Spring broke

[incrediboy729]

Hello. I have a classic army m15a4. My setup is:
G&P m160 Motor
Elite 12v mini battery wired to deans
G&G hyper torque helical gears
CA tightbore with Systema Hopup bucking
Guarder SP140

Most of these parts i got at the same time, and when installed, gave great fps. Then it started dropping to an unhealthly level, so i called the place (airsoftgi.com) where i bought the parts with the question of did i have a defective spring or were my airseals bad. I was told the latter. I did not have the money to buy new airseal parts yet so i left it how it was and dealt with the low (but still better than stock) FPS. Well a month later the spring snapped in 2 toward the back of the spring right where the coils start to get tight. I then called them again and asked for a new spring because I figure that it was defective; a spring shouldn't just "snap". Everything ran very smoothly, i just had a decrease in fps and then a eventual snap. Do you guys agree? Shouldn't i get a new one? I am in the middle of disputing this with them via email.
Thank you for your time.
-Brett

[Shirley]

Spring is just 10$.. Not worth it, buy a new one. What kind of spring snaps? WTF?

[Styrak]

Originally Posted by Shirley

Spring is just 10$.. Not worth it, buy a new one. What kind of spring snaps? WTF?

It's the principle of the matter, not the actual cost.
How old was the spring? I've heard of/seen springs breaking before. They should at least offer you some kind of refund if it was a recent purchase.

[incrediboy729]

Spring is just 10$.. Not worth it, buy a new one. What kind of spring snaps? WTF?

A new spring with shipping and all would probably run me more like $25. And exactly!wth??? I have heard rumors of guarder springs being brittle, can anyone confirm?

It's the principle of the matter, not the actual cost.
How old was the spring? I've heard of/seen springs breaking before. They should at least offer you some kind of refund if it was a recent purchase.

Yes, it's also about the principle too. I have had trouble with them in the past and i'm not letting this go easy.
The spring was about a month old.
I can post a copy of our emails back and forth if you like but basically i told them what i've told you and they asked me
A: What kindof spring guide i am using
B: do i decompress the spring after every use
C: what kindof piston i am using.
First off...wth does piston have to do with anything??? Second, yes i decompress. And Third, i use the stock CA spring guide and have never had any trouble with it. Yes, a bearing spring guide would reduce stress on the spring but even so there is no good reason a spring should snap in a month, no? Can you even use a bearing spring guide with that high powered of a spring?
I really think they are going to try and pin the blame on me, and they will probably lose my business if they do.
Thanks again for the help.
-Brett

[Azathoth]

I avoid Guarder like the plague. The ONLY guarder component I would consider is the clear hop up rubber.

All of that being said. Their was a thread posted on ASC probably a year or so ago by crunchmeister or CDN_Stalker where a systema spring snapped.

Since you are in California I suggest a Modify, prometheus or systema spring. Any of your local retailers should carry those brands

The questions that airsoftgi maybe asking is to find out if you are running bearing spring guide and piston head with bearing guide. Those componenets shouldnt cause your spring to snap. If anything they should prevent it.

[incrediboy729]

So do you agree that it shouldn't have happened and i should be refunded? If i do get another spring it hopefully won't be another guarder.
Thanks for the help so far!
-Brett

[m102404]

Not to be a stick in the mud...but if the shop offered a warranty on their work they should honour that component of it. If they did offer a warranty, they probably specified some specifics surrounding the wear/tear/failure of parts (typically excluding wear/tear...and I suspect for airsoft that they'd exclude covering parts failure if they did offer a warranty). You'd be entitled to whatever is specified under that agreement/warranty.

If they didn't offer one...then you have no recourse and are reliant on their good-will. Now...if you just had the work done the other day and it blew in the first couple of mags...that helps your point. If you've played a couple of games on different occasions...maybe not. Mechbox parts break...none of them last forever (cylinders come pretty close though).

You're running a pretty tweaked out setup. 12v battery and M160 motor...pulling a good stiff spring with torque gears. If anything, high strain setups aggravate the risk of parts failure.

If I had done the work and you were a good customer and pleasant to deal with...I'd swap the spring for a different one. But it'd be with a straightforward caution that your setup is going to be prone to catastophic failure and not to expect further "warranty" work.

Just my grumpy $0.02.

Best of luck though!

Tys

[incrediboy729]

I see. Well, i have been thinking about it, and i'm not sure that the spring breaking is either of our fault. I think like you said i am running a pretty intense setup, and the spring was undergoing a lot of stress. Even so i don't think it should have snapped, and it annoys me that i've done over $400 worth of business with them and they won't simply make me into a satisfied customer and give me a cheap part, ya know?
I never really thought the spring went under that much more stress. I knew every other part would, but i never thought that was making stress was also undergoing it.
Thanks for the help

[Danke]

1) Stuff like this rarely gets sorted well by email. Both the initial problem with low pressure, and the subsequent broken spring.

2) When trouble does show up stop what you're doing and figure out for sure what the cause is. I'd say you're lucky to just come away with a broken spring. That could have ruined much more of your mechbox.

[Con Murder]

You do know that most aftermarket parts are not gauranteed to perform with your set up, no manufacturer can do that. You as the buyer are responsable to research and in the case that things are mismatched or even malfunction, chalk it up to experience. I blow a speaker cuz my guitar pedal has really high output, I knew what I did and did not blame my guitar store. Ordered my shit and when the dude found out why gave me a recomendation and 5% dsiscount, most likely because we both knew it was my fault.

Thats the world of hobbies and thats the world of pushing things to the limit. Bearing spring guides have been around for a while, they stay because they work and because without them springs break.

[Renegade)]

Originally Posted by Azathoth

All of that being said. Their was a thread posted on ASC probably a year or so ago by crunchmeister or CDN_Stalker where a systema spring snapped.

That was me. Systema 120 snapped in 3 places during a game and coiled themselves into a spring half the length.

http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showthread.php?t=59674

[Azathoth]

My advice is to call the retailer. I like dealing with american retailer simply because they are NOT HK retailers (read chinese) Being Chinese I know how cheap business owners can be. See russel peters 34.50 comment, yes i did use an argument like that once. Unless you are inside their business making a fuss you are not going to get anything aside from abuse and agravation.

Go to your retailer or call them, and say "hey, the spring snapped", it was probably bad from the factory can I get a discount on a replacement spring?" (IE take sales tax off blah blah)

The worst thing that can happen is that they say no. The best that happens is they give you free stuff

Renegade ty for refrshing my memory

[blue_helmet]

to avoid spring breakage, use bearings on both sides of the spring (piston head and spring guide) so that the spring can rotate freely.

[Styrak]

Originally Posted by blue_helmet

to avoid spring breakage, use bearings on both sides of the spring (piston head and spring guide) so that the spring can rotate freely.

No matter what setup you have, a spring shouldn't break.