Re: Latest Modification
Posted: Fri May 10, 2013 4:19 pm
The check valves generally need to be as close to the pump as possible, or it may be prone to lag issues. This is less of a problem for elastic powered systems or for systems with a separate air pump, but for standard air pressure designs, too much dead space between the pump and check valves can make it impossible to pre-pressurize to any useful level.
To simulate this for yourself, take any stock blaster and set it up so that you can't pump all the way. You can wrap duct tape around to stop the pump from going all the way in, or you can simply pretend that it can't. You can still draw water from empty internals this way, but only to an extent, depending on how much space there is before the water source. (Which determines how much air must be pumped out first; if it's too much, it may be impossible to pump without opening the firing valve.)
Stock blasters do not have this problem as the tubing and check valves are small and very close to each other. This is a common (and commonly ignored) design issue for homemades, depending on who's guide you follow. Point is, the reservoir is an absolutely horrible spot for the first check valve.
That said, Andrew already mentioned that the pump volume is only affected by the pump piston itself. (Pump diameter and stroke length in particular.) I just wanted to point out that any spot for check valves other than as close to the pump as possible is a terrible spot and is why stock blasters never do that.
I need to see a Gorgon myself to determine whether the intake tube is worth removing. I removed the one on my Colossus due to the enormous unused reservoir space and sloshing around, whereas I put one into the 2700 because of the same issue. Reservoir sloshing gets a lot of air into your final shots (when the res is running low) and is incredibly annoying. The end goal is to increase the amount of usable water in the reservoir, and sometimes you actually need an intake tube to do this. (Depending on whether the blaster design accounted for it or not.)
To simulate this for yourself, take any stock blaster and set it up so that you can't pump all the way. You can wrap duct tape around to stop the pump from going all the way in, or you can simply pretend that it can't. You can still draw water from empty internals this way, but only to an extent, depending on how much space there is before the water source. (Which determines how much air must be pumped out first; if it's too much, it may be impossible to pump without opening the firing valve.)
Stock blasters do not have this problem as the tubing and check valves are small and very close to each other. This is a common (and commonly ignored) design issue for homemades, depending on who's guide you follow. Point is, the reservoir is an absolutely horrible spot for the first check valve.
That said, Andrew already mentioned that the pump volume is only affected by the pump piston itself. (Pump diameter and stroke length in particular.) I just wanted to point out that any spot for check valves other than as close to the pump as possible is a terrible spot and is why stock blasters never do that.
I need to see a Gorgon myself to determine whether the intake tube is worth removing. I removed the one on my Colossus due to the enormous unused reservoir space and sloshing around, whereas I put one into the 2700 because of the same issue. Reservoir sloshing gets a lot of air into your final shots (when the res is running low) and is incredibly annoying. The end goal is to increase the amount of usable water in the reservoir, and sometimes you actually need an intake tube to do this. (Depending on whether the blaster design accounted for it or not.)
Also the 5x nozzle got around 39 feet due to the PC not being inline with the nozzle