The Empire Halo Too Loader has been around for a REALLY long time, and is one of the best paintball hoppers you can get for the price. But as time marches on, so do the features on other paintball loaders. Even though the Halo Too is arguably the fastest loader available, its features leave a lot more to be desired. It's doesn't come apart easily, can be a hassle to clean, and lacks other high end features that you find in many other loaders. Empire Paintball has heard you, and has released the Halo Pro Shell Kit for you to upgrade your older Halo hopper.
First, take apart your old Halo Too Loader.
This process can be a little time consuming from start to finish, but that's why we're here to help. So, to begin, we need to take apart our Halo Too (or Halo B w/ four AA batteries harness) loader.
- This is probably the hardest thing to do, so we're going to commit to it first; taking the E-Clip/C-Clip off. It's the little piece that holds your rip drive wheel in place at the very bottom of the Halo Too. You'll need a flathead screwdriver that's pretty small. Take the flathead screwdriver and place it in one of the small gaps in the clip. Simply twist slowly, like you're taking a screw off, and it should pop the clip off easily.
- With the clip off, everything else is easy-peasy! Take a Phillips head screwdriver, and start tanking out the screws. There is a screw under the battery door, so don't forget that one!
- Once you loosen up the screws, flip the lid open and you should be able to take the Halo loader apart.
Now to transfer the internals to the Halo Pro Shell Kit
This process also takes a little bit of time, but at least you don't have to deal with any clips! The Halo Pro Shell Kit has a retainer piece for the electronics and a screw, so make sure you put those to the side and DONT LOSE THESE! The Halo Pro Shell comes apart by lifting the top shell. It shouldn't be locked in place so this will be effortless. Now to transfer everything over:
- Take the electronics and raceway/carousel out (this is the blue tray). Make sure you unplug the board from the motor.
- Take your electronics, panel, and the retainer piece and align them with the bottom part of the shell. From top to bottom it should be panel, retainer, electronics. Once you have them aligned, plug the board back into the motor. Simply press down and these parts should slot right in. Take the screw that comes with the retainer, and thread it into the retainer. This is found at the very bottom of the retainer piece. This will lock your electronics in place.
- Grab the raceway/carousel and slot it into the bottom shell. There should be little slots that align with this part, and it should fall into place easily. Take the battery harness that's attached and place it towards the front of the loader. There's a designated spot for this and it can be velcro'd down. There is a middle tray that hooks in. This tray covers your electronics. Go ahead and install this over the battery harness.
- Once everything is in place, take the top shell and install it. Everything should snap right into place. Open the lid and there will be a small red slider. This little piece can slide down and lock the button that allows you to split the shell in half.Â
- Take the rip drive wheel and put it back on the bottom of the motor. There should be a post sticking out a little bit. Once you put that part back, lock it in with the clip. The clip should snap into place.
That's it! You're done!
It's a lot of steps to transfer over everything, but once it's done, you're probably not going to swap back anytime soon. This kit is really nice, and it's great that it allows you to take the entire loader apart without tools. The lid is also pretty slick, as you get a rain lid and speedfeed that is the same as the JT Triad.Â
Closing Remarks
The Halo Pro Shell Kit is a solid upgrade for your Halo Too loader (or your old Halo B that has the 4 AA battery harness), and comes with everything you need to rock and roll on the field. The other thing that's awesome about the Halo Too is that it feeds EXTREMELY fast! We managed to get a consistent 20bps on a Planet Eclipse CS3 without any issues.
With the good out of the way, now we have to mention the bad. I honestly think that this installation process has too many steps. There's room for error, and to expect a newer player to go through with this is pretty trusting. Especially with the clip that holds the rip drive in place. If you mess this up and damage that post, it's going to be extremely difficult to take the rip drive off. I personally would like to see this little rip drive wheel held in place by a screw, so here's hoping someone from Empire Paintball sees this.
Overall, the reward at the end of this process is a fast feeding loader that has some amazing tool-less features. It's ultimately a win, but just be careful as you commit to this process.
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