Etek 3 won't shoot

[Jeff2482]

Just got a used etek 3 put air to it and shot 3 pods threw it and worked fine. Then I took it apart and now I can't get it to shoot, and I get a fast blinking purple light. I can hear the trigger hitting the switch, and I can hear the solenoid turning on. I did put the solenoid vavle in backwards would that have killed the solenoid? Any help would be great.

[cwest]

I hate to start with the most obvious but, did you change the battery? When they solenoid is put together incorrectly, air will be leaking out everywhere. Also, I believe the flashing purple means the eyes are bad. Did you plug them in?

[Jeff2482]

yeah, forgot to say that but i replace the battery, plugged the eyes in and triple checked to make sure they are in right. when i put the solenoid together incorrectly the first air was leaking out and i fixed that problem the solenoid valve was in backwards.

[Robthepainter]

Check your bolt make sure it's in position

[Jeff2482]

the bolt is in the right position

[Myth]

I guess you dont have a manual

I was not all that sure on the etek

http://www.planeteclipse.com/site/product_support

Page 26

[Jeff2482]

I do have a manual, it say bbss is off but marker will fire mines does not fire.

[cwest]

You, you can tighten the HPR too far in and it will close off the air. Try backing it out just a little and see what happens.

[Jeff2482]

i backed it out and still same problem, i tried to push the bolt front with the gun aired up and i cant push it front. So i think the gun is getting air.

[cwest]

It really sounds like a bad battery. Did you use a good name brand battery?

[Jeff2482]

energizer battery, just opened the pack up

[tigar19]

Are you able to turn on the BBSS which would result in a flashing yellow (no paintball detected)?

Since it is not firing, I'm thinking it is not registering the trigger pull. Maybe the solenoid wires were not plugged in to the board all the way or not plugged into the right position. Maybe the solenoid wires got pinched when you reassembled it.

[Jeff2482]

I can turn the bbss on, when it goes off. When I pull the trigger I can hear the micro-switch click, and then When bbss goes off I can hear the solenoid turning on. I double checked on the wires this morning and they dont look like that got pitched

[tigar19]

Hmmm, something is not letting the marker fire and it's either the eyes or the trigger.

With the BBSS on, drop a ball into the chamber. Does the light turn from a blinking yellow to a blinking blue?

Is the blinking purple light a very fast blink? Is it possible the eyes were installed facing outward instead of facing each other?

Take the grip off and watch the trigger push the microswitch. Does it push it all the way when you pull the trigger and does it fully release it when you let go of the trigger?

[Jeff2482]

When I drop a ball in it does turn to blue and with air in the marker the light turns to a fast blinking purple. I looked at the switch and the trigger pushes it all the way in and then the switch gets release all the way. I did say solenoid valve before I meant the spool shaft. I did put that in backwards and it was leaking a lot of air. It's in right now, but would that be enough to make the solenoid not work right even through I can heat it turn on.

[HeDsHoTz]

Here's some steps to troubleshoot your Etek3:


1. Undo the right side of the grip. Hold down the trigger while you turn the marker on to enter "setup" mode. While in setup mode, push and hold the red lock button on the board. Your marker LED's will all flash blue to confirm you have reset the marker back to the factory stock settings.

2. When you reassemble the grip frame, make sure all wires are clear of the microswitch.

3. Adjust the trigger rest setscrew out so that the trigger has about 1cm (1/2 inch) of travel before it hits the microswitch.

4. Turn the marker on and air it up. Turn the eyes off.

5. Adjust the trigger stop setscrew by turning it anticlockwise so that it increases the amount of trigger travel you have.

6. Half a turn at a time, wind the trigger rest setscrew in. After each half turn, pull the trigger to see if it's working.


If you follow these steps and have no success, it may be:

A) Solenoid is not connected to the board properly.

B) The microswitch is damaged.

C) The solenoid valve is damaged.

A you can check yourself. B and C will probably have to be checked by a marker technician. Do you have a Planet Eclipse technician in your area?

[Jeff2482]

im at work right now tomorrow morning when i get up i will try that.

[Jeff2482]

I tried all that but still same problem. when I have time I will take it to the tech around here. when I get it back I will post what was wrong with it. Thanks for the help everyone.

[Jeff2482]

Hey all sorry it took so log to get back, but the marker works fine now. took it to the tech had him look at it and he found some paint in the reg. (not enough to make it not work, from what he said) and the internal tubing he said looked pinched. he replaced that and the gun works perfect. Thanks all for the help hope this helps people in the future.

[tigar19]

Awesome! Glad to hear you got it working again.

Paint in the HPR? That's a new one.

[magilla66]

Awesome! Glad to hear you got it working againap.

Paint in the HPR? That's a new one.
If you think paint in the reg is weird - my buddy's ETEK3 AM got fouled up one day while we were on the field; none of the usual troubleshooting tips seemed to work (very similar issue to what jeff482's gun was doing). Aired up okay, battery was fine, no pinched wires, no eyes issues, etc.

Finally, he starts tearing the marker down completely.

Gets to the reg, and as he's disassembling it, out comes bits and pieces of mud and debris, about a half teaspoon size of crap when it was all cleared out. We still don't know how that happened, as he never buried his ETEK in the muddy field while bunker diving nor dropped it or placed it on the ground.

*shrug*

But once the reg was cleaned and re-lubed, he was good to go.