How Do I Tune My New Impulse?

Good question and it's much more simple than you might think. I'd say for a good percentage of new Impulse owners, this is their first exposure to an electro-pneumatic marker. The term 'electro-pneumatic' just sounds a bit intimidating but the Impulse is a very simple marker to tune, maintain and understand.

Tuning A Basic Impulse

Tuning a basic Impulse without an LPR is a very trivial process. You will of course need a chronograph handy to accomplish this. Before you gas it up you may consider turning the cap of the Max-Flo out about half way or more to be sure that when the pressure is released inside the internal air passage to the noid, it's around or below 100psi. This is just a precaution to assure that there is no possibility of shocking the solenoid with any excessive pressure at start up. Another thing to keep in mind is if a pressure of around 250psi were to reach the solenoid, you can just kiss the noid goodbye and start looking for $80 and a place to purchase a new one.

At this point make sure there are no paintballs in the breech or hopper. When you gas it up the bolt will automatically be pushed back by the pressure entering the solenoid. Push the small button at the back to turn the power on. If it's a Vision Impulse and you somehow hit the button twice, it will take only one shot and won't shoot any more. Don't be alarmed, you just turned the Vision on and if there is no ball chambered, it will not shoot more than once after initially being turned on. Push the button once more and it will shoot again.

Once it's aired up, turn the Max-Flo cap to the right(clockwise looking at the cap end) pulling the trigger at the same time until the gauge on the Max-Flo reads between 170-190psi. I suppose 180psi would be a good point to start at. Once it's at 180psi you can put a few balls in the hopper. If you have the New Designz RIP valve, you'll want to stay within the realm of 150-160psi since it is so high flowing.

Lay the barrel over the chronograph and take a few shots to see what the current velocity is at. If the velocity is too low or too high you'll need to adjust the dwell by pushing one of the dwell buttons located on the right side of your Impulse. The front button will increase the dwell and the back button will decrease the dwell. You cannot simply push the buttons with your finger because the button is actually inside the small hole in the center of the round plastic cover. You will need to use a paper clip, small allen wrench or a similar small object object to push the inner button. A very light push will do.

When you've hit the velocity you want by shooting it after pushing the dwell up or down, you're done tuning your Impulse. That wasn't so bad now was it?

Tuning A Basic Impulse With An LPR

This is a bit more involved than tuning an Impulse without an LPR but it is essentially a fairly simple process as well. You will need to start the tuning process very much similar to the aforementioned tuning process with a couple of slight differences.

Before gassing it up, unlock the LPR and turn the LPR cap all the way in to the right(CW). This will open the flow through the LPR completely to the solenoid. Making sure the Max-Flo cap is turned half way out or more, gas it up. Turn the power on by depressing the button at the back of the body. Making sure the Vision eye is off if you have a Vision Impulse, turn the pressure up slowly while shooting it until the pressure reaches 200psi this time and leave it there. This starting pressure will be lower if you have a New Designz RIP valve installed due to it's high flowing properties. I would suggest somewhere within 150-180psi for starters.

At this point put some paint in the hopper and shoot it over the chronograph to see what the velocity is at. Continuing to shoot it over the chronograph, keep increasing the dwell by pushing the front dwell button taking shots in between advancing the dwell. You'll see that once you hit a certain dwell setting, the velocity will not advance any more. When you hit this point, dwell down by depressing the back button until you see a decrease. The dwell is now set so leave it at this point.

All that's left to do now is turn the LPR cap to the left(CCW) until you've reached the velocity that you want. Once you reach the correct velocity, lock the LPR cap and you're done with the tuning process. Aiming for a velocity of 280 - 285fps with or without an LPR is a good velocity to stay at whether your local field allows a higher one or not.

There are other ways of tuning an Impulse with an LPR but this is the most simple and straightforward manner to do so in my opinion. That wasn't so difficult either was it?

Technical Information