Cold Weather Problems?

[Friendly Fire]

Hey old friends! As most of you know, I am now overseas in Germany playing some Euro-Soft! (as I call it)

However I have encountered a problem with EVERY SINGLE one of my guns, including my brand new custom built TM.
The cold climate is breaking all my V2 Gearbox shells... the cold makes the metal very brittle, and even my reinforced GBs managed to split in half. I understand you desert rats won't have very much experience with frigid weather, but Im just curious if you know any cures?

No one else here in Germany seems to have these problems... is it maybe becuase my GBs have been in HOT temperatures so long? Now they are getting "shock treatment" into the cold....

Other than 150$ 7075 CNC Gearbox shells I am at a loss... and this is killing me.

Thanks,
FF

[quadro]

Try the Modify Torus gearbox's. They have much better reinforcemnt compared to others. I do have experience with this shell as I currently have one in my M4.

[AxisOfOil]

Sorbothane.

[Friendly Fire]

Try the Modify Torus gearbox's. They have much better reinforcemnt compared to others. I do have experience with this shell as I currently have one in my M4.

Just ordered one from evike i liked the inspection slots and the fluted shell!

[Savage]

Frigid here is a sunny day there. My guess is it's something to do with the tempering of the metal, not just how reinforced it is. You may need to try ordering from one of their sites, they might be distributing a better style, or a different type of metal.

Aluminium (Not aluminum) preforms a lot like nickel in the cold; it falls apart. It's also an extremely cheap metal. Your gearboxes very well may have some mixed in to cut production costs. So, even a tiny flaw mixed into the entire gearbox is going to mean a weak point.

[AxisOfOil]

Frigid here is a sunny day there. My guess is it's something to do with the tempering of the metal, not just how reinforced it is. You may need to try ordering from one of their sites, they might be distributing a better style, or a different type of metal.

Aluminium (Not aluminum) preforms a lot like nickel in the cold; it falls apart. It's also an extremely cheap metal. Your gearboxes very well may have some mixed in to cut production costs. So, even a tiny flaw mixed into the entire gearbox is going to mean a weak point.

Well, while a lot of what you said is logical, a lot of it is very wrong.

Alloying small amounts of a material into another will increase the overall strength. There are very, very few instances in which this isn't true. And aluminum/iron/carbon/nickel all alloy together, increasing strength.

While you are correct in the idea that 'tempering' of the metal makes a large difference, this really only applies to extremely hard metals that become very brittle. Tempering them reduces strength, but also increases ductility. You want both as high as you can get, but there is a certain point at which the metal is the best for a gearbox. The design of it is more important once you get to the point of using similar metals (i.e. low carbon steels that are used in most gearboxes)... such as reinforcements at the highest stress areas, and rounding of the corners around the cylinder. Of course, higher quality metals are a plus, but for low temps, the requirements are different than at normal temperatures. You don't want the absolute strongest metal you can find, you want one that retains strength and ductility at low temperatures, such as very soft steels.

[ultimentra]

You could go with an AK or G36 that has v3 gearbox? That probability wouldn't make much difference but its worth a try.

[quadro]

Try the Modify Torus gearbox's. They have much better reinforcemnt compared to others. I do have experience with this shell as I currently have one in my M4.

Just ordered one from evike i liked the inspection slots and the fluted shell!

The one thing you will have to do when you get it is toss the tappet plate it comes with. It does not hold the air nozzle well and creates a horrible air seal as it will wobble A LOT. I found that modifying a standard version 2 tappet plate worked the best. Once you see the modify tappet plate you will see where the modifications need to be done.

Yeah the inspection slots are great. The only reason the shell is fluted is to reduce weight and even then it is still a heavy shell compared to my stock CA. It is also a very tight fit in the body as well.

[Friendly Fire]

Im probably going to be putting this in my TM, and Im getting a metal body for it, so I hope there isnt a problem with the Torus GB fitting into the body. Thanks for the tip on the tappet plate Quadro, I have plenty of spares to modify.

I have also finally heard about others here who have had GB problems due to the cold. Atleast 4 other players in my airsoft community have had breaks THIS winter, not counting previous ones. Most of them reccomend KWA gearbox shells for some reason. I did work on a KWA yesterday, and the GBs are oddly shaped and they are very blocky and robust.

Anyways, Thanks for all the tips guys!

[Savage]

Frigid here is a sunny day there. My guess is it's something to do with the tempering of the metal, not just how reinforced it is. You may need to try ordering from one of their sites, they might be distributing a better style, or a different type of metal.

Aluminium (Not aluminum) preforms a lot like nickel in the cold; it falls apart. It's also an extremely cheap metal. Your gearboxes very well may have some mixed in to cut production costs. So, even a tiny flaw mixed into the entire gearbox is going to mean a weak point.

...Alloying small amounts of a material into another will increase the overall strength. There are very, very few instances in which this isn't true. And aluminum/iron/carbon/nickel all alloy together, increasing strength.

While you are correct in the idea that 'tempering' of the metal makes a large difference, this really only applies to extremely hard metals....

Alloying, yes. But we need to remember that many, many airsoft guns are made as cheap as possible, meaning you might not have a perfectly forged piece of metal, there may be the flaws. (Kinda like a marble bread)
And tempering, I probably should have said that I don't have the barest clue what a gearbox is made of, I was just throwing an idea out to be built on if it was valid.