Shimming with some plastic washers between the piston and piston head is the best way to correct AOE, I’ve been doing that for 15 years, unless it’s a full cylinder you don’t lose any volume and it’s far more accurate for every shot as it doesn’t compress like a rubber or sorbo pad.

I'm just geting started into airsoft and your instruction are so clear, an amateur like me actually understands how gearboxes, shimming, AOE, and MOSFET works. Glad that I came across your video and keep up the good work.

If you put the washer in front of the piston, you have a lot more dead air on full compression, therefore a drop in fps. Put the spacer behind the piston and you have full compression but shorter stroke, again a drop in fps!

Great vid, well explained. I have used white nylon washer on Katana piston between piston and head with great results

Just throwing in a thought here, if, as the nay sayers do, removing that cog is such a bad thing, why do so many quality replacement pistons come with the 15th tooth already missing? Wouldn't that means that the airsoft part manufacturers are clueless and ship shitty and defective products? Or... maybe there's something to it?

Wow I just learned a ton from you. Very well explained, thankyou!

You have a very valid point about AOE. plastic or rubber would help with AOE alignments.

I just bought an SHS full steel teeth piston with the head and AOE correction already added from Umbrella Armory. I used to do this especially when I took apart my old CM16 SRL to do some upgrades. It worked really well but didn't always stay despite it being glued in.

Best shimming tutorial! Installed some SHS 13:1 gears as best I could into a G&G gearbox

@theairsoftech have you thought about cutting away the interior of the pad/spacer away to an O ring type shape to decrease spacer volume and increase FPS? I imagine it would still do its job even with less material.

Could i actually use these instead of ordering sorbo pads? have a game coming soon and have no time to order them. You said they are great for adjusting, im wondering if you can use them for a long time.

have a question - is there any benefit to having the sorbo or washer between the piston head and piston rather than on the cylinder head? I have both setups in different guns and I can't really tell if one technique is better than the other.

I don't really know much about improving them but would it not be easier to leave it as is and just replace it once it wears down like the gears?

Now we have, even if minute lessened volume. All you did was move the piston, in relationship to the sector gear, to a spot that the gear will wind up it in a cycle naturally. The piston you showed was not damaged by "bad AOE" as you put it, it was from pre-engagement from a lot of FA.

does it matter if the hop "window" on the barrel is not as long as the window in the hop unit?

is there any difference between airsoft and gelsoft other than what they fire? could I theoretically shoot bbs out a gelsoft gun?

Great videos. Just subscribed. I usually correct the AOE by using some fiber washers from Lowe's between the piston and piston head to avoid changing cylinder volume. I've tried sorbo, but I never noticed any difference in noise or vibration. The only thing with adding washers between the piston head and piston is the spacing sometimes causes your piston head's bearings to not spin freely in the piston.

You LEGEND!!! Thanks for video and adding to my knowledge

What kind of Dremel do you guys use? Would the 100 series be adequate enough?

If there is a funnel cylinder head installed, what is the best alternative? Placing the spacer as shown will make the funnel obsolete...

I got a question. At the start i want to say that i had luck and after changing sector gears and piston ( cause luck with choosing the right parts ) my AoE was nearly ideal and so i didnt need to use any spacer to change the barrel lenght so i dont know mouch about it. :) But i will need to do that on friends gun. So my question is why isnt the spacer used to manage the right AoE same size as piston head? If the air is pushed forward by piston head and you have the piston head with different size than the spacer, dont you lose some air pressure going around the center and after that ending locked up by piston head hitting the spacer? I think the preasure is already downed by less space for air in the piston barrel so i wonder why is the spacer smaller than the barrel/head. I was thinking about it and i think that better wil be barrel sized spacing with hole in it shrinking right from its sides ( size of the barrel ) to size of inner barrel ( like the funnel ) and so the air will have more consistant direction also concentreating the higher air preasure in the centre of the barel. Let me know if you ewer used the piston head sized spacers and what you think about my idea. Thanks.

wont adding spacers infront of the piston make the fps less? how to go about that?

I believe those faucet washers are made of Delrin, not any kind of rubber. That being said, it's a great material for this application. It has just enough shock absorbent properties to take some of the load, yet it is self lubricating so it stays nice and smooth and won't gum up inside of your cylinder. I work with multiple types of Delrin at my job, regular polymer based and glass reinforced. I've made some shock absorbing pads for people a couple times, both straight and some with a conical shape for bore up applications. I still prefer the Sorbothane pads though. Those always work great.

Man, what a class! Thanks.

Seems like back-spacing the piston by adding material to the piston head is the way to go unless somehow it's more difficult to do than adding material to the cylinder head or you're going for a strict CQB, high ROF build that definitely doesnt need the volume or extra weight to the piston.

i just bought a aluminium piston with full steel teeth and the second teeth is gone by default.

THE reason you were getting such low numbers is the rubber was porous and leaking right thru the gasket material.

That cushioning effect will be because the "bounce-back" from the squishy rubber effect creates a vacumn effect which counteracts the compressive effect of the piston, imo.

do you have to correct are with steel teeth piston

great video man, what diameter are the faucet washers?

Wouldnt your AOE change under firing conditions with a compressable washer? That precision setup would now be all over the place when the piston compresses the washer and then rebounds and you end up with a poor AOE anyway.

what is the size for the faucet washer?

Should I still do this if the teeth are all metal on my piston?

Hi! Thank you for this explanation. I am new and pretty much green on this. As if its not enough, I am starting to build an M-4 from 2nd hand parts. All with 0 experience. Crazy,hu?? You bet!!!

The Airsoft tech Jello I'm new to airsoft I own an HK M4 I'm looking to up my FPS and get more distance what should I do first and where can I find upgrade parts to start

How big do you drill the hole

have u work on a kwa ronin t6 try to upgrade the inetrnals .

So like i have bought a package of washers for this purpose, from home depot. They are rubbery and do get compressed a little bit. I am lead to believe that this is the cause of the fps loss on my aeg, about 80fps loss. I plan on swapping this washer for a washer that does not compress. Anybody know where i could get a washer that does not compress?

I just bought a Secondhand replica, now the piston gets jammed every time. Now I tried fixing it myself but I was wondering is it normal that th O-ring around the piston is slightly lose ? seems quite bigger then it should be is that normal ?

Have u ever opened up an ARES AM-013? It has perfect AoE and the piston comes with the end teeth already shaven and theyre full metal teeth.

Is that with a mosfet brake?

after you drill out the hole in the faucet washer, would it help airflow to take a larger drill and bevel the opening to "funnel" the air through the hole?

Do AOE even on a basic gun. A friend's brand new G&P M4 failed on the first day of use. After taking it apart I found that a whole little chunk at the back of the piston had broken off and fallen in among the gears. No harm done, but it was almost certantly a poor AOE that did it. I am fixing up the new piston with these mods to ensure longevity.

How big of a deal is AOE? Because I'm a new tech and I just put in a sorbo should I be find now ?

very helpful excellent help

what happens when you run a metal ladder?

Hey Ryan, can you look at my retro arms straight trigger problem video? The trigger slips right off the trolly in about the half pull margin. Did i just get a lemon?

do you loose fps?

My theory, some builds and Pistons need a softer or harder rubber to space the piston and correct aoe

If you have full metal gears on your piston, is AOE still as important?

wouldn't it be possible to just file off a tiny bit of the pick up tooth so it would have a correct aoe when contacting? That way you wouldn't have to do the whole mod.

Most UK guns don't come with ported cylinders. There should be ample volume after correcting AOE

just asking why not metal washer insted rubber to make sound loud metal to metal..? i am biginers to AEG.. thank you for sharing you video...

points i understand these tec saying such things , but as an engineer sector teeth crowns , the strongest point of a cog as cog is at its thickest and has an advirse angle same as the pick up on a piston these meeting with the crown of the cog first is by far the strongest secondly teeth shape allow for smooth transition in movement . where ever you pick up a cog wether at the start of a correct stroke or part way through you will experience the same wear also placing sorbo or faucet washer in line will create piston bounce and cause irregular tooth pick up , and can cause barrel vacuuming ie where volume of cylinder is equal or the barrel and when the piston bounces slighty drags the air back momenteroly in the barrel normally on weaker spring set ups , note piston are cheap compared to gear there is a reason it called slave part replace when knackered .... a better way is to space cylinder correctly using piston spacers and that is not when cog sides are face to face but when crown is picking up piston tooth whilst simatainiouly picking up your shaved second tooth or the end of your third thus spreading the load between two teeth . another way is to reinforce your second sector tooth on ya gear set with say jb weld increasing the strength of your sector gear i have done this for years now with out correcting aoe and experience no failure , running m150 springs in dsg and dmr with time you will always experience failure so take it on the chin and make it the cheapest part to replace also if you look at teeth with so called aoe correction you actually get teeth slam and in high stress builds this results in first gear on the sector to break off tec plz stop trying to sell simple mechanics for over price lack of knowledge . old saying a little peice of knowledge is a dangerous thing think about it , guys watching these vids know that air seal barrel stabilization and air constistancy is way more impartant than sector impact angle as is barrel volume to cylinder volume anything you put in your gun that can cause inconsistant results will effect your range and accuracy

Love your videos, they have been s great resource for me for years. I actually referred back to this video wondering 2 things 1. When using facet washers without sorbo (the stock sorbo was smashed and had fallen out so I glued the washer straight to the cylinder head), due to the hardness and lack of shock absorption of the washers should I be concerned about stressing the front of the GB shell? This is in a SAW gearbox btw, so high cycle abuse. 2. I use 2 washers glued together and slightly sanded down. What do think about gluing one washer to the cylinder head and adding the other to the piston? Im thinking this may take advantage of adding mass to the piston and mitigating the possible fps drop from shock absorption of the sorbo on the cylinder head? Thanks!

intro reminds me of how its made ;p

Thank you!!!

Nice video! Nice to see other tech's opinions on mods. Keep the good work up and I'm looking forward to more of your vids. P.s. I'm thespartantech/white_hawk_tech on instagram

Your theme song is do retro lol

So, what size faucet washer?

I have never had a good piston break on me only cheap polycarbonate dboy or jg

Would you link me to the place you buy faucet washers?

So do you prefer the faucet washers over the sorbo pads?

Hello TheAirsoftech, I just want to ask, what is the cause if the first tooth on the piston chips?

Can u make a video on blueprints of each and every parts of the gear box

thank god im not the only one who has the problem with sorbo and washers. but then it mysteriously fixes itself

Me trying to correct AOE in a DSG with a split gearbox and a M170 spring installed.......

Doing this with my LCT literally fixed an issue where the AOE on the stock gun was SO bad that it stripped the sintered metal piston rack tooth, and started pushing it out of position instead of stripping. Anyone who says doing this is bad doesn't know jack didly shit.

What's the best piston to use

What's the purpose if this? What affect does it have on performance? What affect does it have on reliability?

I could see doing this if it was metal on metal but the plastic will eventually wear into position...which is the whole point.

Guys need help why did they remove that 1 gear? I didn't know whats the purpose need help

Doesn't adding the spacer shorten the compression stroke, in turn lowering the volume of air being compressed and the FPS of the BB ?

Couldn't you remove the first contact tooth of the sector gear instead of filing down teeth on the piston?

Great video and explanation. Very informative and easy to understand. I will actually try using a sanded down door stopper to see if I can get that to work. It has more of a cone shape, which would slow the piston down more gradually. You can also use silicone to make a cone. Search "Hammar Silicone Dampening mod"

I don't know about airsoft but in gelsoft we literally never have this issue, and also you've just made this piston less reliable, you're putting all the spring pressure onto one single tooth that you cut down, honestly if this is a common issue you're better off getting a piston with a steel rack,

Seems like all metal pick up teeth would provide the best reliability...

Area of Effec

Im Spanish and i dont understand why you cut the first 2 Toth

@11:33 it’s stuck 😂😂😂

I would have thought your problem was the fact that you're using a plastic piston with metal gears...

Un po lungo ma si capisce molto bene il meccanismo

Heyyy its really simple if you have a workshop or a dremel that is over 100€

When you have to cut something to "make it better" it's probably just a shitty job. Do the shimming, buy the piston with metal teeths and get an upgraded dual ring piston head...don't use super glue... the piston hits the cilinder head with velocity...so you'll just end up with hardened superglue inside the gearbox.

A very experienced Tech told me AOE adjustment is a bad idea. Causes Piston misalignment issues. Your Piston head must contact a perfectly flat surface or it becomes misaligned and is amplified down the lengtht of the piston to that oh so important first tooth. It also Looses volume in cylinder forcing you to higher spring pressures to make up for lost FPS. The original alignment changes as well because the washer compresses every shot so you actually have a greater chance of grabbing half the tooth. You cannot calculate how much a rubber washer is going to shrink, compress when you actually fire. If you move the piston back, your motor needs even more amps to get it moving and puts more stress on the motor and battery. He also said he sees way more damaged pistons from AOE mods. Just a warning to all you DIY guys out there. A wise man said ," A little bit of knowledge can be dangerous." . Best advice, talk to a full time tech who has been in the buisness a long time".

what maybe kills the tooth is heat and or dirt stuck in the loobe since not having the proper angle will cause more slide friction heat/abrassion as opposed to angleling it and having less sliding action to pass the first gear even grease or oil makes heat if you rub your hands together with them you will still feel friction even more . dry lobe for keys and lock ect will not hold dirt it is pritty frictionless since it wont create a bond between your hands . I see this trick will also solve or give more jam preventing slack that low fps and high rate of fire will cause because it wont catch on the missing tooth as the gear comes back around .thanks for the tip

:) just buy steel 14 with removed 2nd tooth

n video before and after for FPS test kid?

What if u got metal teeth

Droping to100 from just adding big ssurb ffrom, 400fps is becouse sorb wills sow down presure of air like spring working oposite.

He showed and told us to do one thing and then later on contradicted and said not to do everything he showed us before...wtf?!?!

I dont get why a heavier piston would transfer more impact energy to the cylinder head.. that's the same as saying that a heavy .40g BB will have more impact energy than a light .20g one.. I's all about knetic energy, a heavier one will move slower , and the light will move faster, so the energy is the same

This solution is for people who use singlefire most of the time. That’s what eats the big teeth, singlefire. Always use full auto even when in buildings, but make sure to shoot slower than full auto, also use a 7.4v battery for a slower rate of fire, then it’ll use less power and makes your gears work alot more smooth.

what is aoe. ?

Age of Empires

☺😊😀😁😂5 Smile's

Playing airsoft for 15 years. Doing my guns for 15 years. Best friend was a tech at an airsoft/paintball/military shop. And non of us did something this useless. Why bother with a polycarbonate piston and AOE? Destroy the original, buy one with full metal teeth and the other parts (cylinder, cyl. head, Al piston head, nozzle, maybe gears, motor if you go over 130-140 m/s). Assemble the gears correctly put it all together and voila. Didn't change a piston in 10 years on my guns.

great video, but... it can be better to put some washers back of the piston head... no glues...better fix.. same result!

Hey bro I was wondering if u wanted to trade airsoft guns

nylon washer from lows? dremell grooves to key in stock rubber to achive more quensh or less space in the cylinder .like a gas engine more cc's in the head { piston to head clearance or space}= less compression less cc's =more compression harder piston push- high performance 91+ octane mandatory or piston kaboom .u can also re groove the nylon where the piston meets to achive a better air rush you might need two washers though since they are around the thickness of the fosset washer.some small flat head engines also have grooves to either let air in or quench exhast out in such limited space .another factor witch may have lowered your fps is turbulence instead of one hole with grooves the extra washer made 4 holes pointing at each and then you got the fosset washer hole . less sharp corners in your main hole the better ,like a 3 angle valve job on a cylinder head =more flow with the same hole. u can tottaly do away with the angles of your hole like a funnel.