3rd Generation Douchenator

[DX]

You can make practically any pneumatic WBL into what I call "The Wave Maker" by doing the following. (Be aware that the kickback on this is huge).

1, Fill you're barrel half way with water. (This part can vary to your own specifications)
2, Put a plastic bag over the end and use a rubber bands to hold it on. (So you can move around without dumping your ammo)
3, Pump up the WBL.
4, Aim and fire.
5, Watch as a massive wave of water is launched out of your WBL.

The Wave-Maker doesn't have nearly as much range as a Water-Cannon, but it spreads into a very wide blast (about ten feet in diameter) and can kill a whole squad in one shot if their within a ten foot radius.

NEVER, EVER, do this. NEVER load water in the barrel. The only times I've even come close to being hurt in the operation of any homemade was when I tried to do this. The stress is great enough that either the barrel or the pc can shoot off. This is how we almost injured a friend when the pc rocketed off at him point blank [just missing], and how I almost hurt myself when the barrel shot off and totally shattered when it fell next to me. I took serious recoil to the stomach, but the bruise went away after a few weeks.

Never load the barrel with anything it can't handle. And I'm talking about 80-120 PSI with quality glue seals. You'd think it can handle water. But be warned, there may be a day when it doesn't. Having the bottom of a barrel explode at your feet is not fun. Nor is seeing a huge PVC blur go whizzing past your head. Small amounts of water are probably ok, just don't push it.



Edited By Duxburian on 1163542790

[SilentGuy]

Hmm...DX, I presume that the problem is the inertia of the water, but I'm not too sure. More importantly, I'm now really wondering why a water cannon > WBL for launching water.

Is it because the ball valve is in front of the water? Because there's a space for the air to rise? Or what? ???



Edited By SilentGuy on 1163544052

[WaterWolf]

I see, sorry about that.
Is it ok with lower PSI? The times that I did it I was only using about 40.

[DX]

Water cannons do their job better because the barrel is not put under as much stress. Water launched from a specially designed pc [piston, c, etc.] rather than a barrel is safer, can't fall out, and produces a long range, extremely high soaking "stream".

Low PSI is probably fine, but with low amounts of water. 40 would be strained to move a barrel's worth of water.

[WaterWolf]

Ya, I don't fill the barrel all the way, I usually do about a half or a third barrel full as I had said in my other post.

I under stand that a true W-C will get the job done better, and I might build one sometime.
But this was just an idea of how to make pneumatic WBLs more versatile.

[SilentGuy]

Water launched from a specially designed pc [piston, c, etc.]

Alright...but what defines a specially designed PC? How did you take into account the danger of WBL barrels but make the WC safer?

Sorry for all the questions, but I'm a bit confused right now.

[WaterWolf]

I think this deserves a new topic.
If people here want me to, I will set up a new topic relating to this.

[DX]

Alright...but what defines a specially designed PC? How did you take into account the danger of WBL barrels but make the WC safer?

Sorry for all the questions, but I'm a bit confused right now.

It's simple. You can't shoot water from a normal WBL pc unless done at a negative angle. Otherwise the air would mix in and ruin the shot. Any pc designed for a wc is pretty darn safe unless you did a bad glue job. A WBL pc has that same safety, but you simply can't shoot the water in the same way.

[SilentGuy]

Well...obviously I understand the performance (or lack thereof) difference. But won't there still be as much stress on the PC?

It's simply not practical to shoot water from a WBL because you have to aim down. But exactly how is it less safe? Sorry for the unhelpful questions.



Edited By SilentGuy on 1163635013

[DX]

When in the pc, the water and air mix, and although the water goes first in a wc, the stress is not in the ball valve connections or in the barrel. The stress occurs mainly in the pc, where it is contained. The water simply passes through the barrel, as by then the onslaught of air is already driving it forward. You don't even need a barrel in a wc. In a WBL pc, the air rushes out and hits the water in the barrel. The stress is in the weakest part of the gun, the connection and lower barrel area. If the air can't handle the volume in front of it, the barrel, no matter how well glued, may pop off. If you are holding the barrel firmly like many often do [hand on the barrel and hand on the ball valve], the barrel will pop off, but not fly forward, instead, the pc will fly backward. Either way, something's going to rocket off. And it doesn't just affect water. Any major load has the potential to be dangerous. Too many rocks or other items can do it. Even over-packing leaves in the barrel can cause it to pop off.

[SilentGuy]

Ah-ha! That would explain it, so thanks.

So...a WBL with a tee in the back and enough room for water could theoretically double as a WC, correct? It would probably be pretty big, though.

[forestfighter7]

Is there an existing guide on how to build a water cannon? I would really like to build one. I don't really need a guide, But I'd lke to know how to build one.

[SSCBen]

Here's the closest things to a guide right now for Supercannon II:

http://www.geocities.com/waterwa....nIIpics
http://forums.sscentral.org/t3946/

Everything aside from the piston is fairly obvious. When someone gets to the piston part, I will try to help them before a guide is made. If you buy all of the parts mentioned in the thread, you should be able to build it. To list the parts required at [ur=http://www.mcmaster.com/]McMaster-Carr[/url] from memory:

6424T62 - fire hose nozzle
9411K28 - 4 inch pistons (you will need two)

There also are a few other neat things on McMaster-Carr that you might want as well, but I'll leave you to find them.

If you're interested in building an even more powerful water gun, you can upgrade to 6 inch PVC, but you'll spend a lot more money on the pistons and the PVC. The 4 inch cannon will be plenty powerful, but if you have the money you could upgrade. The construction would be exactly the same, just with different sizes.

Start a new thread at any forum and I'll be there to help you. I was hoping actually that someone would be interested in building a water cannon before I made my guide so I could put actual questions they had in the guide, which would help a lot of people.

[WaterWolf]

Ok, this thread has gotten drastically sidetracked.
I know, I know, its my fault, sorry about that.
BUT, now I'm steering this topic back onto the original subject.

@Duxburian.
How are the repairs coming along? I can't wait to see how it performs and to start integrating this design into my own WBL.
What ratio between the main-PC and the small-PC are you using?

[SilentGuy]

From what I've read in various places, the ratio has little effect--well, not too much, at any rate. A bigger PC will help; a bigger barrel will help. However, I'd go with increasing the barrel length for power instead of the PC, at least to some extent, or you'll be pumping a lot and wasting air.

But I am interested in the ratio, too.

[DX]

The barrel and pc are roughly 1:1 [Any other ratio would make this launcher longer than I'd like. It looks just like the G1 Douchenator, except that it has a middle chamber. The ratio of the center pc to the main pc is roughly 1:5.

The problem with long barrels is that you don't escape the sacrifice. Adding range via long barrel is done at the expense of battle practicality. For most stages, that doesn't really matter. But for where I am, it matters a lot. Hence why the G2 Douchenator fell out of favor. Shoots the farthest, but is the least practical. The G2 version is currently the most popular, due to the stats. People are so shallow. :p

I checked it earlier tonight. There's still an air leak, but much smaller. However, it still won't hold any pressure for more than a second, so I added more glue. Right now, all of the holes are covered. I'll just have to hope that it can hold up to 120. If not, I'll have to glue again until it does. I'd have pictures available already if this were last year. But no, as my brain is dead from schoolwork and my body is dead from track. Perhaps tomorrow after my weekly 60 miler.

[WaterWolf]

Heres an idea of how to decrease your drop-off, with a slight range sacrifice on the first shots.
All you need to do is put a pressure gauge in the central chamber, then you just open the "Powering" ball-valve a little bit, watch the gauge until its reached a specific PSI (Like maybe 80?) then close the valve.
This would essentially act like a manual air-regulator, and would give you more evenly powered shots, thought the last one might still be under-powered.



Edited By WaterWolf on 1163852421

[SilentGuy]

Hmm...that makes sense. However, I was talking more about the ratio than the actual length--so you'd increase the barrel length but also decrease the PC length. But it does make sense, and 1:5 is already pretty unconventional.

Heres an idea of how to decrease your drop-off, with a slight range sacrifice on the first shots.
All you need to do is put a pressure gauge in the central chamber, then you just open the "Powering" ball-valve a little bit, watch the gauge until its reached a specific PSI (Like maybe 80?) then close the valve.
This would essentially act like a manual air-regulator, and would give you more evenly powered shots, thought the last one might still be under-powered.

Uh, that's not going to work. The ball valve will release all the air nearly instantly--too quickly for you to control. A solenoid is even better for launching because it opens even faster, but it obviously isn't the best for this purpose.

But even if you can't change the pressure to increase the amount of air, you can just increase the volume. Obviously you wouldn't change it while fighting, but you can make it small enough to help avoid dropoff.



Edited By SilentGuy on 1163865866

[FinalFantasizer]

Silet Guy is right. The pressurized air in the PC gets out WAY too fast to be effectively controlled. The original model of my WBL actually had a pressure gauge built in to the actual PC (the original model had a smaller PC also). I thought I could keep track of how much pressure I have stored (like an xp 310) and release it in small bursts. The problem is that if you open the valve enough to fire a shot, you will have already released too much air, and will not have enough left for a subsequesnt shot.

I have to say that Duxburian's idea of having multiple PC's tht are closed off and opened at different times is brilliant. U can't wait to see some range data.

[WaterWolf]

I'm not thinking about opening it all the way then closing it quickly, just open it a tinny sliver.
I've experimented with it before, though never in this design and have found that I could control it if I was patient and moved slowly when opening it.