Tiger stopped firing

[woodspirit]

I have a relatively new (one month) Heng Long Tiger with the plastic BB shooting gun on it. I have shot maybe 200 rounds through it and managed to make both dogs very wary of my new tank as well as knock over lots of empty containers and pop bottles in the back yard.

On father's day I set up a large "fort" on the back deck to demonstrate my new tank to my oldest daughter who was visiting but alas the gun would not fire. It does the firing motion and sound but no bb. Every once in a while a bunch (3 or 4) of bb's sort of dribble out all at once.

Two questions:
1) Is there a tutorial or something on youtube or pictures anywhere that show how to dismantle a Heng Long Tiger? I have upgraded the tracks and drive sprocket and idler to metal but have not had the tank apart yet.
2) Is the airsoft gun repairable or should I just buy a new one. The relpacement units I saw are only about $10 Canadian. Are they hard to install and do they come with instructions for installation?

I am a biker and do most of my own maintenance and am not afraid to take things apart. However I am not a small man and I have large hands and fingers and am a bit aprehensive that I will break something if I just start tearing things apart. I am also not good with a soldering gun (see comment about large fingers and hands) so is that going to be a problem?

Thanks for any help you can give to a poor Canadian whose gun stopped firing!

PS - I tried searching the forums did not find what I was looking for. That is probably a function of my computer skills (or lack thereof) rather than what is contained in the forums!

[buckeye36]

Here is a link on how to open the Tiger:
http://www.tankzone.co.uk/pages/hl_upgrade_hull.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Dietrich]

Hi Woodspirit,
Nice to have another biker on the forum
The airsoft gun is not the most reliable thing by any means. If you follow the link it shows you how to split the hull and the chassis. I would suggest leaving out the screws above the tracks as they are always a pain to get to if you need to split the tank again. Looking at the final image in the larger scale you can easily see the 3 silver screws aganist the black background of the turet rotation ring.
If you undo these 3 screws the rotation ring is free and the turret can come off the hull top.....BUT....You MUST be able to solder as you are almost certainly going to pull some of the small wires off of the connections.....so if you can solder then get out the digital camera and start taking photos, because you can guarantee that you will forget a part later on.
My money for the misfiring would be on the small black rubber 'Tube' that connects the gun to the barrel,they are of poor quality and are easily split. There are lots of small self taping screws involved in the gun and 4 or 5 gears as well as the electric motor. You say that you have big hands etc..... If you want to continue I will either find you a 'How to dismantle the gun' in a thread or write one for you with photos.....please let me know what you want to do next ??
Regards,
Alb.

[woodspirit]

Thanks for your help buckeye and Dietrich!
I followed the link from buckeye and it was very helpful in the steps to take my Tiger apart. I also see the 3 screws you are talking about Dietrich. Your idea of taking pictures as I disassemble the turret is an excellent one - I have done the same thing when working on my bike.
I will attempt to take it apart and will enlist the help of my wife if any fine, small work and/or soldering is required (her small hands have proven invaluable to me when working in the tight confines of our two bikes!)
One question I have - if my problem is the small black rubber tube would ordering a complete new gun solve anything (in other words is the tube part of the replacement guns that are available online?) or would it be easier to take apart the existing gun to see about the tube? The replacement guns seem relatively inexpensive if that solves my problem as working with small self taping screws and gears etc. inside the gun is not my strong point (wifey - where are you??
If there is an existing thread on how to dismantle the gun I would be very interested.
Thanks again for your help gentlemen - it is good to be able to communicate with people who have similiar interests!

[Dietrich]

Hi Woodspirit, :~
I think that you WILL need the help of your good lady, the screws and the gears ARE small. If it is the small black piece of tubing that has split then you could TRY to replace it with another bit but I cannot think of a source. It may also be the coupling between the barrel and the gun mechanism that has cracked and broken. This seems also to be fairly common and for some reason the plastic just will NOT glue back together again the part is often Pink in colour and is visible through the reloading port when you remove the gun from the barrel and turret.
If you do end up buying a new gun I would suggest looking at VS their guns are much better made than Heng Long and also shoot harder and further. I will try and find a link where someone has taken a Heng Long gun apart and post it to you.
Alb.

[woodspirit]

Thanks for the info. I am not sure who VS is? I bought my tank from Mato Toys here in Canada and here is their response when I asked about a replacement gun and if it came with instructions:
"Thank you for your email. We have the replacement shooting unit for the Tiger tank. The shooting unit will come without installation instructions. Please check if you can install the shooting unit yourself before ordering the replacement. If you have other questions,please feel free to contact us."
Sigh - so much for after sales support! I am going to take my tank apart to see about the gun but it could take a while - summer just started here and I have a bunch of things I need to do (changed the air filter on my ST1300 last night, wife wants me to start staining deck tomorrow etc. etc.) before I get at the tank. I plan to take pics as I go as you suggested so if there is no thread now with pics on Tiger dismantling hopefully there will be one when I am finished.
So if you could let me know who VS is I would appreciate it!

[Dietrich]

Hi Woodspirt,
I am sorry but I just cannot find a thread, I am sure that I have seen one, but I have no idea where. Quite a few years ago I started with my first Tiger and took digital photos as I dismantled the thing so I will try and cobble up a 'How To' thread from these photos to help you out. If there is any part that you are not clear on then tell me and I will try and explain clearer and take for photos of a gun to help.

Please click on an image to enlarge it to make the labeling easier to read

Firstly once you remove all the screws and split the hull and deck this is what you will see, sorry this is an old style receiver board from about 5 years ago. I recommend that you remove all these parts and feed them through the turret ring so that you keep it all together.....and Remember...Take PHOTOS as you go....

Remove the 5 black screws from the underside of the Tigers turret and this is what you will see, sorry the gun has already been removed but it is clear where it goes.

All the parts on a board

Here is the gun separated from the turret

Close up of the actual gun unit and the screws that you need to remove to split the two halves of the casing.

Mantle and barrel removed fron gun mechanism

The end of the gun mechansim showing where the barrel slides into.

Top view showing relading slot and shuttle

Gun mechanism exposed once the side with the motor in is lifted free, be careful as some of the gears or metal pivot rods may try to 'stay' in the motor side.

THE SHUTTLE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PICTURE WILL BE CRACKED OR BROKEN. THE RUBBER TUBE PIECE IS INSIDE THE SHUTTLE AND THIS MAY HAVE SPLIT OR BE DAMAGED.

Another photo of spilt mechansim and where the gun motor pinion actually goes.

Your Miss-firing will almost certainly be down to the 'Shuttle' being cracked or split in two of the thin rubber tube that is located inside it to seal the barrel to the airsoft unit and also it prevents pellets from just rolling out if the barrel is depressed or you are going down hill.
The shuttle is best seen labeled at the bottom of the second to last photo.
I am sorry if this is a bit short and chopped about but I am in a bit of a hurry as I have some roof tiles to look at.
Any problems or questions please ask and I will get back to you ASAP. I can also tell you how to increase the power of the gun, if you are interested.
By the way...VS...are a separate company who also make airsoft tanks. I think that the Leopard gun is the best one to use in the Heng Long tanks,but it either needs a bit of modifying to fit...or it is a 'Guts Swap' between the two guns.
Alb.

[woodspirit]

Thank you so much for the pics and instructions - they are not brief at all and I really do appreciate the time you took to put the pics and comments together!
I did find the VS guns on the net but the scale seems different. The VS guns I saw seem to be for 1/24 scale models and my Tiger is 1/16 so I am not surprised it needs some modifying to fit. I am going to order a replacememnt HL airsoft unit (they sell them in pairs at Mato) as well as another HL tank - I am thinking about the PZIII - to run while my TIger is under repair. It seems my poor Tiger will be my "learning" tank that will be scarificed so future tank additions will run more to my liking. Regardless how my things work out I am having a lot of fun with my TIger and am looking forward to taking it apart and will do so with much more confidence knowing there are other tankers out there to help!

[Dietrich]

Hi Woodspirit, :~
I am glad that the photos and explanation are OK, some of the photos are about 5 years older than others
If you have any questions about the gun mechanism please ask, they look daunting at first but so long as you take Photos they are pretty easy to understand how it is all geared around pulling back the inner plunger part of the airsoft and then releasing it to produce a blast of air to fire the pellet !
I should have said about VS yes they are 1/24th scale BUT the gun mechanism is almost identical to Heng Long only better. It is the same size and so just occupies more space in the turret which is smaller and to scale. You can buy the 'Gun Mechanisms' separately so that you do NOT need to buy the whole tank just to get one part. The Guns are often listed on Ebay and the 'Leopard' gun is meant to be the best / easiest to fit. VS are about 30 to 40 % better firing than the Heng Long !
The Panzer III is a nice little tank and I have one which runs beautifully with Metal Tracks and Sprockets and Metal 3-1 reduction gearboxes. The only thing to bear in mind is that is is much smaller that the Tiger and so you have less internal space if you want to add any extra parts. a 'Super Smoker' fits ok you just have to be a bit more careful with the space.It is a lovely tank and I think that it looks better than the panzer IV.
Alb.

[woodspirit]

BREAKING NEWS - MY GUN STARTED FIRING AGAIN!!!
On Friday night I decided to take out one of the lnks on one track on my TIger as it was sagging noticeably when I held it up. I got the link out and was test running the tracks with the tank up on a piece of wood when I figured I would try the gun. There were no bb's in it and when I put my hand in front of the barrell I could feel a puff of air when the gun fired. This cheered my up as I figured there should be no air puff if the gun wasn't working so I tried a bb and lo and behold it fired normally!! I set up a fort to blow up yesterday on the back deck and the tank and gun performed flawlessly. My wife and youngest daughter even got into it and we were having contests to see who could shoot down the most targets with ten shots. I am thrilled it started working again - my theory is that the turning the tank upside down and general frigging when taking the track link out shook something up inside the gun and it is now working. We shall see for how long
As long as the gun is firing properly I will not be taking my tank apart (I told my wife I was almost sad about not taking it apart yet). I did notice something interesting about lining up the tracks with the rear idler and took some pics and will post a thread on that when I get the pics out of the camera.
So for now I have a fully functioning TIger, a vastly increased knowledge of how to take the thing apart and know more than I ever wanted to about the functioning of airsoft guns. Thanks for all the help with my gun problem - something tells me it will come back but for now I am having fun with it!