Potential of the Hydro Cannon

[Jeffman3]

First, I should probably come out and say I am New Guy from SSC... Tried to register here with that name and apparently it was already taken.

I recently (about 4 months ago) built a water cannon following the generic APH plans- I read somewhere else that it was possible to convert it to fire Nerf darts if I gave it a barrel made of 1/2" CPVC. There was a $1 difference between a 2' and a 10' stick, so I bought the larger stick thinking I could find a use for it.

At the after-Christmas, before New Years sale at Walmart, I saw a Hydro Cannon for sale... Looked up the price online, $25. Not bad, seeing as I hadn't been able to find a friend a present for Christmas- so I bought it for him. I took it to the check-out lane, ran it through... It was $10.90! I ran back to the aisle I found it and grabbed the only other one they had. I gave him the better of the two (one leaked a bit at the ball valve) as I am much more hands-on than he is and I knew if I gave him the leaky one, he would leave it until the leak killed it. I patched up the leak on mine, used some pliers to pull out the screen (got a 5' range increase from that alone, and a much nicer/douse-yer stream) and looked at it a bit. I saw the Nerf barrel from my APH lying on the shelf next to my bedroom door, and the question on every man's mind popped into my head...

Will it fit?

I took the barrel and wouldn't you know it, it was an almost perfect fit into the end of the Hydro Cannon's "nozzle." I went out to the garage a couple days later (today) and cut a 6" or so piece of CPVC. A few seconds with a Dremel tool to smooth the corners on the inside-the-HC end to prevent non-laminar flow later, I crammed it into the HC. I pumped it 20 times (still way too many, gotta find a larger pump to use) and took aim... The farthest bit of water went just under 50'. I reckon that if I were to come up with a proper nozzle, we could have a modern-day Super Soaker that will compete with an old CPS2k as far as range goes- it still fires less water, admittedly, but I'm kicking around ideas for shortening the on-board reservoir to make room for a larger/heavier bladder and a mounting point on the top for an external water source (backpack).

Can we say potential savior for the Nerf SS line?

All this goes without mentioning that as far as looks go, the HC isn't too bad...

Edit: I put this in discussion, as cramming CPVC into something doesn't really count as modifying it...

Double Edit: I sprayed some silicone lubricant for car door seals and the like onto the track for the pump- it now pumps with very little effort aside from what it takes to move the water. Great improvement. I'm currently taking it apart to lube up the trigger mechanism- it sticks a little bit as a result of my last breakdown.

[SEAL]

First, I should probably come out and say I am New Guy from SSC... Tried to register here with that name and apparently it was already taken.

Yes... Taken by yourself...

Back on topic, nice job! You should get some shot pictures. This makes me regret not bothering to pick up a HC last year...

[atvan]

Nice! If it fits that well, you could make a nerf-esque speedloader, but with various nozzles.

When WWn was created, all the users were imported from iSn.


Did you try it with darts?

[Jeffman3]

Holy crap, no I haven't tried it with darts. I figured the CPS bladder wouldn't work too great... But now I'm gonna go try that. The ball valve opens *very* quickly and is quite large- aside from the light/small bladder, the HC is quite a nice blaster overall.

I tried signing in as New Guy with my standard password and couldn't, so I thought it wasn't me. My bad.


Edit: So I tried it with a Nerf dart and a barrel about 17" long fired 15* elevated, a subprime dart (flat spot on either side and a crinkled back) went 121'! It was insane. I think I've found my new multipurpose Nerf/SS weapon. It admittedly took 40 pumps to really feel like it was pumped well enough, but... The APH takes some 140 to pressurize the reservoirs with air alone.

Pics to come as soon as I can upload them. I run satellite internet so it'll take a few.


Ball valve closed, post screen removal


Ball valve open, post screen removal


Left side nozzle with "Blasting" (water) nozzle installed


Right side nozzle with "Blasting" (water) nozzle installed


Side shot of "Blasting" nozzle installed


Side shot w/ standard Bic lighter for size comparison


It's more like a 3.5-4" piece of CPVC, not 6". My bad. I have a shorter piece but it does not work so well on its own. It does work well to extend the range without hampering the spread of the original blast, though- I need to find a way to semi-permanently secure the CPVC into the end of the blaster to make switching nozzles easier without making it nigh impossible to disassemble later... Maybe a thin bead of clear silicone? But that would be difficult to clean between removals... Though in theory those will not come terribly often.

I can't help but wonder if maybe one of the old hands from Larami thought it would be a good idea to change some small little thing such that us die-hards could find a way to build what we once had... That fit is simply too precise. I don't even get any air leaking passed the pipe when I've got a Nerf dart loaded in it...

Double Edit: Sorry for the weird cropping on the images. I took them with the blaster more or less centered but the forum cropped them oddly.

Triple Edit: My reasoning behind the intentionally sized nozzle is because the ball valve itself has an ID no more than 0.05" smaller than the nozzle... Keeping the CPVC from being pressed in too far, but it's set back far enough to get a secure seat with the pipe.

[martianshark]

Wow. If I can find some CPVC, I'm going to do this. I should also get another Hydro Cannon or two. Did you have to open it up, or did you just cut the screen out? My Hydro Cannons ball valve leaks a little too.

[Jeffman3]

I had it opened up so I could remove more of the screen- if you look closely, you can see I missed a couple strands... I couldn't find my toothed needle nose pliers.

It would be perfectly possible with the blaster assembled, but you risk visible damage to the neat swirly thing. I recommend pulling it apart.

I used copper form-a-gasket (silicone) to seal the ball valve. Three coats later, I don't have a bit of a leak. Wait ~3 hours between coats so you can get it on thick enough to take pressure... And wait a minimum of 12 hours after applying it before opening it. I used a rubber band to hold the trigger back (ball valve open) to prevent any accidental charging from breaking the seal.

Home Depot sells CPVC in the right size, if you live in the States. If you're not from "around here," I'm not sure what to tell you. If you're willing to cover shipping I can cut you a 1' section... But shipping would be pretty terrible. I think I paid ~$5 for my stick, maybe a bit less.

[martianshark]

CPVC doesn't exist around LA. I might buy some from you, but we should work it out through PMing.

I still have a few sticks of PETG, which I ordered a while back. Maybe that would work.

[Jeffman3]

LA as in Los Angeles or LA as in Louisiana? You have no local HD? CPVC is often used in interior water piping, as it is flexible and generally easier to work with...

Then, I haven't lived in CA in a number of years so they've probably come up with a law to ban a material used in the production of CPVC or some madness.

Shoot me a PM if you need to buy some from me- I can source it fairly cheap.

[isoaker]

Late, but welcome to WaterWar.net (again), Jeffman3/New Guy!

As for whether something is a modification or not, for sake of clarity, the way I look at things, anything done to a water blaster that uses something other than what a blaster originally needs to function is a modification, especially if it involves adding on (even temporarily) a piece of PVC, removing an existing part, etc. Even simply writing a label or sticking on a piece of paper would count. Also, removal of otherwise fixed parts (e.g. screen removal, nozzle adjustment/widening, extra plastic removal, etc.) would also count as a modification. As such, thread moved. No major problem, but it just helps keep things more organized here.

That said, cool stuff and thanks for posting the various pictures! Would love to see shot pics if possible!

[martianshark]

There's plenty of Home Depots and Lowes and Ace Hardwares in Orange County, but all they carry is regular PVC. I asked a guy at Lowes, and he said the nearest place that sells CPVC is in Riverside (i.e. far away). I might PM you sometime soon.

[Jeffman3]

It'll be a while before I can get shot pics! I somehow managed to grenade my ball valve... So that one is getting returned.

Thanks for moving the thread and not being too upset- I just wasn't sure how modifications were classified, so I stuck it in General Discussion.

I should be able to get a couple shot vids (I only have a cellphone camera, so no shot pics... but it does do hi-res video) so hopefully that will tide everyone over.

[Andrew]

GJIV has had quite a bit of success modding a hydrocannon. I'm now thinking about getting one to mod if for nothing else!

Double Edit: Sorry for the weird cropping on the images. I took them with the blaster more or less centered but the forum cropped them oddly.

They haven't been cropped, its just because the images are too big for the browser (at least the landscape ones are). Zoom out and you'll see more of the image. You can see most of the images anyway, but if you think its a problem you can just upload slightly smaller versions to your photobucket account.

[atvan]

I was actually told that CPVC was for potable water, not hot/cold/corrosion resistance. I need an HC now btw. You could also give a layer of silicon, and then some two part epoxy to seal it up from there.

Make a nerf-inspired speedloader, but with nozzles. No need to glue.


@andrew, this mod is a tade easier.

[Jeffman3]

Interesting- I guess when an image is too wide it doesn't give you the option to scroll sideways to see the rest of it?

This is significantly easier than what GJIV did with his- though I can practically guarantee I'll get bored with the tiny PC I have... I've got an idea cooking for an external backpack/enlarged PC setup similar to what GJIV did, but I'm not going to completely remove the on-board reservoir, leaving some practicality in place.

[atvan]

Do look into the speedloader design, although it may be difficult to fit more than two.

[HBWW]

I've done the same thing with a Flash Flood. However, it takes too many pumps more than its worth doing, so the FF is never seen in my Nerf wars, even in ones that permit CPVC modded blasters.

The Hydro Cannon was one of the better recent blasters overall; I'd rank it on the same tier as the FF though it has huge potential with the correct mods. Unfortunately, I never picked one up before as the stores around here usually stop stocking them around September. (Plus I had 3 Nerf guns to pick up later on anyways.)

[Jeffman3]

UPDATE: Walmart is apparently no longer carrying the HC. They are currently available on eBay, for a good price and with free shipping.

Just giving a heads up.

I barely have the money to spend... But at least I'll have tons of spares from the old one, eh?

Sheesh, $30 to last me until payday- and I still need to find the time and money to drop a replacement engine in my 1:1 car.

[Andrew]

@atvan

it still fires less water, admittedly, but I'm kicking around ideas for shortening the on-board reservoir to make room for a larger/heavier bladder and a mounting point on the top for an external water source (backpack).

This idea is essentially GJIV's mod and so I thought the link may be relevant.

Combining both mods would make quite a potent blaster.

[isoaker]

@Jeffman3: Looking back on this thread, would you be interested and willing to push this information onto the WWn wiki? You would need to be given wiki editing privileges, but I'd happily do so if the idea of adding in more content there appeals to you.

[Jeffman3]

I don't see why I couldn't push this onto a proper wiki page- though I'm pretty terrible at HTML editing.

I can do a raw data dump, though, and let someone else handle making it pretty. Though I would like to hold off until I have a functioning one in my hands again... I was quite distraught when I killed the ball valve in my first one. Maybe I'll try and trade my friend my mildly modified Arctic Shock for then one I gave him...