer service, by the way) last week, and it's still sitting unopened in the box since I've been giving the Phenom some love. Here's what it looked like when it showed up...



And after some painting, cosmetic upgrades, and upgrading the bolt/cyclone kit with gear from TechT, here's what it looks like now...







In short, in answer to the title of this thread I started ages back, Tippmanns most certainly do NOT suck. (At least mine doesn't!)

Tippmanns are highly underrated simply due to everyone (or mostly all the "cool guy paintball players" equate them to rentals, which is to say they think rentals are crap.. which in fact, we know theyre not.. markers need to take a beating to keep costs of replacements and repairs down and that is why they are used..

yours looks good, But it would look alot nicer without that bulky loader..

None the less, nice job.

[ubermick]

Originally Posted by Punisher068

Like your version a ton better,looks like you've been customizing for years now
Always like that particular stock the best
Techt=awesome aftermarket parts

Thanks man, hopefully you'll get to see it in person some day, if I can get my lazy arse out of bed early enough to make it down to Jokers by the start time. (Which means getting up at 6:30am on a weekend... UNHEARD OF IN THIS HOUSE!!)

[Robotech]

Gun looks sharp. Nice work on the paint. Let us know how that Sp1 shoots too. Remember, it's not about what everyone else likes, it's about what you like. I've shot Tippmanns, Spiders, Spider clones, pumps, Minis, and now my DAM and I tell you one thing, there's reasons to get them all. It's all about what you like.

[ubermick]

Well, it looks sharp, but in terms of functioning... it's taken a step back.

Finally took it out to give it some test shots, and am having a massive issue with barrel break. Single shots are fine, but if I try shooting in full auto, the gun devolves into a really cool looking spray paint gun with at least one in three balls breaking in the barrel. Removed the Apex2 in case that was the cause but nope. Next tried some different bore sizes, but to no avail.

Next step is going to be opening it up and removing the Flasc thread adapter and putting the original Tippmann one back in (along with the stock or pathfinder barrel) and trying that to see if the Flasc barrels (or more likely that adapter) is the cause. Doesn't look like chop, since there's no evidence of any issues (that I see) in the chamber, seems like it's definitely happening in the barrel. (Could be crap paint I suppose, but had no problems with it prior to the Oprah-style makeover!)

[The Inflicted]

So you've only been using one batch of paint for all your testing?

I know you're a little new to paintball, so so have you read much about correct paintball storage?

[Henchman]

Just an example of why I got rid of all three of mine.
I got so sick and tired of breaks and gun failures. I was spending more time cleaning out barrels, cyclones and sending them back to Tippman to have leaks fixed.
Now, all I do everytime I go out, is chrono up, and shoot people,.
I rarely ever have any kind of break.

[ubermick]

To be fair Hench, I didn't break a single ball in there until now. Would definitely suggest (at least right now) that the issue is caused by something I did as opposed to the marker itself.

Inflicted, I am indeed using just the one type. Picked up a case of balls from the local shop (not top grade, not cheap) a few weeks back, and have gone through a bag of them. The other bags are stored downstairs in the basement, and get rotated every couple of days. Now that you mention it though, I'll run a few rounds through the SP1. If that starts breaking balls as well, then I think I've found the problem...

[Punisher068]

Sounds like there's logic in your testing so far,I'm agreeing with you in the thought that it's most likely a barrel adapter or barrel issue,check the ball detent next.
Comparing the SP1 and the Phenom next to each other should be a good comparison.Although the valvetrains are different,build& component quality are comparable.Every gun has its quirks,low to high end,it's a matter of figuring them out and improving on the original design thru add ons or modding
Even though I'm an admitted Smart Parts/GoG fan I have a ton of respect for Tippmann as a company.I believe they're one of the reasons paintball exists today

[ubermick]

Well, put a podful through the SP1 with zero issues (that's a fun little gun!!) so eliminated the paint as being the issue. So opened up the Phenom, pulled the Flasc cocker adapter and replaced it with the original Tippmann adapter and stock barrel and... zero issues.

Given the fact that I've used multiple Flasc barrels and they all had the same problem, all signs point to the barrel adapter. Which I have to say, seemed like it didn't quite fit, like the OD was a bit large for the receiver halves to fully close together.

What sucks is that I know TechT made a barrel adapter, but seems like it's been discontinued, so have to hunt around for an alternative, or find a new home for a full set of cocker threaded Flasc barrels...

[Punisher068]

Good to see its the adapter,problem easily solved.I've never had luck with barrel adapters myself,too bad my markers take 3 different thread types
Good to see your SP1 is up and going also,really enjoyed mine intill I used most of mine on my current build.Always good to have 2 markers going at once,h..'ve a backup or bring buddy.
Looking forward to meeting you in the future

[ubermick]

Originally Posted by Punisher068

Looking forward to meeting you in the future

Amen to that. I'll bring the beer.

[Jack73hRipper]

tippmann has by far some of the most reliable markers as well as the friendliest customer service.

however I would not play speedball with a woodsball marker . . .

[ubermick]

Originally Posted by Jack73hRipper

tippmann has by far some of the most reliable markers as well as the friendliest customer service.

Can't argue with that personally. Haven't used their customer service, and given that I've opened up the marker and upgraded the internals, something tells me my warranty is gone. But before I cracked it, had no issues with the gun whatsoever. And hopefully when the Lapco adapter I just ordered gets here, that'll fix the newly cropped up ones.

[The Inflicted]

Did you try contacting Flasc about that defective adapter?