Force 3 Mask

[gobama84]

Has anyone had problems with this mask.  I just ordered replacement pads and noticed my springs barely move when I push on them as hard as possible.

[umpstu]

I've owned 2 versions and I believe that's how they are designed.

[MadMax]

2 hours ago, gobama84 said:

my springs barely move when I push on them as hard as possible.

There's three things potentially at play here:

1. We have to realize truly how much force a 5 oz. baseball is carrying when it hits you (and your mask) at 95 - 105 MPH. Those springs are designed to engage at these sort of forces and only "bottom out" when that overwhelming force is smackin' it. 
2. Impacts on the outer cage – the floater – may have slightly flattened it, forcing it outward and setting the travel bolts (and the springs and shocks encasing them) at the improper angle. If you loosen the three connecting screws between the floating cage and the foundation cage (don't lose them! they're specifically threaded metric machine screws), the floating cage may contort into a shape that'll surprise you, reflective of the impacts that it's taken.
3. The shocks may have dried out and stiffened, preventing the springs from fully compressing and the travel bolts from allowing the floating cage to depress. Some mineral oil will likely lubricate and soften them. If you'd like to really give them some TLC, then loosen and remove the travel bolts and disassemble the spring brackets, taking the shocks out and placing them in a jar of mineral oil for a few days. Now, Force3 may have made it difficult to loosen up those travel bolts by using ThreadLock on them when they assembled the mask, so be careful, and don't strip them trying to take them out.