Keep a Tommy 20 From Jamming

Step 3 Modding the Drive Wheels

Now that you have the drive wheels out, you can mod them. We are going to do a very simple mod-slightly increase the size of the wheels, and dramatically increase the friction of the wheels. To do both, be are going to use rubber bands!

Get twelve or so rubber bands that are a little smaller than the wheels. Wrap the bands over and onto the wheels one by one. If you have twelve bands, (use your math logic here) how many bands go on each wheel? Six bands! Good job.

Make sure that the bands don't have any twists in them, and that they lie flush with the others. Also check and make sure there's no space in between the bands. After your bands are where you want them, now it's time to hot glue them in place.

The reason the bands need to be glued is because if they are loosely around the wheels, as you are shooting darts, the bands will spread apart. If they keep spreading, they will come off the top of the wheel inside the gun, or worse-under the wheel where they could bind up. So, this step is important. Make sure you give the glue plenty of time to dry. I had to open mine up and re-glue it three times! That was because the glue wasn't sticking to the wheels. So remember- make sure it sticks!

Plug in your hot glue gun and let it sit for a few minutes. When it's hot, it's time to start gluing. Put a dot of glue on the edge of the group of bands here and there all the way around the wheel. Repeat on the other end. Repeat on the other wheel. Once this is done, make sure that NO GLUE (absolutely none) gets in between the wheel, and the grey plastic base. This could possibly slow the wheels down, or prevent them from moving all together. You can test the motors against the contacts (if you can remember how they go-but of course, it probably doesn't matter right now) and see if any glue comes off.

As soon as your glue dries, proceed to the next step-with caution...