Lucid LG3

[mark1970]

My son has a Lucid LG3 AEG. He has not used it for a few months, but I charged the battery up yesterday and the gun is no longer working.

I changed the fuse which didn't help and I tried the battery in another gun which showed me the battery works.

When you pull the trigger on single shot the gun makes a sound like it is going to fire but doesn't follow through, you don't get the loud clack.

It does the same thing on automatic, just one dull click.

Any suggestions as to what might be the problem?

Thanks

[Hectic]

Could be the trigger contacts or a motor connection. If you are moderately handy the motor connection is easy to check. Two screws in the pistol grip and the motor plate will come out/off exposing the motor and connections.
The trigger contacts will require opening the gearbox.
Also in hindsight it could be there are connectors in line after the fuse that my be loose or damaged.
What kind of battery was the gun using? If it was a lipo, especially and 11.1v my money is on trigger contacts.
There are many other things it could be but based on the symptoms it seems to be electrical.

[mark1970]

Thanks for the suggestions, I will take a look at the pistol grip. I started to take the gun apart but I don't really know what I am doing so stopped before things started springing out.

I have replaced a control panel and impeller on a dishwasher, but a "toy gun" is beyond me!!

Thanks again.

[dmitril]

Or a combo of stiff spring, shitty motor and nicad battery. If the gun was barely starting before a little wear on contacts/motor/grease can be enough to jam it. Or a tooth broke on a gear and caused a jam.
For my friend the first was the case and a lipo got him shooting.

[BioRage]

Your problem was buying the Lucid in the first place...

There's tons of youtube videos on taking down an AEG, just takes time.

[mark1970]

Originally Posted by BioRage

Your problem was buying the Lucid in the first place...

There's tons of youtube videos on taking down an AEG, just takes time.

Yes I am beginning to see that from reading other posts, I bought a G&G which works really well, but my son is only 12 so got him something a little cheaper, in hindsight was a mistake.

It makes no sound with no battery and makes a clicking noise with battery attached so some current is getting through. I'm thinking gearbox or motor but don't know enough about their internals

I have messaged one of the guys who does repairs near my area.

Thanks again

Mark

[lurkingknight]

plug in your biggest battery, put it into full auto and pull the trigger. It could be that the geartrain/piston are parked in the deadspot where the motor or battery can't start it moving, but for whatever reason, sometimes going into full auto frees it up.

If that doesn't free it up, it will need to be disassembled and inspected, at that point, can be bad motor or physical damage/jam

[dmitril]

Originally Posted by lurkingknight

plug in your biggest battery...

A hack you can do if you don't have a higher amp battery is connect 2 packs in parallel, just care not to short.

[Cliffradical]

Sounds like the motor is trying to turn over, but failing to do so.
This can be commonly caused by a few factors, listed here in no particular order:

-Dead battery/ battery not supplying enough juice
Probably not the cause because you checked it in another gun, but those small non-name 8.4v batteries that guns sometimes come with aren't great. The gearbox may be 'soft' locked in a way that a larger/ higher voltage battery could clear up (not without risk of stripping though).

-Angle of Engagement is bad, piston has stripped/ begun to strip causing it to lock up on the sector gear
This is unfortunately pretty common in many guns with poor QC, and is sometimes made worse by storing the gun in an incomplete cycle (piston is partially or fully held back). You would need a tech to deal with this.

-Spring has locked/ shredded on the spring guide with the piston in a rearward position
This kind of catastrophic failure isn't very common outside of sad, unloved rental guns, but it's not unheard of. Can be seen in combination with the above. Tech work.

-Poor quality (read: plastic or potmetal) bushing has chipped, crushed, or otherwise deformed, causing full gear stoppage
Pretty self explanatory. Tech!

-Random bits of a previous unseen failure make it in between some teeth
Usually an exploded piston head, rogue Anti Reversal Latch, or some other evil. Voted most likely to require a full rebuild.

-Other Anti Reversal Latch stoppage related or unrelated to any or all of the above (esp. #1)
This you can test on your own if you feel adventurous.

Remove the bottom of the pistol grip as described in a previous post. Make note of how the positive and negative wires (red, black) are oriented and connected to the motor. They only go back together the same way!

Disconnect the leads (they pull right off, carefully, don't bend the contacts) and pull the motor right out. Make note of how the wires are run through the grip. You'll want to run them the same way when you're closing it all up.

You should see a hole where the motor pinion enters the gun and interacts with the Pinion Gear in the gearbox. You should also see a metal arm or bar catching a wide tooth on the Pinion Gear. If you have a long, fine hook or pick of some kind (like a Dentist's pick), you can hook and pull that latch clear of the Pinion Gear. This will release any spring tension reserved by the gearbox.

This may be all you need to do, (and your tech may enjoy getting a gearbox that doesn't go *SPROING* when they open it), but it may not be the end of your worries.
Hook up your battery and see if it turns over and sounds like it used to. If you have new and exciting noises, bring it to a tech.

After all of this is done, be sure that you don't store your AEGs unless you're sure that the last rounds fired completed a full gearbox cycle. If you have fired full-auto, remove your magazine and dry fire a few shots on semi-automatic in a safe direction before it goes back in the gun case.

Welcome to Airsoft, hold on to your wallet

[mark1970]

Thanks for all your help guys. Have to say this has to be one of the most helpful forums I have ever posted on!

[RainyEyes]

Originally Posted by Cliffradical

-Spring has locked/ shredded on the spring guide with the piston in a rearward position
This kind of catastrophic failure isn't very common outside of sad, unloved rental guns, but it's not unheard of. Can be seen in combination with the above. Tech work.

Welcome to Airsoft, hold on to your wallet

Strange thing is that I recently fixed a VFC SCAR-L with this problem. The piston was stuck in the rearward position and I had to fiddle with an allen key just to release it tension with the anti-reversal latch. Ran like normal afterwards. I'm wondering if I should have tried to plug in another battery before doing all that work in hindsight....

Yes, please mind the high price tags with this hobby. It will eventually suck you in with mods, paint jobs, and repairs... sort of like a nerd tax