Colossus 2 CPS Conversion

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Colossus 2 CPS Conversion

Post by marauder » Thu May 21, 2015 4:42 pm

I just bought a Colossus 2 retail for $9.99. Crazy! I opened it up and saw that the PC intake is horizontal, like in any super soaker CPS. It didn't make sense to me that BBT would design an AP blaster like that, so I immediately had this idea of converting it to CPS.
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I purchased a half inch cpvc to brass mipt transition, at least that's what it's called on the label, but basically it's a metal male threaded end attached to a piece of cpvc of the same size. The Arctic Blast CPS bladder fits perfectly over the metal male threaded end and can be clamped down using a steel hose clamp. The cpvc end will go into the female, nonthreaded, aperture you secure the original PC into. I just need to figure out what sort of epoxy or whatever can bind cpvc to regular BBT plastic. Any ideas.

More pics will be up when I figure out how to resize on this tablet. Side note, but I think there's a reason tablets haven't replaced desktops or even laptops in the work place, it's not like those commercials where you can do anything on a tablet. Resizing photos, drawing on them with an editing program, etc. not as easy.

What I'm working with
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*edit*
why the hell do iPads not come with flash player????
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Re: Colossus 2 CPS Conversion

Post by HBWW » Thu May 21, 2015 4:56 pm

My first and foremost concern is whether the C2's pull valve has enough flow to not significantly inhibit the performance of the AB bladder.

Anyway, as I mentioned earlier, calibers and taking things to the hardware store will help you find the parts you need to make the connections.
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Re: Colossus 2 CPS Conversion

Post by marauder » Thu May 21, 2015 5:02 pm

In my experience hardware stores are no help. I asked what epoxy would bind cpvc to regular plastic and the store clerk said cpvc epoxy would but a plumber standing nearby said it wouldn't. Then he wanted to know what I was trying to do which just confused everybody and the plumber wanted me to use a hose which was no help. I don't think calipers are really what's going to get the AB bladder attached to the colossus 2 which is my objective here, but I do have some in case I need to know sizes.

*edit*

Just sanded down the company name off the cpvc end so now it fits into the firing valve to PC connector.
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Re: Colossus 2 CPS Conversion

Post by HBWW » Thu May 21, 2015 5:21 pm

I would use Devcon's Plastic Welder epoxy. The "regular plastic" you speak of is most likely ABS.

The calipers are for measuring part sizes with precision. They are indispensable for building nerf equipment.
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Re: Colossus 2 CPS Conversion

Post by the oncoming storm » Thu May 21, 2015 10:03 pm

I am looking forward to seeing how it goes 13oz (best guess) chamber volume after this mod with CPS consistency could change league worthy blaster availability.
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Re: Colossus 2 CPS Conversion

Post by marauder » Sat May 23, 2015 8:11 pm

First stage of the conversion has been successful. I must admit that I was a bit apprehensive about this mod as it's never been done before.

Here's the internals I am working with. Note the tube that carries water from the pump into the firing chamber. I was afraid that the cpvc to brass convertor would cover this up when inserted, but the cpvc end was just short enough to end right in front of the aperture where water empties from the pump tube into the firing chamber.
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Here's the cement I settled on along with the parts for this step. Oatey All Purpose Cement was recommended me by a plumber for bonding cpvc to abs. The primer was only used on the cpvc as I was warned not to use it on the abs side.
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Applying the primer to the cpvc.
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Applying the cement.
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Inserting the cement coated cpvc into the abs firing chamber port.
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Drying.
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Drying in context.
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It's been 2 hours and I did a mini test run. Although I did not apply the hose clamp to secure the Arctic Blast bladder in place I did hold it down with one hand and pump with the other. I was able to get in about 4 pumps before I heard the sound of the pressure beginning to leak out as my hand couldn't clamp down perfectly. I gave it a 5th pump, which was enough to see the PC expanding in size, and quickly pulled the firing pin (since the trigger was disconnected for modding) and got a good little shot proving that the cement job was good and that this thing can hold pressure.

Now I have to solve another issue, what to do with the pc intake tube. I could cut it short and then apply water weld all around it, filling in the inside of the cpvc to brass transition piece save for the tube itself. This seems obvious, except that I kind of feel like there may be another intake, a hole of some sorts, at the front of the firing chamber port, and I don't want to cover that up if it would cause issues. There's no way of telling for myself, with the cpvc to brass transition piece cemented in and with the intake tube I can't see the back/front/whatever of the firing chamber port, even with a flashlight. There's just too much going on. Does anyone happen to have a Colossus 2 opened up that they can take the PC out of and examine the firing chamber port?
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Re: Colossus 2 CPS Conversion

Post by the oncoming storm » Sat May 23, 2015 9:18 pm

I dealt with the PC intake hose on the Explorer K by just trimming it down and clamping the 2500 PC right over it, it worked fine.
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Re: Colossus 2 CPS Conversion

Post by marauder » Sun May 24, 2015 9:24 am

Yeah, on second thought, I wouldn't want to risk blocking the aperture where the pump pushes water into the pc from. I think I'll try that. You should put some photos up of your modded Explorer. What kind of range are you getting?
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Re: Colossus 2 CPS Conversion

Post by SEAL » Sun May 24, 2015 9:36 am

Awesome. I like the step-by-step pictures. Looking forward to seeing how the performance is affected. Try drilling out one of the nozzles!
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Re: Colossus 2 CPS Conversion

Post by jja » Sun May 24, 2015 9:49 am

That is some really high quality work and you've documented it well which will help others replicate your work. i am very interested to see how this fires. The constant pressure should help the colossus 2 a lot. i wonder how the C2's Pressure release valve will work with the bladder - will you be able to pump to full? or will it activate to late leaving you without a safety (possibly an issue if you lend it out)

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Re: Colossus 2 CPS Conversion

Post by the oncoming storm » Sun May 24, 2015 12:11 pm

JJA From my experience with CPS conversion WW PRV's aren't over-reactive when driven by a CPS chamber, and hitting the walls should trigger the PRV regardless.

Performance wise M4 I wouldn't expect anything other than the shot time to be affected on your C2, as was the case on the Explorer K (before it broke).
M4 the pump moves water into the chamber using the intake tube, just clamp the PC onto the tube and pump it up... .


PS I can't photograph the mod I did to the Explorer because after it broke I fixed up the SL 1000 using the chamber from it.
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Re: Colossus 2 CPS Conversion

Post by marauder » Mon May 25, 2015 9:06 pm

I can't find my phone to upload the pics, but anyway, it works. I clamped the Arctic Blast bladder over the male threaded brass end. I tested it out three times, pumping it up to 20x and then pulling the firing pin. It gave out a nice juicy stream, somewhere around 8.5x. Duxburian and HBWW (I keep wanting to type BBW) have seen the pictures.

There are still two problems, however. A little bit of water is leaking out of the front of the bladder. It's just a little drip/spray, but over several minutes I could lose a few ounces. I feel like the hose clamp is as tight as it can be. Maybe I should apply a second hose clamp right in front of it. Part of the clamp would be off of the bladder, but it would nearly double the amount of space on the neck of the bladder that was clamped down. The other issue is that there is a good amount of dead space, perhaps 2 oz, that exists because of the length of the male threaded end. I am considering applying epoxy putty over most of this, up to the end of the intake tube (but not covering it obviously) on 3 sides, leaving only the side where water is pumped into the PC open. This would decrease the dead space by about 75%. Currently the first 3 pumps merely fill this space up. When I'm done firing a good constant pressure shot I can still squeeze the bladder or shake it up with some air or whatever and still expel another good 2 oz that was stuck in the dead space. If I could decrease this to only one little area, which would allow water to be pumped into the bladder but kill the rest of the dead space, the performance would be increased. I did not test the gun with the nozzle selector because I didn't want to put it all together again only to solve the previous 2 issues, but it seems very powerful as is.

Also, I got my credit checked and Tiffany has a job interview tomorrow. One step closer to getting a house. Speaking of which, we walked around Riverwood today, the village in town where we want to move, and we found an epic area behind the houses, between the river walk and the Neuse River. I plan on going back with a camera and filming it for everyone, but I think this is where I want to hose my next war. I will be posting about it in another thread, so stay tuned. It's awesome.
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Re: Colossus 2 CPS Conversion

Post by HBWW » Tue May 26, 2015 8:42 am

Maybe I shouldn't have gone with the username change after all. :lol:

Bladders and clamps have always been finicky. You'll need to use tape to prevent the clamp from cutting into the tube, or use a different type of clamp. Make sure you pinpoint and verify the exact spot of the leak.
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Re: Colossus 2 CPS Conversion

Post by marauder » Tue May 26, 2015 12:23 pm

What kind of tape should I use?

Here's the shot:
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Re: Colossus 2 CPS Conversion

Post by SEAL » Tue May 26, 2015 1:23 pm

That's pretty dope. What kind of range (roughly) are you getting like that? It looks like it would benefit from a custom nozzle.
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Re: Colossus 2 CPS Conversion

Post by marauder » Tue May 26, 2015 2:46 pm

I didn't measure exactly because I plan on putting the nozzle selector back on and modding it from there. If I had to guess I'd say it's shooting in the mid or probably upper 30s. It's quite powerful, but that's without the nozzle selector at all. I can't put the nozzle selector back on the gun unless I seal the shell up, etc. and I want to address the leaking first before I do that.

Once I add the nozzle selector and then mod at least the smallest stream (probably into a 4x nozzle) I should be getting around 40 feet.
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Re: Colossus 2 CPS Conversion

Post by Cochise » Tue May 26, 2015 5:04 pm

Wow, I love the step by step guide. I didn't know that you could bond all those different types of plastics. really cool. Could I do this with LRT? I do not have an arctic blast, and if I did I wouldn't want to scrap it to do this mod.

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Re: Colossus 2 CPS Conversion

Post by marauder » Mon Jun 01, 2015 9:55 am

So, I have hit a difficult impasse. I used electrical tape and 2 hose clamps and now the bladder doesn't leak any pressure. I began reassembling the weapon and unfortunately the Arctic Blast bladder is too long. I don't have enough space, as you can see in the picture below.
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So now, the question is, what to do. I can't just start hacking into the Colossus 2 reservoir, as the bladder is jutting up against the point where the intake from the reservoir goes out to the pump.

The easy solution to this is to just nix the reservoir and go to the backpack, but I have 2 reasons why I wouldn't like this, even though I do like backpack guns. First, the Colossus 2 shell is decently large and suited for a reservoir, it would look weird with just an Arctic Blast PC and a backpack. Second, this is an Arctic Blast PC, not a 2500 PC, so it's really not going to expand as far; this really just underlies the first point. Lastly, I'm kind of tired of halfway working ghetto rigged mods. I guess that that option would work better that the typical Colossus, but it would look weird and would essentially be a different gun.

Actually, JJA's modification may end up being a better solution to all of this, and the way my mod is going I may need to start thinking of this as a homemade of sorts. I salvaged an XP 150 pump from Salamandastron. If anyone ever remembers my homemade Kryptonite (essentially a broken XP 150 turned into a powerful piston pumper) I took the guts from that. I am taking the shell apart and am cleaning the internals to see if I could use them in this blaster. I could, in theory, cut a 2" long section out of the front third of the Colossus 2 reservoir, then move the front of the reservoir, along with the intake to the pump, back and glue it onto the rest of the reservoir, essentially just shrinking it by 2". Then I could run the intake tube to the XP 150 pump. I would have to create more space for this as well, but it might work, and a Colossus 2 with an XP 150 pump, 18 oz CPS PC (can hold more than the AB shell allowed it to) , nozzle mod, and 10 oz less reservoir capacity would be better than the original Colossus 2.
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Re: Colossus 2 CPS Conversion

Post by CDMT » Tue Jun 02, 2015 7:52 pm

Marauder another option you might consider is to make a hydropower version by modifying something similar to a Shurflo Accumulator tank and making some precise scalpel cuts in the colossus 2 frame to accommodate the vertically oriented frame of the tank. Or you could snake out a tube from the water pressure chamber attachment point to the accumulator tank and side mount it to the blaster. I haven't checked yet on the water capacity of this particular tank but it can support up to 125 psi. Which is high enough to easily support a healthy 60 psi. I just ordered one for my homemade last night to be used in place of the 2 gallon heat expansion tank that takes forever to hand pump.

http://www.amazon.com/SHURflo-182-200-P ... ccumulator

Another option is to have a side or top mounted 2-3 inch diameter pvc tube with a McMaster Carr lrt tube inside attached to the water pressure chamber attachment point. Then you would have much more capacity as well as retaining the original water fill tank.

Once I get my household goods unpacked in a couple months, I am considering converting one of my XP 150s to a CPS or Hydropower system.
That pump on the XP 150 is simply awesome. I am very much interested to see how your colossus 2 turns out.

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Re: Colossus 2 CPS Conversion

Post by marauder » Wed Jun 03, 2015 12:21 am

Wow, that is really interesting. You will have to let us know how powerful that thing is. It looks like it could do some serious damage. I have the Arctic Blast PC set up so that it can be swapped out with LRT or something else later on.

I have taken out more of the internal plastic on my Colossus 2, basically whatever was there to hold the PC and reservoir in place. I also mounted the Colossus 2 pump grip onto the XP 150 pump as the C2 had a superior grip while the 150 pump is like 4x as powerful.

A thunderstorm came in last night and thoroughly soaked my toolbox which I had left outside along with the 150 and colossus parts. That was hell to clean up and dry out this morning.

Everything looks like it is coming along pretty well. Tomorrow I may try to connect the 150 pump to the Arctic Blast PC/Colossus 2 firing valve. I have the appropriate size tubes but I may need some hose barbs.
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