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Walther FP moan

Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2021 5:34 pm
by Rover
Anyone remember back in the day when the Walther electronic trigger free pistols started giving up the ghost? After a while there were no parts available, so many were stuck with these orphans.

Now, I don't own one and have no plans to buy one, but I'm kinda nosy. I want to know if anyone skilled in electronics can fix these bad boys.

Re: Walther FP moan

Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2021 7:15 pm
by Gwhite
I thought someone had figured out the design, and maybe had replacement boards.

I'm curious because the team I help coach has one. Nobody has shot it in at least a decade, and I have no idea if it still works. I have an electronics background, and can probably figure it out if I have to. There's no point in spending a lot of time on it if someone else has already done the research.

Electronics of that vintage don't ordinarily go bad, except for the capacitors. The one that discharges into the solenoid to fire the pistol would be subjected to high currents, which could stress the cap & cause failures. There was also a period where a lot of small cheap electrolytic capacitors from China self destructed over time due to corrosion.

Re: Walther FP moan

Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2021 9:16 pm
by jbshooter
here is a comprehensive proposal from an earlier targettalk post

Re: Walther FP moan

Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2021 10:06 pm
by JamesHH
Gwhite wrote: Thu Aug 26, 2021 7:15 pmThere was also a period where a lot of small cheap electrolytic capacitors from China self destructed over time due to corrosion.
They still do.

Re: Walther FP moan

Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2021 8:04 am
by Gwhite
jbshooter wrote: Thu Aug 26, 2021 9:16 pm here is a comprehensive proposal from an earlier targettalk post
Wow! That is an amazing amount of good work. I'll have to study it in detail if/when the time comes. At a quick glance, it sounds like they overstressed the solenoid cap, so it might be possible to fix one by just replacing that (assuming the dead cap didn't kill anything else, or leak corrosive electrolyte all over the other circuitry).