'Vivalution' Hopper modification

[Jonny - SZ#03]

There is a fine line between genius and insanity, I like to think I hop from side to side and on rare occasions spread myself eveningly across both!

[Jonny - SZ#03]

JD, fancy meeting up in the next few days/ evening? I have the Vivalution mark 2 completely designed and awaiting an unsuspecting victim to be chopped and spliced with surgical accuracy, I'm also looking at buying another myself. As much as I adore the mark 1 it's gonna become obsolete when the mark 2 hits the scene and I'd rather have a working example of my creation.

The design includes some amazing features, all of which WILL be making an appearance. Easy access cleaning shell, interwoven resin/ fabric shell reinforcement, magnetic easy access lid, extended body design with easy access battery housing and ergonomically engineered board housing in addition to a couple of other necessary features.

[Jamie D - SZ#27]

I can drop it off tomorow lunch if you like?

The lid could be difficult as ive got the speed feed on at the moment.
Do you have a spare egg board like? or you using the existing? its got the hyperdrive chip in it so suppose i could sell it if your not using it lol

[Jonny - SZ#03]

Scratch that, just bought a Vlocity for £20, now just to find a cheap Evlution or board and harness connectors and I can start the Mark 2

[Jamie D - SZ#27]

lol no worries fella, well im gonna take mine to bits and see if i can fix it because i want it working, much lighter than the halo and it has the speed feed and hyperdrive so rather than wasting my coin i could get it working lol

[Jonny - SZ#03]

Defo fella, I know them better internally than Harry Hill knows the inside of the human brain (Google it all you young wippas) so I'll happily help out where ever I can brosph.

The plans for the Viva look hot! I honestly cannot wait to get started on her now.

[Jamie D - SZ#27]

Well if you want i could give you it tonight when you pop round and you can maybe have a look for me if you get a spare minuite, i hate electronics, hence why im a mechanical engineer lol

[Jonny - SZ#03]

Well guys, today it begun! The Vivalution Mk2. If a new board I'm trying out works it's gonna be the smallest, lightest and most compact version to date with an option to put the innerworkings into a Halo shell. Heres hoping. Pics of progress to come

[Jamie D - SZ#27]

Im looking forward too it mate.

[Jonny - SZ#03]

Well, this went better than I could of EVER wished for. Logistically it's been challenging because I've essentially taken three viewloader products and mixed and matched to form the core loader operation but it's came together after just four solder spots.

The Vivalution Mk2 now operates on a board no bigger than a 50p piece with a completed eye harness which slots straight into the feed. This means all of the electronics can be removed should shells, lids or battery doors require replacement. It is a semi forcefeed loader with a top speed of 16bps operating on a simple breakbeam eye. It runs on two 9volt batteries which offer an even longer added life span to the original Vivalution mk1 prototype. Further more a rip drive wheel is going to be fabricated and connected to the motor drive on the bottom of the mk2 offering a manual feed and anti jam.

Pictures of the fabrication process to come.

[Jamie D - SZ#27]

I was impressed when you told me on the phone but reading it on here has just set it in stone, cant wait to see it in action tomorow

[Jonny - SZ#03]

I got home from yours JD and after trying to sleep I just gave up because it's just too hot.

So instead I've spent my time testing, testing and better testing the Vivalution Mk2. It has exceeded everything I thought it was going to do. I figured it was fast but I was intrigued to see just how fast I could push it so I removed the force-feed spring in the paddle as it is no longer necessary. I then glued the external part of the paddle to the inner part which interacts directly with the motor and after reattaching everything, putting the paddle back together and loading her up she scared me silly. I honestly think I've created a monster. It spits the paint out at crazy speeds, it's incredibly smooth now, and it's incredibly consistent. I've ran through roughly 4000 paintballs through it pushing on the motor, mimicking jams in the feed and the loader has just responded without any signs of a problem. The eyes are very, VERY responsive. With the Evlution and Vlocity the eyes are designed to offer a very short delay to compensate for the stack in the feed that's below the eyes. The Vivalutions brain is that of a paddle agitator loader, therefore it instantly stops feeding the second something breaks the beam. Because of the speed it can operate at this allows the feedneck to load with balls and comfortably stack without adding any additional force from the paddle because it instantly stops which prevents ball breaks.

When testing I've been expecting something to give. Whether it be a paint break during feeding/within the loader, the motor to jam, hell even a jam in the feed because of the speed it operates at but it just performs. I'm a little worried it wouldn't be so nice to a very brittle paint but that said the paint I've been testing with is H18 Pro and Proto so both are tournament grade balls. So far though, it hasn't even shown a sign of failure... kinda worrying really.

And finally, speed. I estimated before the modification it could hit roughly 16 to 18bps. Since modding it and running through 5 different drop videos that number is more likely to settle between 26-34bps!!! And no, that is not a typo. Checkout the video for yourself and please by all means check against my figures. In the loader I’ve used exactly 150 paintballs. From the moment it begins to the moment the last paintball leaves the neck simply divide 150 between this amount. The number you get is the bps. A decent editing suite will breakdown the time code to offer a pretty precise time for you.



Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what the fastest loader is on the market at the moment? I’m just intrigued to know how close the Vivalution is getting to that speed. It’s not necessary but it’s nice to know this mod is slowly developing and evolving into a heavy puncher.

Oh and I did have photos of the development process however the camera decided it didn't need to save them... thank you camera!

[Jamie D - SZ#27]

Very impressive mate, coming together nicely indeed.
Will be intreagued to see what it does on psp ramping and just filling the loader with pot after pot, but i know im talking like were rich and can afford this paint, its just a thought lol

[Jonny - SZ#03]

Cheers bro

Yeah I'm gonna run a hopper through now to see how it holds up under the pressure of playing then blast through some reballs Just really wanna put it though it's paces. If it feeds the reballs okay though it might be worth trying that wee experiment for a laugh

[Jamie D - SZ#27]

was just thinking that myself. The problem with a lot of new hoppers is they jam with reballs so will be good to see how it holds up pot after pot

[Jonny - SZ#03]

I love play testing new projects like this, it irons out those little kinks. The first problem in the Viva Mk2 project is an incredibly odd one.

I started by shooting a very fast 80ball stream and the loader fed perfectly. It was very VERY fast and smooth. I stopped for a second and went onto stage two, shooting short bursts and it randomly cut out. At first I thought it was the first jam it had had but I looked at the feed and there was still balls in there. After switching eyes off I realised there was no ball in the breach but still three in the feed. Weird. After some careful troubleshooting and pondering the problem this is where it gets interesting.

The eyes are that sensitive that they recognised when the bolt was in it's forward position and because the paddle had loaded the balls faster than the gun was shooting (due to the 10.5 cap) with a feedneck fully stacked and ready to feed down when the bolt returned it didn't think it needed to feed anymore paintballs. Bloody marvellous really but also a tough one to get around. My initial thoughts are to lower the eyes giving the balls more time to feed. If this doesn't work however I'll have to go back to using the Z board as a brain for the system as the stack. In theory though the lowering of the eyes will offer a quicker feed as the momentum of the balls travelling down the feed will carry the first ball into the breach... Anyhow, watch this space!

[Jamie D - SZ#27]

Sounds like you hit the nail on the head with that one, it should work fingers crossed.

[Jonny - SZ#03]

Haha yes my bro! I finished rewiring the eyes earlier and warily attached them to the feed as low down as is physically possible. With a bit of wiring still showing from the eyes it's suffice to say a possible alternative shell will be required (possibly a modded halo shell). For now however it's all ready for the second test stage.

Admittedly it looks fantastic internally. I've taken it out of the shells it was in earlier and put everything into a spare set I had. When a very small power switch hole is drilled it looks sweet. The eyes are the only bit that look severely out of place at this stage so if I can figure out a way to either get it working with the eyes still in the body or replace the shells with a halo set it'll rock.

Ideally I'd prefer to use a set of halo shells as they are far, far stronger. If I can find a way to fit the vlocity motor and raceway into halo shells we're in business!

[Jamie D - SZ#27]

On p8nt at the mo, there is a reloader B with suicide shells going for £20 i think, maybe worth checking out? it comes with the clause *it worked the last time i tried it* which means it doesnt work fully lol
But the shells could be worked with im guessing, and any spare parts ill nab off you for mine

[Jonny - SZ#03]

That's really weird, I've just bought one on ebay! Reloader B with White suicide shells and a crown for £26

Oh and a quick update, just tried the Viva2 with the altered eyes and it works perfectly. I never realised how fast 10.5 actually looks when you pull out the stops and rip it full stream. Just about to try Reballs upcapped then gonna fire up the compressor to power our gats on Thursday