Help Me Out!

Selling, buying, shopping for and/or trading water blasters.
Post Reply
User avatar
Rover
Posts: 47
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 11:29 am
Location: Tampa Bay, Florida

Help Me Out!

Post by Rover » Sat Oct 11, 2008 8:15 pm

I need some help making a decision. I just got two blasters I bought off of Ebay, a CPS 1500 and a CPS 3200. Here's the problem: both have a number of defects.
The cps 1500 is the most serious. The trigger freqently sticks in the open position, and although it doesn't lose pressure,I can hear a hissing inside the blaster that seems to be dumping water out at an alarming rate. I would return it ASAP, but the blaster is in impeccable external condition, and I wonder if I should try and fix this aging beast up considering I only paid $50 for it?

The 3200 is not as bad. There's crazy amounts of mould inside the tube that connects the blaster to the backpack, as well as a crack in the part that attaches to the soaker, meaning tons of water leaking out the back of the blaster. The only other problem I can see is that the range on this soaker is pretty pathetic. It goes about 5 feet less distance than my 1500 when fired flat, and thats just with the 5x nozzle, which should have the best range! I paid $100 for this one, which is a lot, but not a lot for a 3200. What should I do?
I'm looking for answers pretty quickly, because I only have a few days to respond to the seller.

SSCBen
Posts: 1616
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2004 4:15 pm
Contact:

Re: Help Me Out!

Post by SSCBen » Sat Oct 11, 2008 9:34 pm

Internal leaks usually aren't too difficult to repair. I would suggest opening the water gun to get a better idea of the exact problem before you'd have to return it (unless of course the seller prohibited opening).

The crack in the CPS 3200 likely can be repaired with the methods mentioned in the pages I've already linked to.

The mold can be tricky. I've read of someone eliminating organic matter with HCl but that's probably not good for the rubber bladder. Pipe cleaners (the things you used in elementary school in art class) could probably work to remove most of the mold. A cleaner compatible with the plastic and bladder cycled through the water gun could probably take care of the remainder.

As for the range, there's a lot of variance between water guns so it might be normal. If you don't want to return it you always could modify the water gun. As the water gun is somewhat old, the rubber bladder could be losing power. Replacing the bladder isn't difficult and if you don't want to replace but still want more power there's the Colossus modification.

User avatar
Rover
Posts: 47
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 11:29 am
Location: Tampa Bay, Florida

Re: Help Me Out!

Post by Rover » Sat Oct 11, 2008 10:23 pm

I've sent a message to the seller about the blasters asking for him to take them back. The 1500 I didn't plan on keeping because of how difficult it would have been to open. I just got another one off ebay for the same price, and it included a free cps 3000. So that makes me very happy.
The thing with the 3200 is that I can't put any glues or epoxies on the crack or else it won't fit back into the blaster portion. I also can't go inside because then it won't allow water flow. I was definitely thinking of a bladder replacement because the absolute lack of power was quite disappointing.

User avatar
isoaker
Posts: 7115
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2004 1:51 pm
Location: Elsewhere
Contact:

Re: Help Me Out!

Post by isoaker » Sun Oct 12, 2008 8:59 am

The CPS1500 may or may not be that difficult to open; really just depends on the pump cap it has. Some CPS1500 pump caps pop off or even unscrew relatively easily. Fixing the nozzle valve might be not too bad. Mould in the CPS3200 plus the cracks doesn't sound good. Seeing that you seem to have won another similar auction, perhaps repairing these blasters may no longer be necessary. However, given the age of the CPS1500, it doesn't surprise me so much that the trigger is sticky, especially if the outer casing seems impeccable. In all likelihood, the blaster just wasn't used much and the lubricant that allowed the nozzle valve to slide easily just needs to re-priming (or re-application).

All-in-all, sounds like you've made a good decision, though, regarding sending the faulty soakers back since you won the other auction.

:cool:
:: Leave NO one dry! :: iSoaker.com .:

User avatar
Rover
Posts: 47
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 11:29 am
Location: Tampa Bay, Florida

Re: Help Me Out!

Post by Rover » Sun Oct 12, 2008 9:24 am

My thoughts exactly. I didn't know how to remove the cap over the nozzle selector, as it was firmly glued in place. And the sticky valve felt a little bit like rust or corrosion had built up on the trigger pin and was preventing movement. But like I said, I've decided to send them back because I'm not interested in messing around with them.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 46 guests