How does cold weather effect the AEG?
First thing that feels the bite on a standard AEG is the rubber components inside of it. You will notice your hopup loses a significant amount of its effect due to hardening of the bucking. This is where it is beneficial to have a softer bucking like a Guarder 50% or a Lonex 50%. They are very difficult to install due to being thicker and less durable than the others but resist cold weather very well.
Next you will see inconstant FPS due to the piston head o-ring hardening. When you fire your AEG, the ever present friction of the o-ring on the piston head rubbing on the cylinder walls causes enough heat for it to soften – it requires a burst, and not semi-auto to reach this effective pliability. This is also dependent on the lube used inside the cylinder. If it is runny silicon and not grease ( like Sil-Glyde) it will perform more consistently but will wear the o-ring faster. Not much faster, but it won’t have a hardened film to fight upon firing.
The next thing you will notice is cold drains NiMih/NiCad very effectively. Even if there is no firing. A NiCad loses 9% charge daily and in the cold can pull 4x on that. NiMih isn’t much better. Lipo will only lose 5% in cold weather.
Next and final thing, I suggest not using any upgraded V2 gearbox despite the brand in the cold. Over the last 8 years I have seen a significant increase of cracked V2 gearboxes from cold weather. This is due to the excessive load from 110+ springs on the relatively thin front clip of the V2. The first gen KWA wouldn’t last 20
rounds in weather below 20*f and were a huge money maker at my former place of employment. G&P, CA, KWA and King Arms are a guaranteed “will crack” in extreme cold and other brands are a 50/50 in a V2.
|
|
Ways to prevent cracks
- Down grade your spring.
- Hand warmers and tape (not advised.)
- Getting a winter gun, i.e. a V3, V6, or V7 gearbox.
- Not playing in the winter.
- CNC machined gearbox shell.
- Radius + sorbo + shock transfer system (not a guarantee)
- Get spare gearbox shells and don’t give a damn.