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| Getting Started: Tips for a New Owner |
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When you get your Desert Fox, tear it down first thing before gassing it up or firing and lube all the O-rings. My Fox came in dry and there's a critical seal behind the brass valve chamber tip (you'll see it when you pull the bolt out of the valve assembly, also see the exploded view link below). The ICD manual is good, and includes information on field-stripping and trouble shooting the marker, but not much beyond that. |
| Disclaimer:
The Desert Fox is not a difficult marker to work on, but there is some chance that things could go wrong. If you are uncomfortable about working on the regulator or trigger of your marker, Don't Do It! These tips assume some mechanical aptitude and use of the correct tools. If you mess something up, you'll have to replace it. Indian Creek Designs has an excellent warranty, and they stand behind their guns. If you have a problem and ship it to them, they promise 24 hour turnaround on repairs. There are many testimonials on the web to back this up. They will also do upgrades based on production improvements. ICD wants me to make it clear that this is not an official ICD site. Any changes you make to a marker under warranty may void that coverage. Don't blame them, don't blame me. There, that should cover it.  the ICD Official Corporate Website
Finally, Don't use an unsafe marker, and Be Careful with CO2 and Paintballs. Paintball markers are not toys, so be an adult and take responsibility for your own actions... |
So here we go. Field strip the bolt and regulator assembly from the upper receiver by removing the thumbscrew under the back of the frame. An aside here, this is much easier on the Desert Fox than an Automag, where the gas lines must be disconnected, and the trigger extends up into the On/off valve inside the valve assembly; on the 'Fox it just slides out the back! Grasp the spring area of the bolt and and pull it off the front of the valve assembly, it pops right off. Check the mainspring on the bolt to make sure that there ar no sharp edges at the ends. File them off if you find any to save your bolt and receiver from scratches. Now, unscrew the brass Valve Tip from the front of the steel Valve Chamber using channellocks/pliers with padding (I use sections of plastic tubing slipped over the jaws. See the Basic Airsmithing link below for more information on tools and techniques). The valve tip will have a black Nitrile rubber O-ring and some thread-lock on the threads. The most critical O-ring in the entire gun is held on the ledge behind the tip, the white Urethane Piston O-ring. Use a dental pick or fine awl to fish it out. The piston O-ring seals the pressure in the valve from leaking out down the bolt, and when it leaks it makes a sound like air coming out of the barrel or powerfeed. It is made out of 90 durometer urethane because of the contant rubbing of the piston against the inner diameter when you fire the 'Fox. Even though urethane is really tough, this O-ring won't last forever and this is the most common failure on the gun. You can prolong it's life by using silicone grease on it. Also, keep your air supply very clean by using a filter in your air system. The spares kit with the gun only has one replacement for this O-ring and you will need more, but they're cheap so go ahead and order some from the store or ICD. Also, afraid I haven't tried this yet, but in a pinch it looks like the Automag piston (they may call it a 'Power Tube') O-ring is identical. Every 'Mag owner probably has a few spares, or the field may have some on hand. The other crucial O-ring is in the trigger frame where gas is passed into the bottom of the regulator. This small black Nitrile O-ring is a dead ringer for an Automag On/off valve O-ring. Using an Allen key hex wrench, unscrew the two socket head cap screws on the bottom of the frame in front of the trigger to separate the upper receiver (firing chamber) from the lower receiver (trigger frame). Clean the bolt, inside of the upper receiver, and trigger frame with alcohol and swabs to get out any dust or remaining machine grit. Lube the two O-rings with silicone grease (a small plastic snap-cap full is cheap and will last forever. get it from Skanline or a scuba store). Now re-assemble the valve tip, using a piece of PTFE plumbers tape (also known as Teflon, which is a Dupont registered trademark and they are pretty aggressive about defending it on the Web) on the threads to keep it from rotating. When the Desert Fox fires, the mainspring twists the bolt slightly for each shot. If the valve tip begins to unscrew, the piston seal will start to leak just like a bad O-ring. If you want to teardown the regulator and clean and lube it as well (a good precaution), see the Tweaks page on the 98 Fox regulator for instructions:  Tweaks: Regulator Theory and Tuning
Spray the trigger assembly and bolt inside and out with a good silicone lubricant; this won't screw up the O-ring seals like WD40. Then reassemble the marker and gas up the 'Fox without a barrel. Squeeze off about 50 cycles. Be ready with a rag, it'll weep lube all over your hand. Really loud too, without a barrel (scares our dog pretty well when I do this in the house!). Now swab the lube out of the front chamber and powerfeed, and put on a clean barrel to go shoot some paint!  98 Desert Fox Exploded View
 Classic Desert Fox Exploded View
Basic Airsmithing Page
I spoke with Jerry Dobbins at ICD when I was debugging the my 'Fox, and he said they break in after about 1000 rounds and then 'just keep getting better and better'. Be prepared to swap the piston O-ring at that time, and re-apply light silicone lube to the bolt and upper receiver every 1000 rounds or so. If you are going to store your Desert Fox, it's a good idea to field strip it and remove the mainspring to keep it from sacking in, and also back off the regulator adjustment screw to protect the valve springs. "I got my Fox from Skanline about two months ago. It worked great for the first 600 cycles or so, then the regulator went nuts. The pressure would climb straight to the tank pressure when I screwed it in! I took the regulator completely apart and found that the lube that was on it was almost a grease and not an oil. I stripped everything with alcohol and put on a fair amount of K-C trouble free oil. Problem solved. Be careful when putting the regulator back together that the valve is aligned right and that you do not screw the adjustment screw in too far." |
| Tweaks: Things you can do for your Fox |
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There are more things you can do your Desert Fox to make it a little nicer than the other guys gun. These tweaks will require more tools, time, and care, but can result in an even more exceptional marker. Tweaks: Main Page
Introduction and other information, Spare Parts, Fox Accessories. Tweaks: Regulator Theory and Tuning
How the Fox works with illustrations, Teardown and Re-assembly, Tweaks to make the Regulator breath better. Tweaks: Trigger Work and Bolt Polishing
These are lumped together since they interact to affect the trigger 'feel' of the Desert Fox... Tweaks: DIY Dial Velocity Adjustor
How to convert the 98 Desert Fox aluminum Tournament Cap into a locking dial velocity adjuster. This tweak should also work for a Classic Fox if you order the new cap. The adjustment screw looks to be the same on both models. |
| Links: Desert Fox info on the Internet |
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Fox Help at other Websites: ICD Online Manual: the Desert Fox
ICD Online Manual: Intro and Field Stripping
ICD Online Manual: Desert Fox Fine Tuning Guide
ICD Online Manual: Troubleshooting the Desert Fox
Desert Fox FAQ: Main Page
Desert Fox FAQ: Problems
Desert Fox FAQ: Disassembly
Epson's Classic Fox Review
I.O.N. (the ICD Owner's Network)
I.C.D.O.G. (the Indian Creek Design Owners Group)
The ICD Discussion Forum at Funsupply.com
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| History: A Bumpy Start |
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I actually had a little bit of teething to deal with with my Fox. It was less than $300 from Skanline, but they raised the price to $310 immediately after I bought mine. Must've been a database error... Yah, well. I picked it up from UPS, it was shipped in a very small box. It was in an open plastic bag inside the box. Hrm. Not at all like the ICD box like the Bobcat was shipped in. When I got the 'Fox home I immediately disassembled it to see how it worked. It was totally dry and had a fine coating of grey grit in the receiver and trigger assembly. Hrm. When I took the spring off the bolt I found out where the existing large scratch on the plastic bolt tip had originated; there were sharp edges left on both ends of the mainspring where it had been cut off and welded flat. Hrm. Also the cup on the chamber end of the Delrin bolt tip was unevenly scraped off with a razor knife. Hrm again. Once I got the thing cleaned up, re-faced the bolt tip, filed off the spring ends, and did a little polishing and lubing, I reassembled it and found that the grip and vertical tank adapter bolts were loose. Hrm. When I gassed up the gun it leaked down the barrel. Hrm. I looked up the gas leak in the troubleshooting part of the owner's manual and found the problem was with a urethane O-ring. Swapped out the piston O-ring from the envelope of spare O-rings that came with the gun and it worked better, but still itermittantly leaked down the barrel. Urk. Now I'm out of spares. Wrote an eMail to ICD. Finally, I tore down the regulator and cleaned it out with alcohol, then lubed all the O-rings with silicone grease and reassembled. Hey, the leak is gone! While I was in there I used a rattail file to open up the air passages in the rear chamber and valve, simple stuff. Polished the parts in contact, like the brass air chamber tip. Yadda yadda. As I was cleaning the upper receiver I found that the upper trigger stop screw was loose, so I decided to loctite it in place to prevent it from going out of adjustment from the vibration of firing. The problem seems to be the rough surface of the 'fat part' of the valve pin combined with grit remaining from manufacturing and storage. I use a 20 oz CO2 remote system with a sintered metal filter in the slide/degas connector for the gun, so I'm pretty sure the contamination isn't coming from my supply. Summary of Fixes:
After 3 days with no response from ICD to the eMail, I called. I ended up talking to Jerry Dobbins (the owner) for about 15 minutes. They're shipping more O-rings and a couple of other things. Sounds like I got a gun that had been returned, and maybe sat on the shelf for a long time in an open bag. I have to say it's a beaUtiful marker in grey. Handles very nicely. The trigger action when brand new was already much better than the worked trigger on my Bobcat. |
| Links: 'Fox info on this Site |
 98 Desert Fox: Main Page
Getting Started: Tips for a New Owner
98 Fox Exploded View and Schematic
Classic Fox Exploded View and Schematic
Fox Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting: Air Leaks
Troubleshooting: Cycling Problems
Troubleshooting: Ball Breaks
Tweaks: Things you can do for your Fox
Regulator Theory and Tuning
Trigger Work and Bolt Polishing
DIY Dial Velocity Adjustor
Accessories: Aftermarket Parts for the Desert Fox
ICD 'Cats
ICD Barrels: Aftermarket Barrel Review
Basic Airsmithing
Links to ICD Resources on the Web
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All Graphics and HTML Copyright © 1999 pRCarter and Cognitive Event Horizon.
All Text Copyright © 1999 pRCarter and Cognitive Event Horizon, except as noted. All rights reserved. Indian Creek Designs, and the Panther, Puma, Bobcat, Thundercat, and Alleycat are registered trademarks of Indian Creek Designs of Nampa, Idaho. Teflon is a registered trademark for PTFE manufactured by the Dupont Corporation. |