[neal6]

what would be a good valve for my 04 prostock with the ss hammer? i have basically ruled out an mq2 because theyre so expensive and hard to get. ive looked at the rat 3:16, tornado,belsales supercharger and palmer LT. which is the best dollar for dollar? ive herd that the tornado takes a lot of air and needs a large air chamber and a good reg. do the other valves have similaar issues? and which would be good for a mini(i haven mini-ed it YET and might not)

[jonotwist]

are you trying to go low pressure?

[neal6]

im just trying to go kick a**. dont much care about low pressure. just something efficent, quiet, just plain good.

[All-Star Reject]

Unless it leaks, just re-spring the stock one. As far as other valves I love the CCM valve and matched valve spring and it is an even better set up with their full lower internals kit. The hammer is about the heaviest that you can buy new today and I was getting about 1600 shots off of a 68/4500 with a 4000 psi fill and my pressure set at 260psi. I also have an older Palmers LT valve which is good too. Mostly any valve will be fine when you use the right spring combination and properly set up your HPR. BTW, I have an MQ2 for sale. Just PM me if you are interested.

[tacxplosion]

Originally Posted by neal6

im just trying to go kick a**. dont much care about low pressure. just something efficent, quiet, just plain good.

Then you want to keep the valve stock and get an AKA spring kit. You can get a maddman kit but it'll take a bit more tuning than the AKA.

[Rebel_816]

in short, nothing wrong with the stock valve, its the springs that make the difference.

[neal6]

Originally Posted by Rebel_816

in short, nothing wrong with the stock valve, its the springs that make the difference.

thank you very much for your help

[neal6]

what would the benefits of going low pressure be? would one of said valves work fine with normal pressure or are they low pressure valves? i guess in my mind all low pressure means is i just turn down my lpr (using less air???) quieter? softer?

[tacxplosion]

Originally Posted by neal6

what would the benefits of going low pressure be?

Quieter operation if the valve isn't tuned properly, more consistent shots if the valve isn't tuned properly, possibly lighter kick (It all really depends on what springs you're using to get the lower OP & any benefits are negated when the valve is tuned properly)

Originally Posted by neal6

would one of said valves work fine with normal pressure or are they low pressure valves?

The AKA and the maddman are the only LP specific valves, the rest are medium (normal) or high pressure (by today's standards). The maddman is a pain to tune and an air hog when not tuned properly

Originally Posted by neal6

i guess in my mind all low pressure means is i just turn down my lpr (using less air???)

Turning down the LPR is a byproduct of using a lighter mainspring, which wouldn't necessarily lower your OP (in fact it's more likely to raise it if it's not coupled with a lighter valve spring); the air consumed by the cycling of the marker is insignificant when compared to the amount of air used to fire the marker, so it'll have no noticeable effect on efficiency, though a lower LPR pressure will make the marker's cycle gentler on paint.

Originally Posted by neal6

quieter?

There are 2 ways to get a quiet shot: the traditional way is to have a long burst of low pressure air which gets dissipated at the porting on the barrel, the downside is you loose efficiency because of all that wasted air.
The other way is to have a short burst of higher pressure air which accelerates the paintball faster and reaches the same pressure as the longer LP burst when it reaches the porting on the barrel (the longer the control bore the better). The tradeoff is it's more violent on the paint and the more brittle paint might not stand it well.

Originally Posted by neal6

softer?

A lower pressure will indeed be more gentle on paint, but a lower LPR setting will have more effect on the interaction between the bolt and the paint, which is IMO more important than the actual burst of air.

If you must have a LP 'cocker, get the AKA valve and spring kit, it'll operate at similar pressures to most modern markers while still maintaining efficiency. LP requires a larger air chamber so don't mini it.

[neal6]

soooo... basically LP does jack squat...?? best bet is better springs?

[tacxplosion]

Originally Posted by neal6

soooo... basically LP does jack squat...?? best bet is better springs?

It's softer on paint but if your LPR is cranked up too high, then it's meaningless. Yes the best bet is "better" springs; there's nothing wrong with stock springs, but a lighter mainspring will lower the resistance to cocking which means the bolt will be gentler on paint and a lighter valve spring will make it easier for the valve to be opened so you can further decrease tension on the mainspring and lower the OP.

The AKA spring kit will give you the most efficiency, the maddman will come close with the blue valve spring and green mainspring, but it'll let you lower the LPR more. Your spring combo really depends on what trait/s you want to emphasize in your marker.

[Rebel_816]

its the springs that let you go LP, not so much the valve. but with lower pressures you need more volume to shoot a paintball..some valves like the AKA just work better at lower pressures to keep the effeciency up.

the lower the pressure, the softer springs you can use. which means that you can lower the lpr since it takes less effort to recock the marker with a softer main spring. youll get a smoother shot.
- the less pressure in front of the valve, the less tension you need on the main spring, since the hammer doesnt have to hit it as hard to open it.

check out the sweetspotting guide over on customcockers.com, it should explain everything in detail. it really comes down to finding the balance between effeciency and softness youd like with your reg pressure and spring/valve combo.

going LP doesnt really affect your lpr, mainly your main reg (hpr). its just a side effect that you can run a lower lpr since it has softer springs. lprs on cockers dont really affect tuning like it does on a timmy or ego, it just gives air to the ram to recock the marker. it needs to be just high enough to cock the gun, then a tad more for reliabilities sake. any more than that just makes it kick harder.