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I recently bought a second-hand SS CPS 1700 and I wondered if it can be opened without damage.

The trigger is not moving easily when pressurized and I want to see if some (silicone) grease to the mechanism may work.

I already looked quite a bit for guides how to open the soaker including this one and this one but I miss the details on my specific model.

The majority of the opening seems to be easy but I'm unsure about the nozzle selector at the front of the gun. Is it glued on? Is it 'clicked' on? is it screwed on? Can it be removed without damaging the gun? If anyone has experience on opening this baby, please post!

Can't say for sure since there are a number of models, but I do recall reading somewhere before that some models of the CPS1500 (and I presume the CPS1700 as well) have a really unnoticeable, but present slit in the nozzle cover actually allowing it to be separated carefully without needing to be snapped or cut anywhere. Of course, I've not opened up my own CPS1500 or CPS1700 so I really can't offer any more insight than that. Try examining the cover around the nozzle selector for any possible telltale slits/grooves that might look like it would allow part of it to slide apart. If you do find it, please take and share pics, too!

Otherwise, sadly, the only option may be to cut things. Good luck!

It's possible that the trigger may be sluggish due to a crack in it. I don't know how well the 1700's trigger is designed, but I've never heard of any problems with it. Still, that's the msot likely issue for that to happen.

There are 2 parts to watch out for: the nozzle cap and pump cap. The pump cap can usually be pried off, but I've never worked with the 1500/1700's nozzle, so I'm not sure on it. Most likely, it will thread off or can be pried off, but if it's glued, you'll have to bust it. (usually just cosmetically, which won't damage the gun itself.) But as I said, I'm not sure since I haven't even seen a 1500/1700 in real life.

Silicone grease is generally ideal for water gun applications and is the lubricant I prefer. Unlike with oil/petroleum based lubricants, there is no risk to damaging rubber seals or anything, so I prefer using it for all water gun/balloon launcher applications. It is preferable to WD40 and definately to vaseline. (vaseline doesn't even seem to work well to begin with, but some still use it)

I don't really think the trigger itself is cracked or broken. The trigger only takes a bit much pressure to activate when the gun is fully pressurized. And there is no way to press it gently to put out a smaller stream of water. But this may be a design limitation. (This is the first CPS gun I have in my hands. I used to only have a SS 50 original back in the days. The CPS of course blows away the SS 50 in water output but the 50 had a longer water output time with a single presurized tank.)

The nozzle selector does have a a vague 'line' on it but it looks like it is a weld of the plastic itself. It is completely solid. The nozzle selector assembly appears to be totally unmovable. When I put a small knife between it I can separate it at a few tiny places but on most spots it has every appearance to be glued. Unless I find an expert who actually successfully disassembled this gun I think I can better leave it closed.

Some images:

(Sry for the low quality, I don't have more than a 2mp phone cam :S)

By the way: the pump cap is no problem at all, it just screws off:

Hmm.. that's unfortunate. Due to the design of the CPS1500/1700's nozzle selector switch, if you cannot separate the out cap, you'd either need to cut a bunch of plastic off the cap or cut the nozzle selector tab to get the nozzle cap off which is hardly an elegant solution. You might be able to pry the shell of the nozzle cap off first and see if you can unsnap the nozzle selector tab from the inner assembly, but not sure how easy that'll be.

Anyhow, let us know what you end up choosing to do and how it all goes. Good luck!

The result for now: I took out every screw and was able to slightly bent open the housing of the soaker with the nozzle selector still firmly attached. (glued)
This at least allowed me to lubricate the movable parts of the trigger area. To not damage the gun I closed it again afterwards. I haven't been able to reach the mechanisms at the front of the gun.

At least the trigger moves smoothly now. It was not broken nor cracked.

Well thats good. Usually when I have a problem with the trigger, I grind out the surrounding area. This is usually only necessary if I glue on metal pieces for reinforcement of the trigger pieces, which is typical of the common trigger repair. I've used lubricant on pumps, with amazing results on a few guns and not much result on most others. (probably because their seals are tight, not because they are having frictional problems)

That's cool that you got it fixed. If you ever have to open it again, the nozzle cover is not glued on. Removing the nozzle cover on a 1700 requires a lot of prying and pulling. you have to be careful not to damage the edges especially if you are using a skew driver. I recommend you use a hair dryer to heat up the nozzle cover before removing it, it makes the plastic stretch a little and reduces the likely hood of cracking.