Marui Tracer unit.

[Hissing_Sid]

Can anybody provide details of how the Marui tracer works?

 

Pictures would be good and, better still, info about what the actual lights are, type, wattege etc?

 

I want to know how the lights are laid out inside the unit and how powerful they are.

 

I have a plan to fit a bunch of similar lights inside the feed-tray cover of my M60 in order to power tracer BBs.

 

Please don't bother posting if you're just going to say "There's a light inside the tracer which shines on the BBs as they go past."

[cazboab]

As long as the bbs are actually glow in the dark rather than simply flouresent I dont think the power of the lights in the Marui unit will matter much, sinc the light in a traser is one intense bust, rather than a constant chargeing from the feed cover, if you use a few of the bulbs from counterfit pens and leave them on for a few minuites the bbs should "charge up" for long enough to give a decent effect.

[Hissing_Sid]

Yeah.

 

Must admit, I am always a bit dubious of "glowing" BBs. I'm sure half of what I've seen a tracer do is simply shine light onto the BB as it leaves the barrel.

 

Pretty much the same effect that could be achieved by shining a surefire along the muzzle.

 

I'm assured by my mate, who has a tracer, that he's seen BBs lying on the ground still glowing. Those are definately the sort of BBs I'd need.

 

On the plus side, I figure that I'd put a battery in the mag pouch, line the inside of the feed tray cover with tinfoil and then fit a bunch of lights and leave them on constantly. Surely this'd give the BBs a big enough "charge to last while they got fed and fired?

Obviously the first dozen or so, which were inside the feed tube, of each burst would be dark but once they'd fired then charged BBs would start going in.

 

Anybody know what sort of lights they are? UV, IR, what?

 

Would LEDs be sufficient? I figure I could fit rows of UV LEDs in the cover.

[Road_Dancer]

You definitely need tracer bb's, that do actually glow in the dark, having been fired at by these in the pitch black, it's freaking intimidating! They are now available in green, blue and orange.

 

As for the internals of the tracer unit, AFAIK there is a light gate that trigger the flash unit when a bb breaks the beam. The actual bulb I don't know, but I do know that it's VERY bright, and has a very high cycle rate, so it's probably some kind of strobe set-up.

An array of the 'new' high intensity LEDs may do the job if they are able to shine directly on the bb's for long enough.

I've seen pictures (Armour Piercings IIRC) where a set of tracer bb's have been charged with a bright light and loaded into a Moscart (which looks very cool!), so it is possible to do, but I don't know how long the bb's need to charge...

[El_Hombre]

I'm not 100% sure about what IS in the tracer, but what SHOULD BE in the tracer is UV lights. Black lights work great to charge up glow-in-the-dark stuff. Charges it in seconds even if it's just indirect.

[pgup.dk]

You see a small "muzzle flash", so there must be other than just black light in there...

 

You must use the "glow in the dark"-BB's.

 

And yes, when it's dark it looks KICK *albatross*!

[Hvy gear]

quote'

 

Yeah.

 

Must admit, I am always a bit dubious of "glowing" BBs. I'm sure half of what I've seen a tracer do is simply shine light onto the BB as it leaves the barrel.

 

Pretty much the same effect that could be achieved by shining a surefire along the muzzle.

 

I'm assured by my mate, who has a tracer, that he's seen BBs lying on the ground still glowing. Those are definately the sort of BBs I'd need.

 

On the plus side, I figure that I'd put a battery in the mag pouch, line the inside of the feed tray cover with tinfoil and then fit a bunch of lights and leave them on constantly. Surely this'd give the BBs a big enough "charge to last while they got fed and fired?

Obviously the first dozen or so, which were inside the feed tube, of each burst would be dark but once they'd fired then charged BBs would start going in.

 

Anybody know what sort of lights they are? UV, IR, what?

 

Would LEDs be sufficient? I figure I could fit rows of UV LEDs in the cover.

 

 

 

 

 

in regards to that have a look here,

 

http://www.maplin.co.uk/home.aspx

 

have a look for the ultra bright ones as they should do the job well.

[screamin_weasel]

tracer BB's DO glow on their own. they lay around on the ground glowing for about 5 minutes, and also glow just from being in daylight, then 'cupping' them in your hands.

 

i agree that the intensity of the light probably wont do anything,as, like i just said, even short exposure to daylight can make the BB's glow.

 

i get my tracer BB's from zero one, i have used the excel orange tracer BB's (.2), and have had no problems. next time i get some i will be getting the digicon ones from Z1, as they seem better value for money.

 

i have green ones as well, but cant remember where i got them, they are just .15 or something lightweight.

 

i would help with the workingd, but i daren't mutilate my tracer to find out.... it is powered by four AAA batteries if that helps.

[directorcass]

Sid, there are two things going on inside a tracer unit. Just inside the tracer unit as the bb leaves the barrel of the gun the bb trips an infra red LED. When this happens it tells the strobe to flash. The strobe (unsure of wattage) will flash every time the IR is tripped. I have had my tracer apart all the way down to the electronics. The barrel inside the tracer unit is clear with a white sleave above the strobe to focus as much light toward the bb as possible. Hope this helps.

[Hissing_Sid]

Sid, there are two things going on inside a tracer unit. Just inside the tracer unit as the bb leaves the barrel of the gun the bb trips an infra red LED. When this happens it tells the strobe to flash. The strobe (unsure of wattage) will flash every time the IR is tripped. I have had my tracer apart all the way down to the electronics. The barrel inside the tracer unit is clear with a white sleave above the strobe to focus as much light toward the bb as possible. Hope this helps.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So is the bulb just a single bulb or is it a tube-thing which extends along the full length of the tracer?

 

Anybody seen replacement tracer bulbs for sale anywhere?

 

*wanders off to WGC to type "tracer" into the site search*

[directorcass]

Yes, it's a tube, not an incandescent bulb. It's maybe about half an inch long. Looks very close to the strobe in a 35mm camera flash unit. I have never seen a replacement "strobe" for the the tracer unit. I have seen a replacement tracer unit, it's just the inner plastic housing and electronics. It does not include the outer metal tube, end caps, or adaptors. I think it sells for around $35-$45......(wanders off to WGC also.......)

Edit- Could not find the "replacement" part I spoke of. Seems just about everyone is out of the tracer unit also. There are several on that *ahem* auction site though.

[Cruiser1068]

Viewing this thread with interest...I'm new to AS and have a CA M15A4CQB....will this tracer unit work with that or is just for TM guns????

[pgup.dk]

As far as I know it has adaptors for 14mm negative, so It should work just fine.

[PlasticMag]

It'll work with it, long as there's a threaded barrel.

[Cruiser1068]

Thanks fellas.... sounds like it's next on my shopping list

[directorcass]

You can also get a 14mm positive thread adaptor for the tracer unit. The tracer was made for Marui guns but if your gun has a threaded barrel, either 14- or 14+ it will work. The downside is that tracer bb's are not cheap. But, they are great fun. Now, if you could only get red tracer bb's instead of just green and orange.

[Cruiser1068]

I guess you can cut cost a bit by mixing a box of tracers with regular ammo...I dunno, say 4 or 5:1 ratio. I know they wont come out exactly every 4 or 5 shots as they will mix up randomly in the mag but on auto fire you should still get a decent tracer effect I would guess???

 

With real weapons you wouldnt fill the mag with tracer rounds.

[Boba_Fett]

You can also get a 14mm positive thread adaptor for the tracer unit. The tracer was made for Marui guns but if your gun has a threaded barrel, either 14- or 14+ it will work. The downside is that tracer bb's are not cheap. But, they are great fun. Now, if you could only get red tracer bb's instead of just green and orange. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

The TM Tracer comes with a full load of adaptor for most/all of the Marui weapons and the barrel of the FAMAS, G3 or so are not threaded CA M15s are 14mm negative as the TM Colts are...so it is no problem fitting the tracer. For extended use it is highly recommended getting a steel adaptor cause the TM ones are made of plastic.

[pgup.dk]

The price isn't that bad - depending on the person...

 

I would only use it at night-games and that would probably not be a lot of BBs fired...

[Cruiser1068]

Well I'll find out soon I guess.....just ordered from Wolf. Playing my first game at Black Ops in Bristol this weekend so hopefully the woods will be dark enough for me to try it out!!!!

 

Someone, somewhere told me this sport was cheaper than paintball....so how come in under a week...and before I've even played a game I've spent over £1500???

[Soloman]

Ammo is cheaper

[directorcass]

I have the First Factory tracer adaptor on mine, nice heavy metal. Also, when you get yours I would suggest you put some type of removeable adhesive on the front end cap, like silicone cement, the rubbery stuff. The end cap has a tendancy to twist and come off on its own. If you loose this your up a creek as it is also the on/off switch and battery cover.

[Cruiser1068]

How do you know the TM unit suffers the same problem??

[PlasticMag]

How do you know the TM unit suffers the same problem??

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

As it's the only one made...

[directorcass]

Sorry, let me clarify. The First Factory adaptor I mentioned is not the tracer unit. On the tracer unit, where it screws onto your barrel, it's just a plastic cap with a threaded section. The plastic threads will wear down if you screw it on and off your metal barrel. You can replace this with a metal aftermarket piece. I think that's what threw him off.