Black mark on button pin

[somopoppy]

Hi all
I have a GGTS that was erratic in firing. Played about with it for days on end attempting various things to fix the device. Eventually found some black marks on the centre pin, the part that touches the internal battery pin. If I rotated the button it would fire, this led to my conclusion that the black uneven marks were the problem.
I sanded down the black marks with some wet and dry. It now works again, thankfully.
What was the cause of the black marks. It appeared to be degrading the metal.
The pin I have is stainless steel. I read somewhere that brass pins should have been sent out when these items were originally bought. No brass pin came with mine which was bought in the UK...!
Unfortunately the ex GG seller in the UK does not now reply to queries hence the post on here.
Will the black marks return, If so my pin will be getting very thin with further sanding and possibly cause continuos firing which is a concern.
Is there somewhere I can get the brass pin, or even a new button assembly without having to join a pre-order list.

 

[clavit]

The black marks are not uncommon on the steel pin, and even if you have cleaned and sanded the pin they will come back.
The brass pin is a recent addition to the GGTS, so if yours is an older model it wouldn't have come with the brass pin.
Mine is SS #262 and i only have the steel pin. I had ordered a new buttton from GG UK, but since GGUK stopped selling GG's i had to do a quick fix on mine. A 3mm brass bolt cut to size is now my firing pin, and that sems to work okay. It still needs an occasional cleaning but its much better than the steel pin.
Oh, and don't bother trying to contact Cam from GGUK, he doesnt reply to customers.....

 

[dspin]

Yes indeed, brass pin and get a brass bottom cap post too. Do away with the ss connections

 

[somopoppy]

I have #3299 so is this a newer model.
I thought these devices had a life time guarantee?
How did you fix a bolt to be the firing pin. Does it act like the original?

 

[clavit]

The button comes apart, like this:
Button disassembly clarification - YouTube
Then simply replace the firing pin with a 3mm bolt of the same length.
It wont feel quite as smooth as the original, as the bolts threads can catch on the button housing, but it'll fire a whole lot better
I was so frustrated over my GGTS' performance that i didn't care about feel, i just wanted it to fire with the consistency of a chinese 5-dollar battery!
If your button has adjustable throw, you can adjust it to acommodate the bolts head which is thicker than the head of the firing pin, otherwise you'll have to grind the bolts head a bit thinner.
I would have thougt that #3299 is new enough that it should have both firing pins, but i'm no expert on numbers..