APH Questions

[JCat9]

Hi y'all!

I was wondering if the APH from the archived http://www.sscentral.org is a good battle gun. I was worried because of the pump. I am not sure if the pump will pressurize quickly, and if it is easy to use. What I mean by easy to use is that it pressurizes quickly, the stick does not fall out of the gun, and is easy to pressurize on the run. Also, I was worried about the ball valve. Is it cumbersome to use when you get a surprise attack? Am I at a disadvantage to those who have a trigger? So, is the APH a good battle ready gun? Is it a good gun for me, being that I am just beginning and all? http://www.sscentral.org/homemade/aph/ Thanks for answering some questions from a total noob!

[the oncoming storm]

I would not claim to be an expert on the APH in battle practicality. But I can say that almost anything can be easier to weild

[darthmeow]

For most games, its better to use a small CPS. The pump issues can be solved by using a large syringe gun as the pump.

[Drenchenator]

I've battled against my brother a few times when he used an APH.

APHs are generally adequate for battle but not awesome. Their performance (range and output) is much higher than most other water guns, so I always found myself reluctant to approach an APH user. The big downside to the APH is the high-ish number of pumps and the ball valve. The ball valve hurts usability but not in the way you are thinking about. I've never had any issue opening the ball valve; closing is usually where issues can come up. Unless the nozzle size is small-ish, it's hard to close the ball valve quickly before the chambers empty. This is probably the biggest weakness in the design, since after you shoot you become vulnerable for some time while you recharge. Granted, you can avoid this by using smaller nozzle sizes, but that really destroys the intimidation factor.

I've never really had any problems holding an APH, but then again I've used Ben's APHs, which have straps and blocks to make the entire thing rigid. Without a block to join the pump to the chambers, pumping becomes much more difficult, since as you pump the pump shaft can move around.

If I were to sum up everything I just said, it's that the APH is a good high-performance water gun that does have some avoidable usability issues.

[DX]

If you're having trouble with a stiff ball valve, put a torque arm on it (also on SSC) or use a brass valve. Nowadays, brass will run you double what the PVC ball valves go for, but you can flip those open and closed rapidly if you get the right one, always test on the shelf. A properly greased brass ball valve tap shoots as fast as a CPS 1500. With ball valves, you can't shoot and pump at the same time, but I've never had problems with getting off quick tap shots and conserving pressure/water. The one exception was when I used a PVC ball valve, that thing was slow to close and it sucked. *But it was cheap!*

I would strongly advise using a larger pump and smaller chambers than the SSC guide's APH. The one I made to mostly SSC spec took over 50 pumps to full - you want to get this figure under 30, a compromise between performance and pressurization time. I would also build it tighter, make the fittings touch and bring the handle height way down. I've never understood these tall designs where the pump is way far away from the ball valve and the middle rides high. That just makes it unstable and I've never actually held one by the handle. I hold an APH by the 2nd check valve, that location gives you a better grip with more leverage when you pump it up. A shorter gap also sometimes eliminates the need for blocks to make it more rigid, it really depends on how long your pump shaft is.

Of course, homemades are all about personal preference, build what makes sense to you and is comfortable for you to wield.

[JCat9]

Are you ready for a total noob question? How would I make a bigger pump and smaller chambers? Thanks for all your answers so far!

[martianshark]

You just make the pressure chambers shorter, and/or make them out of lower diameter pipe. To make a bigger pump, you just use a higher diameter pipe, higher diameter dowel, and higher diameter O-rings. I'd be careful not to make the pump too big though.

You don't have to build a homemade exactly how the instructions say, as long as you understand how it works.

Will you have access to a hose in your water fights? If so, you might want to make a Super Charger Homemade instead, a design I made up. You connect it to a hose and it pressurizes itself, and it only costs about $15 to build. If you're interested, I'll post more info.

[JCat9]

Please post more!

[HBWW]

Check the sticky thread on how to make pumps that don't leak. http://www.waterwar.net/site_wwn/board/topic6076.html

However, it's not designed for 3/4", which DX recommended for higher pump volume. I've yet to experiment with it myself too.